keeping on keeping on

ACDC - its a long way to the top.mp3

I was in Playa Coco this last week finding a new place to moor the Witch's/Ollie's boat and decided to moor it right where we used to keep our boat when we had the WRSC Playas del Coco surf camp open back in the day. My old next door neighbor, the infamous one-legged fisherman Jimbolo, is watching over the boat for us. He runs a few fishing boats in Coco as well as the Bar Matapalo, not much more than a tico bar hangout for crusty fishermen types and skinny dogs. I showed Yana, my newly hired right-hand, the old surf camp building that sits next door to the bar. It has aged in these last few years. I got a little sad, thinking about all of the memories I have from living there with Holly, back when I drove our shitty little boat to Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point, back when she cooked and cleaned, back when we couldn't afford any employees, only volunteers, before we ever talked about having children or getting married.

Man... that was only 8 years ago. Now I'm writing this blog, packing a few items because tomorrow I'm flying with my wife and 2 boys, Larry and Yana, everyone is heading to Florida to host the WRSC booth at the Surf Expo in Orlando this week. What a long strange trip its been since we started the camp in January 2001. It feels pretty good, pretty crazy, definitely amazing and completely scary all at once. I've been to the Surf Expo and the ASR trade shows before, but never has Witch's Rock Surf Camp actually hosted it's own booth there. I used to daydream about it years ago but never thought it would ever happen. To be honest, I used to daydream about most all of what WRSC has become, never really thinking we'd get this far. We're staying in an RV park in Kissimmee for the week, definitely done in the roots WRSC style. Trailer parks have the best parties, everyone knows that!

If you're reading this and planning on going to either of these shows, you should stop by and visit our booth and sign up to win a free surf trip on the ZORI surf yacht. We have some killer new WRSC passports, you collect passport stamps and earn tons of cool stuff. Get a passport, get stamps, get free swag. Oh, and I have passes for the shows too, so hit me up if you can't scrape up some on your own and if I have any left I'll give them to you.

Surf Expo - Orlando - August 20-22, 2009

ASR Trade Show - San Diego - September 10-12, 2009



Everyone thought I was crazy to take off on the boat for such a long surf trip, not knowing where we were going or if the boat would bring us back. I had a plan, kind of. Besides just getting sick waves, the way I saw it, I needed to take that trip so I could push the Zori to the limits and make sure she was up to the challenge of being our lead surf tour boat. She is. The trip was awesome.

The biggest swell of the year hit while we were off of the west tip of the Osa Peninsula in the middle of nowhere. Greg Tamm, ex captain of the Marlin del Rey catamaran, was crewing on the boat so we had some good time to get to know each other. We paddled out and surfed at this left point break near Drake Bay, the only ones out. The problem with being cut off from the rest of the world is that nobody is there to call you or send you an email to tell you that the biggest swell of the year is hitting. And when you're exploring surf spots with nobody out, it can be very hard to tell how big the waves are. I was surprised and undergunned when I paddled into 15 ft plus waves. The sets were huge. I bear-hugged my surfboard when I duck dove, hoping it wouldn't break and leave me to get washed in on the rocks inside. I caught one wave, rode it all the way in, and decided I had shown up to a tennis match with a baseball bat. My 6'0 just wasn't made for these waves. It was intense. Below is a pic that Rene took from the panga, so you can only see the back of the wave Greg and I had just duck dove. I figure the back of that wave is at least 8 feet, maybe bigger. When I got back to the boat I realized the waves had literally torn off and broken my leash, so I was pretty stoked I didn't lose my board ducking any of those sets.

ha ha ha! look closely at the photo and see the looks on our faces. We were like "holy shit, here comes a cleanup set!". That night I made a point to call Holly and my parents, just to tell them I loved them.


The Rio Sierrpe:

the wave looks mellow, but it was the same peak day of the swell. What we thought was an empty lineup ended up being double overhead and nonstop waves. The river is super wide, and with the incoming tide we were literally being sucked up the river. It took me about 45 minutes to get back to the boat, whereas Greg literally got picked up by a river boat making it's way back to the ocean. I figure that since Greg lived in Hawaii the last ten years and rips at surfing I wouldn't feel too bad about just wanting to go back to the boat and have a few beers instead.


We caught tons of fish on the trip. This one Mahi Mahi fed 6 men for two nights.



Here's a sailfish we caught that weighed about 100 pounds. We caught it on 15 pound test line. Can someone google that and see if its some kind of record?



Check out this Pavones barrel. The monday after the swell there was still a little swell and there were only about 15 people in the water, which is insanely uncrowded for such a long was as Pavones.



My kids were really excited when I got home from the boat trip. Here is baby Happy, quickly turning into a little man. Its unbelievable. He is repeating all of the words that he hears. No longer a baby, now a little man.




And then of course there's Otis who is almost three and a half. how crazy.

Holly, Otis, Happy and I are going to Orlando so I can go to the trade show. My parents have driven across the US from San Diego in their Lazy Days motorhome, they are currently entering Florida in time to pick us up at the airport tomorrow. After the Surf Expo we're heading north to Cape Hatteras for a few days. I've always wanted to surf the Outer Banks and never have, so this will be great. After Hatteras we're driving to the Great Lakes, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Football Hall of Fame in Cleveland. My dad is pretty stoked about this part of the trip. If there is good surf weather I'm planning on hooking up with the Third Coast Surf Shop and surf Lake Michigan. After that we're going to Colorado to hang out with Holly's family and go camping in the mountains. I think Vegas is on the itinerary, then to San Diego in time to host the ASR trade show September 10-12.

Wow, I guess that means I'm leaving for Florida tomorrow and that I'm going to be on the road again for the next four weeks. Hmm... OK....

I am declaring email bankruptcy (again). You might just need to forward me that sent message from last week or last month. I'm really sorry. I read all email, but to ensure a response (like for WRSC or Zephyr things) please email me through the WRSC contact page. My personal assistant Valerie is much more organized than I am :-| I have been traveling a lot and I gave my desk to Yana so that means I'm not really on the computer that much.