The last two weeks and heading home.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks, one of which was the death of my magic 6'8. We paddled out at a secret location which requires a huge swell, only to be hampered by vicious currents and a dense fog bank making it impossible to see lineups or the incoming swell. Frustration ran amok as we dodged bomb sets and scratched for large waves in vain. A few rides were made but mostly it was an exercise in exercise.

The paddle out before the fog got bad.  "sometimes ya eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you."

We were all pretty worn out but felt we hadnt gotten our use out of the big clean swell.  Still suited, we drove the coast to another spot we thought would be good.  It too had the fog.  Jerz and I figured we'd give it a dig anyways, chose different jump off points, and somehow made it out unscathed.  The wave is fast, critical, and down the line, a true racetrack where there is no turning just pumping and trying to not let a double overhead lip catch you.  We got a few screamers (the kind of wave where when you kick out you are screaming at the top of your lungs for some unknown reason).  I made the decision to pull into a closeout and one of my best views of the trip was paid for via a severe beating and broken leash.  I sprinted to get my board and just reached it when the next wave hit.  I ended up in the alongshore current and my board ended up between a few rocks and getting pretty well blasted to shreds. 

We then got in the car and drove 8 hours south in search of new spots.  We rocked up to a dark damp fishing village at 2 am and somehow ended up finding cold beers, hot food, and beds for all of us for around 10 bucks each.  Not too bad!  Oh heres a few photos that are out of chronoligical order from the above series of events (Photo credits Ollie):

Another secret...

Genji on a glassy evening.

My new hobby.

Seagull Barnett, burning some speed off.

 

Southern Skies

Ok, where were we, oh yea we were way down south at a rumored mini mundaka style rivermouth.  Well it wasn't mundaka (or even surfable).  These are the classic Chilean dudes that hooked us up with lodging and grub at 2:00am. 

We ended up searching google earth for potential setups and missioned further south yet.  We found some promising setups but nothing worth surfing.  We pretty much wrote it off and drank way too much beer that night in a cabana we rented for 20 bucks.  Oh yea and we had an good heavy metal air guitar session which also seems to be a staple of any real good surf trip.

As tends to happen when you drink too much, the ocean gets revenge at first light:

 Beautiful reef setup though, we were pretty besides ourselves to find such a gem.

 

Genji was the only one doing any real damage, and as you can see below, he clearly knows where to set his gaff.

 A local dude rolled up completely shocked and stoked to see other surfers.  He had an old beat up 10 mil dive suit and some bright red dinged up retro 80's board, but he got amongst it and showed us how to to surf the wave even getting a good barrel and coming out.   Jorge from *******, you sir are a stud. 

Fast forward through a 12 hours straight shot north, a week of sitting out the rain and wind, reading a few good books, a trip to Chillan to help the family by a washing machine, and all the sudden it was time to head north to Santiago and the flight home. 

We had one last rendezvous with everyone in Santiago and ended up hungover at the waveloch.  It is an artificial wave in Santiago that produces a standing 8 ft barrel.  You get tossed every time you ride it it and there were some spectacular wipeouts.  It was a fun last day in Chile.  We got 2 hours of sleep and hit the airport for a 26 hour door to door mission home.  Currently we are about halfway through a 6 hour layover in El Salvador. 

 

Genji and I are both excited to be heading home with our bellies full of waves, food, and cheap south american beer.  I am incredibly thankful to have seized this opportunity and can tell you without doubt I will return to Chile.  It is not a place that you can easily forget, between the warmth of the people, the quality of the waves, and the incredible scenery it is truly a world class destination suitable for anyone looking to travel a few decades back in time without breaking the bank.  The next 2 months for me will be in California with family and friends, and for Genji commercial fishing in Alaska before we head off to Indonesia for a few months.  Stay tuned and we will try to keep the words and photos rolling during our time off, and preparation for what is most likely the most wave blessed country on the planet.