Gachon

There are legend surfers in every area and Sanur surfers are very lucky to have the legend surfer Gachon.
 
For many local Sanur surfers Gacho is the epitome of a legend..he is one of the first generation of successful surfers in Sanur and he is still a role model for the Sanur grommets. He started surfing when he was still in primary school and he and his friends would wait for the tourists to finish surfing and ask to borrow their boards. Sometimes the tourists would say no but that was the chance they took waiting for a board to borrow, sometimes they would cry.
The world of surfing has changed Gachon’s life. It gave him a chance to move on from the situation he’d grown up in. A friend told him “don’t stop surfing, you can be successful through surfing”, Gachon remembers that advice came from Ketut Menda, another legend surfer. Gachon learned a lot about surfing and business from Menda.
He formed a group of Sanur grommets into a team known as ‘Gachon Team’ and they would come to contests wearing Gachon Team T shirts. Kombong was an ex Gachon team member who went on to get a big sponsor. “I was so thankful if a sponsor picked up a grommet from Gachon Team” he remembered.
Now a father of 4 Gachon had always wanted to be a university lecturer and he went to university to study Englsih but he didn’t finish his course. He asked one of his lecturers about his salary…” I asked my lecturer how much he made and it was only Rp.125,000/month. At that time I was already doing some surf guiding and could make Rp.1,000,000/month” said Gachon, explaining why he lost interest in finishing university.
His parents were disappointed and his mother cried when she heard he had dropped out of university. Eventually he was able to show them he could be successful. Since he was in senior high school Gachon had started working as a surf guide. He learned how to speak Japanese from his friends and while he was working as a guide he was also working on his surfing. He came 6th in an international contest held in Bali, other local surfers who entered were Ketut Menda, Wayan Ganti and Made Arta.
Now he has a quiet and relaxed life and he is still a guide. Indeed he has dominated surf guiding for Japanese in Kuta, as in the past only a few people could speak Japanese. He devotes his life now to his children and prioritizes their education. He doesn’t force them to surf though his youngest boy sometimes goes surfing. His 2nd and 3rd children are girls and they have asked him to teach them to surf. “For my kids I am responsible for everything, most importantly that they don’t get involved with drugs”, is his message for his kids.

Name : Made Suryatha
Nick name : Gachon
DOB : Nusa Lembongan 16’9’60
Style : Regular
Board Size : 6’3 & 6’6
Local : Sanur Reef