You may have seen our Chile article on Boardseeker, if not it is worth a read: HERE As the article has summarised most of our exploits I will leave you with a few photos which mostly speak for themselves!
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Back to reality with 7 second period swell...
I am now home from Chile and unfortunately regularly dissappointed with the English forecast having come from 12-20 second period swell to almost nothing here! I have still made the most of it though and went twice after work for small wave sessions at Bigbury, and surfed yesterday in onshore mush a Whitsands!
You may have seen our Chile article on Boardseeker, if not it is worth a read: HERE As the article has summarised most of our exploits I will leave you with a few photos which mostly speak for themselves!
You may have seen our Chile article on Boardseeker, if not it is worth a read: HERE As the article has summarised most of our exploits I will leave you with a few photos which mostly speak for themselves!
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Breakfast with a Chilean family
3 weeks have flown by and we now only have four days left, we leave on Saturday. It just isn't long enough when you are waiting for forecasts! Saying that, we have surfed or windsurfed nearly everyday, and luckily, our next three look awesome, with big waves and some wind. Hopefully we will get a good session at Topocalma, Matanzas and Pichilemu. The last few days have been ok, some wind came in the other night so we had a late windsurf at Churillos, but it wasn't quite enough with the rip. The next day we went to Topocalma for the third time, hoping to score a session this time. Well the wind died off again (I was wobbling on 58l and 4.2), and just as we were about to give up the wind built up to 3.4 weather, but really gusty and offshore, so it was really hard work. The tide was high so the waves were a little choppy, from head to logo. I could barely sail on 4.2 and got really tired quickly so I took a little footage of Stef. I was kind of frustrated with the wind but hopefully I will have a better session there tomorrow, its not the easiest place to sail.
The past couple of days we tried to surf, it has been spring tides and overhead, so I don't think it works that well here, everything was churny and rippy. We went early to Puertecillo this morning but on the way an old Chilean couple flagged us down and jumped in the car. We didn't really understand much but ended up driving them home. They then insisted we came into their wooden house with a mud built stove, sat us down and gave us bread, coffee and sweetcorn fritters. They asked if everyone in England was blonde and blue eyed and we said no, some are dark and some have orange hair-which they found hilarious! We were so full I could barely finish eating, but we had to out of poilteness. I was amazed at their kindness they showed us, giving us a lot when they seemed to have very little, even giving us bread they insisted we took for after surfing! We left and went to Puertecillo, so full and by then it was a bit rippy and onshore. We also gained a tiny cute kitten we had to return home!
The Castillo Flores family. Their house isn't actually the one in the picture, it is through the gap on the left under some fruit trees:
Matanzas rocks:
A nice swell coming in:
Puertecillo:
Navidad:
A lot of people work collecting tons of seaweed, piling really high on their trucks, wrapping it tightly and selling it to eat, I haven't tried it myself, it is a little strange!
Amazing BBQs:
Pisco Sour, the amazing local drink:
Trying to tuck into a barrel, but getting nailed by the lip as I didn't get low enough!
View of Puertecillo drive down:
The past couple of days we tried to surf, it has been spring tides and overhead, so I don't think it works that well here, everything was churny and rippy. We went early to Puertecillo this morning but on the way an old Chilean couple flagged us down and jumped in the car. We didn't really understand much but ended up driving them home. They then insisted we came into their wooden house with a mud built stove, sat us down and gave us bread, coffee and sweetcorn fritters. They asked if everyone in England was blonde and blue eyed and we said no, some are dark and some have orange hair-which they found hilarious! We were so full I could barely finish eating, but we had to out of poilteness. I was amazed at their kindness they showed us, giving us a lot when they seemed to have very little, even giving us bread they insisted we took for after surfing! We left and went to Puertecillo, so full and by then it was a bit rippy and onshore. We also gained a tiny cute kitten we had to return home!
The Castillo Flores family. Their house isn't actually the one in the picture, it is through the gap on the left under some fruit trees:
Matanzas rocks:
A nice swell coming in:
Puertecillo:
Navidad:
A lot of people work collecting tons of seaweed, piling really high on their trucks, wrapping it tightly and selling it to eat, I haven't tried it myself, it is a little strange!
Amazing BBQs:
Pisco Sour, the amazing local drink:
Trying to tuck into a barrel, but getting nailed by the lip as I didn't get low enough!
View of Puertecillo drive down:
Friday, 30 March 2012
You need to be into your surfing, and nothing but £10 to our name!
If you come to Chile, you have to be pretty willing to surf instead of windsurf on the non windy days, as there have been a fair few. The last three days we have surfed, and it looks like today we probably will too as it is foggy again in the morning. (Matanzas gets this fog which can last all day when just inland is burning hot sunshine!) Saying that, the waves are world class, some of the fastest waves I have ever surfed, and fairly powerful. At Matanzas the other day you had to paddle hard and fast really left and takeoff super quick or the wave would have you. I tried to pull off a few as I was too late but just got sucked over with the falls.
So we surfed Matanzas yesterday which was overhead, and a couple of days before that, about head high. There is a dodgy looking rock launch which you have to time the sets and paddle out. This was pretty difficult last night as when we went the fog was so thick you couldn't see the sets! Once out it is fine, but it took me a while to get used to surfing infront of the rocks, and there are a couple of dry ones to avoid. I got pretty near last night when a set came but you can paddle past them with the current then come back up again.
We also surfed Puertecillo, which is the longest peeling left I have ever seen! I saw a guy get a wave which must have gone on for half a kilometre?! The only problem was being such a nice break it was busy, so the waves I had were the ones no-one wanted/or had fallen off. Not ideal... The spot would be amaing when no-one is there but people camp. I didn't mention the road down either, a really sketchy steep dirt track with cliff drops either side, fine if you are in a 4x4 with good brakes but I am not sure what happens if you meet someone the other way?! It reminded me of the world's most dangerous roads program on TV...
The other thing we discovered on my birthday, is that we have no money and no way of getting any out! Stef lost his debit card in the airport so that is getting cancelled, mine runs out the end of March, and despite driving to our nearest cashpoint and then one an hour away (yes an HOUR to get cash out!) neither would let us. The fuel stations don't take card either. I have never been to such a remote place, no one has cards here. So tomorrow we drive an hour to get fuel out somewhere else where we hope they take card! We are living on our 7000 chilean pesos for now, (about £10) there isn't much to spend your money on here!
The sketchy rock launch at Matanzas, (me looking a little worried!)
Pulling off before the rocks:
Perfect peeling head high lefts at Puertecillo:
Pulling off a little late and going over the falls:
So we surfed Matanzas yesterday which was overhead, and a couple of days before that, about head high. There is a dodgy looking rock launch which you have to time the sets and paddle out. This was pretty difficult last night as when we went the fog was so thick you couldn't see the sets! Once out it is fine, but it took me a while to get used to surfing infront of the rocks, and there are a couple of dry ones to avoid. I got pretty near last night when a set came but you can paddle past them with the current then come back up again.
We also surfed Puertecillo, which is the longest peeling left I have ever seen! I saw a guy get a wave which must have gone on for half a kilometre?! The only problem was being such a nice break it was busy, so the waves I had were the ones no-one wanted/or had fallen off. Not ideal... The spot would be amaing when no-one is there but people camp. I didn't mention the road down either, a really sketchy steep dirt track with cliff drops either side, fine if you are in a 4x4 with good brakes but I am not sure what happens if you meet someone the other way?! It reminded me of the world's most dangerous roads program on TV...
The other thing we discovered on my birthday, is that we have no money and no way of getting any out! Stef lost his debit card in the airport so that is getting cancelled, mine runs out the end of March, and despite driving to our nearest cashpoint and then one an hour away (yes an HOUR to get cash out!) neither would let us. The fuel stations don't take card either. I have never been to such a remote place, no one has cards here. So tomorrow we drive an hour to get fuel out somewhere else where we hope they take card! We are living on our 7000 chilean pesos for now, (about £10) there isn't much to spend your money on here!
The sketchy rock launch at Matanzas, (me looking a little worried!)
Pulling off before the rocks:
Perfect peeling head high lefts at Puertecillo:
Pulling off a little late and going over the falls:
Monday, 26 March 2012
Small waves and an earthquake...
Since the day in Santiago we have been in the water everyday. We went to Topocalma on Saturday, about 45 minutes away with down the line perfection. Unfortunately we were a little too excited and went pretty early, so the wind hadn't kicked in yet and the surf spot looked pretty small for our boards. We waited a little but decided we should drive back as there were no other windsurfers there and we thought we were missing out elsewhere. It turned out we should have stayed, but instead we had a fun session at Matanzas with waist to head high waves. The swell has backed off a little since when we first arrived so it has been pretty small riding, (hence the photos), but should be getting bigger from tomorrow. We had another session at Matanzas then went to Topocalma again today. It was really windy when we left but dropped as soon as we were out so we just wobbled around. I can't wait to see that place mast high as it looked perfect peeling down the line and there was no one but the three of us there.
Yesterday, there was an earthquake that measured 7.1 on the Richter scale about 100 miles away. We came in from our session and were de-rigging on the beach and felt the whole beach move, but originally we thought we were just dizzy in the heat. It only lasted about 10-15 seconds (a minute at the epi centre), but was one of the strangest feelings I have had. We packed up quickly and went up the hill to the Tsunami save zone pretty quickly, but luckily nothing happened. The locals all seemed pretty worried as the last one two years ago wiped out alot of the village. There was no damage, just some things moving around and falling over, and a few more rocks on our road to the beach.
Here are some more pictures of the latest sessions, I am looking forward to some bigger waves and some more surfing too!
Finally, the hot tub did get hot, after we put a lid on it to heat up! Next time we will stir it more though as it was freezing at the bottom and really hot at the top!
Yesterday, there was an earthquake that measured 7.1 on the Richter scale about 100 miles away. We came in from our session and were de-rigging on the beach and felt the whole beach move, but originally we thought we were just dizzy in the heat. It only lasted about 10-15 seconds (a minute at the epi centre), but was one of the strangest feelings I have had. We packed up quickly and went up the hill to the Tsunami save zone pretty quickly, but luckily nothing happened. The locals all seemed pretty worried as the last one two years ago wiped out alot of the village. There was no damage, just some things moving around and falling over, and a few more rocks on our road to the beach.
Here are some more pictures of the latest sessions, I am looking forward to some bigger waves and some more surfing too!
Finally, the hot tub did get hot, after we put a lid on it to heat up! Next time we will stir it more though as it was freezing at the bottom and really hot at the top!
Friday, 23 March 2012
Waiting for the hot tub…
I thought it was about time I put some pictures up of our first week in Chile. We are currently waiting for our hot tub to warm up with the fire we made, but it’s taking a few hours! So after 16 hours of flying we arrived in Chile! Customs made a bit of a fuss about all our kit and we thought we had been scammed by the car company, but all turned out well and we got to Matanzas.
It was so perfect when we arrived, perfect double overhead barrels peeling left, absolutely amazing! Our house overlooks the sea, it has an all glass front with decking, BBQ, workout area, it’s incredible! We surfed the evening we arrived, so happy to be in just a suit after boots and hood in the UK. The next day we surfed Matanzas again, then went with Robby Swift to Roca Cuadrada, but haven’t had an amazing surf yet as the current where we went in was pretty strong and we haven’t done the rock launch yet as it was pretty knarly with up to double overhead barrels!
After that, it has been windy every day! We have been going to Churillos for side on jumping. I tried my custom yesterday with a 4.2 and it felt amazing! Not too small but really controlled through gybing and bottom turning and much less bouncy on chop. We should get some down the line conditions tomorrow to try it out. Today we had to be up at 5 to swap our car for Robby’s in Santiago, (long story) so we missed most of today unfortunately. Any way here are some pictures with lots more to come!
Loading up our pickup:
Peeling lines to the horizon:
Arriving at Matanzas:
Loving the Chilean wine:
Watermelon for breakfast:
Trying my new custom with K4 fins for the first time at Churillos jumping spot:
Backside:
Top turn:
It was so perfect when we arrived, perfect double overhead barrels peeling left, absolutely amazing! Our house overlooks the sea, it has an all glass front with decking, BBQ, workout area, it’s incredible! We surfed the evening we arrived, so happy to be in just a suit after boots and hood in the UK. The next day we surfed Matanzas again, then went with Robby Swift to Roca Cuadrada, but haven’t had an amazing surf yet as the current where we went in was pretty strong and we haven’t done the rock launch yet as it was pretty knarly with up to double overhead barrels!
After that, it has been windy every day! We have been going to Churillos for side on jumping. I tried my custom yesterday with a 4.2 and it felt amazing! Not too small but really controlled through gybing and bottom turning and much less bouncy on chop. We should get some down the line conditions tomorrow to try it out. Today we had to be up at 5 to swap our car for Robby’s in Santiago, (long story) so we missed most of today unfortunately. Any way here are some pictures with lots more to come!
Loading up our pickup:
Peeling lines to the horizon:
Arriving at Matanzas:
Loving the Chilean wine:
Watermelon for breakfast:
Trying my new custom with K4 fins for the first time at Churillos jumping spot:
Backside:
Top turn:
Saturday, 17 March 2012
CHILEEEEE!
Quick post as we are busy packing four kit bags...Off to Chile tonight with TAM airlines. I have my new custom 58 from Jim, which looks absolutely amazing! He has done a great job and I can't wait to ride it! A Quatro 68 Rhythm, four No Limitz masts, lots of K4 fins to test, a few Simmer sails, extensions, UJs, a 5'10'' Deviant surfboard, Go Pro etc - A LOT of kit! Can't wait! Will keep you updated with pics and video clips...
Here's the new custom! I'll get more pics on the beach:
Here's the new custom! I'll get more pics on the beach:
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Glass On!
Both layers of glass on, and in the final vacuum bag... (Apologies for the small images, they are from Jim's phone!)
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