Text + photos: Tim Jones

Early this June I'd been following a solid ground swell winding towards Indonesia that looked to be the first real big swell of the year. From the internet models it seemed like the swell would stick around for at least a few days so I gave my friend Taj Burrow a call with news of this forecast. Taj was amping and ready to go, so we arranged to meet up in Bali a few days before the swell hit and follow its migration on the internet.

In Bali everything looked promising on the internet charts. Our swell was shaping up at definite Padang-worthy levels. Taj commented that he had never surfed Padang in his life, something I thought to be a little strange. I mean he has been coming to Bali since he was a grommet but has never once scored or even surfed Padang. Could this be Taj\'s first session at perfect Padang? Only time would tell. I fell asleep the night before the swell thinking to myself how sick it would be to actually score Padang with Taj and the local boys.

Rahtu Suargita picked me up early the next morning and we sped off to the Bukit. From the Padang lookout spot on the cliffs we watched stacking ground swell lines marching in from the horizon. The tradewinds came up early, neatly grooming the new swell. The tide was still really high but it looked like it was going to turn on as it dropped. I rang Taj and told him it was looking good. The plan was to meet at one of the beach warungs so I could get some breakfast before they paddled out.

Taj showed up with fellow WCT surfer and good mate Luke Stedman. When the boys rocked up they were frothing to get out there. Neither of them had ever surfed Padang and it was a real treat since they are always on tour with few breaks in-between. By then the tide had started to drop, the wind was still offshore, and the swell had kicked in a little more. It was game on!
There was a great vibe out in the water. A few of the Bali Boys had paddled out with Rahtu, Rizal, Garut, and Raditya. Those guys are all top blokes, super friendly and they make you feel welcome in Bali.
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