Surfing competition is over - but will be back next year

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The announcers at the surf contest got the loudspeaker going about half-way through the competition today at Playa Grande, just in time to hear that the promoters of the contest - el municipio de La Huerta and Corona Beer - want to make Arroyo Seco into an international surfing destination.

Property owners will likely rejoice at that idea. People who live here might be a little less enthusiastic.

Whatever the case, the surfing today was even better than Saturday, as the surfers went out two by two to compete, one wearing a red jersey, the other blue.

Some very fancy surfing took place, even with relatively small waves again.


Riding the wave

There were two mishaps, one minor, one not-so-minor.

In the minor category, a Canadian surfer who winters in Melaque got inspired by the competition and decided to head out and try a few waves. But 25 feet from shore, he got swept north - right to the area where the surfers were competing, effectively blocking the surfers from making their runs.

The announcers told him to move off, but in the wind and waves, he couldn't hear.

He was caught in a terrible rip tide and ended up going out into deeper water to escape the current - escorted by another surfer who passed along the message that he had to move.


Hurt surfer getting medical attention


On his way to the ambulance

In the not-so-minor category, a non-competing surfer stumbled out of the water right in front of the fans, holding his neck and in obvious pain. And because the bomberos and an ambulance were there for the tournament, he was immediately treated by the red-shirted staff.

The medics immobilized his head and neck and whisked him off in the ambulance after only about 10 minutes.


Lois Lane interviews tournament officials

Also in the middle of all this was Guadalajara Reporter columnist Jane Gorby (aka Lois Lane) on the beat to gather information for her column.

After watching an hour of the competition, she went over to the judges' table and in very fine journalistic style, button-holed several of the leaders. Button-holed might not be the right expression, considering one fellow was sans a shirt, the other wore a blue t-shirt.

Still, Jane got the story and snapped a few photos, too, before departing in a cloud of dust back to La Manzanilla and her computer.


Photo tower at the swim competition

The event was a photographer's dream, providing me with evidence (again) that I need to upgrade some of my photography equipment before next year's competition.

Perhaps I should upgrade as soon as I get back in the U.S. - the land of cheap electronics.

Here is a brief video of some of the action:

Surf was up - sort of - for Arroyo Seco weekend-long surf contest

PLAYA GRANDE, Arroyo Seco, Jalisco, Mexico - The surf was relatively tame for today's surf contest in Arroyo Seco - at least from the shore. About 30 surfers (mas o menos) were involved in the La Huerta-sponsored contest, most of whom camped on the beach last night, no doubt to get a good night's sleep before today's tournament. Ok, maybe there's some doubt. A few of the contestants did look a little sleepy until they hit the water.

Scheduled to start sometime around 9 a.m., the contest part began closer to 11:30.

!Que sorpresa!


Surfer comes in from a practice run

But the later-than-expected start gave spectators and vendors - and there were plenty of both- time to get their chairs and tables and beer coolers set up to watch. The surfers all practiced for at least an hour  before the first whistle was blown and it was wild watching all those surfers fighting for space, close to the rocks on the north end of the beach.

There were no loudspeakers, so the spectators had to give a guess as to what was going on when the actual tournament started. But we witnessed some fancy board work.

Things ended by about 3 p.m.


Um, where's the surfer?

Sunday the contest continues and the organizers promise that it will start close to 9 a.m. - and it might. The tents and scoring booths and cameras are all in place and ready to go without set up. And the spectators? Well, most of our gear is in the back of our neighbor's pickup truck, ready for tomorrow's action.

In addition to local spectators, there were out-of-town vistors from La Manzanilla, Boca de Iguana, Melaque and even two polo players from Careyes who we met several weeks ago when we strayed from the shoreline to catch a few chukkers there.

Tomorrow, I understand that Guadalajara Reporter writer and La Manzanilla bon vivant Jane Gorby (aka Lois Lane) will be on hand to check things out.

We will have a chair and some shade reserved for her.


The sign tells it all

Catching the tail end of Semana Santa at Tenacatita Beach

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - As the final few weeks of our Mexico season wind down, we've started a Mexico bucket list for things we want to fit in before we wing back to New York.

And CEO Laura Warner - who will leave a week before we do - has already starting getting in her last weeks of surfing.

Two surfing expeditions are on tap for her today.


Tenacatita Beach - not that crowded

Thursday we all headed out to Tenacatita to get an afternoon of snorkeling and boogie-boarding in. The Semana Santa vacationistas had thinned out appreciatively, but there were still plenty of people enjoying the beach.

And, in very un-Mexican-style, there were three lifeguards on the beach, keeping people from swimming out too deep (and maybe to avoid having them get run over a speeding panga).

The swimmers were so unused to lifeguards - or anyone else - telling them what to do, that the lifeguards had to walk out into the water up to their necks to get the swimmers' attention. Then, of course, there had to be a long discussion between the swimmers and the guards.


Lifeguard rounds up the swimmers

The boogie-boarding was good - though I managed to swallow plenty of salt water when I got rolled three or four times in the big crashers. The lifeguards didn't call me back into shallower waters, even when I went out pretty deep. But they had somewhat amused smiles on their faces when I washed up on the beach a couple of times right in front of them, boogie board on top, not underneath me.

Tomorrow and Sunday, in Arroyo Seco, the surfing pros will be here, to compete some kind of surfing contest - at least that was what was announced on the La Manzanilla message board. The action is supposed to start at 9 a.m. and we won't know until tomorrow morning (and Sunday morning) at which beach the surfing will take place.

Wind direction - and swell - will determine whether we need to head to Playa Chica or Playa Grande.

If the waves are like they are today, the surfers are in for some wild rides.



Last year, an amigo from Canada (originally from South Africa) came by the Pink Flamingo for an afternoon but stayed for several days when he found out how good the surfing was.

Below is a video of him on the beach and surfing. The music is from the classic surfing movie Endless Summer, which was filmed right in front of Ricardo's casa in South Africa, when he was a child.

Surfers enjoy the huge waves, but with skimboards

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - On our way to Tenacatita, for a lunch with the Lamonts, we came upon a group of surfers who had gotten out their skimboards to tackle the huge surf that was pounding the shore near a house called, appropriately, Shangri-La.

They were having a wild time in water that would crush a person on a regular surfboard.

We left early because with the high tides and huge waves, we were a little afraid that the ocean might have breached the two rivers, which have been silted-in (or, technically, sanded-in) for months. If they were, it would have been a quick trip back to the Pink Flamingo for the Toyota Tundra.

The rivers were silted in and passable, but we got to Tenacatita covered with salt spray.


Skimboarders head out

We had our usual great lunch at the Fiesta Mexicana restaurant, which was relatively empty, while others were jammed with diners. Capt. Lamont and I surmised that one reason is the the tour buses - and there were about 15 of them - brought their passengers to particular restaurants.

And Fiesta Mexicana is not one of them.

The waves in the protected bay were excellent for boogie-boarding. I have the sunburn to prove that I stayed out too long and enjoyed the big rollers too much.

But afterwards we took a hike to the end of the beach to the area known as the Aquarium, a reef and inlet that is known for having great marine life. I left my fins and mask in car after being told by several people that the water would be murky because of the swell.

I should have carried them. The water looked great.


Admiral checks out the tide pools at the west end of the beach


Sanders and Pat on the rocks

Earlier Saturday, the Admiral spent an hour tapping out a blog about her adventures as the 'dog lady,' of Arroyo Seco. Because we zoom about on the quad several times a day with food to feed various ill dogs around the village, every dog in the rancho perks up when they hear the sound of our Honda.

The Dog Lady of Arroyo Seco

But, que lastima, we had to replace our internet connection/wireless modem earlier this week when the old one simply crapped out. (Crapped out: That's a technical term, which covers a lot of territory and the only description I have for what occurred.)

When I installed the new modem from Tel-Mex, my computer - and our two ITouch units - worked great. They might be processing data even faster, in fact.

But the Admiral's computer won't hook up to the wireless system. Instead, she has to use a cable and hook directly to the modem. And, unfortunately, that modem is out in the Communications Tent.

I may be moving that whole enterprise to a new location pretty soon.


Admiral works on her blog in the Communications Tent

The 'dog lady' will get a different kind of workout tomorrow - outside the tent - when our amiga and veterinarian Rocio is scheduled to perform surgery right here in our palapa at noon. Rocio had wanted us to bring Leona in the car to Manzanillo (about two hours away), but I begged her to come to the Pink Flamingo instead.

I am sure the Admiral will be right in the mix of things during the surgery.

My job tomorrow will likely be to hold Leona down on the surgery table while we wait for the anesthetic takes hold.

And Leona does not have much of a sense of humor when someone tries to restrain her.

Checking out that crashing sound - the waves on the beach

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral and I were in the middle of our morning routines today, when the sound of the crashing surf - nearly a mile away - shook us out of routine reverie and we walked down to see what all the, well, crashing, was about.

With Samba in tow (the dog who is taken care of by our surfer-dude amigo Julien part of the winter), we marched down, noting that we could see the spray from the waves a good half-mile off.

We were rewarded with a beach covered with water, a combination of a high tide and 10-15 foot waves smashing the sand.


Big waves keep on coming

The sound was pretty incredible and there wasn't a lot of space to walk without getting our shoes wet. Yes, we were on a beach. Yes, you should expect to get your feet wet. But, no. I wear hiking boots on such day hikes and don't care for getting them soaking and squeaking for the mile-walk back to the Pink Flamingo.



Sanders and Pat Lamont have left us for the bright lights of La Manzanilla where they are staying at the beautiful seaside casa owned by Kate Fisher. After a week of the down-home, country life of Arroyo Seco, I think they are probably ready for some night life beyond the four of us sitting around the bar at the Flamingo, drinking Spanish wine and playing some music.

Of course, we are plotting a couple of forays into La Manzanilla while they are there this week: lunch at Palapa Joes, dinner at Figaro's, breakfast at Cafe Risa. And maybe even dragging the sailing dinghy over to the Tenacatita Bay beach for a trial run with the sail rig.

The dinghy - named the Captain's Gig - passed the float test in the laguna a few days ago and is ready for sea trials since repairs were done in Sacramento by Sabbatical's Chief Engineer Scott Noble. Captain's Gig has sailed in San Francisco Bay, around San Diego, in the Sea of Cortez and all along the Mexican coast from Mazatlan to Zihuatenejo.

A sailing day does mean taking time off from watering the grass here in Arroyo Seco and tending to our many plants (not to mention the various dogs under the Admiral's care).

"Your orders, Captain?"

Get ready to make sail!


The green, green grass of Arroyo Seco

Taking a quad tour of Arroyo Seco beaches at Semana Santa

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The wind has been piping up to 30+ knots during the afternoons for the past few days, so the Admiral and I - and our neighbor Brianda - headed out Friday early on the quad to reconnoiter the beaches to see how many vacacionistas have invaded our normally traquil beaches.

Not too many, it seems, though earlier today a huge blue tour bus headed to the beach, loaded with tourists. It's the first tour bus I have ever seen come through town. Judging from the way people in the village came out of their houses to gawk at the bus, they haven't ever seen anyone brave enough to come down these roads with a rig that big before either.


Playa Grande on Good Friday

Playa Grande and Playa Chica were both quiet, partly I suppose because of the winds that tore the awning down off the original Grey Goose II trailer today. And it might also be because the beaches are both on open ocean, which Friday was pumping huge waves onto the sand and very few people were willing to risk the undertow to go swimming. There were some pretty sizable encampments along Playa Grande, tucked back in out of the wind. Today even more carloads of people with camping gear were headed out for a few days of fun in the sun.

While Easter is tomorrow, vacations for many people continue right through next week.

And, of course, with the vacacionistas has come an influx of quads and motorcycles - bad news for people who don't like hotrodding kids, good news for the tiendas in town who are selling a lot of gasoline.


Follow that quad


Camping at the end of the beach

Makeshift volleyball nets were all over the beaches and every 200 yards or so there was a furious game of futbol (soccer) going on with the ball usually ending up kicked out into the raging surf. It's amazing how far even a 7-year-old can boot a soccer ball.

But in addition to the volleyball and futbol, we saw one group of fellows who used their ingenuity - and quad - to come up with a sport that looked like a lot of fun. We will be adding it to our arsenal of looney things to do on the beach.

Taking the morning to go surfing at Playa Chica

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - No, I didn't actually climb aboard a real surfboard today. I left that duty to a new amigo, Ricardo, who hails from South Africa by way of Ashland, Oregon where he and his amiga Amy live.

Amy and Richard arrived yesterday bearing gifts from the Admiral's cousin Lynn and her partner Suzanne who had seen the couple in Yelapa, at the memorial service for Isabel, the woman who died earlier this year after falling off a staircase in La Manzanilla.

What were the gifts? A set of pink flamingo glasses and stir sticks. Amazing! We celebrated the gift with a round of Cuba Libres - in the flamingo glasses, of course.


The Admiral and Amy at Playa Chica

What I did do - instead of surfing - was jump on one of our boogie boards to go out and challenge the waves.

The cross currents were pretty strong, knocking me over several times when I lost my footing. So after just a few rides I decided to take it a little easier today. I can always head back to the beach.


Richard comes in from the surf

The waves were better for surfing than for boogie boarding and Richard is hoping to get a repeat tomorrow of today's good surf before he and Amy make their way back north.

Here's a very brief video of our amigo Max (from France) followed by a short clip of Richard getting a ride.

More construction, a new tree and time at the beach - ahhhhh

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Three work crews are pouring concrete, sawing, hammering and laying tile this week at The Pink Flamingo (the new name for this enclave). The tile needs to be put down on the foundation sidewalls (to discourage scorpions from climbing onto the floor). The bathrooms & showers are being plastered, one step before the electrician puts in lights and switches. And outside the front fence, a large concrete pole is being constructed where an electric meter for our second electrical service will sit.

But the dust! Jaysus H...


Progress on the showers and bathrooms

Besides watching the workmen, well, work, we moved ahead on two other fronts: getting some privacy for the trailer and also making the Communications Center a better place to, well, communicate.

The aft window of the trailer (where the bedroom is) could be seen easily from the rear gate and so we purchased a six-foot fan palm from the local vivero to use as a natural screen. Although I would normally have hired some guys to dig the hole and plant the tree, I decided it was time to break out the shovel and do it myself. The minute I did, of course, one of the workmen (on the tile job) came over and helped.

And after a half-hour of digging, the tree went in the hole and I went in the trailer and took an hour-long nap.

I really have to get more exercise.


A new tree and some privacy

The Communications Center (with the connections for the Mexico phone, Vonage Phone and Internet Modem) had been set up under a simple shade structure, which generally worked fine, except at night, when you were likely to have to battle a variety of flying and crawling insects while trying to use the Vonage phone.

But the La Manzanilla Message Board came to the rescue with a screened-room tent, offered for sale by Ani Mac. The tent project took about four hours and included Admiral Fox getting totally freaked out by the variety of insect life that had taken up residence in a wood pile we had to move. I did see the largest spider I have ever seen.

Message Board Link

New Communications Center at The Pink Flamingo

But all the digging (and the building) was getting pretty old when nephew Nate Schwartz and his mom Beth came to rescue us just as the new Communications Center project was about to drive the Admiral and I to a dust & bug-induced insanity.

Nate grabbed a surfboard and headed to the beach, where we followed not too long after for a couple of hours of boogie-boarding, swimming and, of course, cerveza swilling. Can't be too careful about dehydration in this climate.


Nate gives surfer buddies a lift

Quiet Sunday of chasing the dog - and watching the surf

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral careened up Highway 200 early Sunday morning to drive to Puerto Vallarta to attend the birthday of Cami, our daughter-in-law, leaving me home to pooch sit and also stick around for the tile workers.

Yes, the tile guys worked on Sunday - for about eight hours straight - swearing about the uneven floor, some less-than-square corners and la vida in general. I fed them lots of ice water and bad jokes which seemed to keep them working fine. They return tomorrow for another run at it and will likely be here for most of the coming week.

I better get more water.

Lucky the dog, after getting his dosing of medicine and his shot, felt good enough that he dug his way out of the compound twice, one being returned by our amigo Julian, the second time by Chena from across the street.

Tomorrow, my first job is to brace the streetside fence against escapes. We will introduce him into society this week, but under controlled conditions.


Playa Grande in Arroyo Seco

But in between home chores, I toured the beaches several times (driving the Admiral's Honda quad, of course) and was impressed with the huge surf and the diminishing number of vacationers and surfers. The swimming hole we visited a few days ago no longer looks quite so safe and most of the surfers had packed it in by noontime, the break of the waves being too steep even for experienced riders.




The highlight of the day, however, was dinner across the street at Chena's Restaurant, a home-operated taco stand that involves Chena, her husband Chon and son Dani. I started with three chorizo tacos and had eaten two more before I finally called out 'no mas,' just like Roberto Duran.

She runs the shoppe Friday and Saturday nights and it was hopping for about three hours with carne asada, pollo, and chorizo tacos going out the door as fast as any McDonald's pumps burgers.

I only wish she was open seven nights a week. Then we would never have to cook.

On the trail of the perfect wave in Arroyo Seco

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - While the surf guides for the two beaches in Arroyo Seco say that surfing isn't all that great at either Playa Chica or Playa Grande, they must have been written by people who have never visited the place, or who want to keep others out.

In the past two days, the Admiral and I have spent time out on the beach, watching the surfers, including nephew Nate Schwartz and our amiga Laura Warner, a Spanish teacher from Calgary who we hope will be coming back later this winter.


Surfer Laura heads out for a run

Laura and Nate were given some surfing lessons by our amigo Julian, a part-time resident of the rancho who surfs, fishes and enjoys life along with his brother Max. When they aren't in Arroyo Seco, Julian and Max live in their native France, earning enough Euros to come back each winter.

We purchased two surfboards from Julian, who threw in the lessons as part of the deal - and he hadn't even met our amiga Laura yet.


Laura, Max, Julian and Sylvia at a fiesta in Arroyo Seco

The surf lessons went well, though we did learn from local surfers that the waves at both beaches can be very dangerous and that whether surfing, boogie boarding, or swimming, you have to beware of the power of the waves.

I wish I had talked with them about that before I took a header into the sand, body surfing on my back.

Yes, now I know, don't try to body surf on your back.

Below is a short video of Nate and Laura in one of their earliest attempts.

Dreaming again of La Manzanilla and Arroyo Seco

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - The days are getting short, daylight-wise, and also short until we load up the Grey Goose Express II and head south to Mexico again for another season of, well, I don't want to bore you.

Ok, I'll bore: swimming, surfing, boating, hiking, eating great food, drinking cervezas and margaritas, playing music, dancing, writing and, and, and...

It is extremely hard to grade student term papers these days - or prepare lectures for my four classes - when what I really want to do is practice the ukulele, draw plans for developing the Arroyo Seco lots and develop my new website, called The Backpack Journalist.

That website isn't ready for prime time. But if you are reading this, you will be the first to know when it is.

But when I was looking around at some Mexico photos, I found this one, taken by someone in the last year or so in La Manzanilla.


Pulling the tail of the croc

What the gentlemen with the double-digit IQ doesn't know, is that the crocodile can turn around faster than he can stand up - and can also run faster than he can for probably 30 or 40 yards.

Plenty of time to make the double-digit IQ tourist into a snack. Ok, maybe a full meal. I don't know how much a full-grown croc eats, but I bet the croc in this photo would be willing to share with the hundreds of other crocs in the lagoon.

I understand that the croc lagoon overflowed out into the bay in front of La Manzanilla quite dramatically this summer with the heavy rainfalls, possibly sending more than a few lagoon residents - like the one with the tail above - out for a swim into the ocean.

Anyone ready to go surfing?

Taking the La Manzanilla, Arroyo Seco tour with friends

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - We spent a fun day Sunday, showing off Arroyo Seco (and Tenacatita and La Manzanilla) to our still-cruising amigos, Dan & Lorraine Olsen and Phil & Nora McCaleb.

Phil & Nora are on their way back from Central America to the U.S.; Dan & Lorraine are heading south to Central America.

The Admiral and I are staying right here. For now. OK, at least that's today's plan.

We showed the cruisers our newest property in Arroyo Seco, an 800-square meter lot right in downtown, if downtown is the right word for a pueblo of 300 year-round residents. But during the season, a lot of people come through the place headed to the excellent surfing beaches.


Lots of room for more surfers


Waiting for the surfers


Nora, Sylvia and Lorraine at Arroyo Seco's north beach

The lot is already walled in (good for security), has power and water, and is flat enough that members of the Flat Earth Society would feel comfortable holding a convention here.

We doubt we will use the property as a convention site, but the lot has plenty of business possibilities as well as just a nice spot to build a house. Like another lot we thought we had purchased, this one benefits from the cool ocean breezes.


Downtown Arroyo Seco

After the Arroyo Seco drive through, we went to the beach at Tenacatita where I went boogie boarding again, this time with much less good result. A big wave picked me up and slammed me head-first into the hardpacked sand, then pushed me across the beach (underwater, of course) for about 10 feet.

Ow!

The women at our beachside table told me some people pay a lot of money for the kind of skin peel I got. I could have lived quite nicely without it - or the neck pain I have had for two days.

But a careful regime of M&Ms (margaritas and Motrin) seems to be getting me back in shape to tackle the waves again.

In the meantime, here's another one of those sunset videos...