Spotlight G-Land

by Ed Temperley on Friday 27th November, 2009 81654 Views

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"Here is a guy Dave Thomas who has spent a lot of time in G-Land. Now he resides in the nearby city of Banyuwangi with his wife and baby and just shoots over for the good days. This is late June on a not-so-perfect swell but there were some smoking waves if you had the right one. Dave has to be the most relaxed surfer I've met in the eye of the storm - check out his casual stance." © 2013 John Hepler

"Dave Thomas again, casually dealing with a drop in the Speedies cobra which would have the rest of us hanging on for dear life. Most people like to take off on Launching Pads for an easier set-up for Speedies." © 2013 John Hepler

"This was the first day of the mid June epic swell on (the 16th). A thick heavy swell with consistent 8ft sets and 10ft sneaker sets pushing in. The surfer is Linton Fafie, a surf guide at another camp, he just made the drop on this wave on his 6'8." © 2013 John Hepler

"This was quite possibly the biggest and best quality swell of 2009 in G-Land. 8-10ft Money Trees, crispy clean lines, super thick, fast moving intense rides. Taken on the 2nd day of the big swell, June 17th, it's me about to pull into a big Fang section. I rode a 7'8 quad this swell and normally I don't go over 6'7. But it went really well and helped get into the big set waves." © 2013 John Hepler

"Here is Michael Narchi, my new assistant surf guide, training for his job at G-Land Bobby's Surf Camp. I believe he is riding a 5'9 twin fin here. This was a solid swell at the end of June. In fact the entire 2nd half of June was bombarded by clean epic swells, it was a feast of glorious waves day after day." © 2013 John Hepler

"This would have to be one of the best photos I have seen this year. This thing looks like a Pipeline bomb! Rodrigo Silva comes to G-Land regularly. I believe he waited for well over an hour for this beast, on one of the last days of June." © 2013 John Hepler

"Typically August is our busiest month of the year, but this year for some completely unknown reason it was perhaps the quietest! The waves pumped most of the month, great Speedies swells and many days like this one here in late August. This sort of day is when the charts aren't showing any major swells, but G-Land will catch a small bump and turn it into an overhead pumping day! Its the biggest swell magnet in Indonesia, and I never once saw it under 2ft the whole season. This is Dave Davidson (former top ranked WCT surfer) about to backdoor a juicy Hooper Throwers section." © 2013 John Hepler

"Matt Dobell in the red shirt would have to be one of the best surfers in G-Land, he surf guides at another camp every September, and has a relaxed style yet cranks out some wildly explosive turns and stands tall in the tube all the time. On the right is George Keirsey, one of the most legendary characters in the jungle, he's been coming to Bobby'sfor at least 20 years, and has possibly racked up the most time done by any individual. Aka Mr Coca Cola, he drinks litres of the stuff every day, and knows every little tide window of the G-Land Surf, he's often seen sneaking in and out of the water catching a few sick ones whether it be on his long or shortboard." © 2013 John Hepler

"Guilherme was on the WCT through the '90s and was in the Quiksilver Pro comps in 95, 96 & 97. He came 5th in 97 in absolutely mind-boggling Speedies. This August he didn't get Speedies, but he got some beautiful waves at Money Trees and unleashed some huge turns and found some sick tubes. He is really great to watch at G-Land. I'll never forget seeing footage of him in the 95Pro getting 3 barrels on one wave, then in his Brazilian accent saying to the camera 'Good wave, ha ha ha ha!', go the Herdy Gerdy!" © 2013 John Hepler

"Here's one guy who has likely spent more time in G-Land than George. Kiki, a Javanese local, who was just a little boy when Gerry Lopez, Peter McCabe and other G-Land originals were frequenting the wave, he fixes dings, snaps, and shapes original boards - plus has also designing this fin! Known as the 'Bintang Fin', it's moulded around Bintang bottles to get the curves. His theory being that waves are curved - so why not curve the fin? ... No doubt you'll see Kiki around if you come to G-Land and if you get talking to him he has countless tales and seemingly unlimited knowledge of G-Land, the ocean, and the surrounding lands." © 2013 John Hepler

"This was the day after the Padang-Padang contest. G-Land was a bit out of control these 2 days. A few of us ventured out each afternoon but it was fairly wild. On these kinds of days, you can head down to 20-20s which is a couple of kms down the point, which rarely gets overhead. Here my good friend Jamie Mack enjoys some clean small rippable waves. I like this photo because it shows a whole different style of wave that G-Land also has. People think its just giant barrels, when in reality there are waves for everyone!" © 2013 John Hepler

"One of the few good days of September, I got to take out my 6'4 in the 4-6ft waves and crack the top off a few. Money Trees is not the commonest place to crack the pocket, but sometimes you just have give it a go." © 2013 John Hepler

"Come mid-October the staff have a ceremony to celebrate the ending of the season - 5th from the left is camp manager/high priest Puma (with the meditative hands), and with no top on and legs crossed is my new surf guide and wing-man Michael Narchi. Michael is quite the Zen master and is really in tune with the magical vibes of G-Land. Come visit and see for yourself." Jarred Hancox © 2013 John Hepler

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