BOATS, BOARDS AND THE BOYS:
SEEKING THE PERFECT MENTAWAI QUIVER
As told by Tai Buddha Graham • Photography by Harve
There’s a particular kind of freedom that only comes from loading up a boat with a pile of boards, a few of your closest mates, and a loose plan built around tides, wind lines, and gut instinct. You step onboard, switch the world off (or try too), look at the horizon, and feel that little spark flick on inside your chest again. This trip was that spark, turned into a fire.
THE IDEA WAS SIMPLE
Take a hand-selected crew of friends who each know waves and equipment inside-out, take thirty-odd JS surfboards, jump aboard the infamous MV Bintang, and point the bow toward the Mentawai. Not to film a clip. Not to tick off a bucket list. But to ask a single question:
What is the ultimate quiver for the Ments?
SETTING SAIL
The Bintang vessel is a beast. A big monohull sailing sloop with soul, history and enough character to fill a book. When she’s loaded with boards and pointing west, you can feel a sense of score certainty. Day one started mellow. Shoulder-high rippable waves, warm water. Perfect canvas for board testing. We rotated through all the board models: Bull Run, Sub Zero, Golden Child, Monster 10. Swap every hour, try new fins. New feelings. New ideas. Dylan Haylar was already pulling apart the details: flex, rocker, rail hold, drive. Austin Langridge was loose and playful on the Golden Child. We were stoked that Lee Olsen, the surf guide, was frothing on all of them too.
WHEN THE JUICE ARRIVED
By day three, the Indian Ocean woke up. Long-period lines stacked across the horizon, the colour shifted. The board rotation stopped. Everyone felt it. It was Big Horse time. I was on my 6’6 x 19 x 3. Austin ran his 6’3 x 19 x 2 7/8. Dylan moved up to a bigger than his normal Canggu sandbar go to. And Lee was absolutely loving the Big Horse. When the waves turned from fun to serious, that board proved its name. Paddle power like a jet ski. Hold like a steel beam. Eats foam balls for breakfast. I’ve done a lot of trips, ridden a lot of boards, but nothing handles heavy tubes like the Big Horse.
THE LEE INCIDENT
One spot was serving up some thick, ledgey, Proper slabs. An eight-foot set stood up out the back. Lee was on one of my big Horses, a little big for him, but did the job. I yelled at him to spin and go. Might’ve “encouraged” him a bit hard. He hesitated. He got airborne in the worst possible way and went straight to the reef. Hole to his head. Blood oozing. This is where my professional lifeguard training kicked in. We stabilised him, patched him up, got him to the tender, then to a bigger boat and right into the stitching. Sometimes you pay for your pleasure in blood, I guess.
HUNTING WAVES
People go hunting elk. We hunt waves. It’s the same instinct: Reading the weather. Tracking patterns. Chasing movement. Reacting fast. Feeling alive. That’s what I love about surf trips like this, it’s not a holiday, it’s a hunt. Some days we’d be in the lineup and see the wind start to shift, and within minutes the anchor was up and we were motoring. Other mornings we’d wake up, look at the conditions in front of you, opposite to the charts, or see a cloud front marching in and flip our entire plan. Half the game is beating the other boats. In a fun way, just in that competitive, “let’s score before anyone else even sees it” way. That’s the addiction. That’s what keeps me going back. And this trip, we scored. Best waves with the least crowds. The holy grail.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
There were so many, but a few stand tall. Trading bombs with Austin, just the two of us out there, like when we were kids, except the waves were heavier. Still, nothing beats surfing with your best mate, the one who pushes you without needing a word. There was Dylan’s dream session. A right slab, perfect size, perfect direction. He linked together some of the best turns I’ve ever seen him do. High-performance surfing in the pocket. Clean, powerful, controlled. I was stoked to see the Big Horse domination. Anytime the waves got serious, everyone reached for a Big Horse. No questions asked. Half the line-up of twenty dudes at one spot were on Big horses. The horseman I call em!
OUR VERDICT: THE ULTIMATE MENTAWAI JS QUIVER
After two weeks of waves, cuts, stitches, tubes, turns, coffees, repairs, and more laughter than sleep, the truth was clear:
Big Horse (x2): Tubes, power, heavy water.
Golden Child: High-performance weapon for clean days. 3-6ft scoopy clean waves
Forget Me Not: When you want to lay some rail in the bigger stuff 4-8ft
Monster 10: Everyday all-rounder 2-6ft
Sub Zero: grovel fun and small-wave spark 1-2ft
THE TRADITION
These trips have become a tradition for me. I bring my father and son every time. They love it. Next time I’ll bring my daughter. She’s just started surfing and has that spark in her eye. I’m sure one day, my wife and all my kids will be on these boats, surfing these waves, joining the hunt. That’s the dream. Because at the end of the day, life doesn’t get better than this: Boats, boards, waves and wild places. And the hunt is always the hunt. This was another trip of a lifetime.
There’s a particular kind of freedom that only comes from loading up a boat with a pile of boards, a few of your closest mates, and a loose plan built around tides, wind lines, and gut instinct. You step onboard, switch the world off (or try too), look at the horizon, and feel that little spark flick on inside your chest again. This trip was that spark, turned into a fire.
THE IDEA WAS SIMPLE
Take a hand-selected crew of friends who each know waves and equipment inside-out, take thirty-odd JS surfboards, jump aboard the infamous MV Bintang, and point the bow toward the Mentawai. Not to film a clip. Not to tick off a bucket list. But to ask a single question:
What is the ultimate quiver for the Ments?
SETTING SAIL
The Bintang vessel is a beast. A big monohull sailing sloop with soul, history and enough character to fill a book. When she’s loaded with boards and pointing west, you can feel a sense of score certainty. Day one started mellow. Shoulder-high rippable waves, warm water. Perfect canvas for board testing. We rotated through all the board models: Bull Run, Sub Zero, Golden Child, Monster 10. Swap every hour, try new fins. New feelings. New ideas. Dylan Haylar was already pulling apart the details: flex, rocker, rail hold, drive. Austin Langridge was loose and playful on the Golden Child. We were stoked that Lee Olsen, the surf guide, was frothing on all of them too.
WHEN THE JUICE ARRIVED
By day three, the Indian Ocean woke up. Long-period lines stacked across the horizon, the colour shifted. The board rotation stopped. Everyone felt it. It was Big Horse time. I was on my 6’6 x 19 x 3. Austin ran his 6’3 x 19 x 2 7/8. Dylan moved up to a bigger than his normal Canggu sandbar go to. And Lee was absolutely loving the Big Horse. When the waves turned from fun to serious, that board proved its name. Paddle power like a jet ski. Hold like a steel beam. Eats foam balls for breakfast. I’ve done a lot of trips, ridden a lot of boards, but nothing handles heavy tubes like the Big Horse.
THE LEE INCIDENT
One spot was serving up some thick, ledgey, Proper slabs. An eight-foot set stood up out the back. Lee was on one of my big Horses, a little big for him, but did the job. I yelled at him to spin and go. Might’ve “encouraged” him a bit hard. He hesitated. He got airborne in the worst possible way and went straight to the reef. Hole to his head. Blood oozing. This is where my professional lifeguard training kicked in. We stabilised him, patched him up, got him to the tender, then to a bigger boat and right into the stitching. Sometimes you pay for your pleasure in blood, I guess.
HUNTING WAVES
People go hunting elk. We hunt waves. It’s the same instinct: Reading the weather. Tracking patterns. Chasing movement. Reacting fast. Feeling alive. That’s what I love about surf trips like this, it’s not a holiday, it’s a hunt. Some days we’d be in the lineup and see the wind start to shift, and within minutes the anchor was up and we were motoring. Other mornings we’d wake up, look at the conditions in front of you, opposite to the charts, or see a cloud front marching in and flip our entire plan. Half the game is beating the other boats. In a fun way, just in that competitive, “let’s score before anyone else even sees it” way. That’s the addiction. That’s what keeps me going back. And this trip, we scored. Best waves with the least crowds. The holy grail.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
There were so many, but a few stand tall. Trading bombs with Austin, just the two of us out there, like when we were kids, except the waves were heavier. Still, nothing beats surfing with your best mate, the one who pushes you without needing a word. There was Dylan’s dream session. A right slab, perfect size, perfect direction. He linked together some of the best turns I’ve ever seen him do. High-performance surfing in the pocket. Clean, powerful, controlled. I was stoked to see the Big Horse domination. Anytime the waves got serious, everyone reached for a Big Horse. No questions asked. Half the line-up of twenty dudes at one spot were on Big horses. The horseman I call em!
OUR VERDICT: THE ULTIMATE MENTAWAI JS QUIVER
After two weeks of waves, cuts, stitches, tubes, turns, coffees, repairs, and more laughter than sleep, the truth was clear:
Big Horse (x2): Tubes, power, heavy water.
Golden Child: High-performance weapon for clean days. 3-6ft scoopy clean waves
Forget Me Not: When you want to lay some rail in the bigger stuff 4-8ft
Monster 10: Everyday all-rounder 2-6ft
Sub Zero: grovel fun and small-wave spark 1-2ft
THE TRADITION
These trips have become a tradition for me. I bring my father and son every time. They love it. Next time I’ll bring my daughter. She’s just started surfing and has that spark in her eye. I’m sure one day, my wife and all my kids will be on these boats, surfing these waves, joining the hunt. That’s the dream. Because at the end of the day, life doesn’t get better than this: Boats, boards, waves and wild places. And the hunt is always the hunt. This was another trip of a lifetime.
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