Category Archives: San Juanico

San Juanico Dreaming

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perfect wave

Dropping down the face of a perfect wave

Swells hit the points in the sleepy Mexican village – at least that’s what my girlfriend, Cynthia emails to me.  My  mind drifts to turquoise waters and waves that wrap around the points across the open bays.  Some of my most fun surfing – ever- happens here.  For the most part, everyone in the water is friendly, no one is too agro about sharing waves, and the energies of the sea, the sky and the desert all come together to make surfing bliss.

When I’m stuck in the states, my heart wanders… to the waves, the friends that are shared.

Last trip I met the “La Ventana” Group .. Irene & Ron, Norm, Kento & Jeff .. all who camped above second point and spent their hours on the water on their SUPs – Stand Up Paddle Boards.  The boards are a new addition to the SJ waters – and not loved by all.  What they can do is surf during the tides that are not conducive to normal surf.  Waves that are too slow .. or don’t ever really get around to breaking.

As with all journeys, there were high points and low points.  Good times at John Fields house ..of Juan & Juan .. I’ve never met the other Juan, but John and his wife, Carol are the sweetest folks.  He started with a garage, expanded it to several, and it makes up his ‘play box’. With a prime location overlooking the surf, parties at John’s house are always fun.  He cooks a mean hamburger – but watch out for his margaritas – or so I’ve been told.

Donn Stein – who had first loaned me a surfboard a year ago and sent me down my re-surfing passage – was already in town with his girlfriend and her daughter when I arrived.  Ran into them at Pizza Friday – and then again in the water.  Donn always wears a big smile.

Spent some time in the water with Dennis Choate.  Fun to surf with him both north and south of the border.  Still waiting for that promised surfboard 🙂

The waves came up .. the waves went down.  George Granger had been in town with his to-be-inlaws – his daughter is marrying a sweetheart, and when the party-goers left, George stayed to surf for a few days.  I gave him a ride back to Loreto and the airport.  It was a nice chance to get to know him better.  He spent a lot of time in Laguna when he was growing up – and we were able to share stories about old times, old houses, and old surf 🙂

Now .. three weeks later, I’m jonesing for some SJ surf.  Coming up!  I’ve got a trip planned for the end of the month  … Going to celebrate my birthday -and with good luck, the wave gods will be with us, and all the folks who said they’d show up will actually make it down and over.

Yep .. San Juanico dreaming ……………

Dinner at Cynthia’s

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Cynthia & George
Carnitas, Black Beans, Coleslaw, Potato Salad, Salsa Fresca
Cal, Cynthia & Ron
Norm & Kristine
Catharine and Kristine

Dinner with Cynthia and Cal in their lovely home. Palapa rooftop vista of town and the sea.  Good friends from La Ventana : Ron, Irene & Norm.  From Santa Inez Valley : George. From Hood River, Oregon : Kristine.

Yum food.  Good fun. Lots of laughter.  Yes.  Life can be bliss!

cynthia & cal

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The first time I met Cynthia, she was sure she already knew me. We were sitting in the pizza restaurant in San Juanico, and while she sure seemed like someone I ought to know, I couldn’t find a memory to connect us.  We chatted back and forth, and voila – she was from Sun Valley, where my sister, Claudia lives.. a sister with whom I share a facial likeness.  Voila!  What I don’t think that either of us knew then, was what good friends we would become.  With shared optimistic outlooks, Baja grit in between our teeth, and wide open hearts — it’s been a grand gift of a later in life friendship.

Cynthia in her Garden

Cynthia lives full time in San Juanico in a beautiful home that she and her very clever, very talented, very crafty husband, Cal, have built on the slope of a hillside.  The upstairs palapa has a killer view of the town to the sea, and the newly completed casita even sports an outdoor bathtub!

An organic garden compliments Cynthia’s kitchen magic – a real chef – a master with whatever ingredients are in the fridge, the bowl, or on the shelf.

In fact, she’s even got a new blog : BajaLuna – which incorporates her stories of living in a small fishing/surf village with tasty recipes and ideas for combining ingredients.

Cal watering the garden

Cynthia Comes North

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"Chef-tess" Cynthia Wagstaff

I got lucky.  I haven’t been able to get south for a while – business and personal stuff have my ankles shackled to the motherland …. But in the midst, my friend from San Juanico, Cynthia Wagstaff, came north to visit her daughter and stay with me for a few days in Laguna.  We walked the beaches, watched the sunset from the Rooftop at k’ya, filled our tummies with delights from Micheal Kang’s 5′ Restaurant, and wrote, talked, laughed and enjoyed being friends and women.

Before she left, she volunteered to cook for a party we threw together for her to meet some of our friends.  Fish tacos was the menu of choice – what else for Baja devotees?  Along with the amazing tacos, she prepared salsa fresca, a yummy guacamole with pomegranate seeds, and a special sauce for the tacos.  We ate like kings!  Guests included Racheal & Brett who own a home in Cabo and are moving south for a couple of months, Carlos & his girlfriend Sara from Florida, Michael and Janet, and Cathy.

Good friends. Good food.  Good conversation.  Sunset from the deck.  A perfect southern California evening.

New Beach Dog – Gus

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Marci & Cynthia with Gus

“Gus” was inadvertently tossed from the back of a pickup truck and simultaneously freed from the oil drum he’d been jammed inside – a trip to the dump and the end of a dog.  Rolling past Bill, Marci’s husband, was all it took for Gus to find a new home.  They had lost their dog a couple of years back, and Gus – like most dogs – found them.  Luckily, Gus’s sister, who showed up on my walk with Buster the next day and followed us back to Cynthia’s house, found her own home.  The luck of the dog, I guess.

Surfing fun waves with good friends …

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Spent days in San Juanico with Cynthia and Cal Wagstaff, who graciously shared their home.  Their son Justin was visiting from Idaho, where he’s a snowboarding instructor, among other things .. and I was happy to share hours in the wate with him at first point.  Cal loaned me a longer board which made it easier to zoom and play on the face of 2-3′ waves.  While the size wasn’t awesome, the fact that we usually had no more than three people in the water at any one time was super special.

Justin at 1st Point
Watch out for those double overheads!
Smiling all the way
Tubed in 2’er

the scent of morning coffee

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Starting the day ....

Coffee.

Coffee.

Beyond the cactus garden of the outdoor restaurant, waves can be seen rolling across the bay.  Not large, but constant .. a small machine born of swells hundreds of miles away. The scent of salt water mingles with hot coffee and the simmering eggs from the tiny kitchen.  Mexican living is simpler. Sweeter somehow.  A couple of pick-up trucks pass by on the dusty roads.  No freeways.  No tall skyscrapers. Nothing to assault the senses.  Made to scale block buildings, colorfully painted, covered in olas – palapa roofs.  A donkey wanders down the road.  Roosters cry a few doors down.  The sky’s been lit for a very long time, but they don’t seem to care.  Freshly made tortillas arrive, steaming in their woven basket, along with small jars of butter and jam.