Warning: Baby Turtles Sometimes Cause Cuteness Heart Attacks

One of the most amazing and unique things we have been able to do here this summer happened one day a few weeks back. 

We found ourselves with no swell so no surfing could be done. It was a cloudy, rainy day and Jade and I were felt like doing a little exploring. 

We had often visited Playa Tortugas to surf there. But the road we took required crossing the river on our surfboards and we knew there was another road that lead there. 

So we ventured out to see what it was like. I was curious if we could take it to get to the surf faster. That was definitely NOT the case. But it was the perfect road for a leisurely afternoon drive... mostly. 

The drive we usually take goes straight to Platanitos beach and then we have to head up the mountain and park, which takes about an hour from our house. About fifteen minutes before reaching Platanitos we made the foreign turn on the road that leads directly to Playa Tortugas. 

It had been rainy and the roads were all dirt. There were puddles that covered entire roads and fields but luckily the main road was not too muddy. 

We were enjoying our drive and until we splashed through a huge puddle and all of the sudden our wheel was making the most horrendous sound. It was a loud, sharp squeal that wouldn't allow us to move two inches without threatening our sanity. 

I knew we couldn't go on until we figured out what it was. I can't tell you how stranded I would have felt if I wasn't with Jade, the most amazing guy on the planet.

He pulled the car to the side of the road and proceeded to take the entire wheel off until he found the pesky rock that had somehow bounced up and slid its way down and was grinding on the rotor. 

I was swatting mosquitoes away and making faces at the bull in the field across the street. Jade quickly finished with the car and as we continued our drive on this empty dirt road we couldn't help but be reminded of home. 

It is so similar on the farms here to a nice summer day in Parowan or Enoch, Utah where the green fields go on forever to meet pretty blue skies. We decided that the livestock are prettier here, though. 

We continued on these roads for about an hour when we finally found a bend that wound toward the beach through fields of coconut trees that seemed to go on forever. 

When I thought I would never see anything but coconut trees again for the rest of my life, we stumbled on a tiny little quiet neighborhood which we immediately recognized as the houses we watched from our surfboards to make sure we weren't drifting too far in the current down Playa Tortugas. 

The houses there are big and roomy but far apart from each other. I didn't see any fences. It was completely open and welcoming. There couldn't have been more than 10 houses and they are nestled in this neighborhood between the coconut farms and a little Turtle Rescue operation. 

Apparently this beach is a very popular one for mama turtles laying their eggs. The rescue and their volunteers comb the beach every night from 9 pm to 1 am from June through October looking for little eggs to save from the predators that would otherwise enjoy them as a midnight snack. 

The baby turtle eggs are cared for on site in a large pen and when they are ready they are released into the wild by the same volunteers who saved their lives. Checking out the opportunity to volunteer was one of my objectives in coming to this beach that day. 

But the guy we talked to at the camp, Pasqual, said they usually want their volunteers to stay there, paying a minor fee for room and board, committing at least 10 days to the camp. 

I'd like to offer a day or maybe two at the most but living there for 10!? --Not in the cards right now. 

I asked if there was any way to just come down and help out some day and he gave me the director's email. 

Jade and I headed down the beach to enjoy a nice walk before we turned back for the two hours of dirt roads ahead of us. 

The sand went on forever, lined on one side by coconut trees, the other by deep blue water, as far as I could see. We ended up walking much farther than anticipated and stopped to take a rest before turning around.

When we had made the trek back toward our car (enjoying every minute of the beauty and solitude, obviously), we ran into Pasqual walking on the beach. He offered that he had counted up the baby turtles to release that day and they had about 115! 

He invited us to be a part of their release that would happen in about a half an hour. We jumped at the chance and he continued town the beach inviting another family that he walked past as well. 

I was ecstatic! My heart jumped when Pasqual walked down the beach toward us thirty minutes later with a styrofoam cooler full of these little guys...

I could hardly believe they were so small. He handed us each one turtle to release and dumped the rest on the sand in a line. 

These little guys will steal your heart quicker than a hot knife through butter. : )

For how small they are they have quite a long trek to the water too. 

It was one of the most magical things I've ever experienced. It was really fun to watch, too, because they would all get so close and then a wave would come up and wash most of them all the way back up the beach toward us. They'd have to start all over again pushing themselves along the sand with their tiny little fins. 

We cheered them on for a good 30 minutes.

I wish I could know how my little guy was doing now!

When they all made it safely into the water I said a little prayer for them. It was kind of sad that it was over but exciting to think of the lives some of them will have. I just wanted to hold another little one. They were so precious and tiny. 

Below is a photo of the rescue camp. The pen on the far left is the protected sanctuary where the turtles live until they are ready to be released. 

It was a day I will never forget. 

And if any of you are interested, I think they only asked for about $100 for 10 days of room and board to stay and volunteer at the camp and they also had longer options available. 

Hope y'all enjoyed the photos! Don't go having a cuteness heart attack!

"It's a big wave, a left turn, but DON'T surf there when it's low tide..."

Oh the bliss of surfing here in Chacala...

Well, to be more precise, Caleta, arguably the best surf spot in this region of Mexico is actually just a short trip north of Chacala bay, in which there is really almost no surf at all. 

Caleta is a point break, only accessible by boat, just 10 minutes away. 

Since the day we got here people have been mentioning this amazing surf spot and told us we should try to get there. But their prompting did not come without warning. 

"It's a big wave, a left turn. But DON'T surf there when it's low tide or when there's no swell. It's very dangerous because it's all rocks," they say, "and there are tons of sea urchins!"

They would take 10  seconds to tell me how amazing the surf is and follow it up with 5 minutes about the dangers. Theses conversations would typically end by saying, "It's no big deal, you can handle it. Just be careful and if you head for the shallow water just bail. Whatever you do, don't touch the ground, even if you have to jump in the water laying out flat..." 

So suffice it to say, I didn't want to surf at Caleta until I had sharpened my skills a little bit. When I got here, I didn't really even know how to turn with the wave. I just knew how to get up and go straight, a painful choice at Caleta. 

The other problem is the money$$$. 

To get a boat to take us out to the break, we were told would cost 500 Pesos, about $40 USD. Having quit our jobs to come live here in Chacala we knew we couldn't afford to go out there every day. Of course, if there were other surfers looking for a ride we could split the cost. But it wasn't an issue yet since we weren't ready anyway

So Jade and I continued surfing other spots, spending 2-4 hours driving each time we wanted to hit some waves, honing our skills and waiting till we felt ready. 

When the invitation came, I didn't feel confident enough. The Edmunds family just bought a panga (the boats all the fishermen use here) and invited us out to surf Caleta with them one morning. 

We woke up at 5:00 am, ate breakfast, and walked with our longboards down the dirt and cobblestone roads the lead to the marina. Halfway through the 10 minute walk my arms were pretty tired from holding my board over my head or on my hip. It's so awkward that I can't reach to put it under my arm!! 

We met Chuck, Ethan, and their friend Alyssa who had just gotten into town at the marina at six. We picked up a few more local surfers and headed out together, watching the gorgeous sunrise as we went.

I let it slip that I was nervous. I was told it is not nearly as scary as people made it seem. Ethan said they were going to bring his sister Sydney to Caleta to learn how to surf. They all told me you to be aware and careful. But the tide was up and there was a good swell so as long as I could turn with the wave I wouldn't be in any trouble at all. 

So... I just had to figure out how to turn. No sweat! ....I hope...

The sunrise was an amazing pallet of yellows and pinks and it did beautiful things in the reflection in the water. There was no civilization as far as I could see. We were alone out there enjoying mother nature's water park. It was really fun just being out there with Chuck, Ethan, and Alyssa.

Jade had the camera on his board and mine wasn't installed yet so prepare yourself because all of the upcoming photos are of him. :)

We started slow, just watching the waves. Ethan and his friends were catching everything and making it look easy.

Some of the waves were so big they would rain hard on top of us as we paddled past them and slid down the back side. Talk about intimidating!

I finally decided I needed to not think about it, clear my head, and go for it. No fear. 

It turns out that Jade and I paddled into the same wave. The photo below is an accidental double shot we found in one of the videos. That surfer on the wave behind and to the left of Jade is me! 

I was in a non-thinking mode so I didn't notice. I felt it out, stood up out of habit, and flew down the face of the wave, headed to my left without even trying. 

At times my feet felt unstable on the board but there wasn't time to let it scare me. I adjusted my balance and as I was heading left the wave seemed to slow down. It was the longest, biggest, most exhilarating ride of my life.  

When it was over and Jade was as far left as I was I realized he must have ridden it out there too. 

We caught a few more waves and it was just as smooth. When the really huge ones came through I paddled for my life to get behind it. But as it got later in the morning, they came less often and we were really enjoying ourselves. 

Of course Chuck thought it would be a good time to talk about sharks. He wants to have a Jaws marathon one night and then come out surfing before dawn the next morning. So he continued to tease us girls with shark statistics and gory details. 

I kept my "I'm not thinking about it" hat on.

Alyssa and I got talking a lot. She had just arrived and was staying at the Edmunds for a few weeks. 

The waves were slowing down so we were waiting it out, letting the boys surf the shallower waves, braving the rocks and urchins. 

Alyssa noticed a really big wave building on the horizon and we had been drifting a little too far in. I started paddling hard to get past it, while Alyssa turned around to paddle in to surf it. 

I was paddling as hard as I could and as the wave thinned out near the peak I knew it would break any second and that it would be very powerful. I was right on the lip of the wave and kept paddling as I pushed the tip of my board and my face through to the backside of the wave, I thought to myself that I had just BARELY made it. 

Then I realized that I was wrong. Somehow the wave had grabbed me and I had dropped into it despite my efforts. I was being tumbled in one of the strongest waves of my life. 

I tried to relax, hoping I would just get spit out. I tried to pull on my leash, hoping my board would help me surface. I tried to kick my way to the surface and I felt a flash of pain as I kicked the reef below me. 

Shoot! That's exactly what I wasn't supposed to do!

But at least I knew I had 5 or so feet of water to work with. The wave eventually passed me by and I came up for air. I'm really terrible at holding my breath so it felt like a lifetime that I was down there. It was probably only about 15 seconds. 

I sat up on my board and inspected my feet. Amazing! No blood. How did I get that lucky? There were two distinct slices on my second toe and my pinky toe that stopped and then continued down on the ball of my foot. But luckily not deep enough to cause real damage.

That was when I realized that Alyssa hadn't been quite that lucky. She surfaced and was floating on half of her surfboard. I looked over and saw another surfer grabbing the other half of her board that had made its way toward shore. Luckily she wasn't hurt. But we knew that meant we would head back soon. 

We piled back in Chuck's boat tired and grateful for our safety. AND completely ecstatic for our best day of surfing yet!

Kids' Camp

I know I have mentioned our awesome friends, the Edmunds Family a few times in my posts. Their friendship has been a blessing for Jade and myself here in Chacala and we love spending time with them.

Chuck and Colleen Edmunds moved here with their three kids as missionaries for their church. The main goal  of their organization Global Church Partners is to "train and encourage very low-income pastors in developing countries" and we have witnessed their compassion and love for the people here.

We were invited recently by Colleen to offer helping hands for a youth day camp they were putting on that would last a week and we jumped at the chance to get involved.

Chuck and Colleen planned, advertised, and put on 5 days worth of songs, games, crafts, snacks, and lessons about our Savior with the help of a pastor from the neighboring town of Las Varas and his daughters.

About 50 kids showed up from Chacala and Las Varas and we had an absolute blast. The kids were SO adorable.

Luckily our Spanish helped out a little and it was fun when I could tell immediately from their blank faces when I said something wrong. It was amazing practice to try to make sense of what I was hearing because the kids talk SO FAST. And when I didn't understand they would repeat themselves without slowing down even a little bit.

Jade and I were so grateful for such a fun experience to get to know some of the wonderful kids around here and their excitement about learning about our Lord was inspiring.

Thanks Edmunds for inviting us!

Not a bad place to spend a few days... 

Surfing has caused more than its fair share of injuries

Compared to other sports, I'd say that surfing causes more than its fair share of injuries. Just this summer Jade and I have been cut open by reef,  surfboard fins, and sea urchins which, unfortunately, is typical for the sport. Luckily none too serious as to need medical attention past what we can give each other. And yes, we always get back to shore quickly so we don't chum up the water for the other surfers to become a hungry Tiger Shark's next meal. 

But one of the most devastating injuries that happened in our little family so far this summer was a gash that Lupe (my white longboard) sustained a little while ago at Playa Tortugas. 

It was a beautiful morning, a little rainy. We had our surf-morning routine down pat, a healthy breakfast so we wouldn't run out of energy, waters and snacks in a backpack with sunscreen and we were out the door. 

The hour drive to the beach passed quickly. We like to listen to podcasts on the drive. 

When we arrived on our perch above the cement staircase leading down to the river it felt like any other morning and we were both jonesing for some sweet waves. I grabbed my board and Jade grabbed his and he followed me down the stone path. 

A quarter of the way down the steep steps I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a big, colorful spider that had weaved an intricate web right across my path. With my 8' board balanced on my head with my arms up to stabilize it, I thought about my options. 

A shiver ran down my spine as I knew what I had to do. I slid off my sandal and very slowly and VERY carefully I brought the surfboard down off my head and set it resting on my shoe on its tail standing straight up in the air. I leaned it towards Jade and he grabbed ahold of it to  free my hands for spider web removal. 

I HATE spiders. And I know I'm not alone. But Jade and I were both getting eaten alive by mosquitoes every second I delayed our journey down to the river so I tried to hurry. I grabbed a stick from the brush beside me, wet and soggy from the nightly rainstorms and started to break down one side of the almost transparent web while also smacking my legs to kill the mosquitoes that were already sucking my blood. 

When the spider was successfully relocated to a plant on one side of the trail I threw the stick and grabbed my board. The stone steps are so steep that I was trying to be very deliberate and cautious in every movement. I put her on my head and once again headed down the stairs with at least 6 new mosquito bites. 

When the stairs hit the cliff edge, they turn 90 degrees and head down to the rocky shore parallel to the cliff. I made the turn and started my last flight down before I could finally get on the water. I felt like a mosquito was biting my wrist but I couldn't shake it. 

When I hit the bottom of the steps and ventured out on the stone walkway that enters the river I wiped my wrist off on my hip bone, trying to kill whatever was biting me. I couldn't see what it was I just wanted it dead. I then took my surfboard off my head and held it out, resting one edge on my hip. As I did that, my eyes look downward and focused on 2 thin silvery strings of spider web that reached from my hip, across my belly, and up to my shoulder. 

I must have walked through another spider web without realizing it...

Remembering the terrifyingly big spider I had just relocated to a new home plant only a few moments earlier and the painful wrist-biter, I reacted instinctually by throwing my free hand down to wipe away the web and hopefully kill any unwelcome 8-legged piggy-backer as I shivered involuntarily. 

As a chill raced up my spine, my body shifted just the slightest bit and my beautiful brand new board slipped off my hip. I had one hand gripped on a rail but it was not enough to keep the board from crashing HARD onto a very large, VERY sharp rock that protruded from the stone pathway. 

I could hardly breathe. I reached down and picked up my injured board, barely thinking. I was in robot mode, do-what-you-have-to-do mode. 

Jade and I both took our boards back up the staircase, tied them on, shook off the mosquitoes and Jade gave me a huge hug. I realized my heart was broken. I felt like someone died. 

It's silly, I know. Repairs can be made. It's just a toy... 

I'm just saying how I felt. For the sake of this blog I can't remember if I cried on the way home. But it was a long hour and there was a lot of dust from the roads so, you know. 

Jade was the perfect support, making me laugh, trying to console me and get my mind off of it. 

We tried to contact the maker of the board to do the repair. It's the only thing that made me feel better. She would be in good hands. When I didn't hear back from them for 2 days I started to get really worried. 

Luckily Marco's sweet wife did respond and she said he would be at the workshop the next day and we could drop off the board any time. Marco took just 3 days to do the repair and he only charged us 350 pesos (less than $27), which I thought was unbelievable! 

We took Lupe out that day and the next to Anclote, a surf spot about 2 hours south from Chacala in Punta de Mita and rode some of the best waves we had had yet. 

In my frustration and despair I didn't take any photos of what Jade calls Lupe's compound fracture. But I found some example photos online so you get the gist of what it looked like. I'd say it was about the size of my index and middle finger held together. and about down to the first knuckle deep. It looked like drywall that someone had just punched right through. 

But the repair looks almost flawless. Nobody in the world could have done a better job. The only difference is a minute change in color tint. I am so absolutely happy with it! 

And we're all back together again, surfing as often as possible. 

And this (below) is Lupe after the work. So perfect. Couldn't have asked for more. And from now on, Jade will go down the steps first so he will get all the spider webs. Forever.
 

Right where you can see shine on the rail (the top edge) is where it was smashed.

"And the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me"

"My soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me."

-Henry Wadsworth Longellow

If I could spend every day in the ocean it would never be enough.

I didn't grow up around the water. I didn't touch the ocean until my late teens. But once I saw it, once I felt it, I knew I would never be the same. It has changed me so completely. 

There are ups and downs, good days and bad days. But my love for the sea is reciprocated. I feel it in my soul. The time I get to spend near the water is the thing I am absolutely the most grateful for this summer. 

Most of our time is spent on the sand here in our village of Chacala. It's beautiful, warm, and quite safe. The other beach that competes for our time is Playa de Tortugas. 

It's about an hour drive north from Chacala. Actually it's only about 20 miles north but the road cuts inland  and then winds a lot as it heads back out towards the coast. 

Our first time out there was the morning after a storm and the several parts of the road and nearby roads were actually completely flooded. But we made it through and have been returning to this amazing place several times a week.

It's quite a journey but it all adds to the magic of this place. 

It starts with a 15 minute drive inland to Las Varas, the closest town. From there the road heads back out north west. 

It's 15 minutes to the next town of Zacualpan and the roads are pretty terrible. This is where there was flooding that first morning. It's a skinny road and it sometimes seems like an obstacle course dodging the slow buses and cattle, being careful not to hit the old men on bicycles. 

We take one left turn in Zacualpan and head toward the next town of Ixtapa. There is a turn right before we hit the town and that's when the roads surprisingly get really nice. 

It's 10 more minutes to the little shore of Platanitos. It's a beautiful little beach that seems pretty protected from the elements in its cove. There are a couple hotels and restaurants but we have never stopped to spend much time there. Mostly because we're too excited to get to surfing, or too tired from surfing to stop on our way out.

The little shore of Platanitos is nestled just to the right of a little mountain. Leading up it is a dirt --(I don't know if I can call it a road. It's big enough for 4 wheels but that's it and it's extremely bumpy!) but I think I'll call it a road anyway. 

The road circles up and down the hill in a way that many cars couldn't handle. It takes about 10 minutes from the main road. At the top, we drive along the rocky dirt road and then, through the grass, all of the sudden we have this amazing view of Playa de Tortugas, our destination beach. 

We park the car and sit and watch the waves for a minute, enjoying the vantage point. 

It's time to don our rash guards and one small backpack with water and sunscreen. We grab our surfboards. 

My arms aren't long enough to carry a board under my arm like you always see in those picture-perfect surfing pictures. I have to put mine on my head! I have to remember not to wear bobby pins in my hair cause it hurts like crazy. 

There is this amazing concrete staircase from there down to the river. At the bottom of the staircase is a pretty massive river. The concrete continues all the way down into a walkway that enters the water. Once or twice there were fishermen catching bait fish from there. 

At this point you better be ready to get wet! 

We put our boards in the water and paddle across the river. It's always kind of a challenge for me to do it gracefully, being careful not to hit my fins on the concrete but not wanting the board to get out too far ahead of me that I can't jump on it easily. But the fisherman don't laugh... too long.

The playa is long and skinny. It's a thin strip of sand that goes on as far as the eye can see. On one side is water. On the other are rows and rows of coconut trees without an end in sight. It's a pretty incredible view. 

There is one development of houses that almost blends in unnoticed. And there is a turtle sanctuary there. Not surprising since the name Playa de Tortugas means "Beach of Turtles." 

Apparently this is a choice beach for mother turtles to lay eggs. 

The beautiful beach is often completely empty. Once in a while we will be joined by other surfers or we'll see a couple fishermen on the shore. Once when I was sitting on the sand taking a water break two men passed me on horses. But seeing more than one or two people is pretty rare.

We walk down the beach and choose a spot to call home, most often, the wildlife is our only company. 

There are always many types of birds, but my favorite are the pelicans that dip down to glide only inches above the waves. 

We always see fish jumping (which, naturally, scared the begeezes out of me the first time), and there are usually a couple different types of crabs around. 

The most incredible things are the manta rays. It's not unusual to see a hundred or so in a day. They swim around in schools from 6 up to 20 or 30. It seems like double the size though because you see two wings sticking out of the water for each ray. 

They surf the waves with us while zipping up and down along the beach. They're hard to see until they are right underneath us. It's such a magical feeling when they swim right up beneath me and alongside me whether I'm paddling or waiting for waves. 

Our first day at Tortugas beach we were unaware of their presence. 

I caught a couple small waves and was getting trashed by the big ones. I was recovering from one such wave in shallow enough water that I could reach bottom. There was a wave building right in front of me so I prepared to duck under the wave, holding onto the velcro where my leash met my board so it didn't get caught up in the wave either. 

As the wave steepened and towered above me, it was only then that I saw twenty or so rays surfing through the wave that I was about to attempt to swim under. I was excruciatingly terrified but I had no other choice. The wave was not going to wait for me to figure out what else to do. For the 5 whole seconds I was underwater I prayed they wouldn't touch me or WORSE, injure me. I didn't know exactly what they were or what they were capable of. And they were headed straight towards me. 

I vaguely remembered something I learned on a boat tour I took when I lived in Hawaii. Our boat was surrounded by a pod of spinner dolphins and I wanted desperately to reach out and pet one. The captain explained over the loud speaker that though they were close enough to touch, dolphins' sensors and reflexes are so quick and acute that a person could never reach out a touch a dolphin that didn't want to be touched. 

In that moment, I found a blind confidence inside myself that rays were probably the same. This was their home and they knew I was there. They would avoid me. 

And they did. 

Of course now that I know they are not dangerous, all I want is to touch them. 

Google assured me that they don't have stingers, or even teeth. They are filter feeders. The ones we always see are about the size of a dinner plate, are sort of a diamond shape, and have long skinny tails. And if you can't trust Google, who can you trust? 

This is not my photo. I found it online. But this is exactly what it looks like! These guys love surfing as much as me.

We don't spend much time out of the water when we are there. We are always either surfing or so tired from surfing that we just want to go home.

But it's a great place to play with photo settings. The landscape is incredible and the colors are so vibrant. It's easy to take a few minutes to get in some great (or goofy) shots.

But mostly we just surf. Sometimes I'm terrible and sometimes I rock. It's such an amazing place to practice.

A great man taught me that learning to wakeboard leading with either foot will make you much better at it. I applied that lesson to snowboarding as well and it helped immensely. So why not give it a shot with surfing as well? These shots, above and below, I am actually surfing switch, with my right leg in front. It's still pretty uncomfortable and I am much more comfortable and stable with my left left in front. But here's to progress!

The waves at Playa Tortugas are funny. There's one spot that's really a great surfing wave... which is usually either completely flat or too big for me. But along the entire beach there are always waves coming in. 

There is no where to go around the wave, as there is at many great surf spots.  We just have to power through to get out far enough past them. 

They are generally more steep and have less of a shoulder. They often just dump over instead of curling. But it doesn't stop us. We just ride a lot more whitewater than is usually the goal. 

The awesome thing is that the wave kind of crashes 3 times. It builds up pretty big and crashes out pretty far. On big days, those waves are still too big for me. But the whitewater churns and builds up again and crashes another time halfway to shore. It does it, once again, creating a shallow beach break. It's an awesome opportunity  for a long ride, taking the whitewater all the way to the beach, which I like because it really gives me time to feel my balance on the board. I can practice turning or moving up or back on the board to feel how it affects my position. 

The bonus for me is that I don't have to worry about being in anyone's way. If any other surfers are ever out there we are usually not even close enough to say hi. 

The major downside of this beach is the cross current. It's not strong enough to whisk me away but it's often extremely tiring to get in and out of the water, just because it's so hard to move in the shallow water. 

Sometimes we drift quite a bit when we are out catching waves but we want to save our paddle strength for actual surfing. So we think we can just catch a wave into shore, get out, walk back up the beach, and get back in the water and paddle out. But once we get back in the water, we battle cross currents and those waves that are breaking in 3 different places, we end up fighting 12 waves before we can make it back out to a good spot. 

I am often too tired to get all the way back out so I just catch whitewater waves for a while, until I get another rush of adrenaline and courage to get out past the big ones again. 

But it's all SO fun. 

I feel like I should take a second to assure my family who I know worry about us who are probably biting their fingernails short reading this right now... I promise we are not getting in over our heads here. We watch for warnings and take breaks. If it ever seems like something we can't handle we won't take the risk! It's tiring but it's a sport. The hard work pays off. 

We usually leave our house around 7 in the morning for these surfing days and arrive at the playa around 8. We usually surf for 2-3 hours. When we get tired, we trek back across the beach toward the river. This is usually when we pull out the cameras. 

Water, apples, and pb&js are always waiting for us in the car. We get home around noon and almost always take a nice afternoon nap, dreaming of waves.


"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."
- Jacques Cousteau