The venue, ‘Impossibles’ on the Bukit Peninsula of Bali. Myself & mate Brett watched for an hour first as the tide drew off the reef & once it jumped from 4ft to 6-8ft it was on. The winds were slightly cross shore so there was some chatter on the face but still perfect.
The first challenge was getting out! A reef dance over boulders, holes & sharp coral until we got to the paddling point then timing it between sets to paddle like maniacs out past the break. Miss timing this is a costly mistake. Then we did the long paddle up to the take off point. All the time watching long lines of swell packed to the horizon.
Once out we realised that it was only us & a couple of others so of course started frothing to the max. I sat quite wide as was seeing some wide bombs that I did not want to get catch inside by! Even with Brett, who has surfed it before, waving me more inside I wanted nothing of it. After about 15 minutes my first opportunity came with a wide bomb appearing and me being in the perfect spot. Heart racing I saw the swell approaching & moved into position. Wondering what I was paddling into I took a steep drop to have a perfect 8ft face stand up in front of me. They call it ‘impossibles’ as most of the time it is impossible to make the whole wave. The challenge is knowing when to kick out before getting annihilated on the deadly reef. This wave gifted me with a long wall which I made the most of with big drawn out bottom turns then off the top again & repeat until the close out section appeared and it was time to get off before the death trap. The wave dares you to keep going but if you go past a certain point reef carnage is inevitable! I kicked out of my first wave at impossibles with total satisfaction & a smile from ear to ear. Then a quick paddle dash back out the back to safety. We surfed it for an hour or so before the tide made it too deadly & then got ready for the paddle in.
Another mission in itself we thought we could just pick a beak in the waves & easy paddle in onto the reef. Wrong! As we attempted this and got to the edge of the reef more waves came and we found ourselves paddling back out as waves were about to break right on us on the edge of the reef. Not a good place to be! Once those waves stopped we did the fast dash to the reef. Once on the shallower reef you are safe as the waves die out on the shallows. Then just a slow walk/paddle to the beach negotiating holes in the reef and sharp rocks under water.
Once on the beach it was straight for a Bintang to reflect on another Bali virgin surf this time at impossibles, Bali. A wave I’ve been waiting to score for the last 6 years but being well worth the wait!
“Only a surfer knows that feeling”
