Surf

Ripping In Paradise: Sage Erickson’s Memoirs From Indo

Who doesn’t love a tropical paradise?

As much of a charger she is in the lineup, Oakley’s rising star, Sage Erickson, admits that the idea of a boat trip – even to tropical dream destinations, like Indo – almost frightened her in the past. But this year, that sentiment changed…real quick.

Sage and fellow Oakley Women’s Surf Teammate Claudia Goncalves recently returned from the Mentawaiis and an adventure of a lifetime…a boat trip that featured nine of the best women’s surfers in the world. Their mission: To search out and find waves only heard of in legends.

When they returned to the United States, they claimed “trip of a lifetime” – filled with adventure, respect, skill, courage and drive. But don’t take our word for it. Sage actually recorded her experiences on paper. The result was a captivating narrative of her feelings and experiences in a surfer’s paradise.

So captivating, in fact, that all of her writings on the trip will be published next summer in Transworld Surf and multiple international magazines. Until then, enjoy this:

“Indonesia.

My trip to Indo was an amazing experience. I’ve been invited to boat trips like this before, but never took the offers..

Not because I thought bad about previous planned ones, but because I was scared. I’ve spent countless hours watching that TV show ‘Deadliest Catch’ with the extreme deep sea fisherman counting the hours left they have to live because of harsh sea conditions and treacherous hard work labor.

Seeing as though I’m 19, I thought it was time for me to man up so you can say and go on a trip. Wow I can honestly say I’ve been missing out. I went on a great trip with great girls. Former world champ, up and coming champs and just some girls that rip. Being out on a boat sailing through tropical islands is a dream come true. I cant explain the feeling any other way.

Throughout the 10-day surf trip we scored pretty much every high performance wave out there. The captain of our boat, Matt, has been sailing the seas of the Metawais islands for over a decade. Each spot he took us to was good. No matter what. I was amazed on how we would show up at a surf break, it would be windy and onshore and in twenty minutes the wind would switch and the ocean would turn to gold. I feel like Indonesia has so much to offer to a surfer in general. Surfing perfect waves improves your technique and style like a switch of a button. It polishes your weak points and emphasizes your strong ones. Exactly what i need at this point and time of my life.

Our trip consisted of long hours out surfing, movie watching on down time, peer pressuring each other to jump off the mast of the boat, dance offs and just a lot of laughter. My favorite wave out there was Macaronis. Probably one of the most famous waves in the world. It was perfect and I loved every second spent on that perfect left hander. After being out there for six days your body starts to go into over time and has to deal with itself. Meaning sunstroke, heat rashes, and fatigue: all these things start to affect you. Finding the balance of what your body needs to perform at such a high level of surfing was key. Another lesson that I learned from my time spent there. All in all I had a great trip and I can’t wait to return!”