This just in from Ray Wilcoxen on Kandui Island in the Mentawais:

“Sunday 13th

So glassy this morning. It’s great to just sit on the restaurant deck and sip coffee while watching the sun come up over an oily ocean. Swell was looking smaller so not many of the crew were in too much of a hurry after the great day we had yesterday. First boat probably took off around 7:30 or so and they went to Pit Stop’s, avoiding the high risk, low tide session at Hideaways. Waves were around shoulder high plus over there and they were stoked to have a fun day and let the Adrenalin glands recharge. The second boat when to Hideaways. Waves were still overhead there and conditions were clean. Good, uncrowded session for them. Our pros were looking for a rippable wave today so they went to Pit Stop’s late morning where it was a little better than early morning with the fuller tide. I saw some video. Nice! Airs, turns, little barrels… After lunch some of the crew went back to Hideaways. Waves were getting slightly smaller, but still overhead and good. I took off on another boat and with a couple of guests and we looked a Hideaways also, but there was actually a boat load of kayakers there by then, some world champion wave ski somethingorathers. We were amused to see a bunch of guys with paddles out in the lineup so we waited around to see the carnage, but I have to admit that they were handling much better than I would have imagined. When they didn’t make it though, it was a little scary seeing them rolling in the whitewash with those big things while guys were trying to paddle out, so we gave that a miss and went to Nipusi. A handful of guys were out there, but conditions were clean so our guests went out to get a few in the overhead surf. I opted to solo some empty Bankvaults (twist my arm!) where sets were 2 to 4 feet overhead. It was glassy, and a bit lumpy and shifty, but some good waves were there if you could find them. Got a couple and watched the sunset from the water. Cracked a Bintang on the way back and called it a good day. Hoping the swell hangs in there for tomorrow.

Saturday 12th

Pretty epic today. Surf was actually looking a bit smaller this morning, but not by much. Super glassy early. I sat in a chair on the beach drinking coffee and staring out at the line up at Rifles hoping to see that roping set peel across the reef. It wasn’t quite big enough today out there so when the southeast winds started to blow in my face I started thinking about going left. Our first boat went to Hideaways. Conditions were clean and the waves were still well overhead. Our second boat was not far behind and they also couldn’t get any further than Hideaways either, seeing the open blue barrels as they pulled up and only our first boat on it. Our third boat with our pros also stopped at hideaways, although a sick barrel out at Kandui’s with no boats on it as we went by almost changed our coarse. Tide was still a little low. So we all ended up surfing Hideaways and everybody had smiles on their faces after wards. No one’s bigger that Bob’s, our kneeboarder, who got a big set wave and barrel even the pros were talking about! Waves were four feet overhead or so, great conditions, tubes…. Everybody was stoked. A couple of boats showed up after a while and one by one our Kandui boats went back for some lunch. It was a quick lunch though, then one boat took off back to Hideaways, and one went to Rifles. Hideaways was as epic as the morning with no one out, (those boats had already had enough) and Rifles had no one out also, but the swell was not really wrapping in there so they ended up pulling anchor and going to Hideaways as well. Good call because they had a great time. Our pros were thinking about some rest, but our Kandui alarm (Amen, he’s always got an eye on that wave!) went off after a check with the dingy and our guys were on a boat within minutes and were getting shacked before their lunches settled. The waves were inconsistent, but when they came in it was about as good as it gets. Conditions were perfect and the waves were about four feet overhead. There was a lot of photos and video being taken so I have a feeling you will soon be seeing Yadin and Ozzie getting mad barrels in a mag or movie near you! Meanwhile, our one guest that wasn’t in to that sort of waves soloed glassy, empty, overhead 4 Bobs. Tough life! Looking for it to drop a little tomorrow.

Friday 11th

Winds were light this morning out of the southeast. I took the dingy over to Kandui’s early to see if our new swell was showing yet. There were some shoulder high lines rolling through, and it was looking nice and glassy. I spread the word that the swell was starting to hit. Our first boat went to Nipusi looking for some size. It was overhead, but not anything to write home about. Our second and third boats waited for the tide to come up a bit and for the swell to fill in. Ahh, patience is a virtue! We both headed for Hideaways around mid morning. The wind had picked up a little from the southeast (offshore there) and overhead sets were starting to roll in. The guys stayed out all day, refilling the drink and snack supply once while checking Kandui’s to see what was happening over there (not as good as Hideaways), and they got tons of sick barrels. I’m sure they got a lot of good photos and video so you will probably see how good it was in a mag or CD in the future. The swell got bigger the entire day with sets double overhead coming in. It got really glassy in the late afternoon when the best waves came through, but then a little storm came through and blew it out late. Everyone was super stoked. Expecting even bigger surf tomorrow.”