Drew Kampion's feature on the making of ABC-TV's Grajagan episode of American Sportsman, which aired in Spring of 1981, ran in the December 1980 issue of Surfing. This version has been slightly edited.

Some years ago, while traveling in the Indonesian archipelago, well-known Long Island pro surfer Ricky Rasmussen and a few others visited a long, perfect wave that wrapped along a jungle-choked point somewhere on the southeastern corner of Java. Other surfers had taken boats into this break before, but Razz, Mike Boyum, and a couple of others began to build a nest in the jungle at the edge of the beach. They built tree houses that looked out on the long, wrapping lines.

Subsequently, some sort of land deal was made with the government, and the little jungle beachhead became known as Mike Boyum's Surf Camp.

Anyway, while he was there, Razz and his girlfriend took movies of the place: the tree houses, the jungle, the incredibly perfect left-breaking point wave.

Eventually, Razz showed that footage to a friend of his out on Long Island, Tony Caramanico. Tony owned a surf shop, the Albatross, until two years ago. Since then he's been living out on Montauk Point with photographer Peter Beard and Cheryl Tiegs, acting as on-site business manager and friend. 

Now, a friend and frequent visitor to the Beard place is none other than Bob Nixon, the producer of ABC Sports. Tony got Razz to bring his footage over to the house to show Nixon. They both got Nixon pumped on what an exotic and perfect setting the place would be for an episode of ABC's 

 Nixon was stoked, but who would be able to bring back the footage? Razz suggested Dan Merkel, who sent a few hundred feet of his credentials to ABC. They were impressed, of course.

The next problem was, what surfing celebrity was willing to go halfway around the world, journey into a God-forsaken jungle, and ride grinding left tubes in an ocean squirming with sea snakes?

"It blew me away when they asked me," admits Gregory Harrison. "To go off to the South Pacific, to some exotic island and do a thing like this—it was my biggest surfing fantasy! It took me about two seconds to decide."

Gregory Harrison, known to those who watch 

. as Dr. Gonzo, has been surfing for almost 20 years. He lived for a long time on Catalina Island, belonged to a surf club there, traveled to Mexico and Hawaii and up and down the California coast. A surfer, just like you and me, catching a wave here and there as his busy schedule allowed. And suddenly, this!

Soon ABC had put together a nine-man crew and equipment and a $150,000 budget, and were off to Indonesia—first stop Bali, where they stayed at the Kuta Beach Hotel. Merkel had already been there awhile, monitoring the surf. "I stayed a month," says Merkel, "and they paid me for 20 days' work, but I only actually worked seven. $7,500 for seven days, not bad!"

On Bali, they ran into Mike Boyum. Harrison, who admits he was already "a little tentative" because he'd "never surfed with anyone of the same caliber as Razz," was scoffed at by Boyum, who evidently didn't feel that the young actor could hack it out there in a man's world. "He was skeptical about our venture," Greg says. "He pointed out to a boat two miles offshore and told me to paddle out to it and back—three or four times—before we left for to Java."

Then they took off in the bemo vans, ABC's photographers with cases and cases of equipment, Merkel with one suitcase. They rode the ferry over to Java. "It was a rough trip," Tony admits, "and when we got there it was a whole different world!"

They drove the bemos out to Garudjagan, where Boyum had arranged for them to be met by three dug-out canoes powered by small outboards. A crowd of villagers watched them depart on their boat trip to the camp.

"It was real shaky," recalls Harrison. "Nobody there spoke English. We went out through a pass in the waves at high tide, then 30 miles down the island along the coast, out to the farthest point of Java where the camp was. We went in through a narrow break in the waves to a white sand beach. There was 20 feet of beach and then a jungle so thick you could hardly stick your arm into it."

But the tree houses and lean-tos were there, though the waves were small and sloppy. Razz assured them that it would be different in the morning, and it was! "Six- and eight-foot sets and absolute perfection!" exults Greg. "I couldn't believe it." 

For the next three days, the waves got bigger and more consistent. On the last day, it was a solid ten feet.

Harrison has already shown bits of Merkel's Grajagan film on talk shows like 

, where they've said it was the best footage they've ever had. And the editors at ABC reportedly exclaimed, "Now we have a new sport to work with!"

As for Gregory Harrison, a.k.a. Dr. Gonzo, it was a much-appreciated opportunity he won't soon forget. "I've gotta go back there! I know it'll never be the same, but I've gotta go back there!" 

"THE $150,000 JAVA TRIP," DREW KAMPION (1980)

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