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!!!

A few pics from Melaque and San Juan de Alima

Melaque sunset.

My sweet spot at San Juan de Alima.

The view from inside of Nookie.

Mexico takes a bite...

Spent the last few days in a beautiful spot called San Juan de Alima, just into the notorious Mexican state of Michoacan.  Once famous in Cheech and Chong movies and songs for good weed, now it is more famous for big time narco trafficking and the attendant turf wars.  I also learned there is ongoing conflict between the local indigenous population and the residents of the surrounding town of Placita, as well as various mining and corporate development interests.  There have been numerous armed conflicts, road blockades, and other violent incidents.

That being said, the area is incredibly beautiful, and blessed with amazing beaches and surf.  I met some really nice people, including a few locals.  Over a few cervesas and a bowl of Pozole, I got a little more nuanced take on how the things operate.

There was a very heavy military and federal police presence, far greater than anything I had seen thus far in my travels across and through Mexico.  Upon further inquiry, it appears that most of the armed presence relates not so much to the media-reported cartel activity, but to protecting a large iron ore mine and to quelling the unrest from the local indigenous populace.

Now to the bad part.  I brought two surfboards with me--a 9'6" longboard and a 6'6" shortboard floaty and thick enough to allow a now 40 year old to make it into the lineup and into some steeper and faster waves.  After getting to San Juan de Alima, I found a nice campsite beside a hotel for 40 pesos per night, a little less than $4 US.  I felt pretty safe there as the owners were 20 feet away and there were others around as well.  I had assiduously guarded and locked my stuff down, but somehow let my guard down for one evening, and of course, my short board was stolen during the night while I was asleep a few feet away.  I bear ultimate responsibility for slacking at my one real job--keeping my shit safe--and I knew better, but I'm still pissed.

I won't have an easy time replacing that board either.  Most of the boards available down here are for 135 lb kids or giant 7 foot plus gun-shapes for charging some of the massive swells they have down here on a regular basis.  There is an outside chance that I might be able to get the board back.  Expat Mike has some friends who have some friends and we put the word out to them that I'd be willing to pay for it's return if they come across it.  If someone local took it, then I'll probably be able to get it back for a few hundred dollars.  However, there were also tons of vacationing Mexicans at the beach, and if one of them swiped it, then it is long gone to some other part of the country.

I'm sitting just outside of Manzanillo now, waiting on a giant swell from below New Zealand to show up.  There's a reputed right hand point break that might start breaking with this giant swell and that isn't likely to get me drowned in the process.  I'll check out there tomorrow and see if it pans out.  After this, I hope to make it down to another famous surf spot, La Ticla, after the forecasted 20 to 25 foot waves clear out of there later this week.  I'm on a really slow DSL--virtually a dial-up speed, so I'm not going to try to post any pics tonight.  Maybe later.  More to come!!!

Close, but no cigar...

Spent the last few days in a little place called Arroyo Seco.  Off the beaten track quite a bit, but a really beautiful little town.  Muy tranquilo, nice little square, and a couple of beautiful beaches.  And burros!

I could definitely have spent some serious time here--a few nice people, no crowds, but the waves were not quite what I want.  Definitely picks up the south swell, but the waves basically line-out the whole bay and almost all of them close out, not exactly my type of surfing.  Pics below not of the waves, but of how cool the place was.  Note how red the rocks in the middle pic are--that's not a weird effect, they were really red.

A good pic of the Ruckus.

I met a couple of nice gringos living there--a grand total of 3, and everyone was friendly, a good vibe, no drama or crime feel at all.  I just wish the waves were more approachable.  Anyway, I stayed at what could be called a campground, run by a local named Isidro.  If the video attaches, you can see him riding in on his little 4 wheeler.

This place won't win any awards for campground of the year, but it had power and was right across the street from the beach.

I'm in a place called Melaque today--a pretty bay, but again, no waves. I needed a place with internet and to take care of a few things on the shopping front.   I'm the only camper here, but there about 100 Mexicans on vacation staying in some close-by cabinas.   I'm headed somewhere south of here tomorrow, probably below Manzanillo.  More to come!!!

Leaving Mita

Headed south through Puerto Vallarta and south a bit from there today.  Not sure exactly where, but I've got a couple of ideas.  Will be somewhere in this general area:

Wish me luck!

Some pics of La Lancha

I've been surfing the past few days at a pretty little spot called La Lancha.  Many who stay in the area take a boat there or drive.  I've been taking the Ruckus.  You have to pull off the main road and head down an old road bed.

Then you come to a fence with a few holes in it, and through that you go.  People who drive have to leave their cars/trucks outside the fence on the road, then walk down the next trail.

Then down an older dirt road for about a 1/4 mile.

Then you reach the beach.

Friendly lab at the beach.  He was digging big holes and trenches like a mad-man.

The Ruckus with board in tow.

More to come!!!

Friday mid-morning waves

Took the Ruckus down to La Lancha about 9 this morning.  The swell is definitely fading as evidenced by the much smaller crowd out front here at Anclote, as well as the larger time interval between sets.  Took the longboard this time as the swell is dropping, and also the gopro waterproof camera.  Got a few shots before the thing locked up on me.  The beach is actually quite beautiful, notwithstanding the big tire in the foreground--didn't notice that at the time:

Waves were waist to slightly overhead on the sets.  Got one video of a left.  Wave was probably chest high but hard to tell from the video.  More to come!!!


Update:  video wouldn't upload to blogspot, but would to youtube.  link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXuDEaAPTuY if it isn't an active link below.--steve

la lancha left

Swell has arrived...

The swell arrived this afternoon, along with about 30 fervent admirers.  Actually, only a handful really surf--the others sort of hang around in the water.  The SUP's are quite the bother, however.  About every 10 minutes a nice shoulder to head-high set comes through.  You can also see the Mexican Navy/Marines in the background of the second pic.  Very heavily armed and quite visible from the lineup.  Not sure what they're looking for, but not much major criminal activity in the lineup, unless you count the ridiculous amounts of drop-ins going on, and policing that would be really welcome.

You definitely have to do some waiting, but some nice long and longboardy lines out there today.  May head back to La Lancha manana and see if it is less crowded and maybe short-boardable.

Here's the pic of the Ruckus with the new surf racks.  Work pretty well.  She also has a sexy italian neighbor, but she's a Vespa, and likes to stay covered up.  More to come!!!

Punta de Mita

Drove a solid 25 minutes up/down the road from Sayulita to a little place called Punta de Mita.  No real campgrounds here, but got a hookup from an acquaintance online an am staying in a beautiful condo in the area, a place called Anclote Condos.  See my friend Scott at scott@baypackage.com if you dig the view as much as I do.  

That's el Faro breaking way in the distance.  About a 3/4 mile walk or paddle, or a boat ride if you have extra $$.  Between there and the camera is Anclote, which can break with some swell, and there are actually a few longboarders out there now--not really riding anything, though.  Marietta islands in the distance off to the left.


Supposed to have a big swell pushing in tonight thru the rest of the week.  I hope this whole bay lights up like people are forecasting, but will have to wait and see.  Attached the surf racks to the Ruckus (scooter for those who haven't met it yet) today and took it down the road a bit to a little place called La Lancha.  Small waves, still, but other than the afternoon seabreeze almost blowing me and my board over and off the road, it worked surprisingly well.  Will be an advantage here where access for mere mortals is quite limited.  Will get a pic of that soon, too.  More to come later!!!!

Fun waves in Sayulita

Sorry, no pics today.  Fun waves in Sayulita today.  Surfed for about 4 hours total, including a nice sunset session.  Here for one more day, then may be moving on to Punta Mita, just around the corner between here and Puerto Vallarta.  Should be a good week with lot's of waves on the way.

Sayulita!!!

After more consecutive driving than I've done probably ever (roughly 2500 miles) I made my first "official" stop on the Pacific coast of Mexico.  I'm at a little resort/rv park in the town of Sayulita, just north of Puerto Vallarta.  I'd read about this place previously in researching another Mexico trip, and thought it might be a good place to stop, plug in Nookie, and unplug myself for a bit.  I was correct.

I pulled in about 2pm, did a little straightening in the rig after so much driving time, plugged her in, and went for a quick surf.  Nothing to write home about, but it definitely washed some of the road grime off me.  Talked to a couple parked next door, Tim and Amber, who are headed down roughly my same path--i.e., to Panama and back.

Had a quick supper and then several cervesas watching the sun set.

I got up this morning after a long sleep, messed around a bit, then took the kayak out for a paddle out the point here in Sayulita.  Quite a pretty little place, with tons of Californians and lots of $$$ houses.

Not sure how long I'll stay here, but need to head south a bit.  This beach faces NW and this time of year most of the swell comes from the South and Southwest.  More to come!!!

My GPS battle through Mexico: GPS wins in a landslide!

Saltillo was a pleasant stop, though I couldn't find the cheap RV campground and dropped $60 on a decent and secure hotel.  Monday was to be a long travel day from Saltillo, through the town of Zacatecas, and eventually to Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico.  The drive to Zacatecas was smooth, as it was mostly pasture/farm/scrub land as the road gradually climbed to about 7000 feet in elevation.

My maps and several other sources, including Ezekel, the security guard at the hotel, said I should go through Zacatecas on the "pereferico" or ring road, then on to Guadalajara.  My GPS told me to take the "cuota", or toll road, short of Zacatecas and on towards a town called Aquascalientes, then to Guadalajara.  I made my first bad move by ignoring Senor GPS and tried to find my own way.  Not only could I not find the elusive hwy 54 to Guadalajara, I eventually wound up on the same toll road the GPS wanted to send me on in the first place, but nearly an hour later.  Oh well, onward to Aquascalientes.

Mistake #2 was listening to the GPS this time.  I had some written instructions sending me on another "pereferico", but decided this time to listen to the Garmin unit.  45 minutes later, I had bisected this city of 1 million plus residents, driven around the central square and historic cathedral, and had at least a thousand really curious, if not incredulous, looks from pedestrians, other drivers, and even a few policia!

I'll admit I was a bit stressed, but Nookie handled the small streets and sharp turns like a champ!  I also tried to fake like I looked as if I knew what I was doing and was supposed to be there.  After about 30 minutes, I emerged on the far side of Aquascalientes, bound for Guadalajara!

My guidebook informed me there was no direct route around southern Guadalajara and in turn offered a couple of turns, exits, and options for getting around to the western periphery, which is where I planned to stay.  I almost made it.

Long story short, and with no pictures, it's not terribly interesting; I missed my exit and could not get over in time.  I tried turning around and retracing my steps, but couldn't find the entrance to get me onto the right road, so I turned once again to my not-so-trusty GPS.  It proceeded to send me through the heart of Guadalajara, a city of roughly 5 million peeps.  Again, not to belabor things but Nookie and I bounced up, down, around, and through some horribly narrow, potholed, and just plain crappy streets along with a few thousand fellow travelers.  Many of them seemed to have that not-quite-sure-what-to-think look.  Kids in the backs of open pickup trucks really seemed to take a special interest in my scooter mounted to the front.   Many of the fathers did also.  I think I could have had a naked woman riding on the front and gotten fewer stares.

Exiting downtown Guadalajara, it was about 8:30 and quickly getting dark.  My destination was still over an hour away, and now the GPS was taking me through the small town where Sauza tequila is made, along with a few others.  Dead-tired, I stopped on a corner and asked a guy if there was a hotel around.  He pointed immediately behind him and lo, there was a hotel.  Of sorts.  But it had a gate an kind of a fence around it.  While the area didn't feel very secure, and there wasn't a gringo within 20 miles of this place, I paid 200 pesos for a room, took a shower, and slept in the camper.  Sorry I don't have any pics, but I was wasted tired, and got out of there quickly and forgot to take any.  I doubt they would have done justice to the place, the steady stream of 18 wheelers delivering something nearby, and the freight train that came through every 2 hours.

Next up:  Nookie reaches the Pacific.  Huzzah!

Let's not make that mistake twice...

Aimed to cross the border at Laredo/Nuevo Laredo on Saturday.  Arrived at the border around 1 pm and got in line to cross.  The US customs agent quizzed me as to what the hell I was doing, did I know the Zetas (narco-gang) had just blown up a gas station on the Mexican side, etc.  After this ringing endorsement for the security south of the border, I told him I planned to avoid all that business.  He waived me on, then I crossed the border.  Then it got interesting.

I knew I had to get a special "import permit" for the van, so after I crossed into Mexico, it was my understanding that there would be a separate group of buildings a few miles inland where I could do that.  Apparently I was misinformed.  The nice Mexican lady at the border told me I would have to go through a bit of Nuevo Loredo, do a U-turn, then find my way back down to a mystery road that went under the road I was currently on and ran parallel to the Rio Grande river.  Confident in my directional abilities, I set out, and promptly made it back to the border, realized I had not gotten the right road, and would have to do this again.  This time, however, the officials decided they needed to stop my van and have a look around.  They ran a drug dog through it and quizzed me, but were actually fairly nice.  However, they couldn't give me any better directions to the import permit office, and I set off into the streets of Nuevo Laredo once again.

After a second failed u-turn, but at least able to see the road on which I was supposed to be driving, I paid some sort of officer 50 pesos to move a barrier for me, and I was finally on the right road!  After a series of seemingly meaningless bureaucratic jumping from line # 1 to line # 2 back to line # 1 thence to line #4, I get my 10 year import permit and set off through the mean streets of Nuevo Laredo bound for Saltillo, outside of Monterrey.  Spoiler alert:  I made it.

On the road!!!

Long day on Wed.--chimney sweep, Goodwill truck, finishing loading the rig, etc.  Managed to get on the road around 2:30pm with Charleston, MS as the destination.  12 hours later I made it, and am currently encamped at Casa Crose in beautiful downtown Charleston.  Nookie in front of Hunter's crib:

The plan is a lay-day today, doing some organizing, and going to check out some of the Delta this evening.  Friday I'm aiming to make it into Texas, camp somewhere, then shoot for the border on Saturday.  Things are moving along!!!

Almost ready....

Got the Tarpon 120 kayak and the 2 surfboards locked and loaded on Nookie today, thanks to help from Robert Morehead of moreheaddesignlab.com.  He also did the custom rack install and built another sleeping/storage area for the inside.  Most of the furniture from the house is gone, and looking to shove off on wednesday if all goes to plan.  Mexico here I come!!!