desert point current

this is a video of "crazy carl" jumping off the boat at desert point in lombok. the key here is to not let the current sweep you past the ladder at the back of the boat because, as you can see from carl swimming, it is impossible to swim against the current and get anywhere. we had quite a few cases of our surfers getting swept out to sea while surfing here... luckily fishing boats picked them up. pretty crazy!
this situation among others provoked chris and i to talk about "wisdom vs. wuss." chris is the leader of surfing the nations (the group we have spent the last month with) and is 26 years old. being the "old men" of the group, we kept wondering what happened to our invincible attitudes... you know, the ones that lead us to the hospital on more than one occasion. we were laughing and debating whether we are old and wise and don't ignore the possibilities of stuff going wrong OR if we just became wusses in our old age as we watch all the 18 year olds do everything without looking back. what happened to us? it isn't near as fun!
of course after having this conversation, chris proceeded to go free diving in a cove that we were anchored in. he was determined to catch us dinner... which he did. however, along the way he had a more than a close encounter. he was diving down about 30 feet and then 15 feet into a cave, without air mind you, when he had a shark (the size of him) come around the corner and start right at him while speeding up. he quickly back peddled while keeping his spear aimed at the shark ready to jab at it if it gained anymore. how he didn't lose his breath i will never know. the guy can hold his breath for close to two minutes under water! so anyways, he lived to tell about it and one of the locals was with him and freaking out!