surfdudeturner

ALOHA YA'LL!

2010-04-29T06:42:00.005-04:00

Everyone is probably wondering what the HECK is up with TURNER’S BLOG – or maybe you did a few months ago…
I have been trying to make a new life here on Maui for the past 4 months and have FINALLY gotten into a comfortable little niche now.

My travels started with a week’s worth of visiting friends and surfing spots in San Diego and L.A. California. I tried mountain climbing for my first time with Joel and his girlfriend Caroline in San Diego and tried surfing over-head waves on a leash-less foam surfboard at a random La Jolla surf break. I experienced my first TRUE ride on a shortboard at Point Loma with Tim and his surfing pals. I stumbled onto a life changing glassy day near San Clemente

Upon arriving to L.A. I met up with my 2nd-cousin Helen who works in the film industry and collects empty pickle jars. Helen showed me around and put up with my butt for a week. I also met up with a colleague from SCAD that I had done some film scoring for named Liz. Liz gave me a free tour of the L.A. area and gave some very cool insights to the film and music business. I also got in touch with a very close musician friend from college (GSU) Clinton Patterson. Clint is now a part-time music teacher and jazz trumpeter – we met up for some Viet food one evening and caught each other up on our lives. On my last night in LA, I experienced the joys of camping out at the LA airport on the floor (really wasn’t as bad as the Miami session with Matt when we went to Peru last May).

Met a cute girl on the 6 hour flight over to Hawaii and her & I convinced everyone on the connecting flight that we were newly-weds – so that gave me an excuse to kiss her a few times on the way to Maui (and what a great decision that was!) Upon arriving at the airport, for the first time in my life- I met my Dad’s sister’s ex-husband’s family. Aunt Ann picked me up and brought me over to where I’d spend my first month or so looking for a vehicle, a place to stay and a job. I went on a few outings with the new relatives (Uncle Vinny, oldest son Malcom and youngest son Kawika) got to know them better and had some of my first experiences on this island with them.

Craigslist: Craigslist saved my ass! It helped me find my car, my first job and a place to rent. It also helped me get a gig playing with a reggae band who grew up down the street from my cousins in Waiehu Beach. The reggae band is called ONE INITY. They REALLY are my closest family members I have out here. They would and have helped me in some of my hardest times out here already and I am VERY thankful to have them in my life. They are the most dedicated group of musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure of performing with (even more than Savannah Arts academy’s Skyelite Jazz Band – I know, who would have ever thought, right?) We have been practicing hard for the past few months and will be performing our first large-scale concert for 1,200 people at KONA BOWLS this Friday night on the Big Island and have another show in Hilo on Saturday evening. Please check our music out www.myspace.com/oneinity

I decided to move to the west side of the island of Maui because most of the tourism is there (more job opportunities). I landed my first job at a surf shop there as a bookie and learned some good skills. It was a pretty cool job, worked with a lot of cool people and had an unlimited access to lots of water toys but the boss and I never seemed to get along – personality conflict is what I would call it – so after about a month he let me go. Funny thing is that the day he let me go, Jim Stephens and Lindsey Paragin came to spend a week with me in my new environment- we had a GREAT TIME. I was pretty much broke when I lost that job and my parents sent me a little money to help keep me fed (ramen noodles and PBJ) – YES, I LITERALLY ATE PBJ FOR 3 MONTHS STRAIGHT. I’m not ashamed of it either- it still tastes great!

After several job interviews around town and no results, I started frequenting a coffee shop down the street from my rental house (huge fraternity-size party house). It’s called Island Press coffee owned by a friend of mine name Young (originally from North Carolina). Young really helped me out by helping me land a job and having someone to talk through in hard times. I met one of his surfing friends (and later the guy that gave me my current surf instructor job) Jeff. The funny thing is that I didn’t get the job until I stumbled into a bar drunk and ran into Jeff there – I guess he wanted to make sure I was a fun person to be around.

While I was getting into the flow of work with Jeff’s school, Island Style Adventures (ISA) in Ka’anapali, I applied for the mascot position at Bubba Gump’s here in Lahaina. It sounded like a fun job and to this day, I never thought I’d find a job I love more than teaching surfing but I’d have to say (for some crazy reason) dancing around and acting a fool in a huge pink shrimp outfit is a BLAST!

Another reason for moving out here to Lahaina was because Jimmy Manning used to live here and had a close friend I wanted to meet. Uncle Touche is his name. Jimmy and Touche go waaay back in their younger days in the military. One thing they frequently did together was free diving (mask, no snorkel and fins) – I had to give this a try. In a sense, I have kind of been filling in Jimmy’s shoes for Touche by being a great friend to him. Touche really is one of those genuine humans beings you don’t always meet in life. I really like the guy and respect him like he was related to me. Touche has been in Lahaina for quite sometime and as a result of meeting up with him one evening at a restaurant down the road, I landed a gig playing piano on Saturday nights (after I met a close friend of his who owns the place).

So as the stranger says in the Big Lebowski, “that about does her, wraps her all up.”

Aloha,
Turner

PS- I finished recording my debut piano album just before I moved out here to Maui. It is for sale on my website, Amazon,iTunes and several other online retail stores. It’s called LONG LOST FRIEND www.turnerhorton.com

groundhog day & packin up

2009-12-20T12:45:00.006-05:00

Sometimes I just feel like bill murray on groundhog day- I wake up to a cold morning and go to a slow day everyday I go into work...

The surf has come up occasionally but the water has taken so much energy out of me after surf sessions, that I haven't had the urge to go out in much lately. As usual, business is slow on the island - so work is slow so, I've gotten extra time in my schedule to do some little trips. In november I went up to Atlanta to see one of my best friends from college for a few days and then crashed for nearly a week at my little cousin's house in Athens. Most recently, I went down to St Augustine for some surfing and caught up with a friend I lost touch with for 3 years.
I've been packing my bags, getting mentally prepared for my move halfway across the world. I'm excited to get back to 80 degree + weather and the 'perfect waves on a constant basis' idea doesn't sound bad either. It's a dream I haven't quite awoken to just yet- kind of like the first time I saw the looooooong left break at Chicama, Peru. I'm also excited to meet some of my distant family members that I've never met, nor heard of until about a year ago that live in California and Hawaii.
Have a Happy Holidays everyone!

So long summer time...

2009-10-26T20:29:00.002-04:00

WOW! the summer has come and gone since my trip to Peru in May with Matt. I must say that living and working 3 jobs out here at the beach this summer has been crazy and fun! In no way can I begin to summarize the entire summer season but this’ll give everyone an idea:

SURF CAMPS – Overall I think the surfing camps went really well. I think things would have been very difficult without the leadership help of Jimmy Manning and Haley. Haley constantly reassured me that what I was doing as a leader worked and Jimmy stepped in to demonstrate how to lead at times too. I felt at times that maybe I was too serious with the kids and Jimmy could bring his “aloha” magic out but I also let Haley help with some of the parenting. One of the parents later thanked me for “staying on top” of their kids strengths and weaknesses because they saw how their kids progressed from the beginning of camp to the end. Of the 125+ kids we taught this summer, I believe we only had one or two that really didn’t like surfing... too bad for them.

AS BEACH GUARDIAN – I have really enjoyed my new summer job. Like any job it has come with its share of petty drama but I have learned a lot about another branch of ‘community service’. I have made many friends and enjoyed several parties and situations that have inclined from being a part of the guard outfit (toga,etc) . In a way, it has been like joining another fraternity- a beach frat, you might say.

FOLKS – I have met many friends from shared surfing sessions, random beach conversations while working and social establishments in the community. Everything from meeting Miley’s stalker (while guarding one day, before he got famous) to the Willie Nelson look-alike to the dancing girls at the rock house, meeting the new Detroit couple, the girls from the “A”, “T” and “O” states, hanging with C. and his new family at his Little Tybee Wedding, dave the surfing dude to name a few...

BEACH HOUSE- Living at the beach has been a blast! Despite the petty drama with the roomies regarding the trash, dishes, rats, or “”who ate my food!?” – overall it has been really convenient. I haven’t driven my car much since all of my jobs are located here on the island and 2 of them are within biking distance. Despite what many locals said would happened (after I live here a while), I have not become addicted to drinking a lot but I have become closer to the ocean via surfing, guarding and kite-surfing. I took advantage of my beach access by swimming several long distance swims this summer (13th street to 3rd, pier to south jetty or tower 3 to north jetty) for exercise until the water got too cold.

….

A few weeks ago, I began kite-surfing lessons with AOK (All Out Kiteboarding) and have just been waiting on the wind to pick up so I can finish my lessons and get better at the sport ASAP. While learning to kite, I’ve also started teaching a few piano lessons to some local children and I’ve finally gotten myself to start learning guitar. While working at the restaurant one evening last week, I was offered a job to play piano at a fine dining restaurant downtown. The owner wants me to play a lot of soft piano/lovely piano music, which to me, is quite easy to play. The funny part about this though, is that my premiere night is on Halloween (and they don’t want Halloween music, just the pretty stuff) It’ll be this Saturday at Billy’s Place (above McDougnah’s on Drayton) around 7 or so.

In addition to all the above I recently returned from Nags Head, where my father and I took our tests to become national certified surf instructors through the prestigious organization known as NSSIA (www.nssia.org). I would highly recommend the certification to ANYONE pursuing to teach surfing.

PRAY FOR WAVES AND PRAY FOR WIND!

busy, busy, busy summmmerrr

2009-07-12T21:20:00.005-04:00

the summer's been really fun and SUPER busy between my three jobs of guarding, waiting and teaching... My last adventures in guarding were that of july 3rd and 4th when I had a total of 10 water assists/rescues (all on the 4th) at the south end.. I did some long-distance sailing when I met up with a few of the guards for a camping trip on little tybee on the 3rd.

I just wrapped up the second week of the Tybee YMCA Surfing camps.. This past Friday morning for camp, we were treated with knee to chest-high waves rolling off the north jetty (seen maybe once or twice a year). Friday evening I had the crazy idea of taking my 8'6" quad without the quad set-up) out with a longboard-styled pivot fin and did some serious wave shredding after a solid hour or two of wiping out.. I haven't partied too terribly much after realizing just how weak my body is after guarding and working in the restaurant all day long.

Looking forward to making a lot of money to save up in these next few months for another trip to California, then Hawaii. There's the Tybee Prom coming up this weekend and several more weeks of summer funn..

hangin loose

into summer 2009

2009-06-22T18:21:00.003-04:00

Surfing with friends and the local tybee surfing family at the International Surfing Day event this weekend was A BLAST! check out some of the photos taken by Joey Wilson here:

I have several pictures from the weekend up on facebook too.

After guarding@ 18th street the second half of international surfing day, I attended the Annual State Dinner, held for the Fire and Rescue squads on Tybee Island Saturday night. The steak was DE-LISH and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun together. I'm proud to be serving with this fun and positive team of individuals. Wish I could have partied with them later that night but I was very exhausted from day's events...

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monday-

Today we had the first day of the YMCA COTOS surfing camp. I thought it went quite well, considering there were NO WAVES. We worked on some basics and did LOTS and LOTS of paddling. Hopefully something rideable will roll in soon... or else we will have to find some really creative ways to keeping the kids entertained at camp.

sailing and more

2009-06-16T18:07:00.005-04:00

I worked on the sailboat yesterday.. washed it, applied some wax and scrubbed the bottom of it while the tide went out. These light winds on these pretty days just calls for a good sail out to williamson island. If anyone is down for a sail let me know and we'll go... Met up for the Surfrider meeting at Tubbys with a total of about 7 folks there.. I suppose Joey forgot to send the reminder email out to everyone. We gathered last thoughts and preparations for this weekend's big surfing festival: TYBEE ISLAND'S 2ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SURFING DAY.

Here's the scoop on it:

International Surfing Day will be celebrated on Tybee Island, Georgia, on Saturday, June 20th 2009. The event is being sponsored locally by the Surfrider Foundation Coastal Georgia Low Country Chapter, and will be headquartered on the beach near 17th Street (South Beach parking area). Throughout the day, from 10am til 5pm, a variety of activities are planned, and everyone is invited to come and take part and participate. Activities being planned include:

• Beach litter pick up
• Surfrider Foundation Coastal Georgia Low Country Chapter info
• City of Tybee Island Mayor’s paddle out
• Copies of Surfing Magazine
• Touch tank and table
• Contests
• Information about Eastern Surfing Association Georgia District
• Free lessons and opportunities to use:
surf boards
sea kayaks
stand up paddle boards
kite boards

FREE Monster Energy Drink

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR SPECIFIC EVENTS
(check back frequently as new events are being added)

8:30 Litter Pick Up (Supplies provided by Coastal Environmental Analysis)

10:30 Paddle out with Tybee Island Mayor Jason Buelterman

12:00 Alternative Surfboard Contest (sponsored by Underground Boardworks)

12:00 Ugliest Bathing Suits Contest (sponsored by Underground Boardworks)
------------------------------------

I went by Underground Boardworks to drop off a surfboard for surfing camp (ding repair) and picked up my corky carroll (got its annual doctor's check-up) and jim mentioned that he got a call from city hall trying to tell him he had to cancel the international surfing day event or move it to the south end, because the whole miley cirus movie has the south end parking lot reserved for its trucks.. If they're not filming on the weekends anyways, why can't we have our own south beach parking lot?

hopefully city hall will do the right thing....

the musician, the surfer and the lifeguard

2009-06-15T03:31:00.001-04:00

I just started my ocean rescue job with Tybee Island this past weekend since I've been back from Peru. I jumped into training just before I left and have entertained the guard with stories since my return from the surf frontier. I've lifeguarded pools before in college but never the ocean. Even with the larger load of more responsibility, I'd say the experience so far has been lots of fun. I love the fraternal-like camaraderie (at and away from work) and the sense of teamwork that comes together when work-related situations arise. Growing up around here surfing and what have you, I've never really given the Tybee Guard much credit for doing much but I'd say I've definitely changed my mind since I've been working with them. if you ever get a chance to chat with one of our lieutenants or captains, have a look at our daily or weekly reports and you'll see that we actually DO, do a lot out there.

SUP and other Tybee adventures

2009-06-10T20:14:00.001-04:00

I've been out a few times to surf here at Tybee and have done a bit of SUP. Did some SUP (stand up paddle boarding- learn more at ) with mike oakes over the weekend around the back river and on over to the crab shack where we were greeted with flashing cameras from hungry tourists.. i guess they thought mike and I were "the elite" that ate in their bare feet... needless to say it was a great workout- even squeezed in a 500+ yard stomach paddle on the way back.

As I was headed back to Tybee after running some errands on Monday I noticed the too familiar surf wagon that Astushi drives around.. if you haven't seen it, just imagine a stoked surfer station wagon with a canoe, a windsurfer (sometimes a SUP) strapped on top with at least 3 huge boards sticking out the back.. and you can't forget his surf dog "molly" ... anyways he come ripping by with his kids as I'm headed back. At the same time that Astushi and I made eye contact, Matt comes by from the opposite side of traffic and glances over... within 5 minutes, Matt had somehow managed to turn his vehicle around and beat me to the house because when I got there he was walking out with his longboard... I hadn't planned on surfing but I figured "what the heck" and jogged all the way to 17th street with a longboard in hand for a quick afternoon sesh with the tybee surf buddies... it was funny when i got there because I actually witnessed Matt running into the water - it made me think back on our recent Peru surf trip. I can understand why someone would run into the water in peru for some great surf but it was hilarious to see Matt do this with such raw Tybee grace. - Astushi, Matt and I and a few poor short boarders (hey, it's not my place to tell them they bought the wrong-sized board) surfing knee to waist high tybee barrels.. sweet!
ps- i had a blast with the guys who tried throwing the football to me after I'd catch a wave... you've GOT to try it, if you haven't already.

Tuesday I worked on some piano compositions that I'm assembling together for an original CD.. should be released in a few months. Went SUP with Mike Bandy in the afternoon but it wasn't as successful as the past weekend's adventures. The waves were very choppy and the board I was on was quite narrow so I just paddled the entire way to the pier on my belly (just under a mile)..whew... ran into my cousin Jenette and her boyfried while attempting to surf and paddle the board back to bandy's..

After missing a guarding opportunity earlier this morning, I just mixed some more music today for the piano album and typed up some lesson plans for surfing camp which STARTS 22nd.. if you or someone you know is interested in the camps read more at my webpage www.surfwithturner.com or call Haley at the Tybee Y at 912-786-9622

back home

2009-06-09T01:31:00.000-04:00

we flew back on flights from peru from 4:30 am - 4pm. we we arriced at the miami airport, jumped in a cab that SAID he knew the way- BUT HE REALLY DIDN'T! we drove for almost an hour trying to locate the car and paid a measly $50 for the cruise around town...

it certainly is good to be back.. the security, friends, family and good times to come...

punta rocas surf pics

2009-06-02T21:21:00.001-04:00

These shots were taken by professional photographer Carlos Zevallos while surfing at Punta Rocas in Punta Hermosa (the first day back south).

back to miraflores

2009-06-02T18:13:00.000-04:00

monday 1st/

the waves died down so i spent all day in lima with the brazilian crew from luisfer...did some shopping and got lost in the mall... matt decided to relax at camp.. and he later stormed the local market like a fat kid for candy... ate a great dinner and watch gladiator after the brazilians got their 8pm soap opera and beer fix.

tuesday 2nd/ no surf so we decided to pack up a day early and head back to lima to take it easy. we dropped the boards back off at wayo whilar's and again are back at the flying dog in lima. gonna go get some more pisco sours soon....

bus rides, bribing and huge waves

2009-05-29T21:33:00.000-04:00

I felt sick for most of the day Thursday so I ended up laying around and drinking lots of water... Matt got a session in earlier in the morning. A few hours before sundown Lea begged me for some surfing lessons so I took her out near the pier... she got up on the first wave (must have been that great teacher she had) Matt and I drank, ate and played music (chris and bec from perth) with our friends at Naylamp before we jumped in the taxi to the bus station.

The bus ride was okay... Matt slept in a fetal position ...somehow... most of the way and I passed out for most of the ride. When we arrived at the station Beto said he couldn{t pick us up until 12 so we dropped our stuff off at Guillermos house and ran to the supermarket... and then took a nap there.

The car ride in Beto{s black station wagon was fun.. just before the turn to see caballeros, we get pulled over by Peruvian police and they bark a store at Beto about there not being any SEAT beats for Matt and I in the back… so as most of these situations go.. they let us off but ask for money in return (duh… a bribe) and Guillermo sacrifices his bottle of pisco. … note to self: keep a bottle of pisco (half water, half piss in the car for Peruvian bribes)

We went out for a session at the infamous Punta Rocas and SO FAR surfed THE BIGEGST WAVES weve ever seen and attempted paddling into. ….something Id say like..´heart in your mouth-sized waves¨ except (like Matt had said out there) this was ¨a## in your mouth sized waves¨ … very scary stuff.

After an hours session or so we checked on in at LUISFER SURF CAMP which is another surf frat house-type like El Hombre but a lot nicer looking and better protected (fortress walls and a security guard) . For 18 bucks a night we have a bunk bed, personal shower, table tennis, all meals, free internet, walking distance to, up to 10 mintues from world class breaks (caballeros, senoritas, punta rocas, de isla, etc), chess, TV, swimming pool and more…

That about does her

see you next time huanchaco

2009-05-28T11:04:00.000-04:00

the waves are slowly getting bigger here in huanchaco... yesterday we watched a few movies again at otra cosa to help pass the time and laughed at the dogs on the roof in PAJAMAS! as we watched ... headin back tonight on the cruza del sur to lima to meet back up with beto (and maybe Guerrmo) for some sessions in punta hermosa

no waves, no problem

2009-05-26T18:54:00.000-04:00

there hasn't been much surf for the past few days so we've been taking it easy... watched a few movies at the cozy Otra Cosa Restaurant next door. There's two new people in the dorms with us... a cute girl from Switzerland (looks like drew barrymore's distant Swiss relative) and a dude from the Netherlands (maybe a good 'jim hawkins' impersonator?) . Just hanging out for now ... wednesday should bring some surf...

UPDATES monday 18th - sunday 24th

2009-05-25T01:14:00.000-04:00

I’ve Been without Internet for a few days … here are the updates I typed on a Spanish version of Microsoft Word (this would explain the mis-spellings and grammar errors)

picture updates are on facebook.

Monday 18th continued –

Maryanne decided to see ruins today instead of surfing safari… so it was an adventure with just the boys in search of “chocolate barrels” at the secret spot. Our taxi ride there was definately one of the day’s highlights- the radio didn’t work. Needless to say, Matt, Jason and I sang all of the top 80s hit songs we could possibly think of at the top of our lungs and even got a few smiles from the driver and we rode the super bumpy ride there for 30 or so minutos. When we arrived at the site there were a few ruins and a small deserted town nearby and some really long rides… (the longest we’d since this far in the trip) I figured out the reason for the chocolate barrel conotation… the waves stirred up the brown sand and make the water a chocolate color… duh. We surfed there for a few hours then rode back in our radioless taxi for 150 soles. During our ride back, Jason really opened up and told us about his rehaznos for traveling and his experiences in Bali and at Easter Island. We later met up with Jason and MaryAnne for a few rounds of Trujillo cervezas…and snuck in a few slices of World famous Naylamp chocolate cake…..mmmmm

Tuesday 19th –

We said goodbye to our new friends and made a few trades… I gave Jason and MaryAnne some retro 80s sunglasses I brought along but have never worn since I was 8 and they gave me some badly hended sunscreen and a bottle of Ephemere beer from Quebec. Matt got some sweet volcom shorts and some toothpaste…yes, it was like christmas in peru. …
As Matt and I were heading out for a walk in the town, we got talking to one of our surfing neighbors Aidan (surf instructor and hostel owner from Ireland) who mentioned he was heading up for the next swell in Chicama. As we were talking another neighbor jumped into the conversation and so it was 4 of us on the road to great surf at Chicama (the machu pichu of surfing). The 4th fella was a funny New Zelander named Brenden. Brenden left his wife and 2 kids to go surfing with us punks in some of the sickest surf any of us had ever seen…
Since there were 4 of us traveling we figured it’d be safe enough to take public transportation (ONLY 1.50 soles one way per collectivo)… I find it funny that I’d never really considered taking public transportation in the states but here I am in Peru gladly jumping on for less than a dollar, with two guys I just met heading to a small fishing village… So we get into about 30 minutes of the ride and make a small stop on the second bus tol et on a few extra passengers. I’’m sitting in the back of the bus with Aidan and Brenden and Matt;s stuck up in the front with his backpack in his lap surrounded by locals- the longboards are laying in the middle of the aisle-way. All of a sudden there’s this kid that starts yelling in spanish at a VERY fast pace- I immediately turned over to Brenden who quickly explained that the kid was one of the many he had seen while traveling abroad who preaches a storm, hands out candy and then expects a “collection” at the end. Matt HOWEVER, did not know this. Matt almost has a panic attack…he really thinks this kid is about to hyjack the bus.. he opens the window for fresh air and I’m sitting in the back giggling away watching it all from afar… poor Matt. Haha

So when we finally arrive to the bus stop in Chicama, the next 5 minutes afterwards is probly the scariest Matt and I had endured in the trip so far. We find a 3 wheeled-half motorcycle, half-batting cage of a taxi to put two 9 foot longboards on.. to haul to our hostel “El Hombre”. The taxi driver and his assistant were two 15 or so year old kids who had the bright idea of laying the boards in the back taxi basket LONGWAYS…yes LONGWAYS, like airplane wings. So Matt and I gave in as they assured us through what little spanish we could interpret but with what facial expressions we thought meant “dont worry we’ve done this before” We zip away at 30 or maybe 40 mph in this taxi thing flying down the town’s street passing by street lights, people, parked cars, MOVING cars and FENCES. Somehow we got the boards there with only hitting a fence once and not a single scratch for only 3 soles ($1).
The next best thing was moving into our new prison-like accomodations at El Hombre. The room consisted of a Light bulb, one outlet, 4 beds squashed together and one window--- I’m not complaining here…just wanted to warn anyone who might be expecting something like the crucero suite treatment (1st class) that this is not your cup o tea. I actually didn;t mind it one bit because everyday when you wake up and walk outside, you have a world-class loooooong left break (longest in the World).
We were quick to make friends with the other guests because they were ALL SURFERS from around the World. It was like we’d just moved into a huge fraternity house of wave-chasing, beer drinkin fellas like ourselves. We met a skinny cat named Dominique from Australia, short fella named Alan from Ireland, 2 chaps from England named Sid and George, the V. crew, the other Aussie n his girlfriend and the german brothers.

Wednesday 20th-

We awoke to the squeaky sounds of the pastry dude, who apprent;ly pushes his little bike around town at 5.30AM!!, to sell the best pastries this mouth has ever tasted (except for Krispy Kreme). We roll around in bed for a few hours alter finally figuring out the explanation of the squeaky 5 am reville and stumble down to get our prison breakfast. After breakfast Matt and I ventured out past where most of the surfers were getting in the water and found out that we could get and extra ride or two if we just walked a bit further. We get THE LONGEST RIDES for the first time and get back to el hombre alter the session to get some tasty lunch.
Chicama is a small fishing village that has a few restaurants, World class long left-breaking waves, and a few hostels….THAT’S about IT. Matt insisted on venturing into town to find some local food. We stumble into a half-restaurant, half-home and wait for 2 hours for two small entrees of food. The dude that ran the joint apparently forgot his pan, frying batter and a bag of something else I could not detect as he walked back in (after saying something in spanish and then running out to jump on a kid’s trick bike to disappear for 10 minutes… returns with a bag of cooking supplies) Matt and I thought about walking out and finding some other grub somewhere else but our bellies told us to hang in there… After we finally left that place, we stumbled upon Brenden, Aidan and some of the other surfing dude from the hostel at the EL MIRADOR restaurant. If there’s one place (actually this is the only place I’d recommend eating at) to eat, I;d go for some street-side cooking at El Mirador. What you do is walk up to a table and select what you want cooked, order a beer or three and then go inside to sit and wait for your food. By about 2 or 3 beers later you have a FRESH plate of food! Mmmm!

…… one of the many conversations we had while waiting for food was the one about the problem with the SUP Starboard Professionals and the motorboat loads of surfers dropping in on the chicama surfing line-up. Apparently this company called Starboards decided to send their stand up paddle boarders to chicama for a photo shoot. They were all really great at what they did EXCEPT they had no respect for the locals or the other surfers. They got every wave they wanted and did not observe the surfing “right of way” common practice… Brenden later called them the TREES… (like the scary trees in Babes in toyland or Wizard of Oz I guess) .. because they World huddle around the surfers and steal waves. … There’s a hostel that has a surfing package that costs some few hundred dollars a day to stay, with meals? and a MOTORBOAT TAXI to the Chicama breaks. Here you have 15 or so surfers that just WALKED ALL THE WAY to the line up, PADDLED ALLLLL THE WAY OUT THERE and here comes two trips of a motorboat taxi to drop off 10 extra kooks who have fresh arms and legs…. I think there should be a public motorboat taxi or else I imagine seeing the somali pirate incident happening soon at chicama….. arrrrr!!

Thirsday 21st-

Got up for an early dawn patrol sesh with Aidan and Brenden. Caught 2 or 3 loooong rides befote everyone else got out there to croad the line up (once again motorboats and TREES)… Waiting to hear back from Jim or Mike about when their meeting up with us…. Swell dies down a bit and Jim and Mike arrive late. They had to buy their way into Peru at the border and were stopped by Peruvian police regarding a fake incident on how they were driving… “Wlecome to Peru!”

Friday 22nd-

Matt and I know the swell was moving away from Chicama but we decided to stay in town and surf with our friends from home. It was GREAT meeting up with Jim, Mike, and Evailio (ee-vahl-ee-oh). We went for a 10am session. The waves were far worse than Matt and I saw Chicama just days befote but we all had a great time. I got a few shots of Mike and Jim surfing. Afterwards we ate some luch at their hostel down the street and did our own thing in the afternoon. Mike told me I could take out his beautiful Ecuadorian balsa longboard for an evening session… it was like surfing a cadillac… very smooth. ..
Mike and Jim ventured out on a hiking expedition to the island at the first point out to sea. They found some old ruins there and got some great pictures.

Things I’ll remember about Chicama
longest wave
longest walk to a wave
El Hombre experience and the friends we met there
meeting up with Jim and the fellas
pastry revilles
candy monsters (frutas…)
Stories from Jim and Mike

Saturday 23rd-

Matt and I originally intended on catching some waves further north but since we couldn;t find a way to draw enough cash in Chicama, we decided tyo head back to our second home- HUANCHACO. We were able to get american dollars there but then had to get the right Exchange rate for them in Trujillo (yay!, more public transportation).. no waves to surf today so we ate at the hostel and later met two copules from Denmark (Simon and Metter) and Sweden (Pescal and Eve).

Sunday 24th-

It was sooo sunny out that I decided to go out in just a pair of birdwells for a mid-day session. I ended up surfing with some of the local Huanchaco kids and had a great time sharing the surfing experience with them…. Hollering out waves for one another and lots of high-fiving and big smiles.. It’s funny how an experience as great as surfing (and music) can bring people with a language barrier, TOGETHER.
Matt and I decided we will stay in Huanchaco to relax before our next big session of waves there and again later in the week with our friends Beto and Guerrmo in Punta Hermosa.

UK friends and chocolate barrels

2009-05-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

Did some more surfing on sunday morning, almost got attacked by the guard's puppy dog and scoped out the town a bit. Spoke with a pro surfer who resides at Un Lugar surf shop in the center of town and got some directions to some other surfing spots. The swell here at huanchaco has died down a bit only waves in the afternoon (waist to overhead). We met a couple at dinner from Canada and the UK who have been traveling abroad for 9 months all around the world - Jasln and MaryAnne. Jason is a sponger...bodyboarder who is a PE instructor back home. He requested a 3 month sabbatical after working there for 6 years and they gave him 9... poor fella.. MaryAnne is in biological studies at a university taking a break as well .. Jason and Matt really hit it off when they started talking about favorite US and UK bands, Waynes World, politics, etc

Monday....

Since Jason and MaryAnne are heading home in two days, we decided to invite them on our wave quest for what the locals call the "chocolate barrels" at a secret spot north of huanchaco. Supposedly when the waves are smaller at Huanchaco, they're bigger and barreling at this place. Maybe I can get MaryAnne to snap a few pictures of us surfing.

bus rides and surf paradise

2009-05-16T17:43:00.000-04:00

friday matt and i got on out of lima to save money and to get on with this surfing thing that wer had originally planned on doing more of.. spent alllllll day riding 1st class on the çruza del sur' doubledecker bus. very luxurious..leather reclining seats, tvs, two meals, sat in the two front seats. It was quite a humbling bus ride because we saw everything to how people lived in the city and desert and saw the gigantic desert mountains... it was like something out of ''mad max'' to see all of the litter that bordered the highway all the way to our next destination... by our 9th hour on the bus, matt and i started getting sick and by the later half of the hour, we arrived in trujillo..

after battling our way out of the crowd of taxi drivers at the bus station, we found one just outside the door that was long enough to squeeze both longboards inside the vehicle. matt got a great seat in the back and i was balled up in the fetal position riding next to the spare tire flying down the highway at 80 plus....

We checked in to hostel 'Naylamp'' which is literally 50 yards from the beach. The place is well protected by security guards and there's a little kitchen thats open all day with a GREAT chef. I swear, if I could pack this little lady up and bring her back to the US I would. Her cooking is really THAT great. Been surfing twice today. Nice head or so high waves all day long and really great accomodations....

I think I'll go for a third...

-T

2009-05-14T17:21:00.000-04:00

We caught a ride with Beto and one of his surfing buddies this morning to surf at "de Isla de Punta Hermosa". Dropped by a friends restaurant to try on a wetsuit for me to rent for the session and was able to squeeze into a large somehow... it felt more like a circulation~stopping suit to me.. When we got there, according to our friends they said the surf was pretty bad... it was 1 to 2 meters overhead.. us poor fellas...

Matt and I charged into some of the biggest waves of our lives today..I've never seen his eyes get so big and I thought I went into a few with my heart in my mouth. The surf got a bit smaller (.5 to 1 meter overhead) as some dense fog moved in and there was this huge pelicano (pelican) that landed next to Matt. I think the friggin' bird had a crush on Matt. It started chasing Matt all around in the water..it was hilarious... finally a wave came and saved Matt from the "love" bird as we named it later.

Time to go surf again ..

lima

2009-05-13T15:01:00.000-04:00

matt and I arrived yesterday 5-12th to lima and got our first intro to peruvian culture when we raced to the hostel´s taxi listening to american top 40s (lady gaga,etc).. we´ve eaten/drank at a few unique cafes (pisco sours) and are still looking for some used longboards to rent or buy. our spanish is pretty poor but we are getting by with what we know thus far... we´ll be meeting later with Ernesto´s neice and Atlanta Andy´s (Max´s friend) Beto about some surfing and accomodation connections...

side effects

2009-05-08T23:07:00.000-04:00

well matt and i got all of our shots and malaria pills now... it's great knowing that i've got the malaria pills that have the "vivid dream" and "loopy" side effects and he's just got the ones with sunburning side effects.. we drive to miami on monday to fly out tuesday morning

immunizations, getting packed

2009-05-07T13:02:00.000-04:00

Started this blog for friends and family to check in on us and we travel through Peru. Matt and I are getting immunized for Peru today. Trying to pack efficiently and lightly as possible.