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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.