CHARTER FOURTEEN // 18 OCTOBER - 27 OCTOBER // 2007

Passengers: 
Drew Metcalfe, Roger Wong, Sean Dean, Tom Schutzinger, Nick Bobycomb, Adam McLean, Ben May, Matthew Cullen

After 40 hearty renditions of "Happy Birthday to Nick", with gusto, the boys carried on and went for a crocodile infested moonlit surf. They had the epic solo day by themselves. Bodies were burnt out. It was about day 6 but who was counting. Sean was a brave soldier due to an untimely ankle incident. But for Roger, Nick, Matt, Tom, Drew, and Adam. They needed the rest. The weather changed. The rain came down and they ventured elsewhere. On the way in a whale lay on its back and all left with miles of smiles.

CHARTER THIRTEEN // 3 OCTOBER - 14 OCTOBER // 2007

Passengers: 
Steve Kay, Nicol Wylie, Mick Ray, James Beckwith, Brak Sheehy, Adam Leslie, Jason Kuriata, Adam Sharp

Mick caught the last large wave of the charter from way up the reef. He had already had a few from up there; tubes and searing backhand off-the-tops. Now, he turned mid faced to avoid the other surfer and wore the brunt of the thick lip that compressed his ankle into his board. Swollen, probably broken. The swell dropped after that. The boys had been surfing hard and welcomed the rest.

Adam's tube time would see him grinning for a long time. Steve had just come in from a tow session and was stoked on that, his own tubes and the amount of fish they were nailing. Sharpy was content and fascinated with the dynamics of the plate tectonics. "the most volatile hotspot for potential earthquakes on the planet is right here. We are standing on it." Kerry Sieh told us whilst measuring the tidal difference at Rags Island. That particular island had risen about 45cm. As yet, the swell and wind have not been right for anyone to test Rags Right. Down South, the reefs had risen up to a meter and a half. We are noting, after 3 trips of surfing the area, there has been change in the way some of the waves are breaking, Better? Worse? Book a trip. Come find out for yourself. It is a whole new adventure up here now!

Nichol tried dam hard to get his 6 hours of surf in each day. Unfortunately, the swell really died on the last few days. So he literally wrapped himself in fish. Brak was a maestro on the ski; ripping myself and others into a few beauties. James played with whatever waves he could while Jason bounced and ripped all apart.

As the tide turned, and we all knew when, we set sail after a relaxing, fun trip.

CHARTER TWELVE // 19 SEPTEMBER - 30 SEPTEMBER // 2007

Passengers: 
Jeff Ugarte, Nicholas Ugarte, Mark Fitzgibbons, Gary Fitzgibbons, Mark Sydes, Paul Deurse, Stuart Wishart, Ben Biggs, Tim Ayliffe, Paul Pratt

We were on a bit of a mission this trip to take a tonne of rice and a heap of matches out to the villages that had not seen any aid since the earthquakes. Everyone was happy to do their bit. It meant going South into the Southerlies. The trick was to combine a surf charter with a some real aid work.

The surf was pumping and we did score some extra large lefts. One set worth mentioning took out the Captain, who scored a board up the bum and had to put 5 stitches in as no-one was that keen on helping. The same set took out Fitzy, who at first thought he had a strained muscle, but ended up fracturing his femur. Young Nick was charging well beyond his 14 years and the West Aussie were surfing true to form in the big waves.

We eventually did get down the bottom end and did our rice drop. Amazing to see how much the reefs had risen. The locals were scared and were camping in the hills each night for fear of tsunamis. The aftershocks were continuing and their reefs were very different to what they had known. Every right to be scared. No-one was injured, and we assured them to get back on with their lives. Via the email, we reported back to Surfaid, who were sending vessels to the area that were better equipped to deal with the villages in need.

The Capt fixed a GPS at one of the villages. This would show how much the reefs had moved during the two big earthquakes. The scientists were very appreciative.

Even though the wind was still strong, we kept a wary eye on new potential. Some we found, others will have to wait till the wind swings and the swells change. There is definitely some improvement in some of the more popular spots.

The Fitzy brothers ended up, with Tim, taking the record for biggest Dogtooth Tunas.

All in all a bloody amazing trip. The Capt catching up with his old mate, Jeff. 24 years ago they had run the Uluwatu track on their first trip to Indonesia. Hmmm, time, tide and tectonics wait for no-one.

CHARTER ELEVEN // 5 SEPTEMBER - 18 SEPTEMBER // 2007

Passengers: 
Andrew Read, Tim McGuigan, Steve Blackmore, Rob Couriel, Anthony McGillivray, Maurice Glynn, Rob Hicks, Dave Rushton, Andrew Maughan.

According to Kerry Sikh, the leading expert on Earthquakes in this region, we have entered a new phase in plate tectonics for this area. We all witnessed the mindblowing forces of the Sept 12 and 13th earthquakes that shook the South Pagai region. We were at Maccas, Ready had just caught 2 Mangrove Jacks when the whole jungle began to shake. The following day, Ready, Maurice and Andrew were out in the water and were shook up by the next quake. Now besides getting some great waves to ourselves, we realized as the tide kept dropping and dropping, that the reefs had risen! We were the first to witness this. Ready's photos went a long way towards the earthquake guys amping on the rise they had predicted. It changed the vibe of our whole trip. Shook us up somewhat. One none of us will forget for a long time!!!

CHARTER TEN // 21 AUGUST - 3 SEPT // 2007

Passengers: 
Tony Powell, Jeffery Sormus, John Guinery, Gary Salvesen, Chris Bingham, Ian Howcroft, Ernest Atkins, Jamie Fenton

Jamie was the first to surf it as far as I know. He named it "Emilies" after his daughter. And he surfed the shit out of this left, and every other one for that matter. The Southerlies were well and truly in and the lefts were all firing. The goofyfooters were in heaven. Bingo swallowed his ears from smiling so much. His solos the only thing breaking the solitude. Salvo still scored the best tube on his first wave at that other little left. The Firies were literally 'on fire'! Gecko would not go right, but we did not hold it against him as there was hardly any rights anyway. Ian threw those big boards around the long lefts, copped his floggings and came up smiling everytime. Sormo , the quiet achiever scored more than his fare share. But the Capt, Ernie, Tony, and Sormo were very happy individuals later coming across a whale early one morning on their way to a secret secret right that they surfed by themselves. It must have been the good karma for letting the turtle go, because as they say in the Department·"It doesn't get any better than this"

CHARTER NINE // 7 AUGUST - 18 AUGUST // 2007

Passengers: 
Shannan McLuckie, Justin Haines, David Nott, Simon Warren Jeremy Favot, Michael Sheard, Peter Button, Darren Speight

After boarding the Barrenjoey and downing a couple of quiet ones the boys and the BJ set sail with some big expectations of things to come. They weren't disappointed after the crossing with some glassy waves to greet them on arrival.

Shannan opened his account with some fun waves and looked like he was right at home. Jezza was fishing for the future however he was surfing everyday like it was his last with some epic left barrels. Not to be outdone Pete also got some fine tubes when the rights started firing. Darren showed he had been here before with some great waves also. Simon, Mike and Justin were determined to get some fish and after many waves each day they managed to also reel in some good fish over a few arvo bintangs. David had some funny stories on the lizard lounge and at the end of the day we were all happy he didn't need any medical attention that required anything more than a bit of lime.

As the weather closed in on the final day we headed for home with the storm chasing but unable to catch us. Another great trip with some great aussie blokes.

Nutty

CHARTER EIGHT // 25 JULY - 5 AUGUST // 2007

Passengers: 
Luke Gifford, Lindsay Mowday, Shannon Mowday, Ryan Waine, Tim Bell, Miles Hogood, Robert Alexander, Patrice Geraghty, James 'Jimmy' Patheyjohns

Bloody Central Coast lads! It was always going to have the swell·and something extra. This year we had a few blow-ins in the form of Texas who stopped at nothing, and I mean nothing. Jimmy who loved the left tubes and Patrice.

After the first day at the Office, everything paled into insignificance·well almost.

But day one had the tubes, absolutely no crowds, the wipe-outs that turned the back deck of the BJ into a MASH Unit, the fear factor. Welcome! There was some ski fun early. Warming up for a swell that became too raw in most places.

By the time the swell started, myself and Ryan were standing on the reef watching the jet ski scrape itself along the coral as the waves pushed it further from our grasp. Our new toy was officially second hand. Lesson learnt. Jet skis are fun and useful, but catastrophe can strike within seconds.

By the middle of the trip, everyone was burnt out, sore and recovering from scrapes and bangs. Meaning, they all were having a go. It was a wild ride. It was the Central Coast boys again!!!

CHARTER SEVEN // 10 JULY - 21 JULY // 2007

Passengers: 
Damien Oliver, John Powell, James Winks, Carl Spry, Old Bernie Spilsbury, Young Bernie Spilsbury, F.S.

Giddy up boys (and one girl).

Olly and JP had brought back a couple more Jockeys to buck the system. Winksy and Sprysy were the two to do it. Mind you, the captain could have thrown them into something a little less death defying than that first left that had all but Olly and Old Bernie scattering under hoof. Sprysy was a classic going over the falls on a 6ft pitching left hidden away from the crowd. He came up laughing. But when you are getting thrown of horses at 70 mph and receiving some of these guys injuries·well, it is only water, and reef.

The boys enjoyed their fishing, and started the ball rolling this year by filling the freezers to the brim. FS enjoyed the whole escape, even the Bynda ride across heaving seas in search of secret waves. Young Bernie found his feet near the end while his dad surfed his bloody heart out. Olly and JP loved it all. And yes, I was the only one to see Olly get spat out of that barrel on that day!!!!

CHARTER SIX // 12 JUNE - 24 JUNE // 2007

Passengers: 
Keith Lewis, Ryan Ferreira, Christian Hadeed, Peter Staubes, Leroy Quesnel, Doug Hadeed, Troy, Warren Ronstant, Luc de Montbrun

Was there 8 Jack Sparrows aboard? They certainly sounded like him when they joked amongst themselves as the Barrenjoey headed into another swell. As it turned out, they were descendents of pirates of the Caribbean.

The Trinidad boys had made the long trek around the world. The gusto was there as they paddled under 8ft heaving lets on their first surf. Ryan, Warren and Keith were all charging·hard. No sooner were the boards broken, fixed and broken again. Persistency paid off. Petey scored his share. Doug slashed as if he had a cutlass in his hand. Leroy swashed and buckled through many a tube. Luc powered out of turns with the speed of a cannonball. Christian and Troy floated till their hearts content. Scrapes were scoffed at. "Add 'em to the Tatoos" they yelled and went back for more. They were Slojahs from a different era. Welcome back boys!!!

CHARTER FIVE // 29 MAY - 9 JUNE // 2007

Passengers: 
Shaun Dickson, Peter Taplin, Tim Taplin, John Tapsell, Jeff Tapsell, Daryll Snow, Bob Bevern, Scott Brown, Steve Lynch

Fynn watched, captivated, as Tow Story 2, played for the umpteenth time.

Tato-head Taplin, Buzz Dickson,and Woody McTow on a quest to drag every wave in the Men-tow-ies. They had met up with some unlikely support when they ran into the Star Trek Enterprise of the Kantor Galaxy. Joined now by Doctor Scott and Bob the Builder, their quest to quench the desire to tug each other seemed destined to find fulfillment as the wave count surpassed anything previously matched in Tow Story 1 where the Ocean had met the Earth.

It was only Johnny T and GT, who opposed the strappers with all the might of their strained arms while they still could. The Snowman dabbled, but ultimately gave way to a slow releasing paracetemol that eased the aches and pains of his extended joints. The Pilot joined him after his foray into the Netherlands behind the warp dimensional craft.

Buzz lured ferals into his universal plight. Indomie had never tasted so good for Ben and Joe. The parrying twitched back and forth. Bob the Builder was hit by a particularly nasty twin fin laser that knocked him off his feet and smashed his head unceremoniously into the reef. Doctor Scott was a hero that morning and even Fynn had a pat of sympathy as he realized Bob the Builder would be delegated to the decks to witness the final outcome of this battle of rope against paddle.

Young Timmy flew through the air with the agility of youth while Tato-head lured him into triple overhead waves with the might of the VX. Tato-head had spawned the young spud in another time warp and was proud as punch with his son's prowess during the galactic voyage. Timmy manifested into the Silver Surfer. Fynn laughed and yelled "To Infinity and Beyond" and Johhny T roared on his final surf, through the barrel and Beyond·.