Sleeping quarters
Ten single beds, two of which convert to doubles, in fully air-conditioned quarters. Two bathrooms with showers. Cool, dark and quiet — which is all you want after a long day in the water.
The boat
A working boat, kept honest.
25.27 m10 guests6 crewEst. 2006
History
Built in 2006. Still on the run.
Ombak Kabau was built in 2006 by Pak Eddy — known through the islands as Edi Om — one of the pioneers of the Mentawai surf charter business. He built her for a single job: carrying surfers through the chain, season after season. She has been doing exactly that ever since.
A working boat earns her keep, and we have kept ahead of the miles. She took a new hull in 2019, and in 2022 we gave her a full refurbishment, bow to stern. What you step aboard today is a 25-metre fibreglass and wood motor cruiser with two decades of the Mentawais built into her — a working surf boat of these islands, still doing the run she was made for.
The captain
Pak Iwan and the crew
At the helm is Pak Iwan, Pak Eddy's son. He grew up around his father's boats and has spent more than twenty years working these waters. He knows the reef passes, the anchorages, how the swell bends around each island and what the wind will do by mid-morning. That kind of knowledge cannot be hired in. It is inherited.
Ombak Kabau carries a crew of six, most of them long-serving, and Pak Iwan runs the boat the way his father taught him: quietly, competently, and always with the surf first. The crew know the routine so well that your board is usually in the tender before you finish your coffee.
Around the decks
Laid out for surfers
The lounge
Air-conditioned, with a flat-screen TV for the day's clips. This is where forecasts are argued over and evenings drift by.
Sun deck & foredeck
The sun deck is the best front-row seat in the Mentawais: watch the line-up, watch your mates, pick your next one. The foredeck is for the quiet hours — coffee at anchor before anyone else is up.
Covered upper deck
Long, shaded and open to the breeze. Eat, talk boards, and watch sets roll through without cooking in the sun.
Rooftop
The top of the boat is open air. Stretch out, loosen up, and watch the sun go down over tomorrow's wave.
Board storage & gear
Ample racking for the whole quiver, plus paddle boards, snorkelling and fishing gear on board — and scuba equipment on request.
Specifications
The numbers
- Vessel
- Ombak Kabau — motor cruiser, Indonesian flag
- Registered
- Teluk Bayur, West Sumatra
- Length
- 25.27 m / 82.9 ft
- Beam
- 4.75 m / 15.6 ft
- Construction
- Fibreglass & wood
- Engines
- 2 × Mitsubishi 190 hp
- Generators
- 2 × 40 kVA
- Cruising speed
- 8–10 knots
- Guests
- 10 max — 10 single beds, 2 convert to doubles
- Crew
- 6
A day at anchor
Life aboard
The day starts before you do. At first light the captain and surf guide are up, checking wind and swell against last night's plan. If the wave off the bow is doing what they hoped, boards go in the tender and you are surfing before breakfast. If somewhere else is better, we lift the anchor and go.
After that, the day organises itself. Surf until you are hungry; the chef cooks three meals a day and the snacks never really stop between them. Nap in the air-conditioning, drop a line off the stern, take a paddle board over the reef. Starlink keeps the boat online, so the morning's clips can be home before dinner. Then the evening glass-off, a cold drink on the sun deck, and the only question that matters out here: where are we waking up tomorrow?
