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!

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!

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.

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:

Christmas Day Session II: CR out ripping...

Got a chance to come back for the afternoon session at a lower tide. The surf was super fun, I've seen this guy down here before, always ripping on his Plus-One longboard and styling on his fish. Today, he was out on his 10' Laird stando... killing it. I shot a bunch of video of him and grabbed a couple of stills. I also let him try out the 8'6... I dig watching my board being surfed well. CR was flying down the line, hitting the lip and just flowing... Super cool.

CR from Point Loma.

Christmas Day surf session

It's been pretty standard in my life to participate in the time honored tradition of the Christmas morning surf... Here's what I found under the tree this morning: 

Today it was best to get out early... the tide came up an hour later and swamped this little wave out.

And on the other side of the truck...  a right hander for Art Curtis.

Filling in the Blanks: Your Tourist Card and you...

Remember that tourist card that you took the trouble to get stamped at the border in Tijuana? Well, if Emigration is ever going to check it, it will be here in Guerrero Negro:

Guerrero Negro is the town on the border between the states of Baja Norte and Baja Sur. This checkpoint serves two purposes: First the Agricultural Dept. guy will ask you if you have any fruits or veggies- if you do, they'll be confiscated. Second, sometimes there will be an Emigration guy there and he'll ask to see your passport and stamped tourist card. If you've got it he'll swipe your passport and wave you through. If you don't, well then you'll have to deal with the consequences.

There's all kinds of misinformation floating out there about the tourist card. Here's what I know: If you're going to be in Baja longer than 72 hours or if you're crossing over into Baja Sur you'll need to get a stamped tourist card. In all the years I've been coming down here, I've only ever been checked for it three times. So, if you were a gambling man and you decided not to bother with the card- odds are that you'd have no problem.

Once, I didn't have the tourist card stamped (you can pick up the tourist card in the U.S. but you can only get it stamped at the border in TJ or in Ensenada). I was told that I had a week to go to a bank, pay the fee and get my card stamped. That was it. On another occasion a young friend of mine flew into the U.S. without a stamped tourist card. In the airport, at the emigration check, he was pulled out of the line, escorted all the way past everybody to the bank in the airport and required to pay for the fee (I think he had to pay a small penalty as well). I think he may have done okay- he had to pay the tourist card fee but he got to bypass the long line.

Baja Tip: Just take the time, pull over at the border and get the paperwork squared away. If you do that, you'll have no worries. If you don't, in my experience, not much will happen to you... but why risk it?

Lots going on around here..

Check out the Osprey that I saw this morning- checking the surf, just like us:

There are tons of these around here, you see there giant nests on power poles as you drive down the road. There's a couple that live in Coronado on the bay side- I've seen them eating sushi. Cool birds.

The people down here are hugely resourceful- especially the fishermen who live way out in the desert far from the availability of mechanics or replacement parts for their trucks and boats. Here's an example of that resourcefulness:

When we pulled into the Old Mill I noticed that there was a fisherman with a compressor and hookah rig on the deck of his boat tied up along the rock wall in front of the Old Mill.

The boat, the chamber and it's patient. You do what you have to with what little you have when you're a Baja fisherman.

The hookah rig is common down here. The local urchin and sea cucumber divers use them for gathering their product which is then shipped to Japan. Typically these guys dive offshore so it was surprising to see the line snaking over the side and into the harbor. It turns out that the diver at the other end was in a Baja hyperbaric chamber. That means that he was sitting at the bottom of the harbor recovering from decompression sickness he experienced during the day's dive. The story is that he started feeling the effects of the so-called Bends after a day of working under the water out on the reefs. Since there's no hyperbaric chamber for hundreds of miles the only thing they could do for the guy is send him back down to offgas slowly and the only spot they had was at the bottom of the murky bay. Resourceful- and smart; the guy came up two hours later feeling much better. Crazy, but that's Baja.

Surfed the beach break this morning...

I had to alter my surf plans- the point just wasn't working; too high tide and bump, disjointed peaks. I decided to run up to the beach break and check it since high tide usually opens up the break a little bit. I was right- the place wasn't going off but there were definitely more surfing opportunities up there.

The place is usually pretty closed out during the winter. In the summer south swells bounce of the rock point to the north and create wedges up and down the beach. It can get really good  here.

I ended up paddlesurfing for about two hours. I was stoked to run into my friend Mario. Mario is the king of the beach down there.  He runs a surf school that's the best on the sand. I've known Mario for four years, he was there when I brought my first stando to the beach.  He's a hard worker who switches hats at night and becomes the bartender at a cool boutique hotel in Todos Santos call El Hotelito. Mario has got big plans for developing a piece of land behind the beach break- a real cool vision of a pool, a bar and a surf shop. I'm stoked for him- he's a hard working local making his dream happen.

Filling the blanks: A typical Baja motel room

We stay in motels two nights each way when driving down to Cabo. Typically, you'll spend around 400 pesos (32 dollars) for a room. The quality varies, that's why we have our favorites and we stick to them. Here's what a room in the The Old Mill looks like:

Obviously, it isn't the Four Seasons. What it is, however, is clean and bright and a bargain for a one night stopover- especially since the room fee comes with one free beer for each person staying. Help yourself.

Some motels are now offering free wi-fi which is cool if you're hooked on the net like me. The Old Mill hasn't quite taken that step yet. It does offer views like this:

Steps from your door- San Quintin's back bay. If you get there early enough you could definitely get in a nice flatwater paddle before dinner.

Filling in the blanks: The Old Mill is a cool place...

There are a couple of things that I really like about The Old Mill in addition to the dog friendly policy and the security.

First of all, the place is quirky. Check out this huge piece of wood used to hold up the roof of the outdoor fireplace/gathering area. Just behind that chunk of wood is a killer fireplace with comfy chairs all around it- it's a great spot to mellow out on the first night.

Here's the killer fireplace. Baja Tip: Bring firewood for the first night's fire at The Old Mill. Just chuck a couple of dry 2x4 pieces into the back of your truck or go buy one of those Duraflame logs, you'll be glad you did- fire's go perfect with cold beer or a nice glass of wine.

Filling in the blanks: On the road to San Quintin

We make our first day of driving an easy one. Since the day's are shorter and we don't want to end up in the middle of nowhere when night falls, we always stop at San Quintin. We travel with our dog Lilly so we like to stay at The Old Mill which is totally dog friendly and is a cool place to spend a night. Check it out:

Pulling into The Old Mill motel. It's a tight fit if you've got a full sized truck. We like it because the courtyard is a secure place to park for the night which gives you piece of mind if you've got a couple thousand dollars of stand up boards on top of your vehicle.

Driving from the border to The Old Mill takes about five hours. You will also need to stop and get your tourist card paid for and stamped as you cross the border at San Ysidro- so figure a couple more hours into your day. If you want to stay at The Old Mill just look for the big signs as you drive out of San Quintin- follow the directions and you'll find it easily.

Driving Baja: Let's fill in the blanks

A few days ago when we began this trip I posted that I'd "fill in the blanks" about the drive and general Baja travel once I'd found a place with reliable wi-fi. Well I'm here and it's time (and I've got to come up with a hundred posts in ten days... wow). So let's call this Part I and get started.

There's a few things that you can do and a little bit of information that you can know ahead of time that will make a trip down to the tip of Baja a lot more fun and safe. I'll be giving you a play-by-play of our most recent trip down, some of the posts will be travelouge-ish type posts, others will offer some of my hard won tips for Baja travel. Hope you enjoy them.

The rally point. We always pick one person's home to act as the meeting point for the morning departure. We all agreed to meet at 9am on Saturday. This is a huge tip: Everybody should agree to meet at the assigned place and time and understand that if you're even a minute late, you'll be left behind. Definitely do not drive around rounding everybody up- if you're not there, you're not going. The only person missing from our group was Wally but he gave us a heads up and we were ready to roll at the assigned departure time of 9:30 am.

Baja Tip: Assign a rally point and time. If you're late, you're on your own. Everybody should understand that from the rally point you are heading directly to the border. That means that each vehicle should be fully fueled and every other detail taken care of. There'll be no stopping for additional groceries or snacks. This keeps you on schedule and saves you a lot of frustration when one person in your group isn't totally organized (that's not you, right?).