A letter to Darren in Bali

yo bro,

good to hear from you; glad you got there, hopefully all boards intact. does the motorbike have a board rack? waves sound like they're perfect size... not big enough to get really hurt (hopefully). a couple more days and you'll be up to speed. it took me 4 or 5 days in Fiji to start feeling comfortable, and I have almost no experience in coral reefs compared to you. You'll be fine.

Chatham break is looking really interesting. It's weird - for the last two years I've had a recurring dream, always the same images and theme... I'm driving in a truck, heading south on Shore Road toward the lighthouse, looking down at the breaks just off the road (almost like sunset cliffs but reverse) and it's all beach break. Most of the houses on the ocean side of Shore Road have fallen in or been moved. The sand bluffs are 30-40 feet high - not nearly as big as Welfleet - and they have some beach grass growing on top of them. The tide is mid and coming in. As we turn down near the tennis club and toward Morris Island, more breaks and dunes, and the road stops. In the dream, I don't get to the point where we suit up and paddle out. It always stops with checking the waves up and down Shore Road, looking to surf somewhere. The waves are head high or bigger and straight out of the east. There are a couple breaks 150 yards from shore, but most are 50 yards or less.

Trippy. Years ago I had a similar dream that I was surfing an epic right with you and other close friends; it had islands in the background, the sun was warm, the water not as warm, but the waves were perfect and head high. At that point, I had never been to Rincon (no pun intended). I remembered that dream very clearly - the purest of stoke, the good friends, the pleasure of being completely exhausted after a day-long session. And the buzz, as if everything was alive with strong, clean, honest energy. Every blade of grass glistened in the late afternoon sun, the rocks warm underneath, and the hillside booming with excitement of energy waves so strong one can almost see them with the naked eye.



Then I went to Rincon. I set foot on the cobbles and immediately remembered that dream...

May your travels take you to places you can only hope to comprehend. Good to see you living your dreams, my friend.

B



On 4/21/07, D wrote:

hey bud

all's well here in bali. got a good place and motorbike for $70/week. prices are a bit higher but still cheap. maybe $5 a day for food. surfs been anywhere from sholder to 4 foot overhead main peak and of decent quality. feeling a little out of it but expected and just being patient and acclimating. much easier transition than my first time here but stilll need to get used to the reefs again. wish i felt like it idid when i left samoa but thats not how it works.

there is internet here buts is dinoslow. 100mps.

crazy shit about the new chatham break, we shall see, very interesting.

hope all is well back there.

take care, stay tuned

D