I have been hearing of “musim barat” (west season, happening 2 months per year here in Central Sulawesi) for a long time, without really understanding how bad it was.

We experienced the first episode last night with a legit storm, and today with huge waves challenging our highest tide line.

My first reaction was “oh, we’re fucked”.

But I remembered we’re living on the island with people who are born here, and I am in touch with resort owners in the region who have seen way worse.

I experience the wave season for the first time, but I can benefit from the experience of dozens of people who experienced it for decades.

So my second reaction was “ok, what is the one thing I can do right now? And then, how to anticipate tomorrow?”

Turns out, we don’t have any significant loss, besides a tree which fell down on our garden fence (already sawed it), a short circuit on an outdoor plug (my mistake), and very scary waves and sea levels.

The fact that everything is built above the ground is very helpful (we actually did it in anticipation of west season and higher sea levels).

However, If I had to do this again, I’d build the tents 30cm higher.

Now things are the way they are, and we will face this weather for 2 months, pretty much every year, so it comes down to focusing on solutions.

A good thing is that my main staff worked for the best resort ever built in the region (now closed), and they built even closer from the water, at an even lower level than us.

They faced this strong wind and wave season for 19 years in a row, and so, by working with one of their former staff, I directly benefit from their experience.

Turns out there are dozens of options, and we will have quite some time to experience them here, since we are stuck on the island for the next few days anyway… until the weather calms down.

Welcome to the west season.

New challenges every day.