Got back from two weeks at pasta point on saturday surfed 14 out of 15 days with the lay day the last day prior to leaving. tried to post photos on here. they were uploaded to my profile have a look if you can? but i cant post. will try again later. important lessons learnt. Waves between chest to head height and occasional days of head and a half to double depending on tides wind etc. some days would start waist to chest the tide would do its thing than it would be head and a half?????
1 maldives pumps
2 The vanguard is a sick board and handles pretty solid waves for what it is
3 vanguard best ridden as a quad (simon anderson quad fins)
4 it actually gets quite solid in the maldives
5 Got to surf with tom curren
All in all although pricey i believe it was good value to stay at pasta good vibe good waves good food good crew.
If you dont have a trip coming up somewhere with ya mates sort it out.
book somewhere, I coulodnt afford pasta but i found the money book somewhere a year in advance and by the time it comes round you put 50 bucks or 100 away a week/fortnight and your sorted. Me missy was stoked when i got home cause i was happy stoked and had a good attitude.
If your reading this clearly you need to go surfing, book a trip, plan your holidays get a new board. Killer feeling paddling out in 4-6ft surf with 8-10 guys out soooooo good. More pics to come
Select to expand quotekatana said..
How much was it for 15 days
Don't torment yourself :)
Select to expand quotephotosbykarlo said..katana said..
How much was it for 15 days
Don't torment yourself :)
Sounds pretty good I want to start saving
6500 bucks including airfares and meals (piss bill seperate charge to ya room ended up being 1300 aus dollars but I had sixor more coronas a night cocktails cappucinos etc etc
Select to expand quoteRazzonater said..
Ill put some more pics up when i can figure it out
Can't wait
Select to expand quotekatana said..
How much was it for 15 days
Not much change out of $5k for Pasta point for 8 days,, 3-4 weeks ago, includes everything but pss. We had lumpy conditions, with cross shore most of the week, but most were happy not to have to share it with more than about dozen out at a time.. Mean very capable brazzo goat boat was a little offputting when I was there.
If you're willing to go solo, you'd get in on a cancellation without booking 12 months in advance.
Some of the breaks getting very crowded though. I counted approx 35 at sultans one morning then another charter drops 15 off. = 50 wt ?
Talk about Indo being crowded!
The charters are just going crazy 
Pasta is pretty cool for crowds though as its a private break. Apparently Sultans and Honkys gonna be the same soon as they're putting up a resort over there, too..
The pics i put up on me profile theres no one out at sultans and head height ,some days there was 20+ out there but then id surf pasta with 12 or less.
They are developing sultans/honky island and the surf access will than be restricted to the resorts, this should cut the charter boats cause the only other (known) close wave is jails. If they open a resort at sultans/honky it would be a 50 50 bet on that or pasta.pasta gets more wind affected but access is easier wherass sultans/honky would give you left and right options with a bit more wind protection. I was told this would be happening in the next two years and the lease is already signed. I dont know how i felt about exclusive access, yeah its nice as a guy who got it good with not many people but ethically and morally questionable. It does bring work and money to an area but also generations of people who have lived there lose access to what really is rightfully theirs. ?????????????????? But in saying this id love to be a local surf guide on one of these islands
Hey Tux As you can probably see I dont have the physique of an olympian I weigh 100 to 105 kg depending on beer consumption. The board is a 5 10 and I set it up with Simon Anderson quad fins the big boys I think there called. Water temp was pretty warm. I have just ordered the 6 foot model cause when it was a bit bigger I felt a pit more paddle power would of been good. All in all I like the vanguard. The only negative is I put my knee into the deck on a 6 foot wave dropping into a barrel, although in all fairness I am pretty heavy and have snapped boards from doing the same thing. I rang firewire and they told me mid november they are releasing the vanguard in PLH (or something dont know correct term) but it will be more durable I think its the one with the bamboo rails or carbon something like that anyway.(may change weight ,flex of board hence my order of this model)
Nice pics. I have been lusting after one of those boards for a while now.....how does it go in average beachies? Like your 2 to 3 foot rubbish? I have heard that you need a little bit of push to get the most out of them. I have watched a few guys on them when its 4 to 5 ft tearing it up at high speed.
Styling, razzonater. Your backhand floaters look good, as do your bury-arm snaps.
That tomo looks ridiculously oversized for that kind of concept. But if that's what suits you ... Did you ever have problems catching the front rail on direction changes that involve a bit of yaw? Because that's what I don't like about wide noses.
Did the guy with the blue rashie just stand in that one spot the whole time you were there?
Cheers legion I needed a surf trip with the lads.. The dude in the blue rashie is me mates old boy hadnt surfed for 6 months before the trip and he would take his time on surf entrance...... The board from what Ive been told should be two inches shorter than you Im about 511 but a bit heavier than most so I went a bit bigger than what they reckon. The nose of the board in all honesty works well and its pretty hard to bury it but in relation to the rails it did take a few waves to not bury the inside to hard when doing roundhouses. When ridden as athruster its a lot less drivey but more skatey slidey, as a quad it still generates speed in smaller stuff but in line with that Ive gone with a slightly bigger sized board to compensate for my absolute refusal to do any physical activity besides surfing. I think I like it a lot Ive ordered another one even though moneys pretty tight. I found without a nose to bury you can turn in a smaller radius but.......you can bury a rail to the point of no recovery all in all if youve been looking at them and you like em id take one for a test run. Me mate whos about 85kg had a go and loved it but reckons he would get the 6 foot one I dont know what people like and sometimes i dont knoew what i like till i ride it. Also off topic but Al bean was there he still does boards and although hes off the radar a bit now days hes boards are still filthy so Im running two board orders and hes doin us up a 6 6 which is my standard board. If you ever had an AL bean and wondered where he is now days google him Full SW legend gotta support the local guy and not only that may get less stink eye off the down southians when I paddle out on a local stick. Food for thought
I'd love to try a vanguard but I'd be more interested in a 5'5" or 5'6". Your mate should be looking more at a similar size. That 6'0" model has a lot of volume.
The nose thing I find mostly in two situations:
- when you go to hit a lip that then fades and you end up kind of muscling a nothing-turn and when the board reconnects it's going sideways and catches the leading edge
- when you're in a barrel or racing a steep section and impending closeout and you go the doggy door exit and it's kind of a flat emergency turn and you catch the leading edge
Both these happen on shortboards too, but much less likely.
If you've snowboarded it's exactly like the common beginners' accident of catching the downhill edge. Particularly amusing (and common) when beginners are learning to ride cat tracks.
That walk out can be a bit dodge without booties so the old boy in the blue rashy must be weighing up his options. When to jump on your board and paddle with a chance of ripping your fins out or walk a bit further out and increase the chance of a reef cut.
I have also done Lohis a few times and although they allow more surfers on the island, I've always had good trips there. I know looking at Lohis for next year 2014 the prices have gone up by about 20% due in part by the lower AUD to USD. I think talking to a mate going to Pasta in April that it has done the same. He also said that Tony Hussein-Hinde's son who runs Pasta no has done a deal or has a hand in the Sultans resort. You may of heard the same.
Did you get to have a crack at Honkys? Super fun wave that horse shoes around back towards the island on the end section.
Awesome pics, cheers for sharing...that's pretty cool hearing Al Bean was there at the same time. I had a couple of his boards from Santosha in the mid to late 80's & saw one for sale in Gumtree recently. Some bloke must have been cleaning out his shed coz he had quite a few vintage boards up for sale. One early 80's Murry Smith board looked tempting with 6'2 '20 2 1/2 dims...but anyway I digress...great pics mate 
