CHARTER ONE // 1 APRIL - 12 APRIL // 2006

Passengers: 
Mick Rose, Kent Ladkin, Ron Quinn, Keiran Quinn, Matt Prince, Bruce MacIntyre, Peter Bailey, Gerard Krelle

Barrenjoey's first trip of the 2006 season. We could feel the off season drydock shavings oozing out of our pours. Small swell, but it did not matter. The sea was clear. The weather was superb, and the Gerringong boys didn't whinge once. Well, Kieran began to after the Captain ordered him back into the surf a Maccas. "I don't care if you have only surfed 7 hours today. Ya 14 and getting any wave ya like. Get back out there!" Who was he to argue? There was the odd 4fter, but the boy was sore the next day. Gerard and Bails couldn't get enough rights and scored a few lonely gems by surfing against the norm. And just quietly, they weren't that small for this time of the year. Good on ya boys. Mick, Bruce, and Matt surfed themselves out by day 5, and again by day 11. A Wahoo and a GT were the big fish catches for the trip. Keiran again proving his salt by hauling in the 15 kg GT. Ronnie's eyes turned into salty red craters by the end of the road. Kent showed us all that true style never dies on his longboard surfing waves that most longboarders would baulk at, and sure he is over 50!

CHARTER FIFTEEN // 9 NOVEMBER - 23 NOVEMBER // 2005

Passengers: 
Philip Leadley, Glenn Platt, Eden Scallan, Richard Scott, Luke Wilson, Ian Wallace, Adam Gibson, Simon Gibson, Peter Colquhoun

What the hell!!!! was my response checking the naval website to see what waves we might expect on our charter.

A huge sub 1000 Indian ocean low had lost its bearing and instead of spinning around in June/July was turning purple in mid November as we packed our boards.

1st morning didn't disappoint as we pulled up at double overhead Rifles. Raw ocean swells hitting this reef and standing up several hundreds metres in front. This joint is a cross btw Backdoor and Jeffries!

This was a serious swell and the biggest piece of fibreglass was what you were reaching for. The boyz were all over it....Rick, Bucket, Deadley and The Doctor got the best of it and their experience in these parts showed! A couple of barrels were etched forever in the minds of those who saw them (looking out and in!).

One of Ricks waves in particular was caught on film and shown that nite .....lets just say it hit double figures while he was in the barrel.....the boat erupted! But by some cruel twist of fate the next day while transferring to another camera the wave was wiped! He was gutted!

At the end of the 1st day a couple of boards were gone, some bark was on the reef but the grins in the Lizard lounge where as wide as some of the pits!

Next day it dropped back a little but the waves were still pumping! We surfed a multitude of reefs around the playgrounds area and everyone was reeling!

3-4days into the trip (I think!) we headed off during the night and arrived at Lances left. It was a nice 4 ft with a boatload of Japanese are only company! The Goofies on board came into their own as the swell steadily rose. Wal, Humba and Platty all scoring epic waves as still the swell came up! The natural footers starting dribbling with the thought of what the office might be up to, so we bailed leaving Humba and Wal at the left.

The office was indeed solid but a little confused and after a arvo session of some good waves and some not so good waves the call was Maccas. Next morning I awoke to a 4-5 ft skate park.

The boat emptied pretty quick as everyone tried to outdo each other with pits ,hooks and the odd soul arch!

This charter was on fire!..... in fact the Captain was calling it the best start to a charter ever!

By now we had had 7 days straight of pumping waves! Boards had been broken, knees teaked, shoulders torn, skin lost but still the boyz kept going into battle (some needing a little more prodding than others by this time). Elvis the cook kept us running on a full tank while Selamat, Fury and Yudi laughed at us and with us in what is really a surfers dream holiday!

The second week the swell was up and down and we even managed to discover some new breaks (there still out there!) and claim naming rights! Towards the end of the charter the weather starting to follow the script for November and turned ugly with wind and rain and some of the boys turned a little green. A classic run back into the mainland followed with some below decks ,others above....lets just say the ones that stayed up enjoyed a great exhibition that could not have been foreseen!

To John, Belinda the crew and the latest addition Fynn thanks for an epic trip!

BY DEADLY

CHARTER FOURTEEN // 29 OCTOBER - 9 NOVEMBER // 2005

Passengers: 
Chris Desmond, Sam Smith, Peter Barry, Michael Court

A relaxed charter hindered by atrocious weather conditions for the first week. Only 4 of the planned 8 turned up and we left into deteriorating weather conditions and small swell. There is always a wave up here and we managed to sneak a few surfs in with the lack of crowds. Mike, at 65 years old was an inspiration. One of the original Raglan Boys. Proud as punch to tell me he first surfed the classic left in 1959. He wanted rights and got 'em for the first few days. Pete, another of the Raglan Boys, also wanted rights as was very pleased with the warm up waves on offer. He had recently sold his 60ft steel sloop and fitted quite comfortably into life aboard the Barrenjoey. Chris was back for his third time, and Sam for her second. And that was the team.

We ran from the mad West winds, sails up and a 6ft wind swell chasing us to shelter. That was when the Marlin hit, spooled the line and snapped it. "they love this weather" exclaimed Mike. It would have been a mission to slow the boat down in the horrendous conditions.

The swell hit in the middle of the Westerly Wilds. It became very difficult to find some clean surf between the 50 knot gusts. And did we mention the rain. Everything was wet. By day 7, when the sun shined and conditions improved, there were grins from ear to ear. It did not matter that we had to surf lefts. Clean bloody lefts at that. It was perfect and we were all very happy indeed.

The last day the swell picked up again. We had 6ft lefts to ourselves. It's November and the map look insane for the rest of the month. There were some sore and sunburnt bodies as we headed back to port.

CHARTER THIRTEEN // 14 OCTOBER - 26 OCTOBER // 2005

To come ...

CHARTER TWELVE // 1 OCTOBER - 12 OCTOBER // 2005

Passengers: 
Nigel Cowan, Mark Simpson (Simmo), Stephen Hall, Stuart Wishart, Troy Andrews, Warwick Hills, Chris Brooks, Jeff Reynolds

"A Seppo's Tale"

He usually went with his crew from the US of A, but the rest of his crew couldn't get their act together this time. With 2 kids on base and 1 more in the on deck circle he knew it would be awhile before he saw another Sumateran sunset first hand. He inquired with the Captain as to availability and as luck would have it there was one spot open.

The Seppo decided to wear the thick skin. Didn't normally need to, but he was on board with 7 Aussies, plus the Captain and his wife and new baby Fynn. One solitary man grabbing beers out of the cooler as the rest of the crew pulled piss from the esky. Forewarned is forearmed, and the Captain had already fired a warning shot in his e-mail prior to departure: "..it'll be good to have a Seppo scapegoat along..." hhhmm.

Turns out they were a fairly amiable bunch; perhaps they thought they should take it easy on him, even when he laid it up on a platter. He called the beer fridge the "cooler" just to get a rise out of them, and it worked. He acted like they were nuts when they ate that crap called Vegemite, even though he'd seen it a hundred times before. But they never really laid into him too badly, somewhat dissapointing in a sense but nice and unexpected in another. Sure they threw a few barbs here and there; he learned what an "esky" was pretty damn quickly, and he began putting on his "leggie" rather than his leash, before each session. And dammit if he didn't walk the face of the earth for 37 years before someone called him "Simmo."

And they got some surf too. Stu had been before, the Seppo a number of times; same with the Colonel. The other 5 were ripe Mentawaii virgins drooling with anticipation like drunken schoolgirls one hour after prom and 3 wine coolers deep (that's American humor, boys). They weren't dissapointed. The Captain took them straight to the Office (surprise!) to clock in before heading out into the field.

No other boats for the first 4 days. Plenty of swell. The beautiful South. Big offshore Indonesian dreams at the righthander. The wonderful little wedging right that the Sydney boys took apart all day. England heading in for the reef check. The Captain trying to Dis member the Seppo at the top of the point on a very shallow righthander ("now I remember why we don't surf this place too often...." Umm, thanks Cap'n). Lucking into a late evening, excuse me, a "late arvo" session at a notoriously fickle and shallow righthander. The tubes at the left. More tubes at the right. The Colonel taking a big shallow right to task while we cheered him on from the lounge.

The Seppo for one had never been as surfed-out before. It was the last day of the trip, and the swell had dropped off. 2 days worth of surfing had been done at the weenie righthander with a host of other boats that were relegated to sharing due to some funky winds. Granted, the wave was pretty much at it's best, and it was actually pretty damn good. But too many rats in a cage after 8 days of relative seclusion were tough. The fins were unscrewed; the wax had been taken off the decks. All his boards were ready to go home except a magic 6'8" round pin that had been left out, "just in case." Sore and tired, ready to be home.

"Simmo you're out there mate." Out of a very solid sleep on deck to standing postion in 3 seconds flat and there it was; a much sought after wave these days, rare and beautiful, overhead and firing down the reef, completely empty and out of the blue. Standup down the line barrels. They shared it amongst themselves for a long while until the tide got too low and it was gone. By that time the Barrenjoey was pointed for home, and the beers in the esky were colder than ever.

CHARTER ELEVEN // 17 SEPTEMBER - 28 SEPTEMBER // 2005

Passengers: 
Andrew Harris, Paul Harris, Michael Haris, William Hill, Julian Standley, Carl Hanninen, Clifford Allan

Demons dwell in unusual places; our heads, hearts, underneath heavy, heaving waves, amongst the reef, and on the deck of the Barrenjoey with a Captain nursing his 8 month old son yelling "get out there ya softcocks!" Julian knew his limits and his newly mended broken wrist was the perfect excuse. He lit a cigarette and calmly turned to the Captain and said "piss off!" The Harris Brothers also knew theirs and claimed someone had to document the epic surf and it might as well be them. The rest of the lads went out and had a real dig. Several over the falls later, some big barrels, mountainous take-offs, and big whompings, they were washed out by an ever increasing swell. It was time to run and search for something a bit more mellow.

All the obscure spots were firing. Normally dormant waves showed off their wares and the boys showed their style. The fish were jumping into the Bynda Laut. Grins mixed with scratches. Stories became bolder with each swill of Bintang. The waves, as they have done all season, kept rolling in. For the keen members, it was a wavefest.

The city slickers returned subdued over a glassy sea, glazed looks in their eyes. The hint of adventure simmering down. Their next surf, probably Bondi Beach. The suntans will peel away and that shallow reef pass will remain an obscure dream slipping away from reality.

CHARTER TEN // 2 SEPTEMBER - 14 SEPTEMBER // 2005

Passengers: 
Ian Lyon, Tony Warrilow, Adrian Quilter-Harvey, Brian Murtagh, John Bennett, Brett Parr, Peter Smith, Murray Wilson

It was always going to be interesting with the Wildebeast, the Lyon, JB, Adrian, and The Life Of Brian returning. A ceaseless swell had been pulsing back and forth for most of the year with a particularly strong push headed our way. Time enough to warm up with perfect lefts and rights that stood a couple of feet overhead. The Lyon was still licking wounds from last year and all the years before but the Captain kept reving him up till he was forced to take off deep, get tubed, hit the reef, and come out grinning Bintang in one hand, sunset searing on the other hand, and a handful of stories. Wildebeest paced the deck before every surf. He surfed with abandon, throwing caution to the offshores and reliving the halcyon days of an Angourie winter. JB was styling through the lefts,getting tubed, not catching enough fish and generally having a ball till the Captain skulldragged him out to The Thing at the peak of a new raw swell. My Gosh were they humbled with 8 by 8 of sheer terror if you did not make the wave. JB was unceremoniously caught under the biggest set of the morning and driven like a watermelon into the reef, board and body smashed. Blood on the deck. They ran, tails between their legs, the whole boatload of 'em, searching for something, anything a little more user friendly. Adrian found utopia in an obscure left and a few rights. It was all he needed and his surfing showed. Muzza needed the hollow lefts to stuff his big frame into. He got 'em and put on displays of incredible tube finess. Brian, Pete, and Brett just kept grinning, whatever came their way. Pete would sneak sessions by himself, crack a beer around 4pm, sit back, laugh and say "I'm on holidays"

Second year running for the lads. They wanted different waves and got them. They are the classic bunch of wisened travelers. No expectations. Just stoked to be out on the BJ relaxing from the grind. And none of us will ever forget The Thing!!!!

CHARTER NINE // 6 AUGUST - 17 AUGUST // 2005

Passengers: 
Noel McCalary, Phil Burchal, Clinton Taylor, Rob Bartlet, Mel Vukicevick, Jason Gava

"There's only one Sandon Point" said Jason with the venom of a sea-snake. The Capt pulled his head back into his rash vest in an attempt to hide from the six sets of eyes that pierced his inner being. He knew he had trodden on crusty toes by naming this spot Sandon Point. "Ah, I was only joking fellas. We'll call it Bondi then." Noel laughed, cracked a beer, sculled it and said, "Well I reckon this place still breaks better than Bondi". And the bagging continued.

They had been speeding around the archipelago in the Bynda Laut. They had managed to escape from the pack and by the end of the trip would have scored 3 new breaks. The Capt was loving his new speed boat. It was his second charter back and already it had scored them un-crowded waves and glimpses of umpteen potentials.

The Sandon Point boys were hardcore Australians. They surfed hard, drank their fill, and bagged the shit out of each other and everything and everyone who breathed in their vicinity. If you did not have thick skin, then they would whittle you away to a non-existent being.

They came in search of rights but the elements dictated lefts. And some bloody good sessions were had. Who could forget Mel's Corner? And who could forget Mel? The Capt reckoned he asked more questions than anyone in the history of the Surf Charter Industry. Not to mention a surfing style as timeless as Gerry. Clint, the grommet, held his own amongst the old blokes and took it to the Brah Boys on one arvo session. Jason showed what years on the circuit can do for one's surfing, even if his time was cut short by a knee injury. Dirty Philthy loved the lefts and squeezed into any barrel on offer. Noel showed grace under pressure of his mates heaping the dirt on him, and MR kept bashing those lips and couldn't stand the thought of the Capt smashing his 6'3" to pieces. That was his job.

The fish jumped in all 3 boats, the Barrenjoey, the Bynda Laut, and the Joey. We learnt celestial navigation and had many a laugh. The storms threatened all trip and the bloody rights never showed. The Capt was asked to join the Boardriders. And the Mentawais proved they are still a magical place.

CHARTER EIGHT // 27 JULY - 6 AUGUST // 2005

Passengers: 
Trent Brailey, Cameron Sharpe, Randal Sharpe, Lloyd Bishop, Phillip Coote, Marcus Davidson, Chris Ambrose, Chris Anderson, Luke Duggan.

It was time to get back to The Office. The faxes had been piling up for the last couple of months and they were stacked back to the 3rd reef waiting to be read. When the swell hit, there were some unreadable ones, others, no-one wanted to read.

The Central Coast crew's good fortune continued to shine on the Barrenjoey. They scored. Plain and simple! From 3ft to 10ft·. Barrels and new breaks and broken boards were the order of the trip. The lads were classic. Louie kept pulling in and continued to try and beat Filthy into the line-up of any new break we came across in the Bynda Laut. It got to the point were we already named a break Louies Left and another one Filthys that we had to mix the name up a bit and call another spot Floosies. Even Lloyd got one named after him. On one day we surfed 6 different breaks in a day, all thanks to our new speed boat, Bynda Laut. Mind you it was hard to tear ourselves away from 10ft double up Office·.well it was getting to the stage where the Office was tearing us up.

We ended up getting towed into a couple by Martin Daly at another spot. Cammo was classic, after pulling in and getting cheese grated across his chest, blood everywhere, Martin came in on the jetski thinking he would want a lift in. Na! He just wanted to be towed into a couple. Marcus was surfing better than ever for his second time up here. Booger and Coon had a blast, blasting. Richo kept laughing and Twist surfed his bloody brains out. We even scored a Mahi and a Wahoo on the last day.

And about those new spots·yep, they are in the Mentawais. And there is still plenty out there.

CHARTER SEVEN // 27 JUNE - 8 JULY // 2005

To come ...