Tom Lowe gets back to home comforts

Relentless surfer is back in Cornwall after five months in Indonesia

In his last blog piece for RelentlessEnergy.com, Relentless-sponsored surfer Tom Lowe told us about a frustrating time at the legendary Padang Padang in Bali – far from the dream surf it was cracked up to be. In this month’s update, he tells us about the joys of home sweet home, following five months of living the dream in Indonesia. You can take the man out of Cornwall…

Home comforts

"It’s amazing how much I miss my local beach when I’m away"

I’m back home in Cornwall now for a few weeks seeing my family and friends. I was away for five months, so it’s great to be back. It’s amazing how much I miss my local beach when I’m away. We’ve had some really fun sessions over the past week – in fact, I had more fun out at 3ft Porthmeor than I did the whole time I was in Bali. No crowds is what I’m all about.

Taming the G-land in Bali

That G-land swell was a cool experience – I hadn’t been there since I was 15 years old. I barely remembered the place, except how magical it is. You really feel like you’re living in the wild, and the overnight taxi ride to get there is full on. You’re off-road for most of it through the jungle. We ended up getting stuck in this muddy ditch and had to walk the last bit, which is all part of the experience. Once you get to the sea after all that travel, it makes the surf even more pleasurable.

I wasn’t so impressed by the wave itself though, I imagined it to be this slabbing heavy left like everybody was talking up. There was so much talk for this swell leading up to those few days of waves. Everybody was like, “it’s the biggest swell of the summer!” I should learn not to listen to people so much!

"There were people who could barely stand up getting barrelled."

It was real fat out the back – like a fat point or something – then you would roll into this fun barrel section. Nothing full-on, but a special kind of ride for all level surfers. There were people who could barely stand up getting barrelled. When you get the right ones out at G-land you get long tube time. I was out on my 7ft JP the first day, just to be on the safe side, but when I got out into the line-up, I felt a little weird. It was 12ft plus big fat ones outside – then on the inside section to the wave it was only 6ft.

Finding the flow

I waited out the back for an hour without a wave. Too many people out! Then I finally got bored and paddled into the inside section; that’s where I felt my flow coming together, and that was my spot for the next few days. I had a few beauties that first day but my board was too big, so the second day of swell I took my 6ft 2in JP and had a whole lot of fun launching into a few wedges.

Surfline did a feature a week or so ago on that swell, and I had a few shots up there. Was stoked on that as I got some nice pictures and footage considering how many people were out. It felt like every pro was out those days, so to get a few was a nice way to end my summer.

Now I’m just training at home, getting my boards, wetsuits and van ready for the Irish winter. I can’t wait for that first big swell…