2011 was a ripper year for surf with lots and lots of swell and many epic trips. The first half of the year saw fantastic conditions, and while July - September had a bit of southerly wind we continued to see more and more solid lines of energy pour in from the Indian Ocean. The wind narrowed the field down to mostly lefts and a couple of sheltered rights, with quite a few of our trips running north and away from the winds a bit, but we still scored big time. The ending of the southerlies brought on an amazing run of swell with calmer winds thru October, and I was lucky enough to be on one epic trip with the same group who was stuck in some horrendous weather last year (just after being "missing" after the Mentawai earthquake and tsunami). These guys deserved a special trip, and we had great waves and empty clean lineups thru The Playground, Telescopes area, Lances area, Maccas and Roxy's areas and surfed ourselves out big time.

Over the course of the year we did find a couple more new waves. A few of you surfed a couple of them, another truly special one, only one group really saw a flash of another's true potential, and a couple are just fun little options to hide from wind or crowds when other boats are around. And that doesn't include any of the beachbreaks that Bevo has been exploring over the past couple years. So, we're excited to try these new secrets out under various conditions in the upcoming years.

With this fantastic season pretty much wrapped up, we've spent the last couple weeks doing maintenance on Southern Cross and Budyadahri. The crews are stoked to have a bit of home time, but they won't have long to rest as Aki and Yu have a trip over Christmas and New Years, and then a group of Bevo's mates kick off 2012 with an early January trip. That's ok with the crew, though, because after about two weeks they usually get antsy and are eager to get back out to floating around on the water.

The new boat, Mahogany, has had her share of delays but is coming along beautifully and has pretty much booked up until late November, with a few trips already booked in 2013, so again a massive THANK YOU to all. We still have a few gaps here and there, though, so be sure to check out the schedule page for the latest. On the booking side, Danny is still manning the show and has also started putting up late-notice spaces on Facebook along with a few new pictures from the latest trips, in addition to designing our Tracks Ads which feature some of the best shots from recent trips as well. We also have recently brought in Carlos McCarthy, one of the partners in Mahogany, to add a bit of extra service to those groups. Over time Carlos will take over the bookings of Mahogany exclusively while Danny will look after the rest of the boats as always.

We can't forget to mention our photog team who has been doing a fantastic job of documenting the trips for our guests. Josh on Budy is a world class photog on land, tinny, and in the lineups, as is Aki who has the most amazing slide shows and slices up the most delicious sashimi, as does Yu. Davi has been our newest addition to the family on SC and has been tireless in sitting on the tinny and land to take hours and hours of photos most days and has been really great. Most of the photos you've seen in the Tracks ads lately have been from Davi. Chris on the Jiwa has been getting rave reviews as well.

There are a lot of boats and camps advertised these days, and there are times, especially under certain wind conditions, that can see a very busy lineup. At Sumatran Surfariis, we still think a trip to the Mentawais or North Sumatra should be a "dream trip", but in your dream you probably don't envision traveling halfway around the world to surf with a ton of other people. So, we are always willing and eager to travel that extra mile and do that extra bit of homework to find our surfers a good, uncrowded alternative in those busier times. There are very few skippers who are still guiding full-time with as much experience as Aki and myself, with Yu being a close couple of years behind. And Bevo has taken all that knowledge and pushed Sumatran Surfariis even further by taking off deeper and whamming crispies harder and bringing a bit of youth along with Josh and Liz to the Budyadahri team. We all started on the land, "feralling" it around to find some big hollow pits and learning the Indo Way, and the boats have allowed us to surf so many mind-blowing days. We are a tight-knit family that is willing to pool our resources and collaborate regularly to bring you the best possible trip.

This family support begins (and ends) on land as well. In addition to Danny and Carlos on the booking side, we have the best ground crew and office staff in Padang. We’ve just relocated to our new offices, 3km back from the beach, which has pleased the office girls to no end. There is a great rooftop beer garden with an amazing view of the surrounding Padang hills and a view out to sea as well. The office will again be cooking tasty meals, have a little gift shop, and be a place to book flights and day trips and adventures around Sumatra outside of the trips. We also have an HF ssb radio in the office for daily contact with our boats at sea so we can check in with our guests and get the latest swell reports.

So, there’s a lot to be excited about for the future and we’re really amped to begin the 2012 season. We hope you’ll join us. Drop us a line if you’re interested in taking a trip with us or just to say g’day! Again, huge TERMIA KASIH for all the support over the years and Happy Holidays to you all - Scuzz

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