15 posts tagged “padang”
Indies Explorer boat first caught my eye when featured in a surf video a while back. It's one of the largest and most recognizable charter boats in Indonesia, a Pinissi schooner over 100 feet long, bright white with two tall sailing masts. I saw this iconic boat at Thunders in August 2006. It was a small day of forgettable surf and 40 people were in the water groveling for some chest-high sets. Indies Trader 4 was also there, so we felt pretty smart that our groveling session didn't cost $1200/person/day.
About Indies Explorer, when I was looking for a Mentawais charter boat I was intrigued by the large size and relatively low per-day cost, but the boat holds 12 guests which was sort of a turn-off and the schedule didn't work out for the dates I had available. That day at Thunders I felt fortunate to have skipped since it looked like the boat didn't have much shaded common space with a view of the surf (always a precious commodity on surf trips). The sleeping cabins below decks all had ventiliation hatches in the middle of the main deck and the deck sloped up forward and aft, basically killing the most logical place for a picnic table, hammocks, etc. When we drove by in our dinghy there were also bits around the stern that looked kind of beat up and run-down. I scrutinized the other boats we came across as much as possible - there are only so many boats over there and I wanted to see what kind of shape they were in, did they pitch and roll a lot when anchored, etc. The truth is that some boats just look better on the internet and Indies Explorer is probably one of them. Using 6-year-old photos on the booking web site is one slightly deceptive practice - recent boat photos are always a good thing to ask for.
Anyway to make a long story short, I was thinking about all this because I recently learned that an overnight storm washed "a big white wooden sailboat" up on the beach in Padang. I don't think there are many other such craft near Padang besides Indies Explorer. For all the things that looked impractical about it you can'd deny the boat has soul. If anyone is thinking about going on Indies Explorer in 2008 or knows if it did in fact hit the beach drop me a line.
I've started to plan my return surf trip to Northen Sumatra in May. I've already been there once. Why am I going back?
- I've seen how consistent the swell is on Surfline (even though it was sort of small last time)
- I know there are a lot of world class spots up there
- There still aren't very many boats operating up that way
- No effects from the recent Mentawai earthquakes
What's different about this trip?
- Boat leaving out of Padang, not Sibolga, Simeulue, or Nias
- A day longer on the boat
- More efficient flights meaning less time off work and more surf time
- Half the guys from last time have had kids and can't go back
Why May?
- Memorial day weekend gets me an additional day for free
- Historically a very consistent month for swell
- technically peak season but possibly a bit less busy than June/July/Aug
A reader asked about tipping on boat trips. In surf travel, just like any other form of travel, there's always potential for a culture clash when people don't know what's expected of each other. Hopefully this will clear away some of that confusion for future visitors to the Mentawais and Northern Sumatra, and result in happy returns for those of us who are looking to go back.
Why tip the crew on a boat trip?
1. Indo is a poor country. The Indonesians working on boats aren't spending weeks away from their families for kicks or for surfing - they need the money. Maybe some of the crew will blow it on crack and whores, but most have direct or extended families that count on them for food, shelter, medical care, school fees, etc.
2. You have been provided good service in a very personal way. Everyone working on a boat works hard either behind the scenes or in direct contact with guests. You'll see the crew first thing in the morning, last thing at night, at every meal, they'll pick you up and take you back to the outside when you're too tired to paddle but just need one more, you'll learn their names, they'll help keep your bunk area tidy, and make sure your favorite boardshorts on the clothesline don't get blown off in a squall.
3. Tipping rewards skills that you, as a surfer, want to be available to you when you come back. You don't want that expert ding repair guy, the guy who shoots great video, or the dinghy driver who knows the safe spots in the lineup at Kanduis to be driving a cab in Padang next time you come back. Make it worth their while. It's a small industry, next time you come into Padang you'll probably see a familiar face and they'll be glad to see you.
4. When the waves went flat you and the boys had a bender and kept the crew up at night, then left a mess for them to clean up in the morning. Happens on almost every boat trip, and a decent tip helps fix any hard feelings.
5. Plus honestly, it's no skin off your back. You probably just coughed up in the neighborhood of 5000 US Dollars for a plane ticket, a hotel night or two, a couple new boards, and 11 or more nights on a private boat. In the grand scheme of things, a nice tip for two weeks worth of work for an indo boat crew is less than the cost of a big night out in a major western city.
How to discuss tipping
- With your group
Agree on an amount. If you're organizing this thing, throw out an amount just try to get everyone to go along. If the cheapskate in the group knows everyone else is coughing up a hundred bucks, then they'll grumble but they'll do it too.
- If going solo
Ask around (a subtle reminder to others who may not remember to tip) but in the end you must chart your own course.
- Ask your guide
You guide will tell you how it usually works, and will organize the crew to all be in the same place at the same time without disrupting anyone's work or sleep (not as easy as it sounds - the crew is busy on the last night!). Generally this happens on the last night of your trip, after dinner but before anyone goes to sleep,
How much to tip
I took a 13 day trip with eight total guests and a crew of 5 plus a guide. The guide refused to accept any tips. We tipped USD100 per guest for USD800 total and the crew (once it had been counted out) was stoked. By the crew's reaction I judged this to be an acceptable, possibly even above-average tip. The total cost of this charter was a little under $20,000 so this amounted to a 4% tip. This is LOW by the standards of US restaurants, bars, taxicabs, and hair salons, but 15% of a charter boat price seems outrageous and I hope expectations never get to that level. Regarding higher-end boats - more of the cost of the trip goes to the capital cost of the boat and less to the variable costs of crew, food, fuel. On luxo-liner boats the crew may be the cream of the crop from other boats and expect better tips in return for better service. The crew can also gauge how much you can afford to tip by the quality of your boards, clothing, equipment and how much the boat costs, so may have higher tip expectations in that situation. So for what it's worth, I'm going to say 4-5% is a good number.
who gets the tips?
Usually there's a hierarchy among the crew. Honestly, this isn't really your business, and these guys need to work together and already have an understanding in place that you shouldn't try to disrupt. It won't surprise you that the guys with the most money invested in the boat and the most responsibility get their take first - guides, captains, cooks. They have the most skills and the most alternate work opportunities. But the underlings don't just get the scraps - the senior guys know their deck hands, skiff drivers, mechanics, and assistant cooks are all part of providing good service and could get work on other boats so they will share. If they are working a full season on a boat things get to be pretty family-like, and you can screw family a little but not a lot.
What currency to use
USD or Rupiah. I'm not being an ugly American here, the dollar really is king. This finally hit me when I watched a Japanese guy fish out 25 US dollars from his wallet and pay the indonesian government's visa fee at the Jakarta airport. If the indo government takes USD, then it's damn near coin-of-the-realm. In theory Australian Dollars, Euros, Pounds, or Yen would also be useful to the crew but would probably entail a much bigger spread between the face value in the country of the currency and the actual value they'll get for the non-USD foreign notes whereever the boat pulls into port. So if you have those currencies and want to use them for tips then you should give 10-20% more in USD value.
Bring new bills
There's no ATM machine on the boat or anywhere you'll be stopping. So if you didn't bring enough cash on the boat, you won't be able to tip the crew. Duh. Also, USD notes that are of an older type or look beat up won't be worth as much in exchange. So when you go to get the notes you're going to take to Indo, make sure you get crisp new ones.
Non-cash compensation
Before a boat trip I asked a Balinese coworker if there were any items that were hard to get in Indonesia that I could schlep over to Indo and give to the crew. She said, "Money!" Seriously, I've heard that school supplies, tools, western-style clothing, surf gear that could be resold are all very thoughtful. So if you've got this stuff laying around and can bring it along to give away, then do it. It's not a substitute for cash, but it will probably find a use.
I got a tip from Danny over at Sumatran Surfaris about a promo video that Patagonia had recently posted for an upcoming DVD called "Sea Legs". I happily link to it here as I feel some personal attachment to this effort. After my trip on Budyadahri in August 2006 I was stuck in Padang for an extra day, which happened to be Indonesian Independence Day. The Patagonia surf team was one day delayed arriving in Padang because they got bumped off their over-booked Garuda flight in Singapore, and arrived in the Hotel Batang Arau the evening before I left. If you had to be stuck someplace in Sumatra, the Batang Arau is pretty dialed in with very cold beer and a staff that hustles, smiles, and speaks English pretty well. Anyway, Scuzz was nice enough to introduce me to the affable Chris Malloy and Belinda Baggs, who is seen charging a few in the video. This footage was shot off Northern Sumatra Aug 18-30, 2006 on the Southern Cross, guided by Adam Kobayashi of Sumatran Surfaris. Adam guided my trip on Mikumba in May 2006, knows the breaks of Northern Sumatra well, and will stop at nothing to find the best waves available. Adam's the type of surfer who rides overhead barrels on a fish when most guys are riding their pintail semi-guns. I know he was putting some pressure on himself to score on this trip so I'm glad they did, apparently in both the telos and the banyaks. Here's the archived swell forecast from surfline.com - pumping.
I'm guessing the video was titled "Sea Legs" as the SE winds had been howling day and night for most of my trip Aug 6-17, making for a very rough and somewhat scary crossing. Most of the photos that come back of indo have sunshine and glassy conditions, but if you spend almost two weeks out on a boat your odds of copping a heavy squall are pretty decent. Under pelting rain and heavy seas you learn if the crew did their job refitting the boat during the offseason: strapping down the refrigerators and stereo system, plugging leaks with tar, padding doorways and low overheads so tall foreigners don't bash their heads, applying grip tape in the right spots on deck, and so many more things that take a boat from being "OK" to being totally dialed in and confidence inspiring. You're a long way from help out there.
This itinerary gets you to Padang (Where all mentawai and many Northern Sumatra boat trips depart from) in the least amount of time with the best in-flight service and entertainment and the least board bag charges. You could substitute China Airlines and it might be a little cheaper on airfare but no seatback TV's and $100 more in board bag charges. Friday night after work - grab your board bag and head to SFO AIR SINGAPORE 1 COACH CLASS 744 LV: SAN FRANCISCO 120A ONE STOP AR: SINGAPORE 1140A ARR DATE +1 AIR SINGAPORE 958 COACH CLASS 772 LV: SINGAPORE 1250P NONSTOP AR: JAKARTA/CGK 125P AIR GARUDA INDON 164 COACH CLASS 734 LV: JAKARTA/CGK 420P NONSTOP AR: PADANG 550P Just in time to see the sunset and get on the boat! Get shacked for 13 days and 14 nights Sunday morning - arrive back in port before 7AM or you'll probably miss this Garuda flight. Remember, if you miss this flight, you miss your connection in Jakarta and you'll have to spend the day in Padang, Jakarta, or Singapore. My picks would be Padang at the Hotel Batang Arau or Singapore. AIR GARUDA INDON 163 COACH CLASS 734 LV: PADANG 900A NONSTOP AR: JAKARTA/CGK 1040A This is a bit of a tight connection here, but you should be OK since Garuda arrives back in the international terminal. Non-Garuda indo airlines fly into the domestic terminal and it's non-trivially hard to get your board bag on to the shuttle that goes from the international terminal to the domestic terminal AIR SINGAPORE 957 COACH CLASS 773 LV: JAKARTA/CGK 1220P NONSTOP AR: SINGAPORE 255P SUNDAY AIR SINGAPORE 2 COACH CLASS 744 LV: SINGAPORE 500P ONE STOP AR: SAN FRANCISCO 725P And look at that by the magic of flying east and crossing the international date line you have arrived back in foggy SFO at 7:30PM on the same Sunday you got back into port. That's efficient! So if these are the best flights, what is the price and how do I buy it? You CAN book this itinerary on Orbitz, but the price they will quote is horrific. For example $3,909 for the ticket below, and just $1300 to get all the way to Jakarta. Screwy, eh? Instead I suggest one of two tricks:
China Airlines is based in Taipei, Taiwan and often has the cheapest convenient flights from the US to Bali and Jakarta, so this might be of interest to anyone who is looking for a plane ticket to Indonesia. I mentioned I was going to fly China Airlines and a former coworker with lengthy experience in the airline industry who pointed out that China Airlines has a terrible safety record of pilot-at-fault accidents. This isn't to say that they crash all the time, just that they crash significantly more often than any other airline that flies transpacific. Seriously, check out the record here. But really, what are the chances of a crash? The real question is how is the service?
- Service - Better than that on domestic US flights. Which is to say, if you have very low standards, China Airlines will exceed them.
- Food - the food from the US to Taiwan was awful, but on all the other flights to and from Jakarta and from Taiwan back to SFO it was great. China Airlines needs to fire whoever is catering their SFO operation.
- Entertainment - uh, what entertainment? China Airlines' website talks about their seat back person TV screens with on-demand movies. Except for the 747's that fly from SFO and LAX to Taipei. In-flight entertainment is your friend on a 13 hour flight, and it is missed. These planes will be replaced or refurbished at some point, but they don't have the TV's right now. The 6-hour flight between Taipei and Jakarta did have seatback TV's with on-demand movies, so that was nice
- Surfboard charges - you can count on paying $50 each way for your boards, so if these guys aren't at least that much cheaper than Singapore, go Singapore Air since they have no board bag charges.
If you are cashing in miles to get to Singapore or Jakarta then traveling onward from there as I did on my trip to Northern Sumatra & many do on surf trips to the Mentawais, then this will be of interest to you. Airlines engage in a form of price discrimination (aka charging more to those who are willing to pay more) by the point of sale of the ticket. Here's the example. Silk air from Singapore to Medan, Indonesia. Going to expedia.com (the US version) to shop for this ticket, it was about $550 USD. This is an outrageous price. If you look at a map, Singapore to Medan is a very short flight. It turns out that Silk Air was only making full-fare coach Y-class inventory available to travel agencies with a point of sale (aka ticketing location) in the US. I did a google search and emailed a travel agency in Singapore to see what fare they quoted - their price in singapore dollars was equivalent to $250 USD for the exact same flights. I ended up buying a few tickets for me and my buddies from Philomena Tan of Holiday Tours and Travel in Singapore. Email me if you'd like Philomena's contact info.
Also, for tickets originating in Indonesia, never ever buy them on the internet. Definitely work with an agent in Indonesia to buy tickets that originate in Indonesia, you will save a LOT of money. Danny at Sumatran Surfaris can connect you with the travel agency in the Hotel Batang Arau in Padang, those guys are great. Email me for Danny's contact info or go to www.sumatransurfaris.com
Most americans get two weeks, or 10 actual work days off per year. If you don't have a job then skip this post because you won't care. If you get seasick and never take boat trips then also skip this post, you won't care. But if you value your time off then these free suggestions could save time off work, get you more time in the water, or both. This isn't rocket science, it just takes some knowledge of airline flight schedules and common-sense travel logistics. Here are three easy steps to get the same trip for fewer days off work.
Pick a boat trip schedule that lets you travel to and from Indonesia on weekends
Play this right and save two days. Here's an example. The same boat has a few different 10-day, 11-night trips available. Which one do you want? If you and your crew care about minimizing time off work, the most important consideration is that the trip starts on a Sunday or Monday night. That way you can work on Friday, leave Friday night, travel all weekend and be surfing in the Mentawais on Monday morning, or Tuesday morning if you buy flights with long layovers. If Tuesday is your first of ten surf days, your last surf day will be Thursday. You go back to port Friday morning and typically get back to California on Saturday. Then rest up Sunday and back to work Monday. But why rest Sunday in California when you can extend your boat trip for a day? Most operators are able to accommodate such a request. If you extend for one day at the end, then 10 days off work equals 11 potential surf days or 10 surf days and a jet lag recovery day before you're back at work.
For a negative example, a trip that leaves Padang on Wednesday night. A typical Padang flight itinerary has you flying Monday and Tuesday, sitting around on Wednesday, and your first surf day is Thursday and your tenth and last surf day is Saturday. You're back in Padang Sunday morning, back at home Monday, and back at work on Tuesday. You took 11 days off and surfed a maximum of 10 days. You wuz robbed.
Buy schedule-efficient flights
Buying the most efficient flights may cost you money, hassle, or both, but you will save time and potentially two work days. Again, whether or not you have this time to waste depends on your boat schedule. It is possible to depart on your boat from Padang two days after you leave the US but only if you connect in Jakarta. If you're willing to deal with Jakarta and buying a second ticket on an indo carrier, then you want to leave the US late Friday night and you can get to Padang sunday evening, and you're surfing on Monday. A more typical schedule has guys leaving the US midday Saturday, overnighting in Singapore on Sunday night, then arriving in Padang mid-afternoon on Monday, cool your heels for a few hours before the boat makes the crossing at night. Your first surf day is then Tuesday. Longer travel duration, less surf time, plus the extra expense of an overnight in singapore. China Airlines via Jakarta has the best flight schedule from SFO, with Singapore Air a close second. Cathay to Jakarta can also work from LAX, and Eva might also work from LAX but I'm not 100% sure.
Get back to Padang early in the morning
If you live in Southern California or the Bay Area it is possible to get home the same day you get into port, but only if you go via Jakarta and only if you get back to port early in the morning. There is one flight that isn't too early for port arrival and isn't too late to switch terminals in Jakarta. If you check out www.dohop.com from PDG to CGK you can see there is a daily garuda flight that leaves Padang at 9:15 AM and arrives Jakarta at 10:55 AM. To make a 9:15 flight you need to be at the airport by 8:15, leave the port by 7:15, and therefore be back in port and tied up before 7AM with your shit packed up and ready to unload. If you're all on the same flight itinerary fine, but if you need to be back in port that early, it might force a pre-sunset end to surfing activity on your last day to ensure the boat has enough time to make the crossing and arrive by 7AM.
Include a holiday weekend in your trip (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day)
This one should be pretty self-explanatory but here goes: If the holiday falls in the beginning or middle of your trip, then you get the same trip with less time off. If the holiday falls at the end, then you get more trip for the same time off.
Cashing in Miles to get to Sumatra can cause Problems at Singapore Airport if you aren't arriving on Singapore Airlines
Real problems like ruin-your-trip problems with scary secret police carting you away? No, just the kind of things you wish you'd known about beforehand. Here's my example:
The Scenario
Ian cashes in a pot of AA miles for a biz-class seat on Japan Airlines. Like every other mileage program, this one can't get me to Sumatra, because Silk Air doesn't take anyone else's miles, so I'm going as far as Singapore, then I bought a separate ticket from Singapore to Sumatra (Medan in this case).
Arrival in Singapore
I Leave SFO at noon, flying pretty across the Pacific, connect in Tokyo, and arrive Changi Terminal 1 a little after midnight two days later. This is when I notice something is awry. The building looks similar to the Changi I know, but all the airlines are different. Ones I've never noticed, Qatar Airways, Sri Lankan, Vietnam Airways, never seen these guys before. On all my previous trips to Changi, I had arrived on Singapore airlines in Terminal 2, enjoyed the amenities, then connected to flights departing from Terminal 2 and gone on my merry way. I had assumed that Terminal 1 was just the distant south wing of the big ass building that I thought was the entire airport. Nope, it's a completely separate building. So anyway, I know I've got to get to Terminal 2 to check in for my flight on Silk Air. Problem is, my bag is coming out in Terminal 1, and I have to re-check it in terminal 2. This means I have to leave passport control, get my bag, then schlep it over to terminal 2 and go to the Silk Air check-in counter. Little automated train thing takes me to the other terminal
Arrival at Terminal 2
Recall earlier when I arrived: Midnight. So by the time I get my bag and get over to Terminal 1, it's about 1AM. I'm thinking, just get that boarding pass, get back behind security into Electric Changi loveyland where they have 24 hour food, $5 showers, $8 private nap room, and I'll be totally set. Except there's no automated check-in kiosks at Silk Air. Also, no people at Silk Air. Nobody at the counter, no boarding pass. No boarding pass, no talking my way past the nice security lady, don't even think about the baksheesh here, "pa una refresca", what do you think this is, Paraguay? I'm on the outside, man. OK, I'm a traveler, I can roll with the punches. I'll go get the airport hotel in Changi Village, noted home of transvestites, and crash out.
Who is that cheapskate guy crashed out in the cafe?
There's a 24-hour hotel desk guy just outside of baggage claim. He knows that the nearby cheap hotels are full. So I'm about to pop for a nearby hotel that's like $85. I make the reservation with the guy, and he wants $20. Singapore Dollars. I hand him the credit card. He says, no credit cards, cash only. No floggin way. This is the last straw. I'm not going to the ATM and getting Singapore cash to pay a $5 fee to my bank and then be stuck with Singapore dollars I can't spend in Indo. Cancel the rezzie. I spy a cafe outside the baggage claim area with a dude already sacked out in a plush-looking chair. I figure if I stash my board bag under my legs and sack out next to him, it'll look like we're together and nobody will make off with my stuff while I'm asleep. Plus what do I have to worry about? Singapore is a police state. All was ok when I woke up 32 minutes later. It was 1:38 AM, and I was wide awake thanks to jet lag. Silk Air ticket counter opens at 5:30 AM, and my flight to Medan leaves at 8AM. Time is really flying now.
"You're a dumbass. This would never happen to me...."
Silk Air flies short flights and short flights don't depart at 1AM, so why would anyone be at the check-in counter then? What was I thinking? Why didn't I figure this out before I left? Honestly, given the tickets I bought there's nothing more I could have done. If you had a hundred thousand American Airlines-brand magic beans that were depreciating slightly more slowly than the Zimbabwe dollar, wouldn't you trade them in for a business class ticket to Singapore? Hell yes you would. I'm just warning you, if you cash in your miles to go to Sumatra, and you aren't on Singapore air, this will probably be you. "No Way!" you say, what dumbass would buy a flight that arrives at midnight. If you're on United, Northwest, JAL or Korean, you're in Terminal 1 at midnight, probably without the boarding pass you will need to get in to Terminal 2 and crash out. And you can't NOT leave terminal 1 until after your nap, since unless you managed to check your bag all the way through your precious boards are outside passport control, circling around on the baggage belt. Overall, it's not terrible, I'm just warning you.
Singapore: a primer
For the geographically ignorant or whose only impression of Singapore is a good place to get "caned" for hocking a loogie or chewing gum, Singapore is A-OK. It's a small island of clean, safe, rich first world with potable drinking water where everything is signed in English in an otherwise run-down, smelly, polluted neighborhood of SE Asia. Considering it's within a degree of the equator and just a few dozen miles from the swampy wilds of Sumatra, its existence and prosperity is astounding. Let's hear it for good governance, also, air conditioning.
Singapore Aiport
Singapore's Changi airport is a rare pleasure in air travel - an airport where you leave feeling like you didn't have quite enough time there. I've been through Changi 12 times on 6 separate trips, and still look forward to a layover there. The government of singapore has succeeded in making this airport a showpiece. Hong Kong and Seoul are also very pleasant with more natural light, but Changi has all the services you want, 24/7, at a reasonable price. Free internet to check the surf forecast on your way to indo or let everyone back home know you're alive and well post-trip. Tons of duty free options, cheap, quality eats to please any palate. They also don't shy away from self-promotion.
