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 biggest swell I’ve seen in over 15 years,” is how one resident described the end of July swell that hit San Juanico.

Second Point

Surfed and surfed and surfed… the waves WAY over my head …
4th point was + 15′, 3rd pt was 12′, 2nd pt was 10-11′ and 1st point (my spot today) was 5-9’…  can i just say WOW!~
Took off on steep faces and caught the waves.. rode them for miles (so it seems) ..  Then the long walk back to the put in .. because the current is enough to rip out arms and legs ..
I’m going to have a real sweet set of bruises from one late takeoff unexpected over the falls tumble down rolly mess with board smacking body and plan to wear it like badge of honor!

What luck of the draw to land here in this particular moment of wave forms.

Totally Tubed!

As for me, in my re-surfer phase, I carried pride – that I stepped over and through my fears of the big waves, dealt the stinking current and just kept paddling back out.

Have made some great new friends, all of whom tell me it is not alwasy like this – mabye once a year.  But I’m wearing a fat smile.  I’ve had the time of my life – and I’m  thinking with luck, we’ll get something similar at the end of August when I come back with Cathy & Betsy!

Fun, fun & the more of the same!

First and Second Point

San Juanico, July 22, 2009.

Long drive across the peninsula from Loreto … abut the joy on arrival .. worth every bit the trip.  Waves on the rise as the swell presses up from the south into the mouth of San Juanico Bay.

Already, the points are firing, the surfers have grabbed their boards and made for the waves.  It is grand to see so many breaking points.

First found Cynthia Wagstaff’s house … her husband Cal is in Idaho for the summer, and so she offered up her spare bedroom – which I joyously accepted.  Dropped my bags, and off the the beach we went.  Cynthia had thought that the wind had blown out the surf, but after a few minutes I was like – hey – need to get my board.  Can we go back to the house?  We were tooling around in her bright yellow Volkswagon bug – surf and sand buggy with the dogs – Poncho, Chica and the visitor, Boomer (more on Boomer later).

Back to the beach and a straight paddle out at first – with fun shoulder to head high waves gently broke and rolled across the bay.  Surfed until I couldn’t move my arms, and the we were off to her porch for cocktails, and then a dinner out of tacos.  Yum!  With her other Idahodian friends – there seems to be an army of them in town.