Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Petting the Cat in Pavones: Goofy Foot Dreaming

Possibilities. Think of all the big point breaks all over the world that are just calling out to be ridden with the stand up board.I was sent this old clip by a good friend of mine. We scored some really fun surf down there and had a great time- this was about ten years ago, pre-stand up craze- at least for me. But the question keeps popping into my head: What if we had brought stand up boards with us?


Now I'm not saying that I would have used my paddle board for evil purposes. I'd have been run off into the jungle if I decided to poach every bump rifling from Rivermouth to Cantina. But there are other possibilities. You've just got to have the guts to paddle away from the main event. And I'm not just talking about Costa Rican waves here. Every "name spot" has an excellent non-spot right next to it. So paddle away and make your own discovery. I can promise you that just around the corner from that perfect head high wall is another one just begging to be ridden by our big boards. Go get it!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bro, when are we going down to that place Stamps told you about? Lets get on that.

Chad

linter said...

john: you're right on. last year, i surfed peru, the land of a thousand point-break lefts. and for a goofy footer like me they would have been perfect. went to tortola/cane garden bay later in the year, a point right, again SUP perfect. problem, as i see it, is how to fly w/ these things. hate to get to the airport and find out they'd changed planes on me; my biggy was now a smally.

John Ashley said...

Hey Chad-
Tell me about it! Saving my pennies...

John Ashley said...

Linter- Wouldn't that be a bummer- the plane that you thought would accept your board now can't. Did that happen to you? Did you bring a SUP with you? Let us know!

Anonymous said...

Linter: I travelled all over Peru in '90 with a shortboard & semi gun. Went by Chicama 2X on my way north and south and the surf didn't do it for me. Thinking back on that wave and setup I would've been getting mile-long rides on a SUP. I'm heading down the Caribbean next week for the holidays to stay at a friend's place. There's plenty of surfboards there but no SUPs yet so I'm bringing a C4 ULI.

srfnff said...

John
I've got a guy up here who is very interested in the kind of SUP adventure paddling you're talking about here. He's writing an article on SUPing for the local paper, and I told him straight up that I don't have any experience with day tripping.

If you would send me your email, I will send you his email back and you could give him the scoop. I referred him to your blog because you do have some stuff re your coastal Baja tripping.

Thanks,
g

Jim Brewer said...

What is the size limit on SUP boards on a plane. I was told it was a no go by a friend. Also, the last time I was at Pavones was 1986 and I didn't need a SUP board to have fun but it would have been great to have one never the less. I heard the place is a lot different now. We had the place all to ourselves back then and it was really hard to get out there. My friends uncle Jeff had a house on the other side of the river and we could only come and go to the cantina at low tide. Damn that was a good time!!

John Ashley said...

Hey Jim-
'86 at Pavones... how many guys were surfing it then? The place has changed a bunch even from ten years ago when that clip was taken- I'd been there three years before that clip and when I returned it was like, "Hey since when did Pavones have a surf shop?". Change comes everywhere. But I do love hearing about stories like yours!

John Ashley said...

Hey Gary: That's an easy one! Paddlesurfbaja@gmail.com and I'll spill the beans.

Jim Brewer said...

John-We were the only ones surfing on that trip. I'm not saying that nobody surfed the place in 86 but on that trip we were the only ones. Pat Curren was around but at that time he wasen't in the water much. There was nothing there but the cantina and us. Jeffs house was eventually burned down by squatters and that was the end for us and Pavones.

John Ashley said...

I remember when the whole squatter fiasco was going on down there. Kind of dark times if I remember right. Well you were able to experience it like most of us never will. When there's a swell now, all of San Jose shows up... and Dominical... and Tamarindo etc. Good for you and still puts a great visual in my mind of you guys getting it when it was still a little wild! I remember the goose bumps I got coming around the last corner into town on the big bus and seeing waves rope around the point- must've been super cool in '86.

Anonymous said...

good advice,
paddle away from the crowds that is the advantage of the sup.
going out at pavones with a stand up board would be one of the worst moves i could imagine. a few miles further in or out on the point would be a good call though.
yeah thank god you can't travel internationally with those things.

srfnff said...

Yeah! Thank God you can't travel internationally with those "things." You might even see 'em in the Maldives...at Sultans or something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6udM_hlLDc

John Ashley said...

Ha- Srfnff you're a funny guy.