merrry Christmas, and happy football playoffs (and new year)

This was a pretty sweet Christmas. Last year Otis was only 9 months old and a bit too young to get the concept of Santa and snowmen and reindeer and presents and tons of food that isn't necessarily good for you but sure tastes great. This year was different, and grandma and grandpa spoiled Otis with so many presents, it was overwhelming. We ate way too much, which I'm sure is the same story with most people I know. Santa was feeling good and gave us Charger fans a solid win over the Broncos on Christmas Eve... now if we win on Sunday in Oakland we're the third seed in the playoffs, which is a good thing. I'm still holding tight to my vision that the Chargers meet the Patriots in the AFC Championship and that we return the favor dealt to us in last year's playoffs. Mr Patrick McNulty, this means I'm calling you up 30 seconds after the game and telling you to go to hell, as I still remember that phone call right after our loss in the first round of the post-season. If there is a team that can break the Patriot's perfect season, its SD... perhaps I'm speaking out of my ass but I'm keeping the faith. I'm really happy the holiday madness has been settling down, at least here in SD. In Tamarindo its just craziness. I was watching the web cam the day after Christmas and literally saw barrel after barrel reeling across the sandbar in front of WRSC. People were getting tubed like mad. I guess that web cam is good and bad at the same time, as you get to see what you're missing but sometimes you're missing perfection. The winds were howling offshore and the beach was filled with people on vacation, which is quite opposite from my freezing house. I guess I shouldn't complain, I'm always there and when I'm not I'm there in my head. I know I mentioned the new beach bar that I was building on the WRSC property next to the parking lot, I've included some photos. As I said before, this project is being built 100% sustainable.
I'm using earth bags for the core material of the walls. This means that I'm using material found on-site and am not having to transport concrete block or other materials from some factory 5 hours away. This cuts down on emissions in a big way. Plus, building with earth is an age-old method that has been used for thousands of years. It was good then, its good now. The roof of the bar is built 100% from palm frawns. There is a special way that palm frawns need to be tied in order to not let rain pass through. This is similar to how we built the rancho tables in the WRSC restaurant. I found an old builder from the town of Jicaral named Cooper who has been building with palm for most of his life. We brought him up to oversee that we were doing things right. I really like using the experience of the locals and getting back to the basics of how things need to be done. It makes you realize that you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
The columns and roof structure are all built out of reforested teak and other local woods. Costa Rica has tons of teak farms and plenty of awesome wood that can be used, that doesn't deplete natural resources. Its important to understand the difference. Mountain Almond, for example, is a great wood that lasts for decades, but it is rare and now illegal to build with. Some builders still offer this wood but shouldn't. The beach bar, to be named the Sand Bar, will be Tamarindo's first 100% sustainable beach bar. I built it next to one of town's main storm drains and hope to use the construction of the bar as a means to education sustainable development and methods that ordinary folks can undertake to reduce their carbon footprint. I'm currently looking for solar panels to power the bar as well as gas refrigeration units to keep the beers and sodas nice and cold. Please feel free to come by and check it out, the bar should be open in the next couple of weeks (this could mean a couple of months when talking about tico time, but my fingers are crossed). Feel free to park in the parking lot and walk through the WRSC gardens if you want to chill in the bar or restaurant or for your surf lesson etc. I'm glad I undertook this project as it is a great way to become more accustomed to building with earth bags. This is the core material I plan to use for the construction of the Zephyr Eco Resort project that I'm very much involved in in Alemania. I visited the finca the weekend before returning to SD, here I am with Larry and my friend Chris Hickman on horses (check out the ghetto Gallo Mas Gallo hat, gotta love it).
After this last rainy season's torrential rains, the roads are in need of slight repair. We spent the day on horses instead, and it was great. I'm getting ready to invest in a tractor, a backhoe, and a dump truck, which is really funny to me because I remember being Otis' age and having these trucks as toys. Otis actually has a toy tractor and dump truck that he was playing with this morning. If you don't know, I'm building an eco resort that is built 100% sustainable and produces its own energy. I have a project manager named Eduardo, a really mellow guy who is an experienced builder from San Jose and very much interested in furthering this project. We have a team of guys on the finca right now marking out property lines, planting seeds of local plants and trees, and building a nice footpath along the river that bisects the entire finca. It was kind of difficult managing this project over the last two years (I started it in March 2006) but now that I've got Eduardo involved things have gotten much easier. I also have my friend Larry McKinney (dancin' Larry) who is going to be spending most of his time in Tamarindo/Alemania taking interested parties to the property to educate them on what I'm working on. I think that sustainable development is a must for the world, and what better place than Costa Rica? I'll continue to update you all on this project as things progress, which they are now doing at an exponential rate. pura vida- joe

Hello world (you can stop looking for me now)

wow. big wow. Its been a while, huh? Its almost Christmas.... wow. For those of you that knew that I was really ill, I'm getting better. For those of you that didn't know I was sick, well, it was about as bad as it gets. Some kind of jungle dengue bug, like malaria, with crazy sweats where I was literally freezing and sweating my ass off at the same time. I didn't sleep more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time for two days straight, and I had the heater blowing (and I was in Costa Rica!). I guess I hadn't gotten sick in a while so it was time, went to the doctor and got a bunch of tests and I'm not dying, at least not any faster than normal. Don't worry, I didn't get it in Tamarindo, I think its a past sickness from a surf expedition further south in Central America. I just want to surf, and all god wants to do is make me watch Family Guy and 5 seasons of the Shield...I wonder why..... hmmm. This trip to Costa Rica was great besides ending it like a POW in a random hotel room in San Jose. A lot of people ask me what its like to be the owner of Witch's Rock Surf Camp, and I never really knew what to say until I thought about it hard enough, and the answer is: its intense. I enjoy the job, but it can be very intense. There are a million different things going on, and I should stop kidding myself about it as WRSC is a full blown resort operation now. The fact that I manage it from California, Panama, Peru or wherever I end up is pretty amazing all things considered. The fact that people have such a great time goes to show that I have a really solid crew, and its great to get to hang with them. We had our Christmas part last Sunday night, right after the Chargers whipped on the Lions (a whole other topic that I'd love to elaborate on later). Flash and I were dancing around midnight, long after the party had ended. Matt cooked up some great BBQ and Maria was killing it with her salsa dancing the entire night. At 10pm my dancing was mediocre, by midnight I was Travolta. Have a keg party and thats what you get. My buddy Larry came with me to CR and I never knew Larry could dance like MC Hammer, which he did along with some hilarious break dancing moves including the worm. It was some funny shit, I laughed so much I lost my voice. Really, it was that funny. Of course Larry can dance, what was I thinking? I got a couple of surf days in which was nice. In Tamarindo it is sunny every day now that the rainy season has ended, and the wind is offshore often. I found myself sitting on the wicker sofa at the entrance to the surf shop, beer in hand, just chilling, just watching the cars and people go by and envisioning what its going to look like when I see high rises sprouting up behind Economy Renta Car. Tamarindo has changed a lot, its so much bigger now. They cleared the big lot next to the Coconut restaurant, all the way back to the high road up the hill. I was told that 3-4 10 story condo towers are being built behind a large commercial center... and this is directly across from the WRSC property. crazy. I'm baffled that I somehow ended up in the middle of it all, and after only seven years its like I'm one of the old folks in town. Tamarindo has just grown exponentially, bigger than anyone would have thought. Or maybe everyone knew and didn't tell me. Either way, through all of the growing pains of town I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. New community groups are being formed as you read this blog, new blogs and websites are popping up with special interest groups promoting Tamarindo's new police force or the Pro Mejores regulatory plan or the plans for the town's water treatment plant. I've always thought that if you're not part of the solution that you're part of the problem, so I met with the Pro Mejores Executive Director and explained my interest in helping the town to solve it's water management issues. I was surprised (in a good didn't-really-think-it-could-happen-but-its-happening kind of way) that the mayor Jorge Chavarria, a guy I've met many years back in WRSC's youth when he worked for the MINEA, was supporting the waste-disposal solution I proposed to the community after going to the Greenbuild Expo last month. Its like "wow, Tamarindo really does have a community hidden behind all of those trinket stores!" feeling. A great feeling. I see some very positive growth coming out of the chaotic growth that has happened up until now. Costa feels a million miles away though, now that I'm back in Ocean Beach San Diego. The surf is big but windy, choppy onshore crap, so I'm in my favorite coffee shop with my laptop and a coffee and a bowl of chicken soup listening to the Modest Mouse album The Moon & Antarctica. I SUGGEST THAT YOU BUY THIS ALBUM if you don't own it. Yeah you can rip it from Kazaa or whatever, but you should buy it. It rocks and is worth the $13 on Itunes or whatever it costs. I actually own the physical cd, which is rare these days with everything being digital downloads. Man was it nice to get back home. It seems like every time I'm on a trip I get back home and Otis has grown up even more, its just all happening so fast. He is killing me with his words, like literally I was talking to James on the phone yesterday and I was talking about something, can't remember what anymore, being a clusterfuck, but instead I say clusterbeep as I'm the adult knowing my kid is listening to me on the phone, and sure enough he shouts out BEEP! as soon as I said it. It was like "whoa, that was a close one!". He just amazes me, and he isn't even 2 yet. And next month comes the next baby boy, and we go through all of this all over again. Holy crap, I'm not ready.... but I guess I wasn't ready for Otis either, so I know it all works out and is great anyways. Otis runs around the house yelling "yaaaaa Chargers!". its the best. I'm so stoked on my SD boys, finally pulling themselves together and showing up and playing some great football. 51-14 vs Detroit last Sunday, that was pretty impressive. I think SD has what it takes to beat the Patriots in Gilette Stadium for the AFC Championship, I really do. I'm hoping, PRAYING, that we get a chance to see them again. And what is Santa giving me as an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve? hopefully another Charger win. I'll write more soon, sorry I was gone, I missed you too.

commuting to work

I realize that I'm one of the few people who can actually say that their commute to work involves flying to another country. I like the fact that I can pack for my trip in a half hour, and usually most of that is the morning of my flight as I throw odd t-shirts and books I haven't read into my luggage. Today was a great day to be a Charger fan, I still can't believe that we won that game. It was unreal to come back from being down 17-3 halfway through the 4th quarter, and then to go on to win in overtime. I really hope the Chargers get a chance to play the Patriots in the playoffs and return the favor of last year. Sorry, but its true. Check out this pic I took of Otis and Holly this morning. First off, check out how pregnant my wife is. Yeah, I still can't believe it. Another one. Holly and I keep asking ourselves if we realize what we've done... OK, second, check out the mountains in the background. You know it must be damn cold when its snowing in San Diego! Sure enough, covered in tons of snow. Just in time to jump on a plane and fly to Central America is what I say. I've bought enough Family Guy episodes and downloaded them onto my phone, I should keep myself busy on the plane and be in Tamarindo in time to watch the second half of Monday Night Football. This surf camp job can be demanding, but I must stay strong. Sin Panza!

giant surf in San Diego

As I pulled up to my little perch at the La Jolla Cove yesterday morning, this was what I saw. It was double to triple overhead (watch the video from yesterday's post). I haven't surfed the Cove since I was a senior in high school. It was one of the most memorable surf sessions I've had to this day, probably because it was even bigger than it was yesterday and I was only 17. It was a lot cleaner during that January 1995 swell too. Yesterday was pretty closed out, pulling surfers deeper into the takeoff zone. Then there would be these 20-25 foot face sets that would break out past everyone. I hadn't seen that many broken boards or lifeguard rescue crews in a long time.I check PB Point, OB and Point Loma. It was probably best at Point Loma, but still too big and disorganized. What was cool was to see all of the spots that don't normally break, and they were huge! I heard someone died at Ghost Trees, which doesn't surprise me as it must have been 40 foot face waves further north! Uh...hmm....I think I'll take out the longboard in front of the surf camp next week and get some head high bathwater surf instead.

surf is up

gearing up to hit the road

So I guess theres a lot to talk about these days, huh? I've been back and forth with this back injury thing, but its finally seemed to work itself out. I knew it was a bad one when I got out of the water from surfing. First, it was pretty good, so to get out on a day like that meant that it was serious. Then it took me like 20 minutes to get my freaking wetsuit off! I was also putting in a few days on my laptop instead of on the new mac desktop we just got. Dude this thing rocks. No more stupid computer tower and big heavy monitor, now its all about a single screen with the computer inside, and good enough mic and speakers that you could dj your cousin's wedding. I'm now addicted to this Cowboy Cultural Society radio station I found on Itunes, so I'm not quite sure if I should be getting some help or what. I do know that the Chargers won today. 7-5 ain't bad. The best part is that the Chargers are playing really well and not just barely winning or getting lucky. I think we can win every game throughout the rest of the season. My dads been claiming that since before the Jaguars game :-)
Hey check me out. If I look like I'm in the matrix, its because I am. Here's a screenshot of the new WRSC website I've been working on for the last two months. It was supposed to drop a month ago, but like all good things that come when you wait forever, it will be here soon enough (maybe Wednesday??).
The new web cam has finally gotten most all bugs ironed out. We're posting a mini video feed on the main page of the site, so you can be checking the surf from your cube in ten seconds and your boss will never know. Its because the surf camp loves you. Oh, and check out my boy Luis busting the biggest air out in front of WRSC. He kills it, so kills it. I'm supposed to be bringing him a spring suit because all 90 pounds of him is freezing with these offshore winds. I'm going down to WRSC next week, I'm super excited. Our new board shop is now done, so its time to give it a good paint job. My dad was going to cruise down and we were going to paint it together, but something came up. Sorry pops, everyone makes an email snafu at some point in life, God knows I've done it plenty.
Sorry, no more Chargers Bolts painted on the front of the camp. It was getting pretty ghetto though, you have to admit. I didn't have much faith when cars would run into it, either, so we put these great yellow poles in the ground. I'm sure some tourist will find a way to still drive through WRSC at some point, lets just hope we're as lucky as last time!
We got the new Witch's Rock surfboards on the wall, the cana brava is finally just about done. Notice that the office stairs are gone? We made new stairs, so that, along with the new board shop's glass windows, you get the panoramic ocean view from pretty much everywhere at the surf camp. Its sweeeeeeeeet! We still want to tile the entrance and inner bar/restaurant area, perhaps we will do that this week. Fortunately the restaurant is big enough that we can tile a small part while leaving the rest untouched, and get the job done in less than a week. I can't believe how much time I've spent tinkering with the surf camp. Its like a fun project that never seems to end. Oh, since we're on the subject of Tamarindo, I am very happy to announce for the first time publicly the following information: Two weeks ago WRSC paid a laboratory in Liberia to test the ocean water out in front of the surf camp and Tamarindo Rivermouth. I was EXTREMELY HAPPY to hear that the tests came back very clean and well within the limits of swimming/surfing. The actual report is at the surf camp and I intend to show it to the Pro Mejores and local papers as proof that our town's water quality concerns are 100% a result of over-development causing over-saturation of the ground. The good news is that this is easily solved. I'm offering to build a short-term remedy in the form of a lagoon system or constructed wetlands environment. All I need is for the municipality to lease me a piece of land outside of Tamarindo where I can build it. I met some of the top people in the water treatment industry at the Greenbuild Expo and I'm quite certain that I can use their instruction to build the solution for Tamarindo. The best part about it is that construction is only a couple of weeks, so this can be happening before the next rainy season.
Check out Otis riding the dog. I keep telling him not to do it, and that Gus is going to get fed up with his shit one of these days and bite him, but does Otis listen? What do you think a 20 month old would do? Meanwhile I'm sitting on the couch fully enjoying my new digital cable and DVR, something I've never experienced until this last month. I think I've watched every episode of the Family Guy and have now moved on to Reno 911.