James “Happy” Anderson showed up to the van in the parking lot of the Padang airport late, sweating and carrying a coffin full of boards over his shoulder like it was a boombox. We had no idea who he was but he said he was coming with us. “Ummm, you are?”

Not thinking about it too much we made our way to the boat after grabbing lunch and some last minute supplies. Sure enough, when we got the the dock to get out to our boat, all the luggage was already loaded and “Happy” was standing on the boat, Bintang in hand.

We found out that it was the captains best friend and he in fact came with parts to help fix the engine. He introduced himself to us as Happy and that’s how we will always know him. He knows his way around this life, that’s for sure.

For example, we were on out way back from checking the surf at Green Bush in the speed boat, boards loaded up and stacked up in the back when all of a sudden the boat dropped from 35 miles an hour to a dead stop, everyone toppling over each other on the front of the boat, everyone screaming at the back of the boat throwing boards around and jumping up to the edge of the boat.

As we were cooking along, a sea snake decided to come out of its hiding spot under the steering block and slither across the captains feet, sending everyone for the edge as one bite from these will end it all.

And of course, it was Happy to the rescue. He grabbed a towel as everyone was rifling through the boards to try and find the thing. The thing was missing for 20 minutes.  It decided to find its way out of the engine block and back onto the floor mat. And Happy was ready. He toweled the snake, tossed overboard and we all slept much easier.

So when the second snake came aboard the main ship, out of the kitchen and down the hall making it’s way for Michael Cukr’s suitcase, we all yelled for Happy. And sure enough, he was on it with another towel, got it on the first grab and took it straight overboard. Pesky little fuckers those things, we were all thrilled we had a badass snake wrangling, beer drinking, fishing hunting, backside tube chasing, story telling legend like him on board. And that’s why we decided to share with you. —Scott

Happy’s 10 tips for Indo:

1. Just fucking go cunt. (He wrote this on the deck of all of his boards)
2. Always lift the line, never assume the fish is gone
3. Beer pressure is a bitch
4. If you’re not making waves, change your board shorts
5. Green Bush takes no prisoners
6. Don’t piss off the front of the boat when you’re sailing
7. Aqua poos are a must
8. When it comes to stitches, just get it done
9. Sunscreen, always, and everywhere
10. If you do anything wrong, it’s a beer bong