
Owner operator Mick O’Shea has been the proud owner of Bintang since 2015 when he took over a vessel full of potential. In 2017 Mick and the Bintang sailed to Malaysia where the boat underwent a complete rebuild. Comfort and safety were the main objectives of the rebuild and that is searingly obvious when you first board the Bintang surf charter.
Bintang is a sturdy-sleek stay sail schooner built by ‘Classic Yachts’ in Perth in 1988. She is 115 feet overall, cruises at 8-10 knots powered by a 8LXB Gardner diesel engine.
Unlike many boats in the Sumatran island chain, the Bintang is all rigged up to make use of consistent winds that blow throughout the year. This ensures you experience what is advertised and makes it arguably the sleekest and most efficient surf charter on the planet.
During the rebuild, more space and comfort has been added and all the beds have been made larger for the comfort of resting up between surfs and always guaranteeing a good nights sleep. The entire boat is air conditioned and the bedrooms have ensuites to ensure comfort for all passengers.
A brand new kitchen has been installed and allows Bintangs master chef Gerry to take his full bag of cooking tricks to the next level. The food is plentiful and delicious on your Bintang surf charter.
The top deck has been modified, making it a lot more practical with a spacious open plan layout. The deck now allows for yoga or sitting back with a bintang watching the sun rise or set.
Bintang has the full array of communication and navigation equipment that extends to the comfort levels guests feel on the boat. Guests can relax, knowing that if something does go wrong, help is a crisp, clear call away.
The 500 square foot salon is also a popular space set up with a state of the art entertainment center, boasting a huge LCD flatscreen TV, DVD, Blu Ray, and surround sound. Making it really easy to sit back and watch the days surfing highlights or just chill out watching a surf movie.
Accommodation
Bintang surf charter has 2x fore cabins with 4 bunks in each with beds 2.2m long and 900mm wide to ensure everyone is in a comfortable bed and not squished in like sardines.
The aft cabin is equipped with 4 single bunks and a king size double, which is usually allocated to the group leader (that’s incentive right there).
The boat can accommodate 10 – 14 guests easily with an exclusive charter booking. Individual bookings will be capped at 10.
Meals
A brand new kitchen installed during Bintang’s rebuild allows for master chef cooking from the boat chef Gerry.
Gerry has a large list of recipes and will have your taste buds tingling for each meal during your Bintang surf charter.
Some of those meals include: seafood night with lobster and crab, lasagna, beef rendang, fish and chips, nasi campur, chicken cordon bleu, roast lamb/beef and everyone’s favourite – BBQ dinner cooked over coconut coal shells.
Meals are usually taken on the aft deck (front deck), which accommodates 14 people comfortably.
If you have any special dietary requirements, no worries, Gerry has something for everyone!
By the way – Gerry can also make a mean cocktail when the team wants to mix it up a bit or wants a change from bintangs.
Surf Bintang Surf Charter
The Mentawai Islands offer some of the best surf to be found anywhere in the world, with more perfect left and right handed waves in one region than anywhere on earth. The Mentawais attracts year round swells with the more consistent time being from March – November.
Waves vary in size but the range suits a number of ability levels. If you can handle it, there are stand up barrels but if you want something a little mellower, the Mentawais has that too.
Despite it being so well-known you can still snag regular sessions with no one else around and this is obviously the goal of all Bintang surf charters. With so many quality set ups scattered throughout the Mentawais, Telo Islands, Banyaks and so on, our mission is to get you empty waves no matter how far we need to travel.
Professional Photography by Guy Morgan
On Bintang surf charter we have a professional photographer who has been on the boat since 2016. Guy makes sure he captures everyones best waves with his state of the art camera equipment. This includes water housing, drone, video and stills. Guy will also create a full movie for your group at the end of every trip. Guy also uses his 10 years experience in the Mentawais to back up Mick as an extra guide and you will quite regularly hear these two talking about where the best conditions will be on the day.
Surf Guides
Mick O’Shea:
At the age of just 30, Mick has been surfing around Indonesia since 2008. His love of the Mentawais, Telos and Banyaks region is why he decided to pack up everything in Australia and surf his brains out doing what he loves on his own 115ft schooner. He also has a great passion for fishing and has just finished a brand new 7.2 metre 250hp suzuki powered speed boat to get him and his guests around quickly and easily.
The Crew:
There are 6 crew onboard Bintang. Mick has hand-picked these guys and has imparted his passion for sailing the 115ft schooner to each and every one of them. He has also trained them to provide amazing service with a friendly smile.
Non-Surf Activities
Bintang surf charter comes with a 7.2 metre speed boat – perfect for zipping guests around to surf breaks and for fishing your brains out. It’s also used for roaming around the remote islands, where the waters are shallower and it makes it really easy to get onto islands for beach bonfires.
Spear Fishing: There are 3 spear guns and 2 hawaiian slings on the Bintang surf charter.
Snorkelling: There are several pairs of flippers, snorkels and masks for spear fishing or snorkelling.