Today's image was a first for me, a first time to be inside the barrel of a wave looking out. The icing on the cake is the surfer in the distance riding away from the closing section of the wave, the bit with me in it! The shot was taken at the Serangen Reef break in Bali, Indonesia about two months ago. I had been working my confidence up to get into the waves and this day they seemed to be perfect in size and hollowness to be able to attempt this image.
It all seems tame enough. I'm not sure how many people are aware though that sea water is heavy, damned heavy. In fact 3 cubic foot of sea water weighs a tonne, literally. Now that's a lot of weight. So imagine, you see a little wave and think "hey they look fun" well if you get the timing wrong and get hit by the falling lip of the wave, it can hurt, and hurt a lot. On days where the waves appear to be small I've been massively corrected by mother nature by getting a hefty dose of whoop ass from a wave that looked no bigger than knee high. On larger waves it can feel like you are about to be snapped in two.
Then you have the hold down. The hold down is the action the water has on you as it rolls out it's final throes of 'life' in the shallows. With any wave there is an energy bar of water following it, as part of the wave. This section of the wave is constantly rolling, tumbling. When you get caught wrong in the wave, and if it is big enough, it will pull you down, the force is amazing. You basically have to accept that the wave will only let you up when it's done with you, pure and simple. Mix that with the fact that you also on a shallow reef will explain why at all times I wear protective head gear. Getting bounced around on the reefs by these waves is no laughing matter when it comes to potential injury, it's not a matter of if you get a few bruises, it's a matter of when.
At the end of the day it's all worth it though, and if it was that easy then everyone would be doing it, right?
Cheers, pop back tomorrow for more adventures...
Mark.
liquidmocean
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This is a posting from the ramblings of a waterlogged mind that is the liquidmocean Blog. Reflections from setting up and running a small brand business, dealing with professional and personal life in Indonesia mixed with the added adrenalin of surf photography. Feel free to leave comments, much appreciate the feedback. Cheers, Mark.