S T O R I E S - A R C H I P E L A G O

A R C H I P E L A G O


Chapta 1

Zoomed in on Google Earth, we huddled around, eagerly clutching cold Bintangs whilst sweating over the keyboard.  We could all see it.  In the dim warm glow of the citronella lamp we could all see it.  I was going.  I didn't know about anybody else, but I was definitely going.

In Bali you hear a lot of whispers.  Whispers of Indonesia's longest Right (there must be at least a hundred of those) or some left that makes Desert Point look like Serangan.

Truth is, a lot of the whispers have merit.  Sometimes it'll be a place that is so fickle and so remote that only a handful of surfers will ever get to score it on.  Some will travel all that way, stake it out for 2 or 3 weeks and just get totally skunked.  Best they had it was one foot, onshore and sectiony.  They'll tell all their friends it's a hoax and then neither they nor their friends will ever return..much to the delight of the guy who's totally dialled in to what makes it tick and has been trying to keep it a secret his whole life.

This is a story about one such wave.  I found it on Google Earth, although it didn't really look like a wave from the photo, I thought the potential was there:  the shape of the land, the angle of the approaching swells..it looked the goods. I showed a couple of close friends but they were sceptical about whether the swell could get in there.  No doubt it would require a decent swell from the right direction, but I backed myself on this one. The waters leading to it were deep.  Energy conservation.  I figured out how to get there, checked the budget could hold it, and then rolled the dice...




My name is Archibald Montgomery Smith, and I am a surfer.
I grew up in Capel, Western Australia.  Went to highschool in Busselton and university in Perth.  These days I live in Dunsborough, working as a physio and generally surfing about 4-5 times a week.

Mum and dad taught my younger sister and I to surf around Yallingup and Margaret River, and on really big swells we would often surf a short walk from home, at the Capel Cut.  My sister, Gracie, is two years younger than me, but she loved the ocean as much as I, and took to it with fervour and glee at every opportunity.

When I was ten, mum and dad took us to Bali for the first time.  I loved it.  The waves were so good and the water so warm.  I loved the freedom of surfing in boardshorts.  Mum and dad had been there before so they knew a few little out-of-the-way gems where we could surf, either alone or with just a handful of others.

After that trip I was hooked on surf travel.  We did a few more family trips to other parts of Indonesia during my teens, scoring great waves in Sumbawa, South Sumatra and The Mentawais.  But as soon as I started earning a wage I was keen to spread my wings and explore other parts of the world.

By the age of 35 I had scored fantastic waves and had many memorable experiences around the globe in locations such as Mexico, France, Madagascar, Fiji and Japan.  

Indo got it's fair share of visits during that time too.  Being so close to WA, and with waves that good, it's hard to ignore.  And with each successive visit, you learn more secrets about the place, and it becomes evermore addictive.  

Which brings us to now.



to be continued...