G-LAND ... I've been holding off from writing up a report for the past few days, not too sure exactly why. Maybe I just needed to get a feeling for what's going on so I can then put it into words that would make some sense.
I was curious, almost overly curious to the level of wasting energy about what the jungle was going to feel like under my feet, over my head, and on my back. Was the mud going to be squeezing through my toes? Was the camp going to be shrouded in a canopy of green? Was the ocean going to be surging towards shore with the help of the wind? The past year 'n' a half have been pretty much straight wet season and this was the fuel for effing with my thoughts.
First time in a long time and the alarm went off. My mind quickly tuned into the sound of rain bouncing off the roof and then slowly I remembered I had a rain poncho, so it wouldn't be an issue riding over to Buzi's fastboat. I'd been in Bali for a couple of nights already and it was sunny, warm, and offshore. Those curious thoughts of mine from before had been pacified, but this morning was re-stimulating them a bit. But by the time we pulled anchor, the sky was peeling apart the clouds and the blues faded away.
The past 3 days here at Pantai Plengkung have been surprising. The winds have been mostly calm, not really much offshore happening, but instead usually from the south. The south doesn't destroy the form. And the sun has been out in full force. But the evidence of long-lived sunshine isn't here yet. The track into camp is muddy. Not like last season, but the signs of deeply saturating rains haven't evaporated away yet.
The 16th was head high or so and fun enough for a surf straight out front. The 17th started off with a clear indicator that a new swell was in from the sound it was making off my roof's tiles. The winds were calm again and sets up to double-overhead max were running down Money Trees once every 30-40 minutes. Surf was easily getting into the Bay and Kongs was naturally picking up the swell too. And today, the 18th, continued to receive waves off the same swell. Some sets were still sizeable, but it has dropped off a bit since yesterday.
So naturally anything can happen with the weather. Hopefully though, these past days are a trend to the season's transition. The wind forecasts show some element of E in it everyday. We really haven't been feeling that here yet, but it's not showing dominant W or N winds which it was showing (and blowing) not too long ago.
Fortunately for those that are curious, you won't have to wait to long to know what is happening over here. Just gotta wait until tomorrow!!!
Thanks for reading the first post for the 2011 season....
--MICHAEL
