- Batang Lupar, Malaysia.
- Kampar River, Sumatra.
- Qiantang River, China. ...
- The Amazon, Brazil. ...
- Turnagain Arm, Alaska. ...
- Hooghly River, India.
- Dordogne River, France
- Newnham, Gloucestershire.
I looked at each of these tidal waves and tried to identify which one I could ride on a long surf ski. I didn't want a steep wave and I didn't want a large volume of white wash behind causing us to tip out of our surf ski. I needed a smaller wave and the Bono wave in Kampar River, Sumatra was perfect, it just happens to be the longest wave too.
I knew this adventure would create the same level of excitement for Venture Capitalist Mark Carnegie who is always looking for the next buzz. I met with him and explained the wave, tides and moon and how I had made contact with a man in the Sumatra Jungle who owns a speedboat and can get us on the wave. I also explained the only double surf ski I could find was in Singapore. Mark was excited, and said "I'm really busy with work at the moment, but I could probably sneak a few days off".
We hatched a plan, I would fly to Singapore, get the double surf ski and then Island hop to the jungle of Sumatra. When I picked up the double surf ski I called Mark and said jump on the plane, we are on.
2 days later I had Island hopped on small Indonesian wooden boats, carrying my backpack, paddles and a 7.5m long double surf ski. I passed through villages where kids were amazed to see my mobile phone, people were touching my blonde hair as they have never seen someone this white. It was a long journey but I was happy to have made it. Mark flew from Sydney to Jakarta, then another flight to Sumatra, before heading on a 5 hours extremely bumpy four wheel drive ride through the jungle.
We met our new best friend the "Indo" man who would get us on the wave. We were served a bowl of sloppy, watered rice with some meat on top I dared to not ask what it was. When then slept in a hammock with a mosquito net over us as we sweated all night in the extreme heat of being so close to the Equator.
We woke up and the wave was due at lunchtime, that is, the Spring tide was due at lunchtime. We placed the surf ski on an inflatable boat and headed 20km up the river towards the ocean of the Malacca Strait, Malaysia. We then waited...
At precisely 12:02pm August 4th 2018, the rise of the Spring tide caused the Malacca strait to flood the Kampar River in Sumatra and provided Mark and I a tidal wave to ride.
We were in the right place at the right time!