Squinting out of the tiny window of a small charter plane, Bob Laverty and Bill Boyum, two American surfers and friends, saw an endless left peeling down the corner of the Plunkung nature reserve in Java. Literally, on the edge of the jungle, the left disappeared from view as the plane banked toward Kuta. That vision was enough to make them determined to go back and find the endless left and all the potential it might hold.
After gearing up in Bali, they headed out for the west Javanese coast on motorbikes, with surfboards and provisions to keep them going. They were fixated on finding the wave and witnessing if it was a rideable wave or just a tumultuous wave smashing down on dry coral, as so many waves in Indonesia often turn out to be. It was 1972, and Indonesian travel was a mission back then.
They eventually arrived at the Javanese fishing village called Grajagan. They caught the ferry with their boards and water and rice. They slowly made their way to the shoreline of the Plengkung National Forest
they searched for days, according to legend, before finding it. They surfed it for three days from six to eight-foot when they discovered it. Then, when they were utterly exhausted, and their water had run out, they made the slow trek back to the Bukit peninsula, filled with a lifetime of secrets.
Bill died in Bali in a freak surf accident, and it was a few years later, that his brother, Mike, decided to follow in his footsteps. So when Mike saw G-land, he immediately set about getting permission to start a surf camp in the jungle, which was the start of surf camps everywhere.
For the nervous surfer in all of us, Java is situated in a tectonic subduction zone. This can result in earthquakes. For example, in 1994, a tidal wave hit the G-Land surf camp and flattened it. Richie Lovett and Richard Marsh were two pro surfers who were swept hundreds of meters into the jungle and survived.
The WSL is not scared, however. They have been there before. They (the ASP) held the Quiksilver G-Land Pro three times, from 1995 to 1997. Then it was cancelled after the Indonesian violence and rioting of 1998. Finally, after the 2002 Bali bombings, it was officially off the radar. Until now, that is.
The Quiksilver Pro G-Land /Roxy Pro G-Land will take place from May 28 to June 6. It will be a condensed version of a standard CT event as there are so many fewer surfers on tour after the mid-year cut. Rip Curl surfer Matt McGillivray from JBay is in the event, along with the perennial Jordy Smith.
More on the event HERE
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