Video of first kayaking stuff

I am back stateside now and uploaded a short video of some fun from the first few rivers. Enjoy

Sunsets, Sunrises and Discos

Starting from a few days before New Years we have been living the chorbel beach life at Rio Nexpa. Life here in Mexico always tends to be relaxed and easy living. We posted up on the beach, closest spot we could get to the point. Part of me was a bit hesitant to camp pretty much right in the open but it has turned out to be just the right place. With the tent set up under the palapa, outdoor kitchen facing the ocean and hammocks strung up between the palapa, we found the perfect place to hang out for the month.

The daily routine makes me feel a bit like I am living the retired life. Wake up with the sunrise, put on the coffee pot and either read a bit or journal while we drink a pot of coffee. The surf has had its days but most of the time a bit on the smaller side which has been good for my long board practice. This time of year is said to be the down season for waves but by no means is it a bad place to spend the winter. Another great thing about having our palapa camp right on the beach is that most surfers tend to pass right by our camp before paddling out and it has given us the chance to meet some really cool people.

Almost every morning Jonathan comes by with his 2 yellow labs and usually a fish or two that he caught in his net or with the rod. Then a few weeks into our trip local legend/ gringo expat Pabline showed up and he tends to enjoy a cup of coffee and talk story of the good old days in Mexico or some other travel story of days in Indo or some far off destination. But most the time Becca and I are able to enjoy the sunrise and coffee together before getting the energy to paddle out for a surf.

Afternoons are spent reading in the hammocks and usually that hunger for one of those great Licuados gets us to walk over to Chichos restaurant for a game of cards and a cold drink. I have also gotten some fun uncrowned afternoon sessions when my motivation is up after the card games and Licuados. Then my favorite time of the day comes in the evening when we break out that bottle of tequila and fresca and make those dirt bag margaritas for sunset.

After about a week at Nexpa our propane tank ran out of gas and forced us to head south to the city of Lazaro to try and refill the tank. With no luck because apparently the valve broke and to buy a new tanks does not seem like a good investment, we head to the market in search of the “Disco.” After a quick walk around and twenty bucks later we are heading back to Nexpa with our new cooking utensil. Since drift wood is in abundance the evening cocktails lead into a campfire and then cooking up a feast. We have made a bunch of good meals including; rice and enchiladas, pasta with veggies, teriyaki stir fry and pretty much anything we have around to through in the big disco.

Now as I sit here and write this blog we are enjoying some fun beach break barrels at the beloved Pascuales. Life is good.

 

 

 

 

At the Beach Amigo

So the kayaking part of the trip is finally over, I would love to find some more river goodness along the way but in ways of kayaks, all the boats where left to live on in Veracruz. No more kayaks, just surfboards, boardshorts and hopefully that fishing pole will come out soon as well. Since leaving Veracruz area about 2 weeks ago I made the long drive to Salina Cruz. My co-pilot, Becca, was on her own little surf/family visit in Nexpa and Puerto Vallarta so I was riding solo in the SuenosMobile. I got to Salina Cruz, home to legend right hand point breaks, only to find that this time of the year is mostly windy and small surf. So after a few spot checks I headed north to Hualtulco area to check a few other spots only to find some small beachbreaks.

Small warm water waves

After sleeping in the back of the van for a couple nights in the parking area of a beachbreak I headed up north to visit some new Italian friends, Rikki and Valeria, in the quaint beach town of San Agustinillo. It was nice not to sleep in the hot van and actually have a bed with a fan. My days waiting for Becca to return where spent surfing the nearby beachbreaks, bodysurfing some closeouts, teaching Rikki how to surf and enjoying the evening sunsets on the beach. It feels good to be back on the ocean, the relaxed chorble lifestyle is once again alive.

 

 

Always good days at the beach

 

When Becca arrived we spent a few days with Rikki and Valeria before heading north to Puerto Escondido. With not much surf on the arrival we opted out for some tasty Micheladas and burgers on the beachfront. After a good little buzz and a drift around town I decided to paddle out for a sunset session. While checking the surf it looked  fun, not crowded 3-4ft with peaks up and down the beach. But somehow when I walked to the beach with my board, everyone and there mom decided to go for a surf. After struggling to get a wave to myself, right when I was over the crowd I paddle back out for one last wave before darkness set in. There it was a good set with no damn boogieboards or old locals scrapping for the wave, just me and a perfect A-frame. I dropped in, stood up just as the lip through over me and gave a few pumps in the barrel before escaping through the doggie-door(before the wave closes out).



With no one out at Ventura I had some good practice

Trying to get up there

 

Not a bad tent spot

With a tough nights sleep out of the SuenosMobile at the end of town and not much surf in the morning we continued heading North. With roads in Mexico never taking as long as expected we only made it about 150miles in 6 hours of driving. But we were rewarded with some excellent camping and a fun right at this random beach we decided to drive down, Playa Ventura. I guess it pays off to drive down those random roads and see what is at the end. So after 3 days of surf, read, eat, chorbel we are once again on the road. This time still heading north into the better surf zones for this time of the year, Michocan. Now I am trying to stay dry with an ear infection hanging around and hopefully some surf for Christmas. Life is Good.

 

Pulling in a sandy closeout mess

 

Another Video update

http://vimeo.com/55830731

 

 

A Sweet edit that Chris and his buddy produced after Chris headed back to Gringolandia for the winter. It was great to charge with you mate, glad you came along for the Suenos Living. Watch out Spring, the suenos crew will be shredding Cali up!!!

Born to Run Quote

"There are two godessess in your heart..The Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Wealth. Everyone thinks they need to get wealth first, and wisdom will come. So they concern themselves with chasing money. But they have it backwards. You have to give your heart to the Goddess of Wisdom, giver here all your love and attention and the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous, and follow you."

I am by no means a wealthy person by monetary means, but this life I choose to live lets me wake up and look around and most importantly smile. Life is always teaching me something. To wake up and walk out and see the ocean then just before the sun goes down sit in the sand and watch the sky change colors, I realize how much I really have. Blessings come in many forms. It really is great to sit, relax, read a book, go for a surf, enjoy a cold beer with some friends, and to continue living La Buena Vida.

Video update from Mexico

A great part to the suenos crew, Sandy from NZ, put together a great edit. Check it out!!!!

For now Chorbel Mode in Jalco.



http://vimeo.com/55192144http://vimeo.com/55192144

Rio del Oro

　

　

The Put-in waterfall of the Oro

Ever since my first river experience I have always wanted to paddle on a river that finished in the ocean. It has been about five years since I first got in a kayak and fell in love with the world of rivers. All this time there has always been this desire to run a river to the sea and I finally got the chance recently on the Rio del Oro in Veracruz. After a few weeks of running some incredible whitewater in Tlapacoyan our crew felt the need for a bit of change. We loaded up the van with boats and people (myself, Becca, Chris, Riley, Sandy, and Paffhouse) and headed to our first stop, Jalcomulco.

 Jalcomulco is a small town a few hours south of Tlapacoyan and is quite the river village. It is a small pueblo that lives off tourism and the center of town is the takeout for a fun class 3 section that thrives of rafting. A local kayaker Misa, hooked us up with a place to crash and was a good source of local beta from everything from cheap eats to good paddling. We spent a couple days in Jalcomulco kayaking the local section and getting everyone in the water even Paffy who shredded in the kayak and Becca and myself taking on the Dynamic Duo double kayak. The three of us got our first swims out of the way but came out with smiles at the end of the day.

Camping on the beach

We hung around Jalcomulco until Misa finished up his work week and we all rallied down to the Rio del Oro for some beach and kayak time. The drive took us about 5 hours with some stops for tacos, picking up Riley’s mate Kevin in Veracruz and stocking up with some groceries for the next couple days. We finally made it to the small beach town of Roca Partida and pulled up to a local restaurant and were greeted warmly by local guide Flaco. Flaco owns a restaurant on the beach and gladly let us string up some hammocks under his palapa and set up camp for the next few days. Each time Flaco got sight of you he was always asking, “Todo Bien, todo bien?” He always was doing his best to make sure we were enjoying ourselves and living la buena vida.

It is funny how during a kayak trip sometimes the actual act of being in a kayak only amounts to an hour or two per day. The rio oro is one of those rivers that is by no means long and besides a few small rapids only holds 2 big waterfalls in the 30 to 40 foot range. This short trip holds so much beauty aside from just being in our kayaks and in the river. I feel like it is the whole experience of waking up in the morning, having a couple cups of coffee with some good friends, eat some breakfast when someone decides be on cook crew or wait around while a few of the boys help the locals pull in the fishing net with the rest of town that was set out earlier in the morning. The first morning I sat around and drinking coffee and watching as Riley and Misa joined the fishing crew and pulled in the big net that took them a solid hour of tug-a-war until the whole net was on the beach.

Hungry?

Misa freeing the sand shark

What comes next in the big catch is the surrounding households gather their part for their families and the rest of the fish that is eatable is put in crates to be brought to the bigger city to be sold. Then after everything is cleaned up, straight to the kitchen to fry up some fish for a big healthy lunch, then for the Mexicans probably a solid siesta or some beers to top off the afternoon. This is when our kayak posse makes our first move to the river. Life on the beach is easy living, chorbel mode. These people only work the necessary amount in order to eat and make a bit of cash, then the rest of the day they hang out with their friends and family. Essentially they are doing exactly what we are doing on this vacation, they figured out how to live a simple and enjoyable life.

The Hike in




Paffy tucked up and ready for landing on his first ever waterfall

Well after Misa, Riley and Kevin had their fare share of the Oro they headed back to Jalco and Matt, Chris, Becca and myself decided to hang a few more days on the beach. The next few days on the beach where pretty mellow, we only made one more trip up the river but this time with the intent to get Matt to huck his first waterfall. Matt or Paffy as most call him, started guide school on the Kern with me five years ago but never got as attached to kayaking like I did. Possibly because the “load-star” in him or he just never bought a kayak and the gear. But since I had an extra kayak plus gear, Chris and I had him hike into the first waterfall and after I ran the first big waterfall, Chris lowered his boat down to me and Matt jumped into the pool below. We ran two smaller rapids in between before stopping above the lip of the second 30 footer for a scout and explained to Paff where to run the falls and Chris and myself went off to set up safety below. We heard Paff toot his whistle to warn us of his descent and there he was coming off the lip perfectly tucked awaiting the big hit at the bottom. From the hard impact he was ejected from the boat but all was good and I think it was the biggest smile I had seen from such a happy guy.


The beach getaway was a good break and a relaxing time to get outside with some good friends. To be able to run a river and paddle out of the river mouth into the ocean is quite the experience. Although there where no epic waves to surf at this beach there was always the cold cerveza awaiting us back at Flaco’s palapa after a good session of paddling.

Photos by Kevin Whiting






Lining up the big tuck



The good old paddle toss

Myself trying a little to hard to boof



Chris lining up the first big drop