Most people strike mission G-Land from mainland Bali by boat. But for Josh Ku, he decided to take a different route. Last year the Sydney Southsider crossed the Bali strait – a 92km journey from Uluwatu to G-Land – by Hydrofoil, completing the journey in four hours and 30 minutes while accompanied by a safety boat and film crew.
An elite slab surfer, who cut his teeth at Maroubra, Josh said the run was the ‘hardest’ he’d done and made the famous Molokai to Oahu crossing seem ‘like a walk in the park’. He described the Bali strait, which took the lives of a number of people during a tragic boat accident prior to Josh’s crossing, as a ‘serious body of water that needs to be respected’.
Josh, alongside cinematographer Dane Wilson, have now released a full film documenting Josh’s journey, which didn’t come without incident. Going off track, dealing with almost unrideable conditions and almost losing the support boat were all factors Josh had to contend with.
Josh’s timing couldn’t have been better. After completing his crossing he scored a pumping G-Land swell for the next few days where he rode an 8″0 Gerry Lopez single fin shaped by North Coast Surfboards and carbon-glassed at Lucid Glassing. The board featured a striking gold Gerry Lopez signature and pin line, and a high-gloss polish.
“As you’d imagine, being an 8-foot board, it paddled like a dream, allowing me to wait for the sets a bit further out from the pack and position myself nicely for the infamous drop you get at G-Land. With its pin tail shape, you honestly just point the board down the line, forget the new-age surfing wiggles, and let the rail engage. The single fin directs you straight into the tube,” said Josh.
To find out more about the story of his crossing and the swell that followed, hit the link above to watch.
