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Dec
2009

Surfing In Batang Lupar River 16th October 2009

Every river has its legends, and the local legend which personifies the creation of the Batang Lupar benak is as imaginative as any, highlighting the conflict between the boatman and the great natural phenomenon.

It has only been as a result of the Komori report of 1979, for the Malaysia Drainage and Irrigation department, that the four Sarawak benaks have been documented. However, much earlier, in 1949, the British writer, Somerset Maugham actually experienced the benak on the Batang Lupar, and narrowly avoided drowning.

A tidal bore, locally known as “Benak”, usually occurs during the third day and eighteenth day of the Chinese Lunar calendar month and when the high tide is rushing up the Batang Lupar.

The tidal bore is created when the force of the tide water rush up the river causes the river to reverse its flow. The height of the tidal bore depends on the time of the year, wather adn phase of the moon. The tidal action is significant for the speed in which a large volume of water fills the rive channel.

The tidal bore in the Batang Lupar reaches its height at the river in front of the Sri Aman Town, which is about 28 kilometres from its mouth. The tidal bore travels further up river for another 30 kilometres to reach Engkilili, a total of 68 kilometres from the sea.

The Legend of the Benak

A local legend states that once upon a time, Benak, his wife and their son were strolling along the Batang Lupar, in the Sri Aman division of Sarawak, when they accidentally hit and capsized a native, spilling him into the Batang Lupar. Angered by this, the native, a local Iban man, vowed to avenge his misfortue and kill Benak and his family. The next morning, the Iban man hid himself on the Batang Lupar to await the arrival of Benak and his family. Unaware that he was waiting for them, Benak and his family were unexpectedly attacked by the local, and Benak was slain. But, his wife and child managed to escape, and every day since they stroll the Batang Lupar with great ferocity, and no compassion for the local boatmen that frequent the waters.

Anyway, The article im gonna post here is taken from someone’s blog about this guy surfing in this river which is well known for being infested by CROCODILE…

First Surf Attempt

Taken from http://www.nadai.name

Antony was all set to surf the Batang Lupar Tidal Bore or popularly known as Benak in Sarawak. It also goes by the name of Ben in Nadai Nama Nama. It was Antony’s first attempt on 16th October 2009. The Benak was expected to come at 3:00 pm and we were already assembled at the Sri Aman Wharf, near the Chinese Temple.

One of Antony’s worry was the presence of crocodiles which was aplenty on the banks of Batang Lupar River. He came across this one (above in the picture) during his recce along the river on 15th October 2009 at Sekera, Sri Aman. One of the questions he asked me was the statistics of fatal crocodile attacks here so that he can be more careful in identifying which areas have crocs during the recce. Yikes! I thought….here was someone who would change my perspective of crocodiles in Batang Lupar. He says if he know a certain area is populated by the creature he would just avoid surfing in the area. To me, just a sight of that creature would make me scurry a hundred miles away from the river.

Cruising along the river waiting for the Benak along the Batang Lupar River was not as simple as it seems. Reason being some areas are just knee deep and the boat tends to get stuck. The only way to fix this was to get off the boat and push…..that’s the fear factor part….where you hope to feel sand underneath and nothing else. Anything that looks like or feels different- say a log, just jump into the boat as quick as you can.

So as the Benak approached Antony waited for a good wave and quickly jumped out of the boat, shouting “YEEHAAA” into the raging waters. It was his first taste of Batang Lupar water and he never looked back as he rose and surfed making it look easy. I was watching history in the making as this is the first time that someone is attempting to surf the Benak on a surf board. Sacre Bleu…the French will say.

In deeper section of the river the Benak sinks and the force of the wave is lost, only to resurface again in shallower areas. So there was Antony, surfing and when the Benak disappear for a while, he would go back on the other boat and chase the Benak again and when it emerges again he would jump in. Our main worry at first was that when he loses the wave and momentum he would fall behind and we would have to quickly pull him out of the water. That’s the dicey part as the remnant waves of the actual Benak is risky for our boat. There were times when we almost overturned.

There was a stretch along the Batang Lupar which saw the Benak travelling quite a distance and Antony was there again to conquer that stretch. The people of Sri Aman had gathered along the Batang Lupar Tidal Bore Observation Station and Riverine Park to watch this courageous Frenchman as they clapped their hands and cheered him on.

Below are some clearer photos taken from Antony’s camera which shows him surfing the Benak wave. Yeehaa! He wants me to show this in this Blog to show that Benak surfing can be done. Its like Kacang (eating peanuts).