Fun Friday surf...and SUP Sunday

I was anxious to get back to my home break and transfer some of my Pacific waves skills to the G-town waves. HAHAHAHA.  I really just wanted to get back out in the water and practice. One of the things I realized while in Nicaragua is that I had a long way to go. Some people pick things up quickly, but I need a lot of practice in all of my sports. One of the things that I realized from looking at my pics is that I need to practice on my pop-up STILL. I explained it to my G-town Surf Dude Brian and he asked me to show it to him. I did it on the beach PERFECTLY. However, I'm not sure I always translate this perfection on the board in the waves. But, I had a chance to try it out on Friday.

Friday waves

Dude said that the waves were nice when he called me at noon. So, I loaded up my 9' Softop "Iris" (one of the Nica Chica gals told me I needed to stick with one size until I really get my surf skills perfected) and headed down. I'm sure glad I did. I had a ball. I had to wait awhile for my waves, but when the sets came in, they were beautiful. They weren't huge, but they were well formed. I pearled once. And, it happened to be while the dude was watching, which isn't always a good thing and caused him to say things like "WOW, I haven't seen you pearl in a long time..." But, he's wrong. I have pearled. He just doesn't see it. I was in the wrong position for that wave and knew it was coming. However, once I had that out of the way, I caught just about everything else I paddled for. I had a ball! We moved from the west side of the jetty when it got crowded (and, gosh, it got crowded once people got off of work) to the east side. I was able to catch waves on both sides. Brian said I looked good except that I needed to stand up straighter. Good call! I definitely need to do that. I think I'm actually trying to mimic big wave surfers by bending at the waist and knees. It looks ridiculous in three foot waves. I'm so glad I went to surf that day!

My other regularly scheduled day is Sunday (today). So, I loaded up and headed down. The dude wanted to introduce me to a yoga instructor who is going to start offering classes in conjunction with the dude's surf classes. I'm sure it will be successful. Many people have expressed interest in taking yoga, so I think it will be a good thing for surfers and the dude's surf lessons. I'm anxious to see how it goes. The surf today, though, was nonexistent. The dude insisted that I (and my friend and surfer R) go paddle-boarding with him. I'm glad I did. It was so much fun! First of all, it was an absolutely beautiful day. Secondly, several others were out paddle-boarding, but it still felt like we had the entire Gulf to ourselves. I tried to catch a small wave in, but fell off. One of the other paddle-boarders out was successfully catching the waves. I tried to copy him, but did not do a very good job of it. I didn't transfer my weight enough and was knocked off the minute the wave caught me from behind. Oh well! I'll try again next time it is flat.

I topped off my surf session with a great lunch on the Strand, a relaxing ride on the Ferry, a cold beverage at The Tremont and an evening six-mile run. Sundays do not get much better than this!

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! :-)

Another great start at Chica Brava

Well, I'm back! Nicaragua was calling my name, so, once again I joined some pals and returned to the rockin' Chica Brava Surf Camp. Despite the crowds at the airport because of Spring Break, my friend R and I (as well as three other gals going with us this time) managed to skate through rather easily even though right after we made it through security, the airport filled with what appeared to be hundreds of people. As usual, our flight was full and two of our gals were bumped from the flight even though they arrived to the airport approximately 10 minutes after us.
Nicaragua was still the same, thank goodness. Well, it might be a little more developed in some places. We opted to drive straight to the farm, rather than stop in Granada (sp?) for lunch and the market. We stopped in San Juan del Sur at the grocery store before driving up the fun and incredibly


bumpy driveway to the house. We're staying at the same house from my visit a couple of years ago, which has a beautiful view of San Juan del Sur. I'm staying in the upstairs bedroom this year, which offers a large windowed wall and makes me feel like I am sitting on top of the world.
We went on our first surf trip today. We went to Remanso Beach, which requires a ride through some of the countryside a short way out of town. Once at the end of the bumpy road, the waves were nice! Because it was an extremely windy day, the Chica Bravas decided that Remanso would be a good beach for the beginner surfers as well as us not-quite-intermediate-but-a-little-better-than-beginner surfers (those of us who had surfed before:-)because of the strong winds. Small mountains surround Remanso and the Chica Bravas thought it would be a little more protected. It probably was. The water was quite chilly. I chose to only wear my 1.8 m rashguard. Tomorrow, though, I will probably wear the rashguard over my springsuit.
I didn't have the most fabulous of surf days. I went to the outside, but struggled to catch a wave. I was able to catch only one or two, closer to shore. Oh well. I am excited to use the 8'4" Robert August "What I Ride" board from last year. I got some great advice from the fabulous Chica Candace, and I look forward to tomorrow and discovering what my surfing adventure holds for me!

(YIKES! I've posted this three times and it hasn't shown up. Every time I have to start over. I'm just sure my first draft was the best.)
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