teeny and blown.. the anti-epic
Another day with abysmal surf. Woke up not really thinking i'd hit it.. walked to the end of my block in my boxers and peeked over the dunes.. to see white-cappy, blown-out drivel. nada out there this morning unless you like cold/windy/lake-like conditions. Soo.. while we wait for surf and hope for leftovers from the pumping south swells that are alighting most of the west coast of the americas with kick-arse waves.. I'll describe a magical session that Lerm and I enjoyed a few weeks ago down in central america. A session that involved the apex of one of those long-period southern-hemi groundswells.
Lerm and I were staying in these thatched-rooved bungalows a short hike up a mountain-side, situated above a picturesque beach. We were about 40 minutes down a dirt road from the nearest town. At the northern end of the beach was a little right point break and at the southern end a reverse-Ano-like wedging left. We had scored fun, glassy, meaty waves on the left as the swell got larger and larger over the last two days. We woke up on the third day and the swell was fucking cranking. Lines of smooth cordoroy stretched to the horizon and our little private beach was closing out unmercifully on both ends. hmm.. what to do.. macking swell.. need to surf... After consulting some maps and talking with a few locals we decided to sniff out this "supposed" left point break located 10 km south. We readied our gear and hiked down a dirt trail to the road, where we sat there and waited for the chicken bus to pick us up. We thought we may have missed the 1 bus per morning so passed the time waiting for a ride (hitchiking) by singing old bon jovi songs, bob marley, van halen, the dead, etc. Finally the bus actually came, we loaded our boards on the top, with all the livestock, wood, elves, etc. and jumped in the old school bus. We wound around turns and ascended a few small mountain passes and then yelled "Sueve!, Sueve!" when we saw our destination over the next rise. We jumped off the bus and then hiked into the beach.. We reached the expansive beach and looked way way out to the left, where a headland wrapped out toward the sea and we could see from a distance what looked like seductive, feathering, point-break sickness. We were really far away so we couldn't really tell the size, but there was obviously a wave out there and there wasn't anybody around at all.. I mean nobody. We were absolutely by ourselves, approaching a rarely surfed point break.. in full exploration mode.. With some butterflies in our stomachs we trekked a kilometer or so along the beach to where the headland began jutting into the ocean and the beach ended. We ditched our sandals, waxed up our boards and began the extra-long paddle out to the point. As we got closer and closer it became obvious that offshore-licked, longboardy peelers grooved along the inside while mysterious, fiercesome, wild, groping ledges pulsed and shifted on the far outside peek. We slowly, conservatively inched our way into the outside lineup and eventually started taking off on the shoulders of bombs. There were giant volcanic boulders sticking out of the water on the inside so we weren't taking too many chances. As our confidence grew we positioned ourselves deeper and deeper and were eventually taking off deep into the pit and pig-dogging (me) and tossing ourselves over overhead++ ledges, then racing and carving down the line of the radial point-break walls, over boils and along idiosyncratic, character-rich sections. Fuck yeah!! Ride after ride went down and we looked at each other and just smiled and couldn't really believe what was happening. Here we were, an east coast kook and midwestern farm-boy, deep in the bowels of rural central america, dropping into these beautiful, thick groundswell bombs at a rarely-surfed, enigmatic point-break, with nobody around for miles. The thrill of exploration and adventure made every ride all the sweeter and when it was time to come in we just kept smiling and shaking our heads in disbelief. A truly once-in-a-lifetime surf experience.
stoked.
anyway.. here's a random smattering of photos from the trip..
local fella
mellow left at Playa Sympatico (A-frame reef break)
The wedging left at the beach described above
offshores
Wake up to this every morning
market scene
e, awesome story nice to have break to yourselves, yeah -- did you happen to catch the price of the mellons in that market scene picture?
Posted by: klooless kook at May 18, 2004 10:03 AMi think that the mellons were about about 1 cordova each.. roughly 5 cents.
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 10:11 AMfucking awesome!
if you woke up to that every morning why did you go anywhere else?
that left looks sick too and that guys nipples are super hairy!
Posted by: bagel at May 18, 2004 10:14 AMthat's the hairiest garden gnome i've ever seen!
damn e, your trip.....*insert jealousy here*
Posted by: j at May 18, 2004 10:40 AMENVY...... I think I am as green as that watermelon. I fucking love watermelon too.
Posted by: Kaiser at May 18, 2004 10:40 AMbagel...hairy nipples...damn I'm laughing too hard to type.
insane story e...keep em coming.
Posted by: jdz at May 18, 2004 10:46 AMWelcome home, E.
Amazed you are posting, even functioning so soon after your return. My 1st week back from CA was the most corporately unproductive week ever.
Great stories and photos. I look forward to more of the same and am assured that your affinity for lyrical, dynamic prose will do justice to the potpourri of sensory overload you must have endured. your description of the gazes you and Lerm exchanged gives me chills- exactly what my homie and I experienced.
Good on ya. Glad you're back. Maybe you can dig BVB out of the closet. We miss the banter.
Umm Mr. Onshores- isnt it your turn to hit the proverbial highway? you can borrow my Fasttrack if needed- Get outta here!
Posted by: steama at May 18, 2004 10:49 AMgreat little excerpt.
drop the east coast kook and midwest farm boy tag's and just insert "bro's not pro's"
no need to diss yourself's.... be proud, you were ON that shiz....!
Posted by: tom at May 18, 2004 10:58 AME, welcome back. Farking great sounding trip. Just the adventure and find on this one day sounds worth the cost of the whole trip. Your descriptive prose had me feeling those walls and seeing those rocks....until the boss called me back into cube commerce reality. aarrgghhh
Posted by: 3to5setsof7 at May 18, 2004 11:04 AMniceness! goodonya, e, sounds mind-altering.
Posted by: ben at May 18, 2004 11:13 AMwelcome back & thanks for the story. my travel-
jones has been at the somewhat itchy simmering
level for quite a while now, you're one of the
inspiring folks who are keeping the fire burning
under the pot, coaxing towards boiling over.
Anyone see any signs of that swell in the water? It is apparent at the bouys but......
SC? Anyone? Anyone?
Posted by: Kaiser at May 18, 2004 11:18 AMe and lerm....holy frick! just the exploration and solitude involved in that sesh would make waist-high dribblers a risiculously fun sesh! add meaty, well-overhead, roping swell and it's truly, as you say, a once-in-lifetime sesh that with a LOT of luck may be equaled in the future, but will likely never be surpassed. hold on to that memory. so sweet.
Posted by: ck at May 18, 2004 11:21 AMCam looks flat.
Posted by: SC at May 18, 2004 11:28 AMI went to the beach this morning. And thus know what it looked like.
There will be no, I repeat, no, surfable south swell before THURSDAY. Even then it is not going to be impressive, but spots well positioned will be rideable.
Posted by: blakestah at May 18, 2004 12:03 PMIt takes a lot of guts to go out into an unknown break in a remote area with lots-o-swell. I don't know if I have it in me to take such risks. Many many years ago a friend went to Costa Rica for an entire summer. He talked about taking off in front of a big rock shelf just a foot or two under water at a break in front of the house he stayed in. Kinda make or get broken. I wondered if I even would made the attempt. Still stinking of envy. Photos look hot.
Posted by: Dennis at May 18, 2004 12:11 PMgreat, great story and a wonderful description of what traveling is all about.
i'm already amped to go on my upcoming indo trip, but your story makes me want to leave today! i'm predicting one day you'll write a book; your talent is more than evident.
i'm sure this has been mentioned before on this site, but if anyone is looking for a good surf-related read I highly recommend Caught Inside : A Surfer's Year on the California Coast. It's a wonderful story about a year spent in santa cruz and it's nearby surf spots. eloquent, waldenesque, inspiring prose...kinda like E's!!
Posted by: rza at May 18, 2004 12:27 PMjake and i scored this wave.. a few days before this pic was taken.. looked similar.
![]()
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 12:29 PMBlakestah you are ruthless! You can't take away our hopes and dreams and unrealistic expectations for surfable conditions by relying on solid meteorological evidence and years of forecasting experience. You can't! You can't! Baaaawwwwaaaa!
Just think how weird and cranky this crew of nut cases will get if they don't get to surf. The first hint was Bagel talking about hairly male nips. What's next, E's Golf Digest? Kaiser's knitting blog? Sharkbait's Great Highway Traffic Report? Mexisurf's best pet photos?
Repeat after me. . . I will surf again, I will surf again, I will surf again.
Posted by: Bruce at May 18, 2004 12:30 PMhey e,
welcome back. spring sprung while you were gone, a good month late this year - but i guess it was inevitable. thanks for the exploration story & pics, look forward to more...
Posted by: loon at May 18, 2004 12:35 PMcan i go next time.....?!?
Posted by: caveman at May 18, 2004 12:55 PMe - Well sir, your first CR surftale did NOT disappoint - good stuff! I especially like the way you paddled us out to the main peak slowly. By the time you got to the pit, I was right there, pig-dogging it with you - and I'm a goofy-foot (!?)
Posted by: Jimmie at May 18, 2004 01:02 PMblakestah - any spots you can name that are 'well-positioned' for swell from this direction? thanks
Posted by: gb at May 18, 2004 01:08 PMright on everybody.. the empty sweetness is out there for everyone to sample.. it's pretty easy.. all you need to do is take that little extra step to get beyond the masses of surfers who mostly like to stay safe and near each other. Most people are afraid to take even the smallest risk so if you just poke your head out a wee little bit.. you'll score.. you might also get skunked.. but.. you'll also score.. maybe take a tent so you can explore that reef 10 km down the road... go to panama instead of costa rica... if the "book" recommends it, go somewhere else... talk to the locals... get off Bali... if you're in Cabo, drive up the coast a few hours... think Columbia... think Madagascar... avoid the packaged tours... avoid the group-based surf-camps... avoid the weekends... think dark-patrol... poke your head around..
I'm just a rank beginner in the realm of surf travel and exploration.. there are thousands of surfers out there... some in boats in the south pacific, some going feral in remote sumatra, some with a cabin and a zodiak in british columbia, some on the caribean coast of nicaragua.. scoring epic, empty waves...
good on 'em.
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 01:18 PMand on any given day you can still get 'em empty in California, too.
Posted by: at May 18, 2004 01:24 PM
Posted by: bad breath todd at May 18, 2004 01:34 PMStop looking at that dang surfing website and get back to work.
WELCOME BACK E! It's been said but thanks again for this site and your posts. No matter what's going on outside surfland it never fails to make me smile.
OB Talk Story: Sure, plenty of people paddle out [ or try to ] at notorious Ocean Beach when it's half strength, and some of them can even surf it. "But", I thought, paddling out solo this Tuesday midmorning, " There's nothing like DKH [Double Knee High] sweeper sets to clear out the lineup and reveal who the REAL surfers are. "
I learned 2 things:
1) longboards make me seasick.
2) there is an almost surfable window period
[ for the UTTERLY non-picky] between too-impossibly-small and when the onshores start up but haven't crossed things up yet. After an hour of futile KH chasing, the wind sculpted up some DKH bumps. Caught some mini down-the-lines, for the first time I stumbled to the end of the longboard -yeah! I was channeling La Vida Costa Rica, The Endless Summer, the inimitabe Rell Sunn ...it was coolio hang 10 malibu until I deliberately bellyflopped off the board like a graceless fat herring and paddled back out for more. What a blast.
Scuze long post but had great fun today, complete suprise from ZERO, and I mean ZERO expectations! Cheers,
Posted by: s.s. sharkbait at May 18, 2004 01:46 PMnice one sharkbait!
good to know that someone is scoring waves out there..
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 01:53 PMyeah! s.s. you rock! DKH is way under-rated. :)
Posted by: at May 18, 2004 02:04 PMstill drooling over that right point DAAAAMN!
and awesome colorful market scene.
and the fact that you guys werent worried about your sandals being stolen.
Posted by: bagel at May 18, 2004 02:26 PMThe following surf spots will be well-positioned for the next south swell
**** *****
**** ****
*****'*
**** ****
********
*** *****
*** *****
*** ****
**** ****
******* ******
******* ****
*** ****
******** *****
********
And Kaiser's bathtub
It is not going to be that big or that consistent. But I guess it is all relative. I'm getting quite a bit of work done this week...
Posted by: blakestah at May 18, 2004 02:55 PMDamn it Blakestah, leave my spot alone.....
Well, its ok actually. The more the merrier at my secret spot you just have to bring your own rubber ducky, I don't share. Bagel, you are excluded for obvious reasons.
Posted by: Kaiser at May 18, 2004 03:11 PMplaya sympatico, central america
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 03:24 PMway to whore it out. you are doing a great job!
Posted by: at May 18, 2004 03:37 PMha.. you're right.. couldn't help it after someone sent me the sick pic.
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 03:40 PMPoint Reyes will be firing on the next south.
Anyway, back from a week in Mexico. About 3 days of overhead surf and a day of head highish. Then, three days of basically unsurfable waves (on a short board anyway). Nice to shed the 20-pound seal costume for a while.
Back to NorCal, the water is cold, but I can live with that. However, there is a distinct lack of swell. Hum... I think I left the light on in my hotel room in Mexico. I’d better go back and turn it off.
Posted by: dano at May 18, 2004 04:01 PMOh, hey Christian... NOAA Expects Above Normal 2004 Hurricane Season
Posted by: dano at May 18, 2004 04:04 PMlove the site and glad people are getting out into the real world and sniffing around and catching the scent, and hopefully never stopping and keeping the priorities straight, and, for all you niceness crew out at OB, keep up the kindness, it helps the swell...
Posted by: hee hee at May 18, 2004 04:46 PM
Posted by: at May 18, 2004 04:51 PMplease help us!! your troops are committing genecide on our people!
Posted by: iraqi civilian at May 18, 2004 04:52 PMchopes
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 04:57 PMbienvenidos, e.
came across this, the media can be pretty hilarious. does this sound like el salvador to you?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3690441.stm
gvibe
Posted by: gvibe at May 18, 2004 05:06 PMno way!! i totally know that guy Teco.. he's a chiller.. a super styly surfer too! nice!
Posted by: e at May 18, 2004 05:11 PMyea, teco's rad. i learned to surf in el sal while in the peace corps, then had a rude awakening moving to sf.
anyone expecting bikini clad german girls and happy go lucky locals in el sal is in for getting their shit stolen or worse, place is fun, but sketchy.
e, did you run into jimmy down there?
lates,
gvibe
Posted by: gvibe at May 18, 2004 05:19 PMor palo de coco? (aka steve)?
Posted by: gvibe at May 18, 2004 05:23 PMgvibe, i may have seen a guy dancing naked at a party (unfortunately) whose name was steve... la libertad ex-pat for 6 years? either way, this guy put on quite a show with a dancing local crackhead.
great post e... that was classic, vintage E Surf Story in fine form. way to make everyone Stoked, like usual!
Posted by: jake at May 18, 2004 06:15 PMhey dano. where did you surf?
Posted by: c-lo at May 18, 2004 06:26 PMe, keep the stories coming. how about some more pics?
How much did it cost, and where can I sign up? And e, screw em if they think you're horing a spot a thousand miles away - the anti-dude should just chill.
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