The world title race is well and truly heating up and Rip Curl stable mates Matt Wilkinson and Gabriel Medina are very much in the running. Seeking some respite from the pressure, the boys decided the downtime between J-Bay and Teahupoo would be the perfect moment to get away from it all and recharge.
The idea was simple. Take The Search back to its early roots – Indonesia. Jump on a boat with Indo legend Garut Widiarta and sail into the nothingness with no agenda but tubes and goodtimes.
“I used to love watching The Search videos,” said Wilko of the trip.
“Me too!” chimes in Gabriel, with unexpected vigour. “I used to watch all the DVDs. I remember when Rip Curl first sponsored me I thought I was going to go on all these trips to the middle of nowhere, to find perfect waves with my friends, and now we’re here, and it’s sick!”
With that sort of positivity from two of the best, how could they go wrong?
Video by Nick Pollet & Bali Strickland
Photos by Nate Lawrence & Corey Wilson
