by Shane Robinson
It is just past sunrise and there is not a breath of wind on the ocean. We currently have a left and a right hand reef break on either side of Khululu both within 200 meters of the boat. Except from the 5 people on board Khululu there are two other surfers in this bay – both of whom are also visitors to this tropical paradise. As far as surf vacations go – one couldn’t ask for more.

I joined the Khululu crew, accompanied by Stephanie Van Citters, about two weeks ago. We both flew into Bali; I flew in from New Zealand, and Stephanie from Canada. From there we took another flight, bus, overnight stay, bus, ferry, and another bus to finally end up at Nemberella on the island of Roti. For anyone who hasn’t travelled in Indonesia before, it is definitely an experience. Along the way you will find that tourists are subject to all sorts of “tax” that locals do not have to pay and you may have to share a seat on a bus with a farm animal. We have since sailed away from Roti and are island hopping our way towards Bali aboard Khulula.

The picture I painted above of our current ideal paradise is not an exaggeration but it does fail to highlight some of the flaws. With 5 residents currently on Khulula, two people are currently sleeping in the forward quarters. This also happens to be where the head (toilet) is. These two people also happen to be the ones who like to sleep in. For the rest of us early risers who may find nature calling first thing in the morning, we find ourselves using the outside toilet (over the edge of the boat). This normally would not be a big deal but the Indonesian fishermen are also early risers and are often fishing within10 meters of our outdoor bathroom. Privacy has to be timed vary carefully.

On our travels to Roti we had an overnight stay in the port town of Kupang. While walking around the seaside market at night we came across a young Indonesian boy cleaning up garbage off the street. He then proceeded to throw the garage he had collected over the barrier between the road and the beach. I peered over the edge of the barrier to see that the entire beach was covered in garbage to the point that you couldn’t see the sand beneath the garbage. As friendly and compassionate as the Indonesian people are, they have a lot to learn about what they are doing to the ocean. This shows the importance of what the OceanGybe crew are doing by raising awareness of the effects of garbage in the ocean.

Of all the surf vacations I have been on so far this has proved to be the best way to travel to surf. I of course have not been subject to the 3000+ mile crossings to get here. We spend our evenings on deck out in the cool breeze and don’t have to worry about the hygiene of the kitchen our food was prepared in. Being a natural insect attractor I am also very happy to say that there are no mosquitoes when you are anchored at sea. When ever I have surfed and stayed on land in the tropics before, I have had many sleepless nights sweating myself to sleep swatting mosquitoes.

And most importantly of all I would like to thank the Khulula crew – Bryson, Hugh, and Ryan – for helping me escape the 9-5er for some surf in the tropics with great company.

Shane Robinson