NORTH SENTINEL IS FIRING

Aquaman2

Michael Peterson status
Apr 17, 2008
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fineartamerica.com
The story above deserves more than just a link. The natives, who usually kill outsiders on sight, appeared to dig the music and left the surfers alone!

"Suddenly, the warriors stopped paddling. Gliding towards the boat they looked transfixed. With no engine noise from their canoe, the captain said the natives could hear the music from the sound system on the boat.

Air - La Femme d'Argent - YouTube

Now, if you are a pre-neolithic tribal person, living in complete isolation for perhaps 50,000 years or more on a single island in the Indian Ocean, you have never heard any form of recorded music. Ever.

The captain said he reached for the knob and slowly turned up the volume on the music - specifically the opening keyboard riff from 'La Femme 'd'Argent' from Air, their 'Moon Safari' album. If you know the record, it's a compelling piece of instrumental music and if you have never heard any recorded music before in your life as a pre-neolithic tribal warrior...well, you might stop paddling also.

The canoe glided towards the boat, not paddling and not talking, just looking. They started paddling again, slowly, making a wide circle around the boat, more than six or seven metres away.

Meanwhile, the captain had pulled the shotgun out from under the bench and loaded it with two shells, with two more shells ready - with Plan A being to fire a warning shot overhead or into the water if they got too close. Plan B was if they tried to board the boat, give them both barrels.

"We could see them clearly and they could see us," the captain told me. "Nong now knew they could throw spears or shoot poisoned arrows at any time and was scared shitless. But they did nothing, appearing to be listening to the music. After three slow circles around the boat they paddled in the direction of the beach, reached the sand, carried their canoe up past the treeline and disappeared into the forest"

The surfers were surfing the entire time, oblivious to this encounter with one of the last uncontacted groups of tribal people anywhere on earth.

Crisis averted, they dropped the anchor, had breakfast and a second surf and did not see any of tribals again. They pulled the anchor after lunch and headed off in the direction of Little Andaman, to make it there before nightfall."

Escape from North Sentinel Island | Swellnet Dispatch | Swellnet
 

JSC

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Mar 11, 2008
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This incident, as described to me by the Captain in a bar in Phuket, happened in that very bay the Air India flight goes over, with the left on one side and the right on the other.

I could tell you the company that went to North Sentinel, that I specifically told them NOT to go there, even some of the surfers on board and the photographer, but I won't.
 

JJJJS

Legend (inyourownmind)
Feb 2, 2017
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"Imagine if earth itself was a 'North Sentinel Island'. There are alien civilisations far more advanced, but they know we're still 'prehistoric' and are trying to preserve us."
 

Aquaman2

Michael Peterson status
Apr 17, 2008
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In the story they mention a photographer on the boat during the expedition. Anyone know about any photos taken on North Sentinel Island that day? There is only a photo from high altitude, taken from a plane, identifying the southern point breaking left and right, 5 foot and glassy.
 

Sharky

Phil Edwards status
Feb 25, 2006
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They need to pull some ships up and flood the island with miniature drones.



Then you start a reality show.

Housewives of Sentinel Island.

:dancing:
 

000

Duke status
Feb 20, 2003
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there are still places with empty perfect waves. just not anywhere near me
 

perfect_wave

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Dec 5, 2002
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This incident, as described to me by the Captain in a bar in Phuket, happened in that very bay the Air India flight goes over, with the left on one side and the right on the other.

I could tell you the company that went to North Sentinel, that I specifically told them NOT to go there, even some of the surfers on board and the photographer, but I won't.
Check your PMs. There are only a couple famous surf boat captains and surfers idiotic enough to go there…
 

JSC

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Mar 11, 2008
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In the story they mention a photographer on the boat during the expedition. Anyone know about any photos taken on North Sentinel Island that day? There is only a photo from high altitude, taken from a plane, identifying the southern point breaking left and right, 5 foot and glassy.
The story and photos ran in several magazines at the time - they did not mention North Sentinel or India at all.

It was presented as a boat trip to somewhere in the Indian Ocean, most people though it was Indonesia.
 
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oneworlded

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Murrica
chrisdixonreports.com
The story and photos ran in several magazines at the time - they did not mention North Sentinel or India at all.

It was presented as a boat trip to somewhere in the Indian Ocean, most people though it was Indonesia.
IIRC, Sam George was on one of those early Andaman trips when we were both working at Surfer. I remember him ranting and raving about the trip, but don't recall him mentioning Sentinel. And he'd have probably mentioned something like this.
 
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perfect_wave

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Dec 5, 2002
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The story and photos ran in several magazines at the time - they did not mention North Sentinel or India at all.

It was presented as a boat trip to somewhere in the Indian Ocean, most people though it was Indonesia.
Can you point us in the right direction to find this article? PM ok too.

I wonder if the Sentinelese will ever “discover” surfing on their own, crafting wooden boards and surfing around their island. How crazy would that be?
 

JSC

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Mar 11, 2008
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IIRC, Sam George was on one of those early Andaman trips when we were both working at Surfer. I remember him ranting and raving about the trip, but don't recall him mentioning Sentinel. And he'd have probably mentioned something like this.
Yes, I invited Sam on our first trip to the Andamans - he met the boat in Port Blair and we went south, to Little Andaman Island.

We did not go to North Sentinel at all.

Jack Johnson filmed a few sequences for "Thicker than Water" on 16mm film and wrote the outline for several songs on acoustic guitar in the lounge room of the boat, they later appeared on his first album "Brushfire Fairytales" in 2000.

You can read about that first Andamans trip here:

https://medium.com/@johnseatoncallahan_64069/the-surfexplore-group-our-ten-favorite-surf-travel-destinations-f884f36e02b4

The North Sentinel trip came after this first project, to prove it was possible to access the Andamans from Phuket by boat and that there were waves there, very good unsurfed waves -
 

Chocki

Phil Edwards status
Feb 18, 2007
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Planet Earth
"Imagine if earth itself was a 'North Sentinel Island'. There are alien civilisations far more advanced, but they know we're still 'prehistoric' and are trying to preserve us."
We’re the aliens man.
We’re the savages.