Bungalow Siete

First off, surf has been great the last few days.  Head high to a little over on the sets and nice, long, glassy lines.  I know, I suck.  A couple of pics below.

Since I arrived in la Saladita I've been parked next to Bungalow Siete, aka, Seven.  In that time, quite a few people have come and gone.  As I near the time to leave this spot, I found myself reflecting a bit the other night on just how many interesting people have breezed in then out of my frame of existence in just one little bungalow and in just one short month.  There was the family from Mexico city, the young surfers Jackson and Corey? from Santa Barbara, the retired group from California and also by way of a house near la Manzanilla, another Jackson and his pal Julian on a land-speed record attempt from Cali to Costarica, just to name the ones I can remember off the top of my head as I sit in the small internet cafe in Llanos.  Jackson and Julian have a blog (malibutomatapalo.com) that, while somewhat content-limited due to their absurd schedule and lack of internet along the way, promises to be interesting after they fill in some of the gaps.  I also met a great couple from Cali, Zack and Sachi, who have their own blog at marshmallowchronicles.tumblr.com.  They're in a '94 Toyota 4x4 with a crazy flip open camper shell with a tent that attaches on the top.  Wish I had a picture to show but if you check out their site you'll see what I mean.

My plan is to stay here another day or so, then head south to Ixtapa.  There's a "real" campground there with hookups, a pool, showers, and laundry.  I need to be able to plug in and charge up my batteries properly after the questionable voltage in Saladita.  I also need to run the A/C and dry things out a bit, as hurricane Beatrice left a distinct wetness around everything.  I also will be doing a mountain of laundry.  Add to that I need an oil change for Nookie, the generator on Nookie, and the Ruckus (not sure I'll get them all done here) as well as a new front left tire, and I should have a few days' worth of work.  Plus, the forecast is for the swell to disappear until at least next week, so that makes the decision a bit easier. 

I'm including a few random shots from the last week or so here below.  More to come!!!!

looking down the beach from Saladita

another beach view from the end of the wave

Laguna de Esteban, the lake outside my door after Beatrice, as named by Omar and Blanca, who work at Lourdes' place.

sunset last night

sunset wave--one more...

More rain, less internet...

That's some serious rain we've had over the last 3 days or so!  I've got a lake around Nookie, but all is relatively dry within.  Surf was good yesterday evening and there is more swell out there today, but a little chopped up.  It has bascially rained non-stop for 3 days, finally letting up a bit today.  The internet at Lourdes' place (where I"m staying) is still not operational, and not likely to be anytime soon. Between rain squalls,  I was finally able to take the Ruckus into town today and get online at the "internet cafe" here. Very slow, and they have some funky USB stick to use to connect to the internet.  I can't also fit my card reader in there, so no pictures for now, unless I can figure some other way around it.--strike that--figured that mess out and uploaded a couple below. 

sunset the other day from my spot

Anyway, surfing has been great--shoulders and arms are sore constantly, which is a good thing.  Met some nice people passing thru town, including some other fellow travelers and campers, and have read a ton of crappy books.  One thing I have decided for sure--I am getting a Kindle when I visit the states in September.

Had some horses grazing on the grass beside Nookie the other day, before the rain came.

rain has brought out the congrejos (crabs)

Will try to post more when I can.  As always, more to come!!!

Still alive and kicking...

No internet or phone service for me for the last 4 or 5 days, but I'm still kicking it in la Saladita.  Had to drive in to Ixtapa today to refill my propane tank.  I've been running my fridge and freezer off that pretty much non-stop since I left, and I just now had to fill it up for a whopping 190 pesos--about 17 dollars.  Not too bad.  Still not quite sure how burning propane can be so efficient at cooling stuff down, but I'll take it for sure.

Nice swell filled in over the last day, and we had our first real rain overnight.  Nookie needed a good bath, and she got one.  She also got one for 40 pesos at the grocery store parking lot here in Ixtapa--unplanned, but a little extra TLC probably never hurt.

I'll try and get some pics up when the internet at Lourdes' place gets back up and running.  According to her, she has to replace the dish for some astronomical sum approaching $1200 us dollars--ouch.  But she is pretty much the only game in town, and having that internet really drives business for her, plus bookings, plus everything else.  A little left from this morning.  More to come!!!

Lather, rinse, repeat...

More good times here in Saladitas.  Have a couple of surfers staying in the bungalow next to me and have been having a few cervesas and tequilas with them in the evenings.  Surfed decent waves the last few days, but they have been affected by the waves sent in from Hurricane Adrian.  That will hopefully not be the case as we move through the weekend as the storm is heading away from us and predicted to weaken.

Starting to settle in to the swing of things here.  Get up around 7:30, grab a quick granola bar or something for a little fuel. Surf in the a.m., from around 8 until about 10 or 10:30.  Come in, have  second breakfast, walk up to the restaurant and have a cup of coffee and check email, maybe write another blog post.  By around noon, time to wander back to Nookie and maybe read a little, maybe take a siesta.  Repeat through the afternoon until sun starts dropping.  Possibly surf again in the evening, or explore up the beach.  Watch sunset, have a few beers, go to sleep.

Last night was a bit different in that the NBA finals game was on at the restaurant, and there were a few guys watching the Mavs pull it out over the Heat to take a 3-2 lead in the series.  I'm staying a little in touch with real-world goings-on, just not too much.  More to come!!!!

Hola, Adrian!

Another couple of beautiful days here in Mexico.  South swell has filled in nicely and some nice head to well overhead waves on the sets are abundant.  No rain for the past few days, but that may change as we have our first named storm of the Pacific season, Adrian.  Can't really get a handle on what its impacts may  be on the coastline where I am, but some rain would be nice.  Probably will pump in a little swell, but that may just serve to mess up the existing southern hemisphere swell.

Let's hope there aren't too many impacts.  FYI, the weather folks don't seem to put quite as much emphasis/hysteria into covering Pacific tropical events.  Probably a number of reasons for that, valid and otherwise.

It's been really hot here.  Did I mention it is warm?  Shade is an imperative and finding someplace with moving air is a must.

Shot a little video this morning.  The wave was slightly over-head, but tough to tell from the camera's viewpoint.  Anyway, more to come!!!

Wednesday morning left

Chillin' in Saladitas...

Hanging at a great spot on the beach.  Got a sweet place right in front of the waves.  See for yourself:

A nice swell is starting to fill in today--a few of the sets were a bit overhead.  Long lefts, a bit of a crowd.  The Roxy girls  and pro guys leave tomorrow so that will thin things out a bit.  Had my first bout of some kind of stomach bug the other night, and I got pretty dehydrated, but am feeling better now and spent about 3 1/2 hours out today.  Having a cervesa at the little bar/restaurant here, run by a nice lady named Lourdes.  Here's a link for a bit more info:  http://saladitapoint.com/

I took a little video walking out of Nookie to give a perspective on just how close I am to the break, for any interested.  I tried to zoom in on a rider on a wave towards the end and it get's a bit fuzzy, apologies. More to come!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRas2xoyORE

Cruising through Michoacan

Following up from yesterday's post, I was headed to La Ticla and points south.  I got to La ticla around 10 am and the wind was already strongly onshore, making for waves that are virtually unsurfable.  The government has spent lot's of money constructing these little tourist cabanas and camping areas all up and down the Michoacan coast.  I was planning on staying at the one in La Ticla but the last few years of cartel violence, armed conflict from the local indigenous population, and just generalized fear has left this area virtually deserted.  And not in a good way.  These otherwise nice looking cabanas and camping areas are forlorn with an abandoned and slightly spooky vibe to them.  If I had chosen to stay there I would have been the ONLY person in the area, and I just didn't feel good about having that kind of target on me, being that visible with my gringo-self and with all the stuff I've brought with me--seems to be just asking to get ripped off.  It's kind of like surfing in a sharky area--you feel a lot better about the odds when there are other people out with you.

Did I mention the crazy road and scenery?  Well I should have, as the place is just stunningly beautiful with giant mountains plunging directly into the ocean, panoramic vistas, blue-green water, etc.  Too bad it was still dry season, as after a bit of rain this place likely greens up and is even more amazing.

 pulloff--don't go too far!

shrine at that same pulloff 

 View down towards Las Brisas

So I moved on down the road towards a place called Maruata.  Same deal there.  It's like some invading army had carried off nearly everyone there.  The handful of locals that were still around were not terribly friendly looking (unlike most of the rest of Mexico) and the giant and heavily fortified military base didn't inspire much confidence either.  I moved on down the coast a few clicks to a place called Tizupan.  A beautiful beach with another of these nice campground areas, but it was directly on the highway, nobody was there, and I would have been even more visible.  This series of events happened every 10 kilometers or so as I hopped down the coast until I was at another famous surf spot, Rio Nexpa.

Nexpa had some people around, but it's a big, heavy left and with another big swell on the way, I wussed out and decided not to stop there.  Maybe later in the trip on a more manageable swell.  Anyway, next thing I knew I was almost to Playa Azul, which is near the southern terminus of the state of Michoacan, and pretty close to a well-known surf spot, Saladitas.  So I spent the night in the Nookie behind a hotel, had dinner with three dudes from California who were boogie boarding the place of all things, and proceeded to get up early and make it through the large port city of Lazaro Cardenas and on to Saladitas by lunch.  I got a quick mid-day session in the sweet peeling left that is this break--chest to head high waves on the sets, but mostly a longboard break, except when it gets big.  Which it may through the weekend into early next week.

There are also a group of pros here including the Roxy Girls longboard team and a couple of pro guys.  Chad Marshall is the only name I sort of recognized but these guys are amazing at what they can do.  Pretty crowded lineup right now, but it's small, and I have a feeling that crowd will thin out a bit once it gets big.

I'll try to get some pictures of the place here for the next update.  More to come!!!

More travels in Michoacan

After a few days catching up on email, laundry, bill paying, etc., I decided to head back down the coast into Michoacan, now infamous in my mind for where I got my board stolen (again, mea culpa, I know). Colorado Mike had offered to let me camp at his great place in San Juan de Alima, and after the ridiculous $20 toll around Manzanillo, I got to San Juan around 3 pm.

Nookie at Colorado Mike's

Mike said he had been surfing a break called La Ticla by himself, with just him and his buddy, for the past few days. 15 to 18 foot faces is what he called it, and I believe him. He's just not the kind of guy to exaggerate things like that. The swell was still pumping decently into the bay there in San Juan, which meant big closeouts. Mike shared some crazy stories about his experiences in Hawaii in the late 60's and early 70's, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing them.

I turned in early, and the plan was for us to hit La Ticla in the mroning, then I was heading further south for some exploration of the rest of the Michoacan coast. While I was in Manzanillo and had internet, I found this great blog (http://home.comcast.net/~alpinelakes//Coast_of_Michoacan/index.html) of a guy who backpacked and walked his way up the entire Michoacan coast. Pretty remarkable, when you think about it. He had it broken down into days and discussed his routes, gave some random thoughts on ornithology, sociology, history, and most importantly, geology.

Drawing from two very good sources—Colorado Mike and Alpine Lakes Mike, I had a few places in mind I wanted to check out. However, fate had a slightly different plan for me.

Mike awoke me the next morning with a honk from the horn on his truck yelling at me it was time to go. I hadn't slept great through the night so I was dozing when he wanted to leave. I popped my head out of the back door and said I'd meet him there in 30 minutes or so. Well, 30 minutes turned into at least an hour and a half.

I got the boards packed and into the car, took a quick shower, and was in the process of rolling up the awning when, as it neared full closure, it wouldn't quite settle home. I unrolled it, re-rolled it, a number of times with no effect. I unrolled it all the way and examined the hinges, where it attached, how the awning material was situated side to side—nothing I tried worked. I had worked up a good sweat by this time, so I rolled it up as far as I could, took another quick shower, then headed off for La Ticla.

I passed Mike heading down the highway towards la Ticla--obviously either the wave sucked or the wind had gotten on it, or some combination of the two.  He waved, I waved back, and drove down through the town of la Placita, thence on to Ticla proper.  I'll post a bit more later about my drive through Michoacan and where I'm currently located (hint: not in jail, or dead, or somewhere terrible; actually a beautiful spot).  More to come!!!