spinalsurfer

spinalsurfer shot some pictures of us the other week at playa norte in punta hermosa. the picture of moi is a nice momento, though the other shots are much better. that was a strange wave. fairly slow at first and then it would become massive, heavy and fast lickety split. a friend of mine surfed it really well that day but the wall on the inside turned me into a yellow belly, ja que estou quase um pai...

summer has arrived

summer has arrived in lima, and i define its arrival as three straight days of sun. today was day number 4, if i'm not mistaken. crystal clear blue skies and 80 degrees. it's like san diego or los angeles, except lunch costs only $3 bucks for a three course meal (beverage included) and you have to look both ways before crossing the street as a pedestrian. this is the view from my desk. hard to focus on work with that bay staring at you.

oh wow

here's a link to my favorite surf blog, quality peoples, whose chefao always has great stuff on wavesliding, politics, and art. here are some photos he took recently in mexico. amazing stuff. the color of the water is incredible. and the shots are full of tension as the big waves threaten to close out on the surfers.

more of the new fish!

another shot of my new fish, this time edited so the true colors shine through...
i can't rave enough about this board. it's absurdly responsive and tons of fun. what i don't know is whether it's just this board or if all fishes are so enjoyable...

new fish

i've been dreaming about having a single fin shaped for me, but my shaper is out of town so i stumbled on this old school fish with wooden fins the other day and today i broke down and bought it. a used board that's essentially in perfect condition. put a layer of wax on it and took it out for a spin. it's a twin fin, with no center fin, and so loose and responsive it feels like you are skimming on ice. i was worried there was too much rocker in the board, but now i think it's just right. it's also the shortest board i've ever surfed, a 6'1" that turns quickly but is also nice and stable when paddling. wow, i'm really impressed. the color is a kind of yellow green concoction with grains flowing through it. i was partial the same board in blue, which they had new at klimax, but it was an extra $120, so i went with this. it's much more responsive than a 6'8" hybrid fish i have -- which is a three fin and easier to hold lines on but clearly lacks the skateboard feeling of this new one...

do rude surfers merit plugs?

I got a press release today (see below in Spanish) plugging the ASP surfing tour's upcoming Rip Curl contest in Lobitos and "Peru's Own Queen Sofia Mulanovich." (The hyperbole is a bit much, along with the fact that it seems to endorse the idea of monarchies in general, which Peru spent a few centuries trying to reject, but who cares about history, right?). So, I dutifully sent an email to the kind person who alerted me to the press release and mentioned the following: that Sofia is a rude surfer who sets a bad example for the sport and Peru's image, and sent him two blog posts about my own personal experience surfing alongside Peru's Queen. I also told him that she's about as well-behaved in the water as a Lima cab driver. And, between you and me, dear reader, I've been told her dad also drops in on people. So, like father like daughter. Rude behavior is learned. It's time we break this unhealthy cycle. Learn some courtesy Sofia...
(By the way, it's amazing to me that her sponsors don't bother to impress upon her the importance of setting a good example in the water, though, according to a Peruvian newspaper, they sent her to do media training recently so that she could learn to give more than one word answers when being interviewed. See, her handlers realized that one word answers make you look either unfriendly or not too smart).

EMPEZÓ LA CUENTA REGRESIVA

Nos encontramos a menos de tres semanas para que el campeonato mundial de surf femenino llegue por tercer año consecutivo a nuestro país, con el desarrollo del “Perú Classic presentado por Rip Curl”. La gran novedad de esta temporada ha sido la confirmación de Lobitos como la playa elegida, dejando de lado a la tradicional Máncora.

Ubicada en la provincia de Talara en Piura, Lobitos es un gran acierto según propias palabras de nuestra reina Sofía Mulanovich, ya que no sólo las olas son espectaculares, sino que además se acomoda perfectamente a su estilo de surfing.

El Perú Classic presentado por Rip Curl traerá a las diecisiete mejores tablistas del mundo a esta quinta parada de la World Championship Tour (WCT) y se desarrollará del 3 al 8 de noviembre próximo. Además de Sofía Mulanovich, la australiana Stephanie Gilmore y la brasilera Silvana Lima son las principales candidatas a llevarse el triunfo.

Con 3241 puntos, Stephanie Gilmore es la actual líder de las clasificaciones, seguida por Silvana Lima con 2880 y Sofía Mulanovich en la tercera casilla con 2139. Antes de la fecha en Lobitos, la localidad de Peniche en Portugal albergará por primera vez una jornada del circuito Mundial. El Rip Curl Search se llevará a cabo del 26 al 30 de octubre.


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Adjuntamos fotos (cortesía: ASP) de las tablistas australianas Jessi Miley-Dyer y Stephanie Gilmore y de la peruana Sofía Mulanovich.
Agradecemos la atención y difusión de la presente.

Saludos,

the view from my window

here's a shot from the window i sit in front of at work. not bad. today the islands in the bay of lima were fogged over until a bit before sunset, when a gold band of light broke through and lit up the water and the islands stuck their necks out. luckily there's a spot i can look through to see the islands. i hope the real estate boom ends...