Watch: Wide open Bank Vaults
With the Mentawai resorts re-opening for business late last month - albeit only to domestic surfers or expats living within Indonesia - the advertising campaigns have gone into overdrive.
The crew from Kandui Resort took a short trip across the channel to Bank Vaults to record this sesison with owner Ray Wilcoxen and surf guide Anthony Fillingim the only two in the water.
The footage is raw but worth a short scroll.
Comments
It's a tough gig, but someone has to do it I guess. I can't even remember what surfing in boardies is like...
Great surfing, good to see the land/boat perspectives too. Been there 4 times and never broken properly to have a crack at it. When I see footage of it bigger and angrier I sometimes wonder if that's not a bad thing.
Wait til you see the grom who's talking at the end in the water - Ray's son Dylan....most naturally gifted surfer I think I've ever seen.
nature vs nurture.. I'm game.. I reckon getting pushed onto 4 bobs (as nice a friendly right reef as I've ever seen) from about age 2 might help the "natural gift" along a bit. good luck to him tho
True, most groms would kill for his front yard, but having watched him charge a few decidedly unfriendly waves last year at the ripe old age of 12 or so, I'm convinced there's a bit more going on than ski tows off the pontoon.
Friendly, yet not. It breaks super soft, but is hideously shallow - at least at the takeoff.
Weird wave.
Yep, low tide cheesegrater if you're not careful and leggies snagged on coral heads.
Raw Joy. Must have been what surfing the Mentawai's was like back in the day.. with a crowd of 3.
is that "all-day" Ray?
Yep.
Surfed there once with 4 others in similar conditions but smaller than this vid. There were some perfect waves but it was more like a beach break with random peaks coming in over a 50 metre plus take off zone. Lots of sections and no channel or clear line up. I got some nice ones but regret not going for some of the long sectiony racetrack waves as there could have been some deep barrels to be had. Coral bottom, no channel and random big sets made that seem sensible at the time but the photos of that day looked so clean and easy that I would now love to have just have gone a bit harder on a few.
Another surf where "Non, je ne regrette rien" does not quite ring true....
Don't worry Frog, I got cleaned up on a couple of 8-10 footers that went wide. Washed me in near shore and flushed me out the other side. Took a bit of wind out of me, went back out and was totally off my game and looked like a headless chook. Seems you have to sit inside but out the back and pick the right ones so I was told after the fact.
You can never be far enough out at Bankvaults. If you spend an hour or two out there it's inevitable.......you WILL get mowed down by a freak set that's twice the size of anything else that's come through.
Great Video, love the rawness. Great surfing too...
Great footage. Scary wave, but this looks perfect compared to many years ago when I surfed it. As Frog suggests, sectiony, peaky and a lot of open space.
We saw it huge in May last year, but it was very chaotic, and we never saw anybody surf there during the 3 days we spent at Playgrounds.
Sick. Enjoyed the raw footage. Nice to see the whole thing and be able to hear the waves.
Nice. The wave looks twice as big from land as it does from water.
Those land resorts and boat operators must be hurting big time. I can't see locals or expats filling the gap.
We have a early season boat trip booked for 2021 and it looks pretty unlikely we will be able to fly to India from Aus by then.
Read a short article in the
West Australian today mentioning
7000 aussie expats being sent home from Indonesia.
Visas will not be renewed.
Hope they are all been sent to Vic and not up here
Yep send the scum down here we love it.
God it's refreshing and welcome to watch an entire wave, from positioning to kick out
So good hey. Loved seeing the paddling in. What a dream sesh. Lucky buggers.
When are the blokes doing the cutting on other clips etc going to cotton onto how much better it is seeing the positioning and paddling?
I was there this time last year, definitely a tricky wave to surf, especially when there's usually a hefty crowd out
Just watched a clip of that bloke (A.F) surfing 10ft plus Kandui in the last day of so with possibly one other bloke out.
How good's his life going??? He's been there since March.
How was that barrel on his backhand - frickin masterclass in tube riding.
Jago hian,nipi namai baah