Joe's Guide to January 2009

I still love loud music, especially punk, probably because I grew up watching Taylor Steele surf videos. Pennywise, Bad Religion and Unwritten Law were great back then. Now I'm finding myself listening to the Hives, Rocket from the Crypt and Iggy Pop among other bands. I'm also stoked on Sufjan Stevens and Andrew Bird when I want to slow it down a bit, just not the last couple of days...

If Costa Rica had better programming on Direct TV I wouldn't just play classic rock in the restaurant like I do. They used to have an awesome reggae channel that was overtaken by show tunes. Ugh. Internet radio would be great, but the internet here in CR can suck and is overall unreliable in town. At least playlist.com exists and the internet has been working well lately.


The Costa Rican surf circuit, known here simply as the CNS, is hosting the Witch's Rock Surf Contest here at Witch's Rock Surf Camp January 10th and 11th, 2009. Inscriptions will be at the camp the night of Friday January 9th. I f#ck%d up and told Sebastian, the owner of Babylon, that we would host the contest party at his club on Saturday night. I did this because I was planning on leaving town on the 10th on surf tour. Then I found out that Red Bull had already purchased the advertising rights to the party directly from the CNS before the season started. I guess I didn't get that memo, probably because Larry forgot to put a cover on the TPS Report. So, as to eliminate confusion, here are the facts:
- Friday January 9th 5pm-7pm - Surf contest inscriptions @ WRSC - Saturday and Sunday January 10th and 11th - surf contest, Playa Tamarindo - Saturday night - 911 La Radio, Red Bull and Witch's Rock Surf Camp present the Torneo Witch's Rock Party at Witch's Rock Surf Camp.
I guess this means I'm leaving on the tour a day late. I'm hoping to get some solid waves out of town while everyone competing is up north ;-) The event is going to be off the hook so definitely plan on being in Tamarindo if you can make it.


The next surf contest being officially announced today is the Christian Surfers Surf Contest being held February 21st and 22nd, hosted by Witch's Rock Surf Camp. I'm in talks with their organizers to have our first concert of the 2009 season during this weekend. Yesterday I shot emails back and forth with Tony Lee, Tom Curren's manager. It would be insane to get the 3X world champ to play a show at the camp. Tom, I'll be surfing Rincon next week if you want to hook up for a surf! that would be sweet... he is a legend. For this contest we've also discussed the band Switchfoot. I went to UCSD with the Foreman brothers and Chad Butler, also surfed with Chad on the UCSD surf team. We threw the Ocean Awareness Club concerts in the on-campus pub back in the day, I remember having Switchfoot play for us at one of those shows. As suggested by many friends, I've decided to host multiple, smaller events and to also utilize other events and their support to help organize these shows. I mean, come on. I have a surf camp to run. I'd love to see this all happen and am stoked so many people read this blog and find ways to work with me on so many things. 2 events in the first 2 months of 2009 isn't a bad start. Tommy, I need your help if we're going to get SOJA down here. I have been slammed, meaning to call you from John Hugo's house when I'm up there surfing central coast Cali with him this next week. If you can help me organize an event we can fill some rooms during a slower week and have a killer event at WRSC, thinking more about the end of April / start of May so there is no stress interfering with what is appearing to be a big year. I'd have more time to help promote it at least.


It happens to be Christmas next week. How exactly did that happen? I write this as I've just checked in online for a flight back to San Diego tomorrow. Holly and I, Otis and Happy, going back to visit the family and friends for the holidays. Its been a while since we've been up there, to a point where I actually feel like I'm going on a vacation. There is a TON of snow in the local mountains so we plan to be snowboarding for the first time in 8 years, that will be sweet. I'm working a ton this week, partially because the surf has been flat, but also to make some cash so I won't be stressing while I'm taking two (of the busiest) weeks away from the camp. Fortunately my crew is amazing and I am very confident that things will run perfectly. After doing the same thing every day for 8 years its starting to get into a rhythm. SD means watching the Chargers game with my dad on Sunday. Holy crap I can't believe that if we win this weekend and Denver loses, we have the opportunity to beat them on December 28th, essentially knocking them out of 1st place and pushing us into the playoffs. Some of our games we've played like shit so its a long shot, but I'm keeping the faith. I think they just need me there for moral support (I'd like to think).

A snapshot from the restaurant, both Holly and I looking after one kid each. Having kids has turned my life upside down. I'm still in shock that I'm a dad, and its going on three years here shortly...
We had our WRSC Employee Christmas party on Wednesday night here at the camp. The restaurant was shut down to outside traffic and reserved for employees, their families, WRSC guests and a few friends. There was a lot of food and drink, and we had a salsa band, more than one of my staff didn't show up yesterday morning and was mysteriously "sick". ah hah. You take care of that by drinking a beer on Thursday morning, at least you do if you're joe walsh (and the surf is flat). I'm starting to see a pattern here.


WHO WANTS A FREE TRIP TO COSTA RICA? Here is how you can give yourself a wonderful Christmas present, a free trip to Costa Rica. How? #1 You have to speak Spanish, at least well enough to converse with anyone on the street. #2 You have a drivers license. #3 You want to take a surf trip through Mainland Mex and south through Central America, ending up in Tamarindo. You get to drive in a 2008 Toyota Tundra 4-door 4x4. Am I joking? No I'm not. I'm paying for the gas, you're driving the truck. This is Dayton Manual, your co-pilot.

Contact me by clicking that little link at the top right, or call the WRSC hotline 888-318-SURF and they will track me down. You will be responsible for getting yourself to San Diego, and for sending me tons of photos from the trip.

My good friend Chris Meredith told me I was surfing like Tony Hawk lately, which was a nice compliment, except for the fact that Tony Hawk is a skater and I'm a surfer. Probably its because I'm in that do-a-360-at-the-end-of-every-wave phase, a phase I never thought I'd get into. I see other surfers get in that phase every once in a while and I'm like what a kook, look at that dude trying a 360 every chance he gets, and now here I am being that guy. I am so lame its funny. I didn't realize how much fun it was to slide your tail out on a fish until I learned how to do it and starting sticking them more and more often. Now its gotten pretty cool, to a point where I'm connecting tricks on a wave like I haven't done before. I guess I'm a late bloomer. Ironically I grew up across the street from Tony Hawk, so maybe theres something in the water on Escobar Drive. All I know is that I'm bringing my board with me to SD and I plan on surfing some (cold) waves over the next couple of weeks. What else is new?


The Santa Cruz municipality (the county that Tamarindo is in) was apparently "shut down" this week, with our mayor being led off to jail and investigated on charges of corruption. Supposedly there is some concerns that the muni was illegally selling permits. The Tamarumor is that a couple of newer businesses in Tamarindo bought permits illegally via paying off the municipality, as well as quite a few illegal liquor licenses. The San Jose government has literally removed all of the documents from the municipal buildings in Santa Cruz. With the lack of organization in this government, its going to be months before things get figured out. It is times like this when those who have paid bribes to government officials start to sweat, hoping the Costa Rican version of the FBI doesn't show up at their doorstep. It is in times like these that I am very happy I don't have to worry about this, as the biggest bribe I've ever paid has been to get out of a speeding ticket, and I'm not even sure thats illegal down here (sarcasm). Soooo... I'm sure I have some neighbors that are sweating it a bit over the holidays, all I can is that I wish you the best. Its a bummer you couldn't pay all of your taxes or obtain your permits through legal means like the rest of us do. You can read about our wonderful government scandal at
http://www.thebeachtimes.com/article.php?id=2&at=2403


I'm going to the Surf Expo in Orlando next month, so lets hook up while I'm there. I'm getting in either January 14 or 15, leaving probably the 17th either way. I'm highlighting a friend's company website on our newsletter, EastCoastSurfProducts.com His name is Bill Homer, he has been to WRSC a zillion times, Bill lets hook up at the show. I'm looking forward to getting lost in Florida (again). Adam Greenman, where are you bro? Larry has a friend with a house in Orlando, she is out of town, we're all going to crash there. If it falls through, does anyone else have a crash pad for the WRSC crew? Joe + Larry + ?


I am going to pack for SD. I suck at email, at facebook. I'm good at saying hi to someone in person. I am hoping to see my friends and catch up over the next two weeks in SD, please find me at my parents house on Escobar. Pura Vida - Joe

go Chargers!

Please Denver, lose your game today...

alive and well

I finally break radio silence. Not sure really why I haven't popped my head up to see whats been going on around me. I think what has happened is that for the first time in my adult life I've fallen into a routine. My life currently consists of my family (wife and 2 boys), my job (mostly the surf camp), surfing as much as I can (4 hours/day?), a couple of close friends I hang with a bit (before falling asleep at the sad hour of 9pm) and a bunch of friends and family I never have the time to write back to on facebook or call up on a Sunday night just to catch up.

We have had a niñera named Rosie for the last three months or so, she is awesome. She works Monday - Friday and half days on Saturday. It really helps to have the help, she definitely helps Holly so incredibly much and she allows me to focus on surfing so I can improve. Plus its easier to bring the entire family to the beach and for Holly and I to surf together. Or Rosie, since she is now surfing too. Is it me or is everyone surfing these days? I love it, reminds me of all of those surf movies and Malibu before I was even born, as though I may have missed out on it the first time around but not this time.

Normal day: I wake up at 6am, perhaps a little earlier or later depending on when Happy or Otis want to get up, but pretty much the crack of dawn as far as I'm concerned. We watch Discovery Kids, eat Cheerio's, sometimes hang out in the surf camp restaurant or on the beach for an early morning low tide cruise.

7AM or 8AM or so: go surf. Surf Casitas, surf the rivermouth, surf Avellanas, surf the reefs. Surf a lot if its good and surf less if it sucks. It always seems to be pretty good somewhere fortunately.

12PM-3PM: sit down with my laptop. get overwhelmed by all of my email. Whoops, darn, I forgot to email this person or an "oh crap" I totally screwed that up. But then of course there are all of those "oh thats awesome" emails and people I haven't talked to since high school pinging me on facebook and I smile. I get around to reading them when something comes up, so I don't get to write as many emails as I'd like. I spend a lot of time on the computer doing not-as-fun-as-email stuff so by the time I end all of that I'm spent. Besides emails, I'm helping to train Larry McKinney in the sales office, also Marcela is working in the office too. I spend some time to call return guests, or to meet guests when they check in. I've been involved in improving the board cage, boards, expanding the surf shop, some other projects that get me walking around and talking to builders and stuff. I try to fit a breakfast burrito and a coconut and milk smoothie in there somewhere too.

3PM: whoa, its 3pm already? Where are we going to surf?

Sunset is at 5:30PM, so no matter what I'm done surfing by then.
5:30PM-8:30PM: eat dinner with the boys, chill with the family on the deck. Drink a couple of vodka tonics, or Imperials, or all of the above if we're staying up late (rare lately). Put the boys to sleep. Sit on the couch and watch some tv. Be tired. Realize that I'm 31 years old and surfing four or five hours a day, so its ok to be tired and falling asleep on the couch at 830pm.

Sometimes I've been staying up to 10 or 11 or even later, but not often as no matter what, the boys are going to wake up as though its Christmas morning. God, it can be awful, but what can you do? Happy wakes up at least 3 times/night, Otis wakes up and cries sometimes, like if he wets the bed. Then he has to sleep in our bed, which is a double. Happy is already sleeping with us. Daddy gets to sleep on the couch, woo hoo! I got tired of that so I put a bed in my office, and now its feeling a little bit like a college dorm room because I'm such a slob. I did volunteer to do laundry for the family and have a washer / dryer set up in my room a couple of days ago. I do that, the trash, wash a few bottles, clean up after myself. I'm pretty bad, thankfully I have an awesome wife that lets me surf for a living and does so much for the family. Having Rosie has been great too. Holly and I are talking about going away for a couple of days alone, it would be the first time in years. Years.

I realize that I've been planning events in my life around low tide. If the tides are opposite, you might find me switching my schedule up a bit, but pretty much this is what every day has been feeling like lately. Its the first time I've ever had a routine, and I really like it.

Crazy as it may sound, I love the fact that we're in a world recession. I may not be making the same amount of money but I sure as hell am surfing more. I have less work, I get to focus on the guests that matter most, I get to live on the beach and surf all of the time so if there are less people going on vacation to Tamarindo, there are less people surfing in the water. And it has been true, as we've had awesome AWESOME surf and not really any crowds that I've felt. It has been really nice. The speculaters and realtors that never intended to call Tamarindo their home have moved somewhere else. Those that call Tamarindo their home are taking pride in saying that. The town feels good. There is actually a community growing here. Holly and I are feeling really good about living here, things have come full circle. I don't care if I have to tend bar or drive the boat, I've done all of the jobs at WRSC and I'll do anything to have the quality of life one can only experience when they go out and suceed in setting up life exactly as they would live it, if they were given the chance. I am happy.

I've been taking periods of time away from the internet. Oh internet, how I love you and hate you both at the same time. Its a weird feeling. Life in the matrix is ok, but it gets old when you spend all day staring at a screen. Don't be mad at me because I haven't written, thats why I blog.

Adrian Fernandez, my good friend, my lawyer. He has a 1000 sq meter lot for sale in Avellanas for $70,000. This property is a very nice, shaded, flat parcel that borders the quebrada that passes under the new bridge right before my house. It would be about a 2 minute longer walk to the Avellanas Rivermouth than my house is. The plano is here:

You can contact him at ajfernandezATracsaDOTcoDOTcr

Other things that are for sale are the triplex in Langosta that WRSC manages (www.langostabeachhouse.com) for $425,000, a 1986 VW Westfalia camper that hs CR plates and just needs to be cleaned for $4500, a few soft top surfboards...

Things I am looking to buy are epoxy surfboards, leashes, fins, wetsuit jackets, and hats for the surf shop. If anyone is flying to Costa Rica and wants to bring a box down with them I will pay you. Please inquire via www.witchsrocksurfcamp.com

The CNS Surf Contest is being held in Tamarindo January 10 and 11 at Witch's Rock Surf Camp. WRSC team rider Cedric Aufrette just placed second in the opening CNS event in Hermosa last weekend behind an Argentinian pro who was in-country for another contest (that I think he won). Tamarindo will be good, the sand bars have been great lately. CNS where do I send the check? Please someone please help me. Sebastian from Babylon, if you are still interested in co-sponsoring the party on the night of the 10th, please let me know.

Patrick Smyth emailed me this photo of Flash, me and Chris Meredith. I think it is funny as hell, though I'm sure my mother isn't impressed.
Holly and I are planning on flying back to San Diego by December 20th and have Christmas back in Cali. We'll be staying in the cottages in OB. I have my 6'1 Native fish waiting for me in the closet. Cold water isn't that bad, if you know its only going to be for a short time. Kent, lets hook up for family days at the beach and go surf!

On the topic of the San Diego Chargers, I'm going to keep my mouth shut and not tell you all of the reasons why our season has gone to shit. My fingers are crossed that KC beats Denver right now. We don't deserve the playoffs with how we've been playing (until last Thursday night when we whooped on the Raiders)

It wasn't that long ago that I was flying back and forth from SD to Tamarindo almost every week to ten days. I'm really happy to finally be in a routine and in one place, this will definitely work. Come visit us, flights are cheap as hell right now.
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