Surf is up

Ok, game on. I have been ensconced at the new spot on the island in the town of General Luna for a day and half.

The 2 hour drive was beautiful, through a lush green landscape—rice paddies, jagged hills, and mangrove swamps and tons and tons of palm trees. The occasional guy riding a water buffalo on the road. A map of where I was (Burgos) and where I am (GL): http://patrickonthebeach.com/maps/

This place is what I’ve been fantasizing about… relaxed, super hospitable, great food, simple but clean and functioning huts. I even have a fridge, such luxury. The place is right on the beach, with a set of hammocks, benches, and lounge areas placed strategically here and there for getting your chill on. That typhoon may have helped me out as they were fully booked—but some of their guests got stranded on another island and couldn’t make it. And a group of miners who were coming didn’t make it because their mine was attacked by insurgents. (What? Not on this island, no worries.)

This morning was the first day of real surfing of the trip. Around 7am after a big breakfast, 4 other guys staying here and I took a boat to the reef. We were the only ones out there on a stretch of reef with breaks for maybe a mile. We sat out there trading waves for 3 hours and the vibe was great, everyone yelling for each other when someone got a good one. I guess the surf has been unusually mellow here the last two weeks and everyone was fired up. One of the guys is from Hawaii and has been coming here at this time for the last five years. Shoulder high and occasional overhead waves were pouring in like a machine for the first 90 minutes we were out. It was heaven. Another boat came out with 5 folks, but that’s as “crowded” as it got. It started getting less consistent but I got all the waves I could handle. Everyone had been talking about an afternoon session but we were all knackered and that was that.

Being used to surfing in largely opaque, sandy water, I will say surfing over a reef feels very different. Because the water is so clear and there is all this topography and color and fish moving below you, when the sun is in the right place the illusion of flying in 3 dimensional space is created. Add that to no wet suit and a new lighter board I’m on… today I had this amazing experience of just feeling weightless and free. Maybe it’s also because I’m not in all day budget meetings.

Of course, the one down side of surfing over a reef is when you go for a bigger wave and you can see the water sucking up and draining out of the reef below you … it’s distracting. And I definitely pulled out of one very solid wave today because my eyes got stuck looking down at the reef instead of tracking where I wanted to go… It’s like descending at speed on a bike and looking off the side of the road where you don’t want to go instead of cutting the apex of a corner. Guess where you’re gonna go?

Anyway, hope to go repeat the day.