19/05: Asu comes alive...
After the rains cleared there shone a glimmer of hope that the wave would come alive. South winds were rumored to be on their way, “angin selatan” in bahasa Indonesia, and it’s an offshore flow that cleans this left hand point and creates the perfection that is Asu. I convinced the Luizes that they should stay an extra 3 days, promising them perfection and striking a deal that had them paying for one more day and staying the full 3.
And the Gods did smile upon us.
On the 18th the surf came together and gave us something to play on, but still not perfection. Barriga found 6 more Brazilians at the airport in Gunung Sitoli and accompanied them up to Asu to attend to some business of his own. A major stroke of luck, these additional guests provided the necessary income to fund the projects that I had in mind and they were all really nice guys and a real pleasure to hang and surf with. Nor once did they complain about anything, the simple accommodation, the food, nor the saw, drill, and generator running most of the day as Ronnie and I worked.
On the 19th Asu came alive. 4-6 foot with 8 foot sets and offshore, a strong swell that provided big hollow peaks on the inside bowl that I call “the corner” and long, carvable walls with unpredictable barrel, or closeout, sections on the wide bowl and through the inside. The guests were stoked. Ronnie was in full swing on the renovations so that I could help him in the morning, surf mid day, check on him in the afternoon, and then surf again for the sunset. This routine lasted 12 days…everyday essentially the same. All of the Brazilians left on the 21st, leaving a nearly empty lineup with only 12 surfers left on the entire island. I would work with Ronnie, keep my eye on the waves, watch the other surf camps come and go and generally surf by myself or with a handful of people.
The renovations were coming along stellar too. We connected the freezer and had cold beer and sodas. We built a “rat proof cage” around the food storage area so that the little buggers couldn’t get at our tomatoes and “Cheesy”, their 2 favorite foods. We replaced all the bad decking and floor boards. We replaced all the old woven siding and sealed it with a clear varnish. We painted the posts and trim a more natural brown than the yellow and green that the previous manager, a strong Brazilian nationalist, had painted them. And we repaired the roofing and installed clear plastic roofing over the bathroom of one of the bungalows to lighten it up.
The highlight of the 3 weeks of renovations came on the 1st of June with the felling of the “Big Daddy”, the hundred-plus year old tree at the back of the property. Big Daddy was about 30m tall and at least a meter and a half in diameter at the bottom, with one major limb branching out 10 meters up and forking again causing much concern over the safety of our generator house as the Big Daddy would most certainly fall in that direction. I struck a deal with Amatari, the local chainsaw operator, to take him down. I offered $100 USD, one million rupiah, and he was pleased to have the work, not to mention a bit intimidated, it was admittedly the biggest tree he would have ever taken down.
Amatari works with a 36 inch chainsaw and that saw never looked smaller than on that day when he was handling the big saw with one hand and looking up waiting for the big crack that would signal that gravity had overcome natural strength. I had my video camera rolling and my photo camera snapping as he strategically cut Big Daddy down. It started with an axe. I asked Amatari to climb the tree and cut the 2 big limbs threatening the generator house first. He agreed that the 2 limbs might certainly take out the generator, but he demanded another $20 USD, or 200,000 Rupiah, to do the dirty, not to mention dangerous, work of climbing up and cutting the limbs down with an axe. He leaned the only ladder we had up against Big Daddy and still fell 2 meters short of the nearest limb. He used a rope to gain leverage on the nearest limb and climb his way into the tree. He made his way out onto the big limb, clearing his way with the axe, and beginning to chop-chop his way through the first of the two limbs. It was nearly an hour of chopping at each limb before they came down. Each one followed by a cup of coffee and a cigarette while he rested his arms and mind. Then the time had come. He took a few slices out of the front of the trunk with the big 36 inch chainsaw and then made his way to the back, slicing through the big roots and then into the main trunk. It was at this point that he had the 36 inch chainsaw fully buried into the trunk, held by only one hand, slicing into the heart of Big Daddy with a smooth ferocity, spitting wood chips from the fresh slice in the trunk. And then it came, the first crack signaling defeat. Amatari pulled the saw out and retreated back to my side for safety as we watched Big Daddy fall, the shutter on my camera snapping, but muffled by the snap and crack of Big Daddy coming down.
Watching a big tree like that fall is somewhat of a physical contradiction of the senses. It is so big and so tall that is seems like it would come crashing down, but it actually appears quite slow. As it gains momentum it starts to actually move as fast as you would think it would, but then the limbs begin to make contact with the ground and impede the inertia, slowing the tree down and creating the perception of a smooth interaction between ground and tree. To the eyes and mind it seems as if one were standing under the tree one could actually withstand the impact, but in reality, the mass of tree is so great, even the smallest of limbs would probably inflict a mortal wound.
Once on the ground the tree seems even bigger that when it was standing and the serendipity with which Big Daddy came down is absolutely remarkable. A bend in the tree just above the trunk arched itself about 6 inches above the walls of our well, which we were certain would be crushed. The limbs higher up, of which we were certain would be taking out our outside toilet, actually Y’d just before the toilet sparing it completely. One of those Y’s which made its way toward our generator house Y’d yet again, sending one limb just to the side of the small house, while the other limb kissed the roof line and put a branch through one board of the door. A coconut tree, that we were not attached to keeping, was taken out, but to our amazement everything had gone even better than we had hoped.
We now have a huge tree and I am not sure how much lumber it is going render, but I am so stoked and now I have the resources to make further enhancements at the camp. Our goal this year is to make the land Gold, get everything done on the land to make the camp what we want it to be. Next season we can move forward with a boat and expand our operation. I am really excited with the progress we are making. I am now in Bali and the owners have just shared with me all of their developments here: Banners, marketing contacts, website, cards, sponsors…everything seems to be coming together really well. Check the website, www.asucamp.com
Thanks for checking in here too, I miss all of my friends and family, but I am having the time of my life. I find myself just laughing as I walk out the reef to my front yard to play…this is the best balance of work and play that I have ever found, tropical island utopia, please come pay me a visit and share it with me.
Love to all of you. E
And the Gods did smile upon us.
On the 18th the surf came together and gave us something to play on, but still not perfection. Barriga found 6 more Brazilians at the airport in Gunung Sitoli and accompanied them up to Asu to attend to some business of his own. A major stroke of luck, these additional guests provided the necessary income to fund the projects that I had in mind and they were all really nice guys and a real pleasure to hang and surf with. Nor once did they complain about anything, the simple accommodation, the food, nor the saw, drill, and generator running most of the day as Ronnie and I worked.
On the 19th Asu came alive. 4-6 foot with 8 foot sets and offshore, a strong swell that provided big hollow peaks on the inside bowl that I call “the corner” and long, carvable walls with unpredictable barrel, or closeout, sections on the wide bowl and through the inside. The guests were stoked. Ronnie was in full swing on the renovations so that I could help him in the morning, surf mid day, check on him in the afternoon, and then surf again for the sunset. This routine lasted 12 days…everyday essentially the same. All of the Brazilians left on the 21st, leaving a nearly empty lineup with only 12 surfers left on the entire island. I would work with Ronnie, keep my eye on the waves, watch the other surf camps come and go and generally surf by myself or with a handful of people.
The renovations were coming along stellar too. We connected the freezer and had cold beer and sodas. We built a “rat proof cage” around the food storage area so that the little buggers couldn’t get at our tomatoes and “Cheesy”, their 2 favorite foods. We replaced all the bad decking and floor boards. We replaced all the old woven siding and sealed it with a clear varnish. We painted the posts and trim a more natural brown than the yellow and green that the previous manager, a strong Brazilian nationalist, had painted them. And we repaired the roofing and installed clear plastic roofing over the bathroom of one of the bungalows to lighten it up.
The highlight of the 3 weeks of renovations came on the 1st of June with the felling of the “Big Daddy”, the hundred-plus year old tree at the back of the property. Big Daddy was about 30m tall and at least a meter and a half in diameter at the bottom, with one major limb branching out 10 meters up and forking again causing much concern over the safety of our generator house as the Big Daddy would most certainly fall in that direction. I struck a deal with Amatari, the local chainsaw operator, to take him down. I offered $100 USD, one million rupiah, and he was pleased to have the work, not to mention a bit intimidated, it was admittedly the biggest tree he would have ever taken down.
Amatari works with a 36 inch chainsaw and that saw never looked smaller than on that day when he was handling the big saw with one hand and looking up waiting for the big crack that would signal that gravity had overcome natural strength. I had my video camera rolling and my photo camera snapping as he strategically cut Big Daddy down. It started with an axe. I asked Amatari to climb the tree and cut the 2 big limbs threatening the generator house first. He agreed that the 2 limbs might certainly take out the generator, but he demanded another $20 USD, or 200,000 Rupiah, to do the dirty, not to mention dangerous, work of climbing up and cutting the limbs down with an axe. He leaned the only ladder we had up against Big Daddy and still fell 2 meters short of the nearest limb. He used a rope to gain leverage on the nearest limb and climb his way into the tree. He made his way out onto the big limb, clearing his way with the axe, and beginning to chop-chop his way through the first of the two limbs. It was nearly an hour of chopping at each limb before they came down. Each one followed by a cup of coffee and a cigarette while he rested his arms and mind. Then the time had come. He took a few slices out of the front of the trunk with the big 36 inch chainsaw and then made his way to the back, slicing through the big roots and then into the main trunk. It was at this point that he had the 36 inch chainsaw fully buried into the trunk, held by only one hand, slicing into the heart of Big Daddy with a smooth ferocity, spitting wood chips from the fresh slice in the trunk. And then it came, the first crack signaling defeat. Amatari pulled the saw out and retreated back to my side for safety as we watched Big Daddy fall, the shutter on my camera snapping, but muffled by the snap and crack of Big Daddy coming down.
Watching a big tree like that fall is somewhat of a physical contradiction of the senses. It is so big and so tall that is seems like it would come crashing down, but it actually appears quite slow. As it gains momentum it starts to actually move as fast as you would think it would, but then the limbs begin to make contact with the ground and impede the inertia, slowing the tree down and creating the perception of a smooth interaction between ground and tree. To the eyes and mind it seems as if one were standing under the tree one could actually withstand the impact, but in reality, the mass of tree is so great, even the smallest of limbs would probably inflict a mortal wound.
Once on the ground the tree seems even bigger that when it was standing and the serendipity with which Big Daddy came down is absolutely remarkable. A bend in the tree just above the trunk arched itself about 6 inches above the walls of our well, which we were certain would be crushed. The limbs higher up, of which we were certain would be taking out our outside toilet, actually Y’d just before the toilet sparing it completely. One of those Y’s which made its way toward our generator house Y’d yet again, sending one limb just to the side of the small house, while the other limb kissed the roof line and put a branch through one board of the door. A coconut tree, that we were not attached to keeping, was taken out, but to our amazement everything had gone even better than we had hoped.
We now have a huge tree and I am not sure how much lumber it is going render, but I am so stoked and now I have the resources to make further enhancements at the camp. Our goal this year is to make the land Gold, get everything done on the land to make the camp what we want it to be. Next season we can move forward with a boat and expand our operation. I am really excited with the progress we are making. I am now in Bali and the owners have just shared with me all of their developments here: Banners, marketing contacts, website, cards, sponsors…everything seems to be coming together really well. Check the website, www.asucamp.com
Thanks for checking in here too, I miss all of my friends and family, but I am having the time of my life. I find myself just laughing as I walk out the reef to my front yard to play…this is the best balance of work and play that I have ever found, tropical island utopia, please come pay me a visit and share it with me.
Love to all of you. E
