The voyage out to the Mentawais from Padang was rough. We set sail with a batch of fresh faces including Soli Bailey, Ian Crane, Colin Moran, Kai Hing, Luke Hynd and Zak Condon. We left for the crossing straight into a storm with gusts so strong they snapped one of the ropes holding up the main sail. At 3:30 a.m. we came to a halt in the middle of the voyage. We were all in crammed into our bunks ping ponging off the walls as all the cupboard doors opened and slammed with the rocking. For about 7 hours we had to put both hands and feet on the edges of the bunk just to brace yourself so we didn’t fly out of bed. Looking out the porthole we could see the stars and then sway back the other direction and be staring at the sea a foot away from the window. Back and forth all night, trying to get any kind sleep we could, but also too excited to sleep because of where we were going.

It made me realized how much liquid our bodies are made up of. All of our organs disconnected and floating around in our bodies like empty beer cans in a cooler of melted ice. We made it to Macaronis the next afternoon. It was 4- to 6-foot and cooking with a little swirling devil wind that decided to show up right as we paddled out. But it was still Macaronis. This roll is from those first two days. —Scott Chenoweth

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Watch the trailer for the vid Everything’s Wrong But In The Right Place we made form the trip here: