Words Sam Zubevich

Photos Haydn Clentsmith

3.3 meters at 18 seconds. When a swell of this size and power hits Indonesia, euphoria can turn to dismay in a matter of seconds as the opportunity for the wave of your life turns into the very real threat of serious injury or death. After hitting WA and peppering our eyeballs with ridiculous shots of Cow Bombie, The Right and North Point, the swell of the season made landfall in Bali and its surrounding islands on Monday the 11th of August. While the Rip Curl Cup ran in perfect 6-8 foot Padang Padang, reefs across the country lit up and provided one hell of a spectacle. Friend of Surfing Life Haydn Clentsmith, a pilot from the Gold Coast, was on Nusa Lembongan to witness the Indian Ocean wreak havoc on everything from surfer’s bodies to boats and pontoons.

Photo 111 FinalNow that’s what y’call getting yourself into a pickle.

Surfing Life: There was a fair amount of hype around this particular swell because of the Rip Curl Cup waiting to run at Padang Padang. Was there a big sense of “something’s coming” in the days leading up to it?

Haydn: I’ve been to Bali on around 10 or so surf trips now, and on most of those trips I head to Nusa Lembongan every time the swell is big enough. Leading up to the swell, Magic Seaweed was constantly predicting the primary swell on the 11th August to be nine foot at 19 seconds with full moon tides varying from -0.1m to +2.7m. I hadn’t personally seen such an epic swell combined perfectly with the extreme tides of the full moon. The locals say the big tides allow the swell to refract into the islands much easier without losing energy.

SL: Everyone in Indo must have been chomping at the bit. Had you already planned to go to Nusa Lembongan beforehand, or was it a spur of the moment thing based on the forecast?

H: It was both the biggest swell and tide that I have seen, so I knew Nusa Lembongan would be absolutely mental and Lacerations would be maxing out. I had planned to be in Bali from the 4th – 19th and seeing this swell hit on the 11th meant only one thing for me. I would attempt to surf somewhere on Lembongan and hopefully get a couple of snaps with my camera from up on the hill.

Photo 4 FinalEek.

SL: The peak of the swell was forecast to be 10-12ft+ with bigger bombs at exposed spots, which is ridiculous…

H: Yeah. With the huge tide variations there was too much water running through the channel between Playgrounds and Lacerations, however it really only affected Playgrounds – no one was surfing there. In the deep channel between the two spots are a number of pontoons used by the day-trip ships which frequent Lembongan. The bigger ships anchor a little deeper out and use a tender to bring the tourists to snorkel around those huts, but obviously nothing was happening there on this day. I heard that a rogue set before had hit the end, but to my knowledge I am unaware of the other huts in even deeper water being struck…

photo 5 FinalSo. Much. Carnage. It’s truly amazing that no one was severely injured from this set.

SL: So when this one came through, people weren’t expecting it? Or how did they end up stuck out there on the pontoon?

H: When this rogue set rolled through, I think the remaining surfers left out at Lacerations had paddled in, as it was getting too shallow with the tide running out. But some stayed on the hut, thinking it was a good idea to continue watching the unridden waves roll through. I had left Lacerations about 30 minutes earlier and quickly ran to get my camera to capture some of the madness unfolding.

I was standing on the hill near Coconuts Beach probably for only five minutes when I saw this rogue set come in from the distance. It appeared to be about an eight wave set, each wave behind bigger than the last. I could see the spectators on the pontoon and couldn’t believe what was going to happen… I knew it was going to be swamped… I couldn’t contain myself hooting away like a grom, yet wondering if the guys on the pontoon knew that they were going to get swamped. Would they stay? Would they jump?

As I was snapping away I realized they had a boat moored up to the pontoon. I didn’t see it earlier but it had ripped free of its mooring, and started driving itself on top of, and through, the remaining pontoon that didn’t have any people on it. Funnily enough it steered itself perfectly straight the whole time and continued to ride the wave for another 100m!

Photo 3 FinalThe lead up.

SL: Holy shit. Was everyone OK?

H: Well, funny you say that. Everyone was OK from the rogue set, but about 30mins or so before the rogue set rolled through I was out in the line up myself and there was some serious carnage. I was paddling back to the line up I saw a surfer trying to make his way up on to a pontoon (the same one which would see the spectators holding on for dear life later on). I could see he was injured; his shirt was ripped and bloody. A bodyboarder already on the pontoon helped him up and I quickly came over to help as I was paddling by. He laid flat on the deck covering his rib cage. He said he couldn’t really move and it felt like he had broken ribs.

He lifted his shirt and what was underneath looked like he had thrown himself onto a hand grenade filled with reef shrapnel! I thought to myself, well I’m definitely going in now. I managed to hail down one of the local boat drivers who had a guy and his girlfriend on board taking photos from the channel, but as we were waiting for the driver to get close enough to the pontoon a huge set approached. Each wave broke nearer and nearer to the pontoon we were on… After that set the boat driver came close enough and helped the injured surfer into the boat and took him close to shore, where we jumped in and helped paddle in. Believe it or not his mate he was staying with was a nurse and happened to be waiting on the beach, so he was taken care of. But if he hadn’t gotten off that pontoon before the rogue set, I don’t think he would have been OK.

Well, glad everyone’s OK. The ocean sure does some crazy things.

Photo 2 FinalHold on for dear life guys. HOLD ON!