The Graj Match
The Graj Match
Bali, August, 1974, two parties of surfers set out from Kuta bound for Plengkung Beach, located on the remote far south-western tip of Alas Purwo National Park in eastern Java.
On a trimaran named the Madrigal were Mike Ritter, Warren ‘Abdul’ Anderson, Bob Jones, and Mike Boyum, while traveling to the same place but going overland were Barry Middleton and Chris Lilley.
Accepted history says that this was the fourth expedition into the wave that was to become known as G-Land, and only the third time it’d been surfed. Whether reached by sea or land, in 1974 any trip to Plengkung was an arduous journey. Uluwatu had only been surfed three years prior, while many of Bali's other waves were still undiscovered, so while a trip to G-Land wasn’t quite like sailing off the edge of the world, it was still considered an adventure deep into frontier territory.
Middleton and Lilley arrived first yet had to wait till the Madrigal turned up as their surfboards were aboard. A day later the trimaran rounded the point and the parties united, surfing the wave together. At the time, no more than ten surfers had ever surfed G-Land and the various sections weren’t yet charted or even understood as they changed, sometimes wildly, through tide phases and swell direction. This put every surfer in the same predicament; all trying to make sense of the wild and expansive wave. Shared knowledge was paramount.
However, unbeknownst to every person on that trip, both those who went by boat and those who went by land, one person - the youngest of them all in fact - harboured a secret. Not only did they keep that secret to themselves while on the trip, but they held onto it for most of the last five decades, only sharing it publicly last year.
From Kongs through Moneytrees, Speedies, and onwards to the inside sections, always smaller but often still perfect, the G-Land lineup is a wonder of the surfing world (Jason Childs / Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair)
A few years ago, both Mike Ritter and Jack McCoy began working on a history of Grajagan, published this year as ‘Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger’s Lair’. Though he wasn’t present on the first surfing expedition into Plengkung, Ritter was an OG Indo pioneer, his trips financed by drug smuggling. The scamming life eventually caught up with Ritter and he served two years in prison, after which he studied history and turned his experiences and scholarship to a writing career. ‘Surfing in the Tigers Lair’ is his second book.
Jack McCoy needs no introduction and he provides the majority of the photos; the visual history that complements Ritter’s narrative. ‘Surfing in the Tiger’s Lair’ follows the template of serious yet glossy history books such as Mavericks by Matt Warshaw, Bells by Michael Gordon, and Thrust by Tim Baker.
While working on 'Surfing in the Tiger’s Lair', Ritter and McCoy caught wind of another author who was also working on a book about Grajagan. Dian Hadiani is a first time surf author, though she’d published many children’s books and has worked as a feature writer for Indonesian magazines. With encouragement from Bobby Radiasa - he of Bobby’s Camp fame - and financial assistance from Tim Watts, Hadiani began work on her book, even reaching out to Jack McCoy and his publisher, John Ogden from Cyclops Press, for photographic material. Each of them obliged and their photos appear in Hadiani’s book.
However, what Hadiani hadn’t told them was that she was publishing a story that conflicts with their own history of G-Land. Though Hadiani’s ‘Chronicles of G-Land’ is essentially the story of how Bobby’s Camp came into existence, the style of inquiry doesn’t follow that of a typical history book. Hadiani places herself within the story, so the book becomes not just a historical tale, but also tells of her attempts to uncover the truth about G-Land, replete with time-wasting dead ends and triumphant investigative scoops.
The reason for this becomes clear in the table of contents. 'Chapter 21: True Pioneers Unveiled' loosely documents the ‘discovery’ of G-Land by three unknown Australian soldiers on the lam from the Vietnam War. That story is told second-hand by one of the unknown soldiers' equally unknown nephew.
Things tighten up somewhat when Hadiani interviews Barry Middleton, who she’d previously never heard of, and Middleton, after fifty years, confesses his secret: He traveled to G-Land in both 1971 and 1972. Both of those trips pre-date the orthodox version of history that says Bob Laverty visited G-Land in July 1972. It’s worth noting that even this version has taken a long time to be pieced together (an earlier version of the story incorrectly placed both Bob Laverty and Bill Boyum there).
Laverty didn’t surf the wave, however his trip is verified via photos he took plus a letter that he wrote to his parents. A historian would call these primary sources; they appear in Ritter and McCoy’s book to piece the jigsaw of early G-Land together. These are important, not just because Bob Laverty died shortly afterwards, but because human memory is fallible, making tangible evidence crucial for credibility.
It’s never quite clear why Middleton chose to keep those early trips a secret from his travel partners in 1974, nor why he chose to speak about them to Hadiani now. Though when I spoke to Middleton he said Hadiani had been chasing him for six months and he wanted to end the harassment. Whatever the reason, Middleton’s story, and that of the three unknown soldiers, has been published and is now in the public domain. The story of G-Land’s history, the one that was researched and sharpened up by Ritter and McCoy, is now muddied by an unexpected interloper.
Water view of the lineup and a quote that's become even more pertinent (Joli / Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair)
Modern surf history is a notoriously difficult field of scholarship. Trips aren’t undertaken, nor discoveries made, with an eye for posterity. Surfing has been a culture of storytellers, not historians. It’s only many years later that people come to care about such matters, when the memory of the protagonists has become hazy and oft-circulated rumours make do for facts. In this environment spurious claims abound, and they endure.
Over sixty years after Waimea Bay was first surfed, people still think Greg Noll was the first to paddle out, and despite there being ample evidence to the contrary, people still think either Martin Daly or Lance Knight were the first known surfers in the Mentawai Islands, and not Chris Goodnow, Scott Wakefield, and Tony Fitzpatrick, who surfed the Mentawai Islands in 1980 - ten years before Knight or Daly.
After Hadiani launched ‘Chronicles of G-Land’, I spoke to John Ogden, the publisher of Ritter and McCoy’s book. He was concerned, perhaps rightly, about how his project would now be viewed. Using the above examples of stubborn history, I suggested that the original tale of Laverty’s discovery might be the one that lasts the distance. Nothing is certain, of course, history is fluid, and though it largely relies on evidence and corroboration, public sentiment also weighs into it. People can determine which history they accept.
Matt Warshaw highlights a great example of this in his book ‘The History of Surfing’. “Good luck selling the idea that anchovy-trolling Peruvians were the first wave-riders,” writes Warshaw in a passage that questions surfing's origins. “Surfers choose their collective past, and when it comes down to Hawaii or Peru, the tropics or the desert, the Sport of Kings or the Sport of Fishermen - well, that’s hardly a choice at all.”
Rather than simply lift his quotes, I also reached out to surfing’s unofficial historian, the guy who actually wrote the book, for his take on G-Land’s competing histories.
“You can't have two origin stories, I don't think,” Warshaw mused. “But contained within an origin story, you might need to create space for alternative versions. Phil Edwards usually and probably justly gets the credit for being first to surf Pipe, but I usually point out that Fred Hemmings and Rabbit Kekai have also said they did it earlier.”
A historian has to be the arbiter of past events, confirming or denying various versions of the past. So with what instruments, I ask, do they navigate the minefield of untruths, ego, and lack of documentation?
“Primary source material is the gold standard,” answers Warshaw. “Decades-old memories, not so much.”
Before departing, I asked him one last question about how the current situation might resolve itself. “You're just looking for receipts, literally: evidence, photos, to make the case one way or the other,” explained Warshaw. “Barring that, it's up to us, the people writing about it, to allow for a possible alternative version, while also making the story compelling and not wishy-washy.”
“It's hard. But it’s fun, too. It's just surfing, but why not try and get it right, throw a little shrug in there because we don't at the moment know for sure, and keep the reader entertained at the same time?”
'Laverty's motorcycle on the ferry from Bali to Java, 1972': One of a collection of photos and letters that accurately place Bob Laverty at Grajagan in 1972 (Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair)
The only ‘receipts’ Hadiani has to debunk the notion that Bob Laverty wasn’t the first to surf G-Land are an anonymous phone call from someone’s nephew - to assert AWOL Australian soldiers had surfed it - and the word of Barry Middleton.
In 1971, Middleton traveled from Timor through East Nusa Tengarra aboard a police boat surveying the surf potential of the area. Middleton took a number of photos from that trip. Likewise, photos exist of the overland trips Middleton took later on. No photos exist from either his 1971 or 1972 trip to G-Land, and the only corroboration is by ‘Big Eddie’ Gardner, who Middleton shared his secret with after returning from the jungle in 1972.
Elsewhere in ‘The Chronicles of G-Land’, Big Eddie, upon getting a fact wrong, exclaims: “Oh, look, I smoked too much marijuana at that time, ha ha, like too much really! Sometimes I just don’t remember things.”
With his long blonde hair, bamboo flute, and clouds of bong smoke, Big Eddie makes for a great character in any story, however I don’t think I’d be alone in calling him an unreliable witness to history - especially that which happened fifty years ago.
Rather than searching in the shadows I decided to call Barry Middleton directly. Now retired, Middleton lives in south-east Queensland and is an equally colourful character; liberal with his F-bombs, he has a long list of enemies that start with surfers (“they’re all junkies”), journalists (“they’re all scumbags”), and Tim Winton (“He said Breath is fictional but it’s all my story. While I was out surfing, he was on shore taking notes. He ripped me off.”)
There’s no denying Middeton has lived a big life. Raised in Perth, he spent his teenage years traveling to and surfing WA’s south-west alongside other noted pioneers such as George Simpson. However, where Simpson largely divided his time between WA’s south-west and north-west coasts, Middleton broadened his horizons, making the aforementioned trip through Nusa Tengarra at 17-years old and afterwards making many return trips to Indonesia.
“I discovered Sumbawa,” says Middleton. “Mentawais. Nias too. Told everyone about it, including Peter Troy. That was in 1972.” [Accepted history says Peter Troy, Kevin Lovett, and John Giesel discovered Lagundri Bay, Nias, in 1975]
“I also discovered G-Land, Surfed it at 25 foot. No-one’s ever ridden it that big, even now.”
With the conversation arriving at Grajagan, I asked Middleton about those first trips to which his reminisces were vivid and detailed. He’d make for a great radio interview, as long as you were quick on the draw with the beep censor.
Unfortunately an interviewer sometimes has to play Devil’s Advocate, asking contrary questions, if only to give the subject a platform to explain themselves. “If you took photos through most of your Indonesian travels,” I inquired. “Why aren't there any from those first trips to G-Land?”
“Because I just surfed,” answered Middleton with rising heat. “I was an athlete.”
“OK, well what doesn’t make sense to me,” I asked, hoping to give an impression of affable befuddlement, “is why, in 1974, you wouldn’t have shared with your travel partners that this wasn’t your first trip to G-Land; that you’d been there before.”
“Because they were a mob of wankers and bullshitters,” Middleton snorted with satisfaction. I broke the following silence and asked him to elaborate.
“They were all drug dealers. All criminals,” said Middleton before segueing into a screed about honour and ethics, topics which came up often and obviously meant a lot to his sense of self.
“I wasn’t into ripping people off,” explained Middleton. “It’s why I got along so well with Miki Dora, as we didn’t rip people off. That brought us together.”
With that I lowered my eyebrow and thanked Middleton for his time, wondering what I would’ve done had the story landed in my lap. I’ve spent fifteen years working as a surf journalist, at times covering various aspects of surf history. I know full well the intoxicating feeling of unearthing exclusive information. Never mind the difficult interview, in these instances separating the subjective from the objective becomes the real struggle.
At left, Barry Middleton aboard the Madrigal in 1974, what he claims was his third trip to G-Land (Barry Middleton / The Chronicles of G-Land) At right, Abdul, Mike Boyum, and Barry MIddleton lying down (Chris Lilley / The Chronicles of G-Land)
After Barry Middleton, I contacted Chris Lilley, his partner in the 1974 overland mission from Kuta to G-Land. Lilley now runs a fishing charter business out of Moorea in French Polynesia. In contrast to Middleton, Lilley is quietly spoken.
“Barry was a real good friend of mine,” said Lilley. “But I’ve never heard that story [that he’d traveled to G-Land prior to 1974] before. That’s bullshit. I don’t know where he came up with that.”
There’s not much more Lilley can add. It was all so long ago that it’s become inconsequential, separated now by a half-century of life. Fond memories but nothing more.
The jungle view (Jack McCoy / Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair)
In Dian Hadiani’s ‘The Chronicles of G-Land’, Warren ‘Abdul’ Anderson, who arrived in Bali in 1970 and captained The Madrigal catamaran trip to G-Land in 1974, told Hadiani: “I hope you will write the factual history of G-land. I want to tell you, the current history of G-Land that has been passed around is false, it’s a big lie.”
Seemingly, this was a wish to rid G-Land’s origins story of Bill Boyum (who wasn’t present on Bob Laverty’s first trip), plus some of the other players who’ve written themselves into the earlier chapters of the wave and Boyum’s camp. Regrettably it now comes across as being careful what you wish for because, though Hadiani did correct the story of Boyum, she also added the henceforth unknown stories of AWOL Australian soldiers and Barry Middleton’s secret trips. Unlike Chris Lilley, Abdul has been very vocal in his rejection of this new version of history. As he was a reference for Hadiani’s book, he also appeared at some of her Balinese launch nights - Abdul still lives in Bali - and was quick to quash her claims, leading to awkward moments during the Q&As.
Abdul also appeared with John Ogden during two recent trips to Bali promoting Ritter and McCoy’s book. By that stage, the banter was less about the quality of their book with conversation turning to the competing histories of the wave and punters wondering which one was correct. Over a few nights, Abdul was forthright in his repudiation of Hadiani’s version of history.
Less forthright is Tim Watts, the American expat who gave financial assistance for Hadiani to get started. Though he was an early aide and also provided numerous contacts, Watts wasn’t privy to the final draft.
“I really wish she showed me before she went and printed it,” said Watts, leaving me in no doubt what he was implying.
Though he wasn't present in the discovery days, Peter McCabe became one of G-Land's first great stylists (Dick Hoole / Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair)
At this juncture, with two books offering conflicting versions of the same wave, the situation appears intractable. For all the research Ritter and McCoy did, another version has presented itself. There’s less proof it’s true, that much is sure, but it’s published and it’s in the public domain. In a recent Facebook post, Hadiani claimed her book is becoming “a resource document.”
Some readers may wonder what all the fuss is about. Why should the lay surfer care about surf history? After all, knowing who did what and when has no bearing on your surfing life. In an impassioned letter, Mike Ritter gave his justification.
“For the people who were there and who shaped the history,” wrote Ritter, “the story carries particular significance. It was a very special and formative part of their lives. And to have that history misrepresented by an interloper is to violate their lives.”
Moving beyond the personal, Ritter also saw it as a blight upon Indonesia’s history. ”The discovery of Grajagan also marks the beginning of surf exploration throughout Indonesia, a country that would prove to be the most fertile location in the world for world-class surf. Soon Indonesian nationals would take on this new sport and produce world-class surfers themselves. In that sense, Hadiani has also violated Indonesian history.”
For this reader at least, Ritter’s entreaty carries some weight. Of course, I write about surf history so you'd expect me to say that, but I think there’s some external truth to it: If you attempt history it’s incumbent upon the writer to follow strict protocols, because after all, who knows how it might be construed in the future?
Then again, it might not mean anything at all. When I spoke to Chris Goodnow, he was returning from a fortieth reunion for Stanford University scientists - after his 1980 trip to the Mentawais, Goodnow went on to become a world-renowned immunologist.
“History matters for medical researchers’ careers,” wrote Goodnow. “But even then there’s the published stories in peer-reviewed journals with date-stamps, and there’s the backstories of original discoverers and fast-followers, the latter if well-known enough sometimes manage to get credited ahead of the pioneers.”
“With surf spot discoveries, it wouldn’t bother me a bit if Martin Daly were to get credit for being the first surfer in the Mentawais.”
“We told no-one because we went for the journey of discovery. We figured it would be best if the next people also took the same journey and understood the local culture and impact of them being there.”
// STU NETTLE
'Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair' is available at Cyclops Press
Comments
I believe I was the first to surf the right hander off big left at Flinders ...book on the way
Photos or it didn't happen!
Searching
Great article, really well put together.
Have to admit, never really taken an interest in who discovered what or when but in the face of hard evidence or primary source material whatever you want to call it, you'd almost have to give the nod to the person who has the photos and date stamped letters. Everything else no matter how vehemently the person digs their heels in is conjecture and heresay.
25 foot G-Land?
Yeah, not the only thing that old mate said that significantly undermined his credibility either. Great article.
Travelled through Nusa Tengarra at 17? Love to hear/scrutinise that story.
Either way I’m glad it’s not definitive. How boring would that be.
Great article.
I remember that water shot of the 2 waves with the Owl Chapman quote as a poster from a Surfing Life mag, but with the quote: "A dream. Or a foolish nightmare." Will always be etched into my mind.
Thank you Stu, that was a great read.
Yes, thanks Stu,
Great read
Ol’ bull dust Barry.
Great read about a magic mystical place ..
Haven't times changed where Indo was once an exploratory adventure to now a packaged resort Instagram posting influencer theme park.
Still love the place.
Damai.
Truth in storytelling?
It's worth remembering, that the greatest story of all time - with sales north of 5 billion - is the Bible.
Faaarrrck.
Interesting how events change over time.
Can't wait to see the book/ books
Sounds entertaining at this point
Still when I think of gland I think of grub, lopez, antman and le.
For obvious reasons.
All goofies, all great surfers.
Great chapter in the t.c book about his time there
Then I flash to the tsunami with Rob Bain and Barton.
Strong connection with your hometown and the wave. Last year I was there when a boatload or two rocked up to celebrate a 60th. Lot of speeches and toasts, hearts laid on sleeves about what the place meant, then a late night (for them) and the next day a relatively empty lineup (for us).
Classic , wonder how its fairing after all the attention last year and the new road ?
Strong links, epic testing ground for Sam's boards.
Wasn’t Richie Lovett caught up in that Tsunami at G land?
Yep, and to quote him ,, "Yeah, I can say I've surfed G-Land. I surfed it in a hut through the jungle."
I wasn’t into ripping people off,” explained Middleton. “It’s why I got along so well with Miki Dora, as we didn’t rip people off. That brought us together.”
Oh dear. Dora's entire existence was financed by scams.
Don't believe what you read people, the joint is a hoax.
Go to Lombok
And everyone knows those photos are Photoshopped or AI or whatever.
Go to Flores. The rumours are true.
That was definitely an enjoyable read. Left me wanting more.
Agree with remarks about Dora, I doubt if he ever paid for anything from out of his own pockets.
Great work Stu. AW.
Well it is interesting, I’ll give it that. And obviously meant to be an invite to rollicking, funnin’ hilarity! I’m in then!!!
‘Sauce material’… from drug crazed blathering ockers… guess who… I dare you… freeride?
‘They're very fast but are harder to control when the waves get bigger and suckier. Speaking of, they just plain suck in the barrel.’
‘Now, where was I? Twin fins are shit in the barrel.
Hope I extricated myself out of that awfully delicate situation. Could've been terrible...maaaayyyte!’
Even more saucy material!!!
Yipes, reach for reliable back up ‘historian’, Warshore up so to speak, again!!!
‘And if you did manage to work out the twins’ complex and hypersensitive control functions, you could whip that thing up and down a defenseless small wave like a frat boy snapping freshman asses with a bathroom towel. Style didn’t much come into it. The point was to do damage. “Rip, tear and lacerate,” as the great MR himself put it.’
(NB: meanwhile every Tom, Dick, Mark, Jamie, Ryan, Murray, Bryce, Joel, Rasta, Banks… you could literally go on forever, it won’t make any difference, has ‘worked it out’)
‘I told myself, with blinkered teenaged optimism, would be the one. And yes, a couple of those boards were close.
But no. Not really. Not if the surf got over five-foot. Not if it got hollow."
-Matt Warshaw’
https://www.swellnet.com/comment/477469
Did he just say ‘blinkers’?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
That’s fucking hilarious!!! You two… ‘twins’… hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha!!!
Ok then, time for a glimpse of source material.
‘Glorious lots of long, long tubes’
‘I think its the best, or my favourite tube riding board I’ve ridden in my life’ Mark Healey.
Ok, let’s clarify the situation, history in the making!
‘I also reached out to surfing’s unofficial historian,’
Not again!!! There’s a pattern forming here! Thank God he’s unofficial! Anyway, for a laugh, carry on!
‘“Primary source material is the gold standard,” answers Warshaw. “Decades-old memories, not so much.”’
‘Before departing, I asked him one last question about how the current situation might resolve itself. “You're just looking for receipts, literally: evidence, photos, to make the case one way or the other,” explained Warshaw. “Barring that, it's up to us, the people writing about it, to allow for a possible alternative version, while also making the story compelling and not wishy-washy.”
“It's hard. But it’s fun, too. It's just surfing, but why not try and get it right, throw a little shrug in there because we don't at the moment know for sure, and keep the reader entertained at the same time?”‘
?si=kOjB9g_wtyRhkgJd ?si=5RMzYUuro71IRvtE ?si=Bhy1100eavGoz5lW ?si=K9ooK8Dq_CImEYAjSay what?
Goofer mentioned ‘bull dust’.
In this case, that might be a wee bit light on.
Imagine when the historians, and archaelogists come across the evidence, source material, video’s, legends riding and claiming twinnies, orders, banks of them even, sales receipts, millions upon millions of the actual boards!!!
But then they go deeper! Much deeper into the decaying mulch!
‘We came across an extremely dense layer, very dense, denser than dense even layer of fecal matter!!! And no, we aren’t just talking about info dreaming here, there was actually even more density!!!
When we finally penetrated the dense fecality so to speak, we came across twin, hapless figures, Nuttle and Warareyasure, doing historical surfee back up work, down at the rear end, the engine room so to speak!!! They were both in the fetal position, sucking their thumbs, and had actually coated themselves in an extremely thick, dense cocoon of the fecal matter, preserving themselves forever in surfee history! Twinning so to speak!!!?
When all of us examined all of the evidence, we realised that we had come across a breakthrough, pivotal moment in surfee history!!!
The evidence proved that this was the first time that surfees had willfully consumed copious amounts of ‘magic mushrooms… shrooms’, and we had discovered the birthplace of that iconic surfee saying:
‘YA TRIPPIN’ MMMAAAYYYTTE’
Then in an even greater, dynamic breakthrough so to speak, we found the video evidence to prove it!!! Extra saucey material!!!’
?si=PRklFihrjSYBFnbGAnd of course, when it comes to real surfee histry, let’s not forget all them deletions… and timely edits!!!
Anyway speaking of the voice, I might be losing mine… in fact I might have already lost it!!! Its surfee histry afterall!!!
Great stuff Stu.
Great read Stu.
I liked the ruminating about what makes it into the official record, "People can determine which history they accept" and the need to "create space for alternative versions". Something that is often overlooked in discussions elsewhere.
Great read,
In the same vein as the above it would be interesting to look into the “origin story “ of nihiwatu.
PM has some primary source material he might be willing to share.
God I'd love to sit down and have a good chat with him. Classic character.
Claude Graves and Dave Wylie?
Some interesting stories/ rumours here. Would be great to see series/ interviews of old Indo pioneers.
Doris, Banks, McCabe, Fallander etc
Surf histry is a classic. I met Tim Watts years ago. I actually helped him heaps at my own peril I might add. No hesitation. Years later, I knew that I wouldn’t be surfing for years, and that I would probably never go to Bali again. So I thought I would catch up just to say hello. It was like I never existed. His mate remembered the saga and apologized to me.
I have heard so many stories about a lot of long-term Indo surf expats like this, so of them shockingly bad.
Always got on well with Tim. Surfed quite a bit with him over the years, takes his share but found him to be a nice bloke.
Bali treated him well!
Yeh, and @ Dandandan, but he and a really nice guy that I met from Prevally, had the foresight and follow through to set themselves up really well, very early on.
When I met him all those years ago, it was in a full on, crazy, radical, heavy situation, where he was an innocent party, and I helped him out, full on as I said, at my real peril. He was really, super grateful, and said I should contact him, gave me his contact details. It really was full on and I just wanted to get going. I was there for months, he was in and out for business, and I didn’t try to make contact, but I bumped into him at Padang a few days before I was leaving. We had a really good talk, he was a nice guy, and he was taking off next day, and reiterated that I should have caught up, and to make sure that I do, if I go back. I went back a few years later, but did that West Java thing, and just caught up quickly at Ulu’s one day. The crowds and changes were getting to him from what he was saying. Insane surfer, I saw him at really heavy Padang the first time, like a walk in the park for him.
It was, maybe 20 - 25 years later when I thought I’d catch up, so it was a suprise. Maybe he thought I was after something, he probably gets besieged like that. It is what it is. It would have been nice to say hello.
Yeah by the time I met him was in early 00's and he was pretty established and financially very well off.
Just really surfed with him and chatted after surfs etc. Always nice bloke, but yeah took his waves.
Bali seems to attract a lot of grifters, so always had to be aware of that scenario.
A lot of interesting characters that could be a base story of many novels!
What a wonderful time in history those early days in Bali 70's must have been.
Yeh, Watts would have some classic stories. His mate in Prevally told me about back when they set up. When I first went, there virtually was no Legian, just a dirt road all the way to Ulus, that became a radical track even just going up the hill out of Kuta. One little hut on the point at Ulus. Nothing at Padang, it was a mission getting in there by land. The airport region was a beautiful beach, still virtually jungle with little fishing villages. Full on getting to Caangu, Miles of walking through rice paddies. One little hut for shade near the creek. Watts was already set up all over the area by then.
Speaking of all time characters, Brett Beasley. I went to West Java, that was pretty early for there. Really hard to get around, you had to get all these govt permits to get into the park. I scored some official maps, because when they found out I ran a caravan park, the Indo guy was really keen for info. Out around Genteng was the big mystery area, ‘Bay of 7 Waves’ ‘seven Glands strung together’ legends. The maps were so inaccurate, dangerous. I met Brett Beasley then, from Newy I think, can’t remember for sure. He wanted to be the first right out to the end, and set up a Gland style camp. He had a zodiac, fuck it must have been a mission lugging that thing around. We were staying in the port near Cimaja, Pelabuhan Ratu. Cimaja was a crap wave, well its ok, reasonably consistent, kind of Caangu. Some Kiwis were claiming that place, they were broke and stuck there, and my Hawaiian friend was having some daily banter offs with them, about never exposing the place. Hilariously they were all completely blotto one night, and because he was a goofy that lived at pipe and jockos, they were dribbling that they had some photos and a map, of the most amazing wave that they had ever heard of, a left hander. It was blax. We had a ball stirring the living fuck out of them after that.
But Beasley was truly epic, he would have some incredible stories. Really competent surfer, and he had these 2 Vicco guys, one with his chick, financing everything to find the 7 Glands. It was really hard getting boats to the end, we could get to Ombak Tujuh, a mission in itself, but the boats didn’t want to go any further and wanted heaps because they were losing fishing time. We, myself the Hawaiian and my wife at the time, actually got there by road, fucking insane life and death mission, we were lucky to even be able to get back. We, us and Beasley (I got a zodiac suckers) had both made it to Ombak by boat. I tried to tell them its a hoax, there are some sort of waves, really tidal, wind tunnel, and its kind of barren right out the end. They thought I was lying to keep it a secret and that made Beasley more determined. I was over it, and the day that I left for Bali, without the Hawaiian guy, Beasley had deserted the Victorians, had all their cash, and the chick had fallen in love with him. He set sail on this biggish boat with the chick, cashed up, supplies and the zodiac, pissing himself and bagging the shit out of the Victorians left broke and deserted in the port. ‘What are yas gonna do about ya wimps!’ He was a fucking classic. When I got to Bali, people were whispering about the ‘seven Glands’. The more I tried to tell them it was a hoax, the more determined they were to find it, even some friends from Elliston thought that I was trying to keep it to myself. The sheer entertainment of it all.
Having mentioned Brett Beasley, it got me wondering and I came across this.
https://www.thesurfnetwork.com/detail/bc4d02102f5b14809e7f3147a987e0af/e...
He’s actually in it. You have to pay a couple of bucks to watch it, and the travel part starts after about 14 minutes of classic born in the USA vlogmania. However the first bit is ok, interesting seeing some nice Rawsons, Tony Moniz, Winton etc. If you can survive the modern vloggers entitled, no idea blatherings, virtually filming themselves farting, and covering themselves with bandaids from head to toe, before you make it to their surfing, which is mind blowing, you should be able to make it that far.
Hahaha Brett Beasley, that island......he obviously didn't mention Max Lachlan.
I can well imagine it. If you know Beasley then you know exactly what I’m on about. I was pissing myself watching that film, the ‘guests’ stuck on that boat for days, I can imagine the bullshit, and the schemes that he would have been dreaming up.
I find this topic Quite interesting, as i myself have seen articles written about the history of surf spots such as Cape Solander and Rangoon / Minamurra declared "first surfed" by someone decades after i have personally surfed those waves.
one such article by Stu himself (who i have a great deal of respect for) that we have discussed.
Those two particular surf spots i have read amazingly inaccurate "folklore", even one pro surfer claiming to be the first to surf a spot last year that I personally surfed a few times two decades ago,
when I brought it up with someone from surfing online media, they hinted that ah its all good he's just doing his Instagram thing..
how is this ok?
I've discovered that some of these stories need to be taken with a grain of salt,
Get in touch with him Stu, he tells a good yarn.
As underground as it gets and still charging.
Wave has been breaking the same way, in the same spot for 100s (1,000s of years) - empty and untouched…..
And now we want to fight about who was the first to surf it…..seems sad to me ….. almost as sad as any non-indigenous Australian claming to be a local somewhere
The whole reference point is “me, me, me” until I first surfed it or I first lived here nothing of relevance was happening…..
Point in case this line
“Bali's other waves were still undiscovered,” pretty sure there was nothing undiscovered in Bali when surfers showed up…. I’m sure the locals had been watching, navigating, fishing and living around all these waves…..
Until we surfed it we call it undiscovered….ok then…
Sigh...it's written from a surfing point of view, of course locals knew about the locations, but did they know about the 'waves'? Who discovered their surfing potential?
This is pointless. In a surf media we discuss surfing as in ‘man or woman standing up on a board, riding a wave for recreational purposes’. I’m pretty sure Stu would love to credit an indigenous surf community doing that if evidences were to be found.
I dunno - if I was one of those guys I would hope I would say something along the lines of - how thankful I was that had the freedom and opportunity in my life to be able to surf somewhere beautiful and be thankful that those who lived there were happy to share their home with me and also guide me safely there and back.
The book 'Grajagan: Surfing in the Tiger's Lair' is amazing. The talk about what it was like in the early days, how Boyam was a nutter but had a nack for getting things done. They talk about how some of the early pioneers sold hash to fund constant missions there and the stories about how perfect it got on some magical where wind/tide/swell direction/moon phase all came together and they were driving through sections from Money trees all the way to speedies. heaps of good photos in the book too I read it cover to cover every night until it was finished
See if you can track down the film 'Sea of Darkness.'
Great doco....
Actually just found I think full version on Youtube, but alas no sound. :(
Yip I have a copy. The house they had in Jakarta was a bit weird aye hahaha
Wild times!!! ha
A mate sent me this the other day, and it has sound :) https://drive.google.com/file/d/10YnrhYHeVHbAPic_MNme4SM4wXD5u3B2/view?f...
Finally! Been so hard to track this down.
I'd love to know more of the details about why this film disappeared on the face of the earth so quickly.
Hey Dan…an uncut edit of the film was shown in Hawaii to a select crew of industry bigwigs and financiers. Rumour has it one of Quiksilver’s lawyers was there and slapped an injunction on it immediately and then buried it in legal until all references to Bob McKnight and the vague allegations of drug smuggling financing were withdrawn.
Haven't listened to this yet, but should be a ripper.
https://m.
Awesome thanks for sharing Andy
That podcast definitely worth a listen...
Interesting guy and take on things. Doesn't mind giving his opinion....
“I also discovered G-Land, Surfed it at 25 foot. No-one’s ever ridden it that big, even now.”
Sounds legit.
About as legit as the Tim Winton claim- enough to make a surf journos tongue bleed?
Thanks Stu, a great read. Just wondering re the name George Simpson in the article: "Raised in Perth, he spent his teenage years traveling to and surfing WA’s south-west alongside other noted pioneers such as George Simpson." Another Simpson, Chris, was an early Indo pioneer. I met him at Lagundri in April 1978. Chris went on to be a well respected marine scientist. He also surfed WA's North early on. Just wondering whether 'George' is actually Chris, or there were two pioneering Simpsons from WA. And if you're out there Chris, howzit!
chris simpson is definitely recognized as an early pioneer of NW WA, nothing to do with george simpson (and crew) - he is/was up there for 3 months this year; he must know that wave as well as anyone, I think he's 70 years old.
I've read both books and they are both entertaining and have great photos. Both are worth purchasing and I don't really care who claims the first surf at G-land.
Well written Stu, thank you.
The first to surf it or the first to open their mouth about surfing it?
I don't care about surf history at all. Just more egotistical bullshit of which surfing has more than its fair share.
This bit was funny though. “I wasn’t into ripping people off,” explained Middleton. “It’s why I got along so well with Miki Dora, as we didn’t rip people off. That brought us together.”
So unless I misrember everything I read in the Miki Dora book, all he did was rip people off. Non stop. My take away from the Miki Dora book was that a con man like that could only be a hero in America. They love them over there (see the last president for example).
x 2
Oh well, it looks like nobody’s seen the elephant. Again. I don’t how they could have missed it but.
https://www.youtube.com/live/1jX4A6Cma7g?si=4vsiACaXar1xlr5I
I could possibly identify those sounds coming from the mulch and undergrowth, but I’ve been booted out the botanical nerds club. They said that I only got the nerds bit right, and that I can plant all the quandongs and pick all the seeds that I like, coz no body likes a gym junkie anyway. To be honest, I don’t care… its a bit too icky, oops, I mean ilky down that end of town!!!
Back to the elephant but. Don’t give it a voice then. Might as well circle the wagons and go the old tried and true path… again!
?si=Zoczdkd0I6Jke_uQ‘Now St… dear, mummy and daddy are going to ask you again… dear… Did you and that frat boy Matthew take the keys to daddy’s car and drive it through the back door and…’
‘Well, just hang on a minute son, see son, its just that you and that frat boy Matthew were still in the car when it went through the front door and careened out into the… And our security cameras and the traffic cameras have got the whole thing on film… that’s called evidence see son…’
‘I told you love, he’s just gone and locked himself in his room again, God knows how long for, and he’ll probably spend all night on the phone again twinning with that bloody frat boy Matthew!!! Again!!!’
‘Well you try talking to him then, he never listens to either of us!’
‘Leave it to me love, I think I know just the person to lift that elephant!!! He’s officially an extremely big, strong, athletic, unmarked, untouched, good looking, pristine blax trained unit!’
‘Hello Bud…’
‘Really Bud… flat all day and probably tomorrow too…’
‘OMG!!! HOW LUCKY ARE WE HONEY!!! IT’S DELUXE!!!’
I remember watching American Sportsman in my late teens and being blown away.
OMG, unbelievable. I do not even need to read the article. The photos tell of a dream that occurs each day the waves rip across the reef. A dream that seldom changes with each passing click of second on the clock. Pure perfection, timeless where only man is what comes and then fades away. The only thing missing from this article is a few pics of hot chicks because the only thing that compliments perfect waves and hot chicks is a bank account full of the cash that you need to never have to leave the dream.
Yeh ,great write up mate ,well done.Had many trips in the 80 ‘s -90 ,s and went again during the scamdemic.More than once.Sitting in an empty line up during this time,I mean fucking empty was surreal. solo to maybe 3-5 blokes and 1 lady ,I often thought about the pioneers and those that first surfed it .Empty.What a trip.Agree with others,doesn’t, really matter who was first.Ego maybe.I wonder how many people have had the wave of their life at this magic place.I reckon I have.
Cheers all
Get amongst it
I mean deserts has perfection as well ,yes and others,but G-land has the grunt as well.Yeh baby.Power.
That was great tallboy what year was that made ?
First foray into Plenkung (G-Land) was 83 with a mate from the Central Coast. We had heard about this mystical never rending perfect left that apparantley made Ulu's look 2nd rate! Overland 8hr overnight hell trip Then rivermouth crossing to get to the famed reef was an experience in itself! Stayed @ Bam Bang's camp (Javanese guy) with 6 or 8 W.A. surfers for 2 weeks of absolute G-Land perfection. The W.A. boys told us they had a better wave in their own backyard(Tombstones) but I found that hard to fathom after the 6 to 10 ft G-Land we had surfed! Went back for several other trips to G-land till '87 but never had it as good as that very 1st trip. I then visited Fiji's outer reefs from '90's on wards after an earlier exploration trip there in '77 to the Coral Coasts where we surfed Sigatoka river mouth & various reefs we discovered. We seen no other surfers in the month we were there! The article above is a bit of fact v's fiction! Personally I didn't take any photos during my travels as surfing these hidden gems was my #1 priority & the camera equipment back then was cumbersome & expensive. As Dr. Goodnow states we told no-one,we went for the journey of discovery! Enough said!
Stu going Journalistic on real life interviews!
I just wanna see more WCT there!
Crowd the place out, cause i'm too old to surf there anymore!
To be fair, a WCT event in Sumbawa would be better.
Supersucks and yoyos
Yoyos is average and supers needs a big swell. What about somewhere more consistent like HT's or Nias? They had a Q's at Nias a year or two back and live streamed it and they got pumping waves, my eyes were glued to the screen
Bud1 , I nearly pissed myself at ...'If you can survive the modern vloggers entitled,virtually filming themselves farting' . Thats the funniest thing I've read this week , thanks mate .
This is edited in, I just saw your post Peterpan. Ive been typing for a while. This happened this morning.
Many would have experienced similar. This will warm your sweet little heart Basesix. Took a boat trip across some reasonably heavy water really early this morning. A bit like Lombok. Visiting a reli. Lucky it’s like a pancake swell wise, but the wind whips the ocean up out there, plenty of slop and white caps.
A reasonably big outrigger, maybe a 100 on board. Captain reversed into the thick mooring rope of another boat, leaving the berth. Classic commotion, couple of deckies had to dive over in the semi darkness, and do their free diving thing. After 30 - 40 mins of maneuvering from both boats and diving we were free.
About a 3 1/2 hour trip, we had seats down back and could stretch out and sleep. A bit fumey, and this thing masquerading as a toilet was pretty close, but it was windy so ok. An hour in, more commotion, looks like some lady is seasick. No, my wife tells me she is going into labour, premature by 2 months, complications and that’s why she was on the boat, to try to get to the ‘hospital’ on the island we were heading to.
Yep its real, pandemonium, chucked all the seats out of the way, cleared a space, my wife was with some other ladies helping. I made a bed out of life jackets, but people were telling me not to worry about that ‘its ok na’. Anyway the feet were coming out first, the lady is just doing her thing, as the boat was bucking and rearing. Most of the people were more worried about getting cold from the water spraying in. The family was freaking a bit, the crew was getting yelled at for lifting the blinds, because it was getting so hot and sweaty down on the floor at the back. People were pissed off getting sprayed.
Next thing the baby is there, they are swinging it around upside down. No heartbeat, not breathing. Head about the size of a tennis ball, tiny little thing, the cord and this sack of blood. Insane. My wife said it’s dead. Another lady said there’s no heartbeat, it was grey. I couldn’t stand it so, somehow all the CPR shit I had to have for PTing kicked in. We did the baby thing, but fucked if I knew if I was killing it or helping, puffing little breaths over its whole face the fingers on its heart thing, trying to think airway, don’t break its neck, ribs. It went pinkish and the lady said it had a weak heartbeat. It wasn’t breathing from what I could tell, but I told my wife and the lady we couldn’t stop until we got to the port. The mom was handling it, I’ve seen lots of ladies give birth in rice paddies, under huts, on floors of huts, it’s no big deal there. Like death. Most people were just saying don’t worry it’s dead.
About an hour out the captain gets reception and apparently an ambulance will be there, we told him to tell them the baby isn’t breathing. The heart beat stayed though and if I got the head in a good position doing the puffs thing it stayed pinkish too. Finally we docked, classic no ambulance. They were at the wrong wharf. The police were there though, and they were good, got onto the ambulance. They rolled up with a little oxygen bottle and mask, and a tiny tuppaware container first aid kit. They got the baby breathing so fuck knows, but my wife said they were talking about fluid. The police said we could go, I looked at the mother and she was thanking me, everyone was telling her her baby was breathing, but, I don’t think it was good. Who knows.
It makes me think about surfing, especially these days, surfers vlogging everything in sight, all the whining about absolutely meaningless surfing shit. This whole generation of techno recording at any cost. Performing seals. You can’t blame them, no one wants the rat race. It was just so different, cameras were banned where I did most of my surfing, genuinely banned. We often surfed alone. It was enough, just the surfing. And we all knew how to take care of ourselves out there in the desert. You had to. That came in handy traveling.
And it made think about living, making the most of every breath. So, like I said, its hard to blame anyone for what surfing has become, a circus act on sale, under the big top. Just people trying to avoid the rat race. Imagine those poor people driving the revolving wheel from cradle to grave. Someone has to, or no one can escape. What a shit system. We should be much more advanced. Not so logical, robotic. More human, more emotional about it.
The ineffectual dreamer who is the basis of your article should be respectfully dismissed. Mike Ritter and Jack McCoy’s book “Gradjagan, Surfing in the Tiger’s Lair” is the true history.
These “Walter Mitty” types are trying to rewrite history.
My head hung in disappointment that with all the information that comes with receipts the story still gets twisted to the satisfaction of “Walter Mitty”
Years ago secrets of any surf breaks had a life span of +/- 3 years. There are exceptions, but most surfers these days can't help themselves.
Had it best explained to me a few years ago: "It's painful to keep a secret."
And so the pain gets eased...
Sometimes there is pleasure in pain....
‘Finally! Been so hard to track this down.
I'd love to know more of the details about why this film disappeared on the face of the earth so quickly.’
‘Hey Dan…an uncut edit of the film was shown in Hawaii to a select crew of industry bigwigs and financiers. Rumour has it one of Quiksilver’s lawyers was there and slapped an injunction on it immediately and then buried it in legal until all references to Bob McKnight and the vague allegations of drug smuggling financing were withdrawn.‘
Perhaps I can help… again. Think twinfins in the barrel… its the same ‘ilk’, the same modus operandi so to speak.
(NB: before some of you start frenetically searching, ‘modus operandi’ isn’t a genus of plant species.)
‘Thank God! St… dear… uuuuunncclee Buuuuudd’s heeeeeere, we’d just like you to have a few words with him.’
‘He’s done the same old thing and locked himself in there for days now Bud!’
‘OMG, What’s that smell… again! Luv, where’s your gudangs, I told you that you shouldn’t have those useless things in the house, for God’s sake its 2023!’
‘St… dear… you know that you shouldn’t be smoking daddy’s gudangs again, you don’t want to grow up stunted… do you dear? No, we didn’t say that you are a short arse, and yes we’ve been on to your teacher, and all of those kids will get a good talking to… it’s just that there’s so many of them and these matters need to be handled carefully…’
‘St, son if you want to grow up officially an extremely big, strong, athletic, unmarked, untouched, good looking, pristine blax trained unit like uncle Bud, the gudangs won’t help!’
‘Come on now St… dear, yes I know… daddy says lots of things, and yes he did say that twinf…
And yes St… dear, I know that everyone has one and that they are all making movies getting barreled off their scones on them, but uncle Bud is helping daddy with that too…’
‘Luv, no, I’m not having a go at you, and I’m not starting up on the twinfins thing again… Well, its easy for you to say luv, but I’m the one stuck in the car park! And to be honest luv, the padded rashy isn’t exactly helping either… And no, for the last time I’m not going to help you make a vlog about wrapping your self up in padded rashies and sticking bandaids all over your self… who in the hell is even going to watch that kind of thing anyway!!! Could we just please focus on getting St… out of his room!!!’
‘For God’s sake Bud, you’ve really got your work cut out for you here, with these two… you know what, I’m going to have a nice lie down, and take a bex… in fact I might take a hand full of them!!!’
‘FFS… luv, have you been selling our bex again!!! I wondered how you paid for those Indo tickets… whhaaattt…???’
‘SSSSSTTTTTTT… GET OUT OF YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW… NO IT’S NOT UNCLE BUD, THE POLICE ARE HERE, AND BRING DADDY’S PADDED RASHY WITH YOU!!!’
Got a light, mate?
seems to be one on but not sure there's anyone home
back in fine form,
i loved those vlogger payouts, go Chooka
Haha, hello Clam, its so good to be surfing again, well trying to for now. You can’t take surfing too seriously, as epic as it is, especially after the stuff I witnessed on the boat yesterday. Say hello to bordo for me.
‘seems to be one on but not sure there's anyone home’
Nah, he’s home pape’s, don’t worry about that mate! He’s holed up in there all right, its just that the shutters are down, the blinds are shut, the door’s locked and he’s super glued the binkers on!!! Silly rabbit… he’s in there in total darkness, in a cloud of gudang smoke, probably chuckin’ a tanty and stomping up and down down on an innocent twinny, and blindly chucking darts at pictures of the likes of Healey getting pitted out his mind!
And you’re probably thinking, ‘ang on, why doesn’t he farkin’ vlog it then! I mean he’d be better off vlogging himself and every one else to death in the darkness!’
And some might say, ‘are you serious, who’s gonna watch that FFS?’
Hang on a minute, he’s just stubbed his toe, and speared himself with a dart, and now he’s trying to stick bandaids all over himself… in total darkness!!!
‘Faaaark we’re in then!!! Where’s the popcorn!!!’
?si=PsrFVm9hrbZq3qv0no hang on...there seems to be some sort of party going on in there.
Haha!
‘no hang on...there seems to be some sort of party going on in there.’
Just to be clear pape’s, you were talking about Healey, Obrien and co having a party in those barrels on their twinnies… weren’t you?
The ones’s that st… and fratboy warso, the bastions of surfee history, said are ‘shit’ in the barrel?
no I wasn't, but if it makes you happy, yes.
Tonight
Yeah GF!
Amazing. GF. What a spot. How's it been over there?
Unreal article Stu, well done
Do an interview with Beazley
i hear he is up in eastern samar running a call centre
said if he ever found a place like indo you would never see him again
maybe he is dead from syphillis
i think the other g land like wave the old guys used to talk about in the islands of sumatera is maybe no kanduis.
i know you guys are talking about ombak tuju in java however brett used to talk about another barelling left like g land
not deserts iether