SUP C4 Waterman Crew Hits Mentawais | News

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Wednesday, 27 May 2009

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SUP C4 Waterman Crew Hits Mentawais

Martin Daly’s CAPTIANS LOG 5-2009
INDIES TRADER III MENTAWAIS, INDONESIA
C4 Waterman SUP GUYS get SMASHED and SHACKED in the MENTAWAIS

Hawaiian-based but distributed right here in our backyard in Encinitas, CA, C4 Waterman just took its crew on a trip to the Mentawais, Indonesia.

MENTAWAIS, INDONESIA -- I’ve seen a lot of surfers ride shallow reef waves off my boats in the Mentawais over the years, but I have never really seen anyone on a standup paddleboard come out here and tear it up. Well, maybe Laird Hamilton, but that guy is like an action hero… he doesn’t really count!

When a crew of stand up surfers decided to come on a boat trip and surf serious, heavy waves, I was pretty skeptical to say the least. My good mate Bruce Raymond (C4 Ambassador) and the C4 Watermen guys Todd Bradley, young ripper Kekoa Auwae, Mike Fox and Hawaiian waterman legend Brian Keaulana have just spent 2 weeks onboard Indies Trader 3 and we have just had a remarkable trip.

Stand up boards seem best suited to waves where there are only a few surfers in the water -- they can be a pain in the butt in a crowded lineup, they even give longboarders grief!! The Mentawais are perfect for that because almost every spot we went to there wasn’t a single other surfer in sight. I didn’t think the stand up guys would be able to handle more of the shallow set ups, but they charged what I consider to be some of the heavier waves out there. Lances Rights included. They also paid the price and copped their fair share of floggings…

One of the great things about the SUP boards was that some of the waves that aren’t that fun paddling into are great on a SUP board -- particularly waves that stand up for a long time before they break - those that are really hard to catch. This opens up a whole new playground out here.

One downside about SUP boards is that they seem like a hassle to travel with. Luckily, the guys from C4 brought their newest SUB VECTOR range to test in the Mentawais. They didn’t realize that I was going to confiscate their equipment before they left. Now we

"It was an honor to have Brian onboard. Brian is one of the world’s most respected waterman and lifeguards. He went out of his way to pass on his incredible knowledge of water safety and jet ski rescue techniques."

have the latest range of C4 Waterman SUP boards on all the Indies Trader boats.

It was an honor to have Brian onboard. Brian is one of the world’s most respected waterman and lifeguards. He went out of his way to pass on his incredible knowledge of water safety and jet ski rescue techniques. He trained all my staff on his same risk management course that he teaches to the government, private military and international rescue units across the globe. We spent many hours talking war story about maritime accidents and how they were dealt with and I learnt a great deal. Brian explained a technique for getting to your leash off when it stuck on the reef which is a real lifesaver.

One of the surfers became ill and was complaining of abdominal pain. When it didn’t go away after a day, we determined with the help of our medical evac service that he probably had appendicitis and it was decided that we had to get him out immediately. We are proud to say that it only took 5 hours to get him to Singapore .

He flew out of Rokot on a chartered plane at 2 pm transferred to the SOS Learjet air ambulance in Padang and was on the slab in Singapore’s Gleneagles Hospital getting butchered at 6.30. He’s fully recovered now and our insurance covered the medivac, He was lucky.

The weather in the Mentawaiis has been perfect, light winds , mainly northerly and sunny. The surf conditions have been exceptional. There hasn’t been any really major bombing swells yet, but it's been consistently head to well overhead-high most days with a couple of solid pulses teed up for the C4 waterman Crew. .

There are definitely less people around, there’s a good vibe between the various boats and Life is GOOD. This is just a sample of some of the shots we have and there will be much more stuff to come including video footage of the entire trip. Stay tuned to www.c4waterman.com and http://www.indiestrader.com

Cheers Martin.

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