Day 138

     We all were supposed to wake up early like usual and go surf Punta de Lobos the legendary surfing spot 8km farther down the beach. I think all the early morning surfs, combined with two a days and no days off as well as staying out late Friday and Saturday were just to much because no one made the effort to get up early and once we did finally wake up no one could be bothered to hurry off to Lobos. I had to go get money to pay the hostel and surf board bill and went to the bank to trade money. I wish I had traded all of it at the first visit instead of making 3 trips over the course of my stay because that bank is SO inefficient. 2 hours later I was back at the house just as everyone was getting ready for Lobos.

     Quick oatmeal with strawberries and Terry and I left to go catch up with everyone at Lobos. We got there to find no one in the water yet. Apparently Flo and Ken had tried to get out but couldn’t get past the breaking waves and got beaten in. Mike and Diego weren’t to keen to try their luck and opted to go back to Puntia. The thing that makes Lobos so dangerous is not only that the waves are huge (were barreling Friday and Saturday) but that they whole coast line is a series of rocks. The wave consistently breaks left so you catch it and ride left as the part you originally caught crashes on the rocks. Basically as long as you keep riding to the left you stay on the point of the wave breaking and then the part you were just on consistently is about 8 seconds away from crashing onto the rocks. Naturally the getting out is the hardest part because you are jumping off the rocks into the water before the next wave can come in and pick you up and slam you back onto the rocks.

     Terry and I were standing on the point looking at the craziest entry I’ve ever seen. We were standing a few feet above the water but the water was only about 1 feet deep over a plateau of rock for the next 8 feet. We couldn’t climb down onto the plateau because waves kept crashing over that with a lot of force. So basically we had to jump off the rock landing on the board and spring paddle not only 8 feet off the plateau but then about another 20 or 30 before the next big wave came in. And the waves were BIG. It was pure insanity. But as I wrote before Terry is diagnosably partially insane. I looked back at the beach to see if the others were watching and I hear from behind me, “Hell, screw it!” I turn to see Terry diving with the board into the white water. Right as he did the previous wave got sucked back out to sea and he was left stranded laying on his board stuck on the plateau like a beached whale. Then the big wave came picking him up and he disappeared in the white water as it slammed against the rocks. But a second later he popped up somehow still conscious and paddled like a madman barely getting to the clear before the next monster came in.

I spent a good 5 minutes standing there half in shock that Terry had made it alive and in resentment that now I was left standing there knowing I couldn’t let OZ show up the good Ol’ USA. Finally I saw my chance, a big one crashed in almost knocking me off my perch above where the water was supposed to reach, but now the water was high enough I wouldn’t get beached and the waves coming in looked relatively low so I dived in and swam like a mad man making it all the way out without any close calls.

But then when you catch a wave if you crash and can’t ride left as it breaks next thing you know you right back in the rocks with more waves coming in and you have to sprint left before the next one comes in. Super scary, especially because after being buried you are slightly disoriented but can’t take the time to get your bearing because you have to just get back out as fast as possible.

I enjoy surfing but that was a little too much for me as it was for a lot of the other guys as well and Lobos was one of our shorter sessions. But hey, I did it, and now have surfed one of the legendary surfing spots in the world.

Afterwards I passed out for a good two hours. Flow and the two new German travelers cooked fish filets wrapped in aluminum foil in the barbeque as well as potatoes and vegetables all cooked in the same fashion. I love the huge scale dinners we have had everynight with a minimum of 7 people. I will definitely miss that Surf Eat Sleep when I leave.