Surf on the way 🙂

Surf Forecast : San Juanico
Surf on the way 🙂

Surf Forecast : San Juanico
Look out! Girls be coming! Cathy and Betsy Meehan are joining me on a southward journey August 23rd. Plan is for two days in Loreto playing and provisioning .. then over to the Pacific for some fun in the sun surfing … Before back to Loreto for eating/drinking/shoppping and yep, probably fishing!
Girl power .. and what fun it is!
There’s never a bad day by the Sea of Cortez. There might be challenges, but between the morning sunrise behind Isla Carmen and the drifting pink clouds to the sunsets in the west, the constancy of the water both soothes and heals my entire being.
Pelicans drift mere fractions of an inch from the edge of the water.
The neighborhood osprey swoops through searching for prey.
Arctic and royal terns, down from the icy flows of Alaska join the cormorants, gulls and boobies in the shallow frenzy for sardines and other bait fish.
Off shore, whales, dolphins and rays entertain with dives, rolls and flops. The sea is alive with fish – grouper, dorado, sailfish, yellowtail, bluefin, bonita, and marlin.
The synergy between the sea and the land is subtle, yet integral. Nutrients washed through summer storms feed the ecosystem, while the sea keeps the coastline a subtle notch cooler.
Mornings begin for me with hot coffee, journaling and then a long walk on the beach or a paddle/swim in the sea. The constancy .. the ability to trust that it will always be there.

Martin & Catharine - Dawn at Second Poin
.. of the swell.. a few head high sets drift through with extended waits between. I paddle out at sunrise with Martin so that I can catch a few before I start my drive south to La Paz. The seas are glassy. We have all the waves to ourselves. It is quiet with a few fish jumping around us. On the cliff face, campers move from sleep to lounge chairs, hot coffee in their hands. There is such a sweet community in this small town – both the locals and the visitors come together with what feels like open hearts. Last night, at Yadri’s Tacos, more talk talk talk of surf and more surf. Everyone happy. Everyone smiling. Life feels very very very rich.
“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.
There’s a line in a surfing film that asks the question : “Who’s the best surfer in the water?”
The answer is not terribly surprising : “The one having the most fun!”
That woud be me today at second point in San Juanico ..
Can you see happy written all over my face? 🙂

Rainy Summer Morning - San Juanico
Big drops … the desert opens her fragrance box, grateful for the moisture that caresses her parched landscape.

Dawn .. Second Point .. San Juanico
“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we have learned here. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.” -Marianne Williamson

Hot & Humid
It is HOT and HUMID .. Weather preditions are for 98° with a heat index of 105° Perspiration drips down my neck and cheeks, but there is nothing better than being here – next to the sea. The sky sits on the water as if they are two and the same element. No wind. No motion. Grey and blue grey and grey blue. Monochromatic …
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