THE ELECTRIC LAMB STORY - 1949 till Today

One of our ELM volunteers works for ASL, Australia's largest surf magazine. We worked up this interview in September - October last year and the idea was to publish in ASL in time for the tsunami anniversary. The Editor gave the go ahead....... then a strange thing happened.

ASL's publisher pulled the article. Seems he was pressured by friends of Paul King, a surf travel operator who features in my interview. Paul is in prison for drug smuggling and I suppose his friends just could not stand the thought of his arch rival finally telling my side of the Mentawai surf charter saga.

So "surf politics" derailed the publishing of a story that would have helped us raise funds to help the tsunami victims!

The good news is that the article will now run in several international surf magazines. Other Australian surf publications are looking at running it as well. (Now published in The Surfers Path No 55)

Bear in mind that the language I speak here is "Aussie surf lingo". Just one of a several languages that I have picked up over the years!

Before the tsunami I operated a surf charter tourism business. See http://www.mentawai.com
All involved are now very deeply concerned that the Mentawais and Padang will be the next to be devastated by a mega quake and tsunami.

We are dedicating all our island holdings to management and development by our non-profit for the benefit of the local communities. All proceeds from the charter of my yacht are used to support ELM. I would like to shut down my surf charter operation and devote the yacht to purely non profit work in the Mentawais but until we secure adequate funding I can't afford to do that. The yacht has to earn the money we need to continue.

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The Problem with Pirate Parrots

THE PROBLEM WITH PIRATE PARROTS

A custom assembly. Dedicated to the L.D.Ps of this world.
Thanks www.psychobird.com/placedateforcomic.htm

Impact of the Surf Industry on Katiet - 1994-2005

A S i m p l e S t o r y - Impact of the Surf Industry on Katiet - 1994-2005

One of the best surf breaks in the Mentawais (ranked in the top 10 in the world) is called HTs (hollow trees). It is located near the village of Katiet, home to about 200 families. Only cash revenues are from copra, cloves, petuli oil and a few lobster. Rice, sugar, kerosene, fuel, clothing, medicine, tools etc etc all have to purchase from the mainland 100 miles away.


In 1994 Jane skippered Electric Lamb with her 2 surfing sons and friends as guests. The boat stopped at HTs and Jane went ashore for a walk. She noticed that the locals used wooden bowls for food preparation and admiring the shape she asked if they could make one for her. One of the local men, Manase, offered a well worn wooden bowl to Jane as a gift and said he would make a new one ready for her return. Some malaria pills changed hands after Jane noticed one of the children running a high fever at the back of the tiny hut.

Jane decided to check the local museum for reference books describing Mentawai artifacts and found a whole range of unique carved palm wood knives, spears, bowls, drums and many other items that the locals had evidently forgotten existed. Armed with photocopies of the artifacts, Jane went back to the village and asked if Manase could make some of the items and the souvenir industry started. This was mid 1994.

Next season Jane was back. On each stop in the village she checked the progress of the locals and purchase all the pieces with merit. Soon 5 or more other local men had decided to try their hand and some showed a natural talent that was quite remarkable. Jane took the carvings back to MWB's office in Padang and put them on display so that guests could buy something even if they had been too busy surfing to think of it during their stay at HTs.


At the end of the season Manase and a group of his friends came to Padang with big rice bags full of carvings for our consideration. Jane made a point of buying the best and pointing out how the rest could be modified or improved next time round. This process continued through the off season.

In 97 the village chief, Pak Jusar, wrote MWB a letter thanking everyone involved for supporting the now thriving village industry and reporting that the total income during the surf season was averaging over Rp4 million per month. There were about 20 boats working in the area at that time. The business continued to thrive and next off season nobody came to Padang to sell product. They wanted to keep the items for the following year and sell direct!


Pak Jusar visited Padang recently and he got talking about the progress of the industry. He estimates that over 50 men and boys are now working almost full time on carving and that Manase made over Rp10 million during 2003. Pak Jusar estimates that total sales to visiting surfers will exceed Rp200 million this year. Copra production revenues are probably below Rp400million for same period due to a downturn in commodity prices over the past 2 years.

Wood carving is on the way to dominating the economy of the village!