The OTHER Side

The last few posts have been about what Baja's west coast is capable of delivering. Obviously, perfection. I know there are a few of you that love to get on the race board or on the 11 footer and scope out the scenic side of things. Well, Baja could very well be SUP heaven and cover all your urges to paddle.

On the east side of the Baja peninsula, you've got miles and miles of some amazing coast line. During the winter months the winds tend to stick around more often than not. If you're on the east side when it's calm be ready to be amazed. My favorite spots would have to be between Mulege and El Juncalito to the south. It's about an hour drive from end to end. You'll get epic bays that have warm crystal clear waters and islands that you can paddle to. La Ventana, south of La Paz, has some epic SUPing from what I hear. I have yet to hit up that location. Soon.

Baja California, Mexico SUP heaven? It is in my book. Manny V out.

My wife, Mailei, loves this place.

Sunrise.

Pigs at the trough: Stu Kenson Pleasure Pigs tearing into it... sue-eeee!

Undoubtedly, these boards have drawn more attention than any other surfboard down here this winter. They're chunky, they're thick, they're short... and they're lightning fast. Check out the Pleasure Pig: 

P-Mac, gouging on his 5'8" Pleasure Pig. Stu Kenson has been making these things for the past year or so and they're ugly- but super fun. The boards have tons of width and buoyancy- they paddle really well and catch waves easily. Take an iffy surf day and unleash a Pig... you'll be stoked.

 We've got two of these nasty little beasts with us. P-mac's pig is a bit smaller than mine (my puerco comes in at 6'6) but both serve the same purpose; turn a mushy wave into a playground. The pig puts you in hog heaven.

Pilgy catching and releasing on my Pig...

A couple of local guys have come up to us wondering what the hell we were surfing. We put them on the pig and they were stoked. Other surfers were freaking out about how easy it was for us to glide into just about any little bump out there. The boards are so wide, light (they're made from super buoyant eps foam) and floaty that you can muscle yourself into even the tiniest little wave coming through.

P-Mac and his Pig... is there any more rail left to bury?

By the way, this is P-Mac...

A man and his Pig.

Deacon on my 6'6 Pig... this is the "community Pig"... Pilgy won't give it back... he loves the Pig. Check out how small this wave is... Pig's like to run... we love Pig.

Hello Southern Hemi!

Our friend from the south showed up today...

Check out the left- when it's more out of the south, that thing starts working.

The surf report calls for the South to continue building then be reinforced by a string of NW swells... yummy.

Local style

How's this for commuting to your local surfspot?:

This is how Jake gets his stando to the beach. Rad. I want one.

I'm out the door to the beach- surf should get fun again when the tide drops. I'll keep you posted.

Presto/extendo...

In true surfer fashion... I'm extending this vacation an extra three days! Yes. Now we just need that swell to cooperate. Today may have been an indicator of things to come. It was super glassy- and really fun. Take a look:

How's this little nugget? Deacon nabbed this one on my 6'6 Stu Kenson Pleasure Pig. As the tide dropped, the surf just got better. Hopefully the little bump we got today is an indicator of something on the horizon. Check out all the fish in the wave.

Mind surf that one...

I even got a hold of a couple of those... glassy enough for you? Be sure to check out JWall's blog for more killer, super high reso photos from today's session. 

Please, please, please... let it build for the next couple of days! Photo courtesy of Jeff Wallis.

Fleet

I first came down here with a stand up board in June of 2007. The water was warm, the surf super small- perfect for stand up paddling. I don't know if I was the first guy to paddle surf the beach break  (I know there's one particular guy up north who wants soooo bad to claim that- all yours bro!) but I do remember that my board caused a sensation, everyone wanted to give it a go. The local rippers and surf school guys all wanted to take a shot, an instructor from a woman's surf retreat hopped on it, surfing a stando for the first time (that was Kristy Murphy, the female ripper, nose riding in a video I posted last year- totally stoked on stand up surfing) and then there was the pack of four, shall we call them, interpretive dancers who swarmed me- all wanting to give it a spin (a memory I won't soon forget- jiggly is a great descriptor). 

When you see this truck come rumbling up, get ready, you're about to meet Fleet!

The coolest guy who approached me was a gentleman who had to be in his late sixties/early seventies named Fleet. Fleet walked right up to me on the beach and told me he'd heard about stand up paddling and thought it'd be great exercise for him and that it fit his southern Baja lifestyle. Cool- here you go Fleet, give it a shot. Man, he was stoked- if not a bit wobbly. He told me he was hooked and was heading up to San Clemente to have his buddy Ron House make him a board- he was convinced, he loved stand up paddling! 

Honestly, I didn't think it would stick. How funny is it then that for the last three winters, every time I come back down, I run into Fleet. And he's paddling like a madman! I think he's on his third board and he's not just cruising. Fleet's sporting a Paddle Surf Hawaii All Arounder model and he's getting waves. I can't begin to tell you how cool it is for me to meet up with Fleet each year. It's always the same thing, I see a tall, older, incredibly tan, fit surfer come walking up to me with a huge smile on his face. He reaches out his big, ol' mitt and says, "John! Welcome back... let's go get some waves." It's always the same thing- and it always feels really good. Thanks, Fleet- you're killing it!

New Year's Vocab: Your Down South Spanish Lesson

Borracho: drunk. As in: Estoy borracho (I'm drunk).
Crudo: hung over. As in: Estoy crudo (I'm hungover).

Ready for your Spanish quiz? Read the caption below and see how well you've learned your new vocabulary: 

Saw this truck off in the bush this morning after surfing. This is what happens when you're borracho, your brand new F150 ends up all screwed up and your head goes through the windshield... which makes feeling crudo twenty times worse. Rumor has it (my friends pulled the truck free of the desert) there was a quarter full bottle of tequila on the floor of the truck and the old man who was directing the operation just cracked it and started swigging.... think he'll be borracho later on?

 How did you do?

Baja stando shots

The surf has been hit and miss down here and the SUP guys have been doing their best to get in front of my camera! JA's friend CR from Point Loma has been blowing my mind. This guy just seems to find and make the best of every wave he gets. He is using every inch of that Laird Stando, the guy is a switch footer which is really cool to see. He is on the nose alot and cranking some killa turns, and when you least expect it the guy tucks into these lil barrells and gets a head dip! Now watchin this guy and John it even makes an old kneeboard guy like me wanna give it a try. Well John? Wanna give Wally a stando lesson?

CR switch footin! John's right this guy just rips no matter what the conditions!

CR gettin a classic lil Todos left!

John gettin is backside slide on!

Here is CR doin a lil nose ridin!

John pickin up a lil speed!

CR on it again, this guy is incredible and just a cool dude!

CR again charging off the bottom!

CR gettin a lil head dip in!

Baja rig

Check out this cool Baja rig. Notice the paddles, there must be a stando paddler in there:

This thing's kind of rad: pop up camper to keep a low center of gravity, full size bed to maximize the interior size of the camper, four wheel drive and a back porch (the camper fits inside the bed so you can retain your tailgate- this does two things: gives you the important beer-drinking porch and provides you with an additional layer of security when you close and lock your tailgate).

I'm of the light and fast frame of mind for Baja travel. I prefer to be able to move quickly on the highway and I want to keep the whole thing light for better 4x4 performance on the sand. My previous truck was a full size (8' bed) diesel F250 with the crew cab back seat- that truck was heavy and powerful. It rambled down the highway excellently but it was too heavy for easily cruising on the sand beaches- even with the tires let way down it was always just barely able to churn along.


Now, I'm in a 1/2 ton Toyota Tundra 4x4. I still have the 8' bed but the truck is much lighter and capable off road. I did lose some low end torque but was surprised by the power the 5.8L engine was able to put to the ground. The truck easily pulled my 22' travel trailer down here from San Diego a couple of years ago. I'm happy with my Baja rig but there are always improvements and modifications that can be made. My friend, Deacon, who just picked up a 4x4 Tundra has rekindled my interest in Flip-pac shells. This stuff never ends- the ultimate Baja rig has yet to be created.

Off to ceviche...

Remember that Sierra? Well, we rounded up a couple more of those suckers and now it's time for ceviche over at my friend's rancho. We've got our friend Israel filleting them out and turning them into ceviche. If you've never had ceviche before it's basically raw fish that's cooked in lots of lime juice.

 Ceviche is one of those pure tasting kinds of food that actually makes you feel healthier when you're finished with it (I guess, then, it's the ten cocktails I'm going to drink that will do the damage). The citric acid cooks the fish off and then you add chopped tomato, onion and cilantro- it's delicioso!

A couple more from this morning...

More southern Baja surf shots... not too windy right now, I'm off to check it! Enjoy:

Cool depth of field on this one.

P-Mac on his Stu Kenson Pleasure Pig... homey was FLYING down the line on this thing. I broke out the 6'6 loaned it out to a friend and haven't seen it in a few days... correction: I have seen it but it's been in the water being surfed by a different person each time. That's cool, I was drinking their beer.

Just a couple snaps from down south...

Check 'em:

El Rey de la playa.

Round tails are my favorite. Yours too- right?

The morning surf check.

There's a new sheriff in town and she goes by Lead Finger (Dedo Plomo)

Everybody knows that Wally is out there rackin' frames with his killer Canon 7D- want to know who really get's the goods though? His better half, Dedo Plomo or Lead Finger. If you see this woman on the beach you better bring the A-game because she's watching:

Sandra- or Dedo Plomo going full-auto at 7 frames a second... boost it. PS: ask her about the killer breakfast burritos she makes every morning... yum!

A nice cabernet... a fun day of surf.

I'm beat. Basically, I've been on it since sunrise. The surf was a total bonus. It's almost like it came out of nowhere- what a great way to spend my birthday. Thank you cosmic forces. 

Now I'm just winding down with a nice glass of cabernet, thinking about a hot shower and good book.  Can life really be this simple and good? I'm fired up to charge it again tomorrow- can't wait! Check out these photos from today:

Sunrise...

These fun little peaks turned into...

...this when the tide got lower. Bonus Day!

Me and my pelican friends.

C.R. posted on the tip... as usual. I should just follow this guy around- he's always working some little honey hole that nobody else has figured out. Seriously, the guy is always on a wave but never in anybody's way. If you want to know how stand up paddle surfing should be done in a crowd- watch C.R., he's got it wired.

Sunset... whew, what a day! Look at those lines- there's going to be surf tomorrow and the wind's stopped blowing. I'm on it at sunrise, thermos of coffee, one hardboiled egg and me... yeehaw!

More waves- let's hope it keeps coming.

On it early this morning. Things started out pretty slow but as the tide dropped it got super fun with lots of waves. Here's Jake on a fun one:

Nothing big- just fun stuff today.

Ceviche tonight...

This fish is called Sierra and if you have three or four this size you'll feed a mess of hungry surfers. These guys are like ocean trout except they have the nastiest teeth you've ever seen. Sierra are perfect for ceviche. Adam caught this one- get the limes ready:

Nice work... now get into my belly!

Hold the Press: WAVES!

Just when you least expect it... you get waves. We got to the beach expecting nothing- and check out what was there to greet us:

You see that left winding off up top? That's my spot! The guy paddling out is Jake, a local stand up paddler. I met Jake last year and he was killing it on his C4 stando... good to see him again.

I was stoked to nab a half a dozen or so waves before enjoying a refreshing Modelo and a breakfast burrito on the sand... sabor! It's looking like a day at the beach for us... load the cooler.

12/28: Looking a little Gray... Check out our digs.

Woke up to gray skies and a noticeable lack of noise from the beach. I'm predicting that our flat spell is going to carry on today. No worries with a stand up board, flat days make great coastal touring days. I'll put on my tune hat (don't worry, I'll do an in-depth post on it) and knock out four miles. Here's a couple shots of where we're staying. We rent a house each time we come down. Last year we scored a giant custom home, this year we're staying in a smaller place in a fantastically landscaped compound. It's a really killer little home. Check it out:

Here's the view from this morning. Wow, looking gray. This is the dry season down here, summer is the hurricaine/wet season. Typically, weather like this will blow right over leaving sunshine for the day.

Here's a shot looking towards the mountains. There are three little casitas available two of them are large with two bedrooms and two baths. One is small with one bedroom and one bath- I haven't been inside of it yet but I'll check it before I leave. All of them have nice little shaded verandas out in front- great spots to hang out, sip a Bloody Gary and solve the world's problems.

Surf has gone to zero- but Wally's here... with his camera.

Today was a down day. I did get in a nice four mile paddle, claimed a high quality nap and downed a bunch of cocktails... so all-in-all it was a good day. Wally showed up a couple of days ago. Here's a snap he grabbed:

There were waves. Now? Not so much... fingers crossed.

CR Video Clip... Just a Teaser Shot!

Here's a little, unedited clip of CR (who surfs switchfoot, by the way) and on the Big Red you'll see Matt Wilson: