Summer Crap Surf

The surf yesterday was crap-tacular and Im not joking. I drove down with Mel and my 2 friends that are traveling to Mexico with me. The surf was waist to waist + but completely blown out due to what seemed to be an extreame NE wind around 15kt blowing sideshore onto a SW facing beach. These are all the ingredients to a horrible day of surf. It was semi decent for around an hour but as the wind picked up, it got very peaky and a horrible current TOWARDS the jetty formed making it impossible to sit and enjoy the session. Tons of paddling and dodging rogue peaks and fighting the horrendous current. I had a few good rides though and my best was during the crappiest conditions. I took a nice huge peak to the right but instead of the ride ending quickly as they usually do in these conditions, I made the connetion with a forming inside sandbar. The right walled up again on me and I got low on the board and dug into the wall and ended the closeout with a little snap back. Another nice ride I was high up on the wave, sort of dangling on the lip if you will. I couldnt break free so I worked with what I had and it ended up being a pretty decent ride. Well thats about all I have to say about yesterday's session. Ill post again before we leave for Mexico and I might reset my counter to reflect the day I will return.

Off the Radar

I'm still alive if anyone is wondering. We had a huge birthday bash for
my roommate/bestfriend Rami on saturday nite and well.... I woke up
sunday at 4pm in my bed without much knowledge of how I got there and a
few interesting emails on my phone. Apparently I said some pretty stupid
shit to mel.... Sorry again. As you can see, the counter on my site is
getting lower and lower. I can remember when it was up in the 60's and
it didn't seem to move very fast. Well here we are in the final 2 weeks
before departure and my patience is growing thin. I watch and rewatch
surfing videos all day trying to analyze their moves and see where I can
try and improve on my surfing. in case you didn't know... the company I
work for is seasonal tax work. They pay me a yearly salary but after
april 20th, I only have to come in on tuesdays and thursdays for around
3 hours. The awsome part is, I still get paid the same even though we
are not in tax season. I really love my job as the work is hard and long
for 4 months but after that its all holiday. We resume more days and
hours towards november as I begin setting up new locations and getting
all of our computers and networks ready for the new tax season. I have
been reading my guidebooks and travel websites nonstop going over last
minute travel jitters. This trip is not going to be for the fient of
heart. My 2 friends and I will be on a bus for around 30 hours until we
reach our destination. From there is a flury of camping and busing to
further destinations when we grow tired of a certain break. After around
2.5 weeks, my friends head by bus back to Guadalajara and fly back,
leaving me for another 2 weeks in Mexico by myself. I'm not too worried
about this last part but it will be very interesting. My goals for this
trip are not only to drastically improve my surfing but to overall grow
as a person. I have much faith that everything will work out and we will
have simply an amazing trip that most people only dream of. For all my
newfound surf bloggers, ill ride one for ya. For all my readers and
friends and family, ill be thinking of ya. I do plan on blogging when
and if I get the chance while I'm there but don't hold me to it. I have
room on my new mem card for close to 800 pictures so you can expect a
plethora of surf/travel images upon my return. There is also a
possibility of a video camera being brought along with a waterproof case
for surf film but I'm not making any promises. I ask this of you
guys.....please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and may the surf
gods bless us with amazing surf. Nite everyone.
--astraltx

More Crap

Well I just got back from the outdoor sports store and here's the
rundown. I got a 9x9 tent, a knife, mace, 4 plastic stakes, 4 aluminum
sand stakes, a 10 x 12ft tarp for $67. I did ok I guess. The time for
the Mexico departure is getting closer and closer. I can't even begin to
describe how excited I am. We have looked over the spot maps and have
decided that we will start in Mazatlan and work our way down. I want to
possibly make it down into michoacan a little but that mite not happen.
My friends already bought their plane tickets back as they are leaving
after 2 1/2 weeks. I won't be back until sometime around July 10th,
basically about 34 days in mexico. The bus ride is approx 24-26 hours
long. This is gonna be a killer but hell.... Its Mexico and badass waves
for an entire month, I think I can deal. Surfing sometimes should have a
warning. Chasing waves in remote desolate places. Riding busses for
extended periods of time. As Allen Wiesbecker said in his book "In
Search of Captain Zero" about beginning surfing, "careful, it can change
everything". Well I'm posting from my phone so I'm gonna end this now.

Cinco...err Drinko de Mayo

Well as the title says... it was an interesting day to say the least! We have a slideshow up and running on Mel's myspace page, head over and take a look. www.myspace.com/meltepid
Ahh it was a very crazy night with 40oz Old English duct taped to our hands. Anyways hahahaha, well now Im sitting here at work and getting very pissed at these badass deals from travelzoo on airline tickets. For instance, if you lived in or around San Francisco, you could fly to Liberia Costa Rica and back again for $255. That just pisses me off because Houston, where I live, is on of the main hubs for Latin American flights. Why dont we get included in these badass deals? Any of you cali surfers reading this, I would highly recomend taking this deal. You could fly in, surf Tamarindo(crowded as hell) for a week and fly out, and MAYBE spend $1000. Lucky you. Well thats ok because in case you didnt notice, Im leaving for Mexico very very soon. I have been buying everything I can think I will need. I have a new 7'0" Dakine double bag, a High Sierra trekking backpack, a Rough Guide to Mexico, some soft racks for taxis, some new boardshorts, and another 1gb stick for my digital camera. All Im carrying is the boardbag and my backpack so Im packing very lightly. We will mostly be staying in little cabanas, small hotels or hostels, and some camping on remote beaches. I might not be traveling alone anymore as 1 friend is headed down with me for 2 weeks and another might come as well. I will still be by myself for the last 2 weeks of the trip and in a way, Im still very excited about that. I have been doing a helluva lot of Google Earth research on points and bays and mysto spots. I have several surf maps outlining good spots and adivce on the areas. Im prepared to the max almost. Departure time is almost here!

Saturday

Well I decided to go surfing saturday after the lunch awards thingy we held for the company I work for. The surf was spectacular with chest to head high sets coming through and a hard blowing 10-15mph offshore wind. We normally DO NOT get these conditions in the spring time here in Texas so I wasn't going to miss this. I caught maybe one or two waves and then everything went to hell. I was getting tangled in my leash non stop, my boardshorts were rubbing my hips raw, I kept missing takeoffs due to strong offshores and spray in the face, and I sliced an already bad wound on my foot with the fin. yay. I wish I wouldnt have screwed up such an awsome day but I did. I will try and post some pics soon of the amazing sunset that day though. Until then...