Chica Brava Rocks ... Again!!!

Chica Brava Surf Camp in Nicaragua is fantastic! I just got home last night from a fourth Chica Brava trip in San Juan del Sur. It was a great week, with a fabulous group of gals and four outstanding surf instructors. On the first night at the camp, we, the campers, were asked to introduce ourselves and to state our goals for the week. The goals ranged from just standing on a surfboard to experiencing the drop. My goal was to catch waves consistently on the outside. In Galveston, I sometimes start on the outside, but often end up on the inside catching waves after they break. Nicaragua waves form and break much more often than the ones in Galveston, so I was sure that this would be a great place to practice. And, practice I did!

I surfed five of six days. During those surf sessions, I surfed approximately three to four hours. Our instructors took us to the best surf breaks in Nicaragua including Hermosa and Remanso. On my unscheduled "rest" day, I took a trip to one of the best and well-known beaches in Nicaragua -- Popoyo. At Popoyo, I got to watch some of the best surfers around rip through the waves, including Chica Brava leader Ashley. Watching them surf strengthened my determination to become a better surfer.

I will have to admit that I didn't have one of my best surf weeks, and I didn't meet my surf goals. I felt oddly out of place and out of sync for the first four days. By Friday, I felt a little more comfortable and had a decent day. However, I still missed waves ... many of them. This was through no fault of the fantastic Chica Brava instructors that included Candace, Sarah, "Boom Boom," and Elsi. Each one spent time with me (and Robin) during the week so that we could get the best experience possible. I learned secrets to paddling (moving arms in an "S" rotation) and to board positioning. I was also given tips to learning to judge the waves. However, I think that right now, I'm in a "place" where the only way I can get better is to do it over and over again. While looking at the pics that were taken of me, I noticed a lot of things I did wrong. For one thing, although I never do this at my home break, it looks as though that while I was in Nicaragua, I spent a lot of time popping up by going to my knees. I had some slight bruising to the knees that I hadn't had in a very long time. I'm not sure why. I guess I could have been nervous about being at a different beach or fighting an unusually strong wind, but, nevertheless, I did get to my knees several times. I had a couple of good rides too. Friday was my favorite day, because I was feeling more like myself, but I just didn't have enough time that day to correct all I needed to correct, even though I was in the water for most of the four hours we spent at the beach that day.

Wave judgment and my pop-up will continue to be my main focus. I was hoping to make it to G-town to surf today, but I just didn't have the time. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for one evening this week as well as next Friday and Sunday. I MUST keep practicing. Thanks to Chica Brava for giving me great advice!

Below are just three photos of the fabulous trip I took. I will add more in the weeks to come.

A sign on the beach at Popoyo

A mural on a wall in San Juan del Sur

A brief meeting with two of the Chica Brava instructors! :-)

California waves vs. Texas waves

I just returned from a quick, three-day weekend trip to Huntington Beach, Ca. In late December, I had signed up for the Surf City (Half) Marathon. I registered for a ridiculously superficial reason -- the finisher's medal was a miniature surfboard. When I signed up, I also thought it would be a fun, quick and warm getaway for early February. I was right. I left Houston late Thursday night and returned to Texas tonight (Sunday). The run was early today, which meant I had Friday and Saturday to do what I wanted. I chose to go surfing. I contacted a surf shop in California based on a totally random Google search. The owner responded to me immediately, and we arranged for me to meet one up with one of his surf instructors at a beach approximately two miles from my hotel. People have been asking me why I thought I needed more instruction. I respond by saying that it never hurts to have an instructor, especially because I'm a relatively new surfer traveling to beaches I have never surfed. Maybe some day I'll have to confidence to venture out on my own in a strange place, but, for now, I think having an instructor is the smart way to surf a new location.

I met my instructor, Phil, on a beautiful beach early on Friday morning. High tide was at 9 a.m., which is the best time to surf at this particular location. My friend Steph told me that at her California beach, low tide is best. I had explained to the surf school owner that even though I had surfed for three years, I still felt like I had a lot to learn. So, my lesson with Phil started with the basics, which included practicing my pop-up on the beach. I did okay with that, although, he had me change it a little. Like the instructor I had in Costa Rica, he actually wanted me to take an extra step during my pop-up. His reasoning made sense: I have long legs and moving my back foot forward would give me more stability.  I practiced it and it seemed to work a few times. Because it was a shore break, we didn't have to paddle out far. In fact, I think I paddle out farther at the 43rd street Jetty than I did at Huntington Beach. We paddled out together, and was immediately forced to maneuver through oncoming waves. Although, I've heard it before, Phil had to remind me the only way out in those waves is to paddle through them. If I hesitate, I'll get crushed by the wave, which I did several times on Friday. Phil pushed me into a few waves, but the first thing I realized was that I had to get up fast 'cause if I didn't, the wave would close out on top of me. Needless to say, that happened to me multiple times on Friday. I caught a few that he pushed me into, but I missed more than I caught. Phil told me not to be discouraged. I told him that I though after three years I would be surfing better, but he seems to think I'm right on track. As he explained, I don't surf every day...in fact, he said, if I combined all my surfing time, I MIGHT have surfed six months. Ummm....I have never thought about it that way, but he's right.

I opted for a second lesson on Saturday. It probably wasn't a smart thing to do the day before my run, but I thought that I should take full advantage of my time at Huntington Beach. It might have slowed me some during my run, but I'm sure glad I went out to surf on that second day. I had a much better surf session on Saturday. Even Phil thought I did. I caught all the waves he pushed me into and then caught two or three on my own. I was able to pop up fast enough. Of course, he was amazing and caught everything just like the chief dude I surf with in Galveston. Phil mentioned that he had been surfing almost every day since he was six. That's a lot of surfing!! I still wiped out on Saturday, but felt much better about my surfing experience in California. He agreed that I'm a strong paddler when paddling out; however, I stop paddling about two paddles too soon when going for a wave. I really need to work on that. I'm so glad I surfed!!!

I also met up with one of my early Chica Brava surf instructors from Nicaragua. She heard I was going to be in Huntington Beach, and, contacted me. Unbeknownst to me, she lived nearby. I was thrilled to hear from her. We had lunch, but I sure wish I could have surfed with her. C. is a great surfer and a wonderful person. I found out that I will probably see her again when I go back to Nicaragua since she will be moving there for a couple of years. I'm so excited for her...and for everyone who will get to learn from her and work with her!!

Chica Brava 2010

I'm having a blast in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua! For the second year, I treated myself to the Chica Brava Surf Camp, and it is fantastic. Not only do we have warm weather and sunny skies, but we have great surfers sharing their expertise with us. This year, our instructors are Anna from Holland and Candace from California. Both can surf long boards or short boards, and each offer a little something that the other may not.

Although I have stood many times on the board while here, I still haven't conquered the complete surfing experience, which includes catching a wave on the outside and riding it down the line. Some may have the ability to catch them on the outside within the first year of surfing, but I haven't been able to do so yet. Maybe I should feel worse about it, but I don't. I know that when it all starts to click for me, I'll be successful. I won't give up. I'm getting really close. I just need to master the pop-up. I'm not getting up quickly enough. I watched many of the more experienced surfers today, and came away with some great techniques. One of the women in our group is from Hawaii and is very quick, fluid and smooth with her pop-up. It's what I aspire to as I surf. Oh well...only practice will help.

Today we went out on the boat, which requires us to swim into shore, then surf and, then, a couple of hours later, requires us to swim back out to the boat. We didn't have as far to go to get back to the boat as last year. And, I was able to do it rather easily. Most of the girls got tired out and opted out of the next beach, but I decided that I needed as much practice in the waves as possible and jumped back in when we got to our new destination. The waves weren't as good there, and after I wiped out a couple of times, our two instructors and our wonderful surfer from Hawaii decided that the waves were closing out. So, we just swam back out to the boat.

Pictured above are my fabulous surf instructors Anna and Candace.