Day 134

     Killer day today. Woke up as usual for the 7am session but went back to sleep for a few hours to rest up. Finally headed out solo about 10 and had the worst session to date. I was still getting to the right spot to catch a wave but I wasn’t able to catch one. This is the worst combo, essentially I was putting myself in the biggest part of the wave at its most powerful time (which is exactly what you want to do) but if I don’t catch it at that point, like I said earlier it’s at its most powerful time and will just annihilate me. I got beat to pieces in all my attempts. I had the leash tied around both feet again, another time my head smashed into my board, one time spun so much I was trying to swim down to the bottom of the ocean because I thought it was up. It was just an ugly day on the waves.

     I got back so frustrated because I knew I was on the threshold of riding big waves every time, since I was doing all the set up right, I just couldn’t get up on them after I had paddled. I asked the Australians what I was doing wrong to which I received the classic surfing answer “I don’t know man. In surfing you just get beaten up for awhile until you figure it out and then you know.” This couldn’t be less helpful but at the same time it’s the classic example because you can’t really teach someone more than the basics, they just have to develop an intuition for it, just as I have been developing an intuition for where to be and when to be and how to get there.

     However I needed something and asked Oliver the hostel owner and he gave me three little tiny tweak adjustments to try the next time I went out.

     The good news is that Mike is getting even more gourmet with his cappuccinos in the morning:

     That night I suited back up and headed out. I paddled out to where it was quite heavy and went for the first one that rolled through. I tried Olivers first tweak, a matter of moving my hands 2 inches down the board when I pushed up, and it worked! I flew down the wave and had a great ride. That was it, all I needed. I had the best session to date, for that matter the best session of the trip and at one point actually received some whistles and shouts from the locals out in the lineup as well.

     That night I decided to cook dinner for the boys. Shark Kabobs. That’s right, shark.

     It tasted a lot like a big white fish (surprise right?), like mahi mahi or  swordfish and was excellent. The guys loved it and although it is a given that Kevin is the master of the kitchen I think I earned the title of master of the grill between the Shark Kabobs and the Taliban Chicken I made the other night.

     Oliver was the only one who didn’t eat it. He looked at it with pain in his eyes that yelled how much he wanted to try it but said in a solemn voice, “I don’t eat shark, and they don’t eat me. We have an understanding”. 

Day 133

     The laughs continue and continue all throughout the day with the group of characters we have staying at the hostel. Today laughing literally almost killed me. Mike, Terry and I were out surfing this morning together. Mike and I are still probably classified as beginners although we are out riding with the best but still have only been surfing a little amount of time compared to these guys who have surfed everyday since they were 8. Terry went to University on the beach in Australia and natural rips it on the waves. It is always a battle from where we enter off the beach to get out past the breaks and into the lineup to catchwaves. It’s a bit of a paddle fighting the current but at this point its not anything new and we all know how to do it. However when the three of us entered Mike came about a minute after us as a swell rolled in pummeling him wayback towards the beach. Terry and I just assumed he was going to ride in there for the morning since its all but impossible to paddle back out once you get that far inside the breaks. We were having a good time, had each caught a few when we see Mike’s board crest the waves; he was about 50 feet away and still paddling. Mind you this had been about 30 minutes after we got out and started surfing. Mike had been paddling the whole time.

     A little backstory. Mike and I always stretch, do a little jog, and Mike always does jumping jacks on the beach right before we swim out. Terry who is a bit insane, chugs half a bottle of wine to give himself the courage to go surf the biggest wave he can find. He always pokes fun of us, but especially Mike for doing jumping jacks which he calls Star Jumps.

     Back to the story. We were in shock that Mike was still battling to get out to where we were, and he by now had almost reached us. Enter the single biggest wave of the day, a fluke monster. It picks up Terry and I and swirls us underwater for awhile, actually scaring me because it wrapped my leash around both ankles and then cinched it tight with the strength of Poseidon. However after the wave passed I was able to unbind myself and resurface, but it was the longest I had ever spent underwater because of a wave. Mike wasn’t so lucky. He was still inside the break from where Terry and I had been and caught the full fury of the wave. When I surfaced he still was under, and under. I started to panic as I could see his board floating limp on the water and Mike still wasn’t to be seen. I swam over and started yanking on the leash to pull him up. He surfaced with eyes wider than I’ve ever seen on a human, looking like he just stared down death. It is right at this point where Terry yells out “Hey Mike, looks like you should’ve done a few more of those Star Jumps!” The timing was impeccable seeing as Mike had paddled thirty minutes straight to almost get killed by the largest wave of the day about 1 minute before he was far enough out he would have avoided the whole thing.

     That night we decided to all go out for dinner since we have made three meals a day at least since we all moved in. We went to this really nice place called Costa Luna a few k’s down the road and was built on the ocean with a terrace that looked right over the sea. 

    

Day 132

     There is little in this earth that I find more pleasing than an immense wave of satisfaction. In the morning session I finally had one of those days that I had been waiting for, a day where I just killed it. I woke up and did a little meditation over my morning tea focusing all my will into not settling for anything less than a great day out the waves. The mind is a powerful thing. I found myself always in the right spot for the waves, and my arms are now feeling quite strong, technique is a lot better and I had some great rides. And if I didn’t ride it, I still was in the right spot and paddled spot on, it was just because I overstepped on my standup or some other little thing which was still satisfying seeing as most of this trip has been spent trying to get the sense that puts you right where you need to be at the right moment or trying to condition my arms. The rush of dropping down the front face of a breaking wave and knowing that even though everything is rushing at you so fast you are in complete control and now part of the wave…

     I stayed out a solid hour longer than anyone else that morning.

     That afternoon between cookie shopping to accompany the morning cappuccinos and a mid-afternoon fresh juice I splurged a little bit and had a beachside massage. It was great, they didn't have to fake a beach breeze or waves crashing in the background!

     Another great session that night although no where near the level of that morning but I was still flying high on the success from that day overall that it might as well have been.

Day 131

     Today two Australians showed up although independent of each other and the laughs started and didn’t stop all day. They both are as stereotypical Australian as can be, with long hair, absolutely no cares in the world except surfing and chicas, thick accents, and the most ridiculous stories I have heard so far on this trip. They are going to be staying around for the rest of the week which means jokes for the rest of the week. Life just keeps getting better everyday even when everynight I think the next day can’t possibly top it. One of the guys from OZ is Ryan who has been doing a ten month surf trip starting in Mexico and then slowly coming down the pacific coast surfing all the main spots on the way. Terry is this big ozzy with long brown hair who I call Tarzan for self explanatory reasons. Terry just started his trip and is going to spend the next 8 months or so working his way north to Mexico.

     I think I have mentioned how everytime we walk to the beach we have to take pictures with the locals who are obsessed with A) white guys and B) surfers. We catch people sneakily trying to walk buy taking a quick picture as they pass, the people who pretend to be shooting a picture of a building or tree ten feet in front of us but it isn’t until we walk directly into the frame that the flash goes off and then of course the bold Chileans that just run up and ask for pictures. So take this mentality and now imagine the reaction we get with Ryan who walks down to the beach with his wetsuit put on only to his waist but only pulled up about half way up his butt in the back with nothing on underneath. We walk past groups of about ten 60-70 year old women and just hear hoots of laughter and whistles right after we pass. It’s like clockwork; I get ready for it as we pass every group of women. Ryan plays indifferent which makes it all the better.

     The surfing session went alright but I really want to have one that is just killer that has me walking on air as I go home. They are always fun, and I almost always get at least one good ride but I just want a time out there that is spectacular.

     Day was pretty usual except for a slightly unusually long nap.

     Surfed again at nighttime with Kevin, Mike, Ryan and Terry as well as this new American named Jimmy who is only staying one night before continuing down to Tierra Del Fuego to try and bum a ride on a boat to Antarctica although he has no idea what he is going to do when he gets there.

     For dinner the Chileans cooked up a big asado again with their traditional honeydew melons hollowed out and filled with sweet white wine.

Day 130

     Funny story about the Chileans who are staying in the hostel (Day: 126) Mike went with some of the guys today to this market where there is a stand of Artisanal beer made by a local guy and girl however when Mike and the guys arrived they were informed that there wasn’t anymore beer. The two Chileans (who had found the beer stand and showed it to us) had drank the place dry. The stand wasn’t going to receive its next shipment of beer until Thursday. The Chileans had drank over a weeks supply in two days single-handedly.

     Anyways back to today. Woke up with the guys at 7 and went out for a good surfing session. The ankle is totally feeling normal now which is encouraging. Breakfast feast as usual and then the afternoon nap and read combo.

     Went out that night for a long session. Now that its sunny and warmer out the water is substantially warmer as well, although still quite cold, now it is a refreshing cold more than a numbing cold so I am able to spend more time out in the water each time since the cold has become the reason to call it quits rather than the endurance.

     Tonight we barbeque’d some reneta as well as a large assortment of vegetables since Kevin is veggie crazy for. It was good but I was almost to tired to enjoy it after two long surfs today.