Swell Events #4

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In this issue:

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• Welcome to #4!
• Ultimate Surf Set-Up Contest
• Trip to Peru

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Our Trip to Peru

Peru was amazing! It's very different than I expected. We only cruised the coast, so I have no idea about Amazonia and the highlands, but the coast completely DRY.

Dunes and rocky mountains. It NEVER rains. EVER. A few octogenarians said they saw rain once in their childhood, but just a couple of sprinkles. It is overcast, cold and foggy until about 11:30 or noon, and then the sun comes out. The water was so cold; I could have had booties and gloves. I wore an Xcel 3/2 chest zip (a high end, warm suit) and had a couple of times where I had to get out to warm up. The waves were pretty small, mostly- except a few spots that pull in more swell.

We arrived in Lima at about 11:45 P.M. and Antonio Tello, (nice shirt Antonio!, shown here with Bill Shocklee)

The owner of Penascal Surf Hotel (www.surfpenascal.com) and his driver, Archie

met us at the exit. We strapped our boards to Archie's little car and zoomed off into the Lima night. An hour and a half later, we arrived in San Bartolo (thanks to the fact that Archie didn't get stopped by the cops, and unusual occurrence). Antonio showed us to our modest room overlooking the courtyard.

San Bartolo is a lovely little town with a very Mediterranean feel and a very surf-oriented teen scene.

Derechas, San Bartolo. Izquierdas is below the tallest mountain peak.

First day, when I awoke and looked out our room window, I saw Bill Cannell, our friend who invited us, suiting up. We joined Bill for a surf session at "Derechas" (rights, for you English kids) out in front of the Hotel. (See photo above). It's a rock bottom that breaks right and left off a Jetty, hence the names Derechas and Izquierdas. You walk out to the end of the Jetty, hop off a rock at the end (look out for the urchins) and paddle right out to the takeoff point.

We got some fun little waist to chest waves. When we got back to the surf hotel, Antonio had coffee waiting and took our order preference for our eggs. Breakfast consisted of baskets of bread, butter, jelly, a fresh fruit smoothie, eggs any style and ham or bacon.

After we ate, we packed up the boards and suits to take a road trip to Puerto Viejo (Old Port). Archie loaded us up.

Antonio loaded Bill Shocklee and Erik Eaker's boards and wetsuits, and with the sun peeking through the fog, we were again on our way. We parked on the beach with a dramatic backdrop of dunes, dunes and more dunes. There were dirt bike tracks everywhere. There were little concession stands all along the beach, but since its early spring, only one was open.

The guard dog was one of those "hairless Peruvian" dogs. EEEWWW! I'd not be patting that little sandpaper coat.

We all pulled on our (cold, wet) suits and ran to the water. Puerto Viejo is a point break (left, as always in Peru). Marc and I had, for the second time left our reef boots behind. Bad idea. The bottom was oddly enough, sand and MUY-MUY. Muy-muy is the decomposed bodies of the shrimp that the birds have eaten and it's a little slimy. It smells a little funky too. There are lots of fish feeding here, and in turn the dolphins pay frequent visits to the cove. The wave was SUPER fun. It was just the six of us, Antonio, Bill, Bill, Erik, Marc and me. I was on my shortboard, wishing for my longboard, and everyone else had a longboard except Bill Cannell, he had a fun-sized (big) shortboard. While I was hanging out with him, he was telling me about the dolphins, when, lo and behold, two massive dolphins were swimming right for us. They swam by, one on each side of my board. I could have touched them had I not been awestruck! It was a memorable experience. Everyone got loads of beautiful, peeling LONG rides. We headed for the car, where Archie was keeping an eye on things. Archie loaded everything and bagged the suits. When we returned to the hotel, after Archie rinsed and hung our suits while Antonio brought us to his house for a large and yummy lunch. We had rice "Lima" beans, Ceviche (you could have vegetarian fare or non-fish) and dessert. Antonio's lovely wife, Fiorella is a gourmet cook and a chocolatier. (That's her on the left, with Lara)

Bill Cannell took us on a little neighborhood tour. Within walking distance was Huayaco,

where you can see the boils that rise up over the treacherous rocky bottom, and around the point is Penascal,

a peaky, heavy looking drop which looks like you could go right or left, if you don't get closed out and beat to shore over by Huayaco.

We went back to the hotel to drink beer and play ping pong on the terrace overlooking "Derechas".

After the second time of putting on a clammy and cold wetsuit, I learned to bring in my suit before the fog rolls in again. If you don't put it under cover by 5:00 or 5:30, it gets wet again overnight in the fog. The second night, my volleyball friend, Missy Dennis arrived. She was planning to visit Cusco and hike out to see Machu Picchu. But at 7970 feet above sea level, she would need a few days to acclimatize. She was supposed to arrive with Marc and I, but missed a flight, which toppled the rest of her plan. I hear Machu Picchu takes a week to properly see and acclimatize yourself for. Lara, the Aussie guest had quite a headache when she arrived in San Bartolo. Some Coca tea helped, though.

Next morning Bill Cannell's friend Carlos brought Marc, Missy, Bill and me to his sweet house on Punta Hermosa. It's a gorgeous spot overlooking "La Isla", "Kon-Tiki's", "Pico Alto" and around the corner is "Punta Rocas" (rocas means ROCKS).

Everybody we spoke to described Kon-Tiki's as HEAVY. Carlos's son Carlos-Jose came along and we walked around the point to Punta Rocas. Today, we had our reef booties. Good idea! After being briefed on how to paddle back in without ramming rocks, we headed out to the break. Carlos-Jose was kind enough to paddle out with me to show me the rocks I wanted to avoid running in to. There are several waves you can choose to stop and surf, but "the point" is very fun and fast. The waves were chest to a little overhead and very fun. You had to pick which way you went according to whether you were at the left peak or the right peak, because if you got closed out, you got caught inside. It was a little nerve-wrecking being caught inside, because it looked like board-breaker rocks. I did manage to get past it, but it was a workout. We all got some great waves and even though there were over 20 guys out, everyone was polite and friendly.

I decided to paddle back, as I was tired and cold. I almost paddled past the designated get out spot (in front of the yellow house, kind of staying close to the Jetty, but not getting sucked into it) until I saw Marc bee-lining for shore. I watched to be sure he was doing it right (unscathed) then followed him in. It was a pretty long paddle.

We went back to Carlos's house and were joined shortly by the rest of the crew. Since Bill is a non-drinker (he "won" a drinking contest with some South African Soldiers last time he drank, over 30 years ago) the rest of us proceeded to drink Pisco, a strong Grape-derived Tequila type drink. Carlos had the Pisco cabinet filled with nothing but the best. Dangerous stuff. Carlos showed us his "Quiver". He has as many boards in his "Bodega" as I do in the store! He is friends and has surfed with a who's who list of surf legends. He's a truly kind and unassuming guy. (I'm guessing, that is, until you drop in on him on a double overhead Kon-Tiki bomb!) Carlos brought us home to Surf Hotel Penascal, and Antonio was kind enough to produce a large lunch.

That night over dinner, we discussed going on a "road trip" to Chicama. We were informed that it was unlikely we'd get waves, but we decided to go anyway. Bill Shocklee wanted to see "Chan Chan", some "Moche" ruins near Trujillo in the North.

There were seven of us in all, Bill Shocklee a sculptor and Erik Eaker an organic farmer from Rhode Island, Lara, an ex anti-terrorism cop from Sydney, Dan, a Flemish sailor, Antonio, our host, Marc (my husband) and I. We squeezed our stuff (I left my shortboard behind) into the tightly packed 8 seater (good thing Missy didn't come) and headed north. We drove through Lima, a feat that only a SEASONED expert should attempt. The travel guides don't lie when they tell you to get a driver! When we pulled away from Lima, the topography (you couldn't call it landscape, since there isn't anything but sand and rocks) was extreme desert. There were occasional hillside pueblos, but mostly it was sand and giant mountain size dunes. We went over some of these mountains and they were so high we were in the clouds (still no rain, though) and it was so thick, visibility was very poor. The roads were good though. Instead of plowing snow, they shovel sand out of the road.

First stop, Barrancas, where we surfed Bermejo. We surfed waist to chest perfect (did I mention PERFECT?), long, very long lefts. I was giggling the rides were so long. We surfed a couple of hours there with our fellow "surf explorers" and three Peruano brothers from the Lima area who were out when we arrived. They were amazingly friendly.

We had a late lunch and headed for Chimbote in Ancash province. We stayed at the Hotel La Estación which was very nice, provided you asked for the hot water to be turned on before you took a shower. The beds had really nice thick woven Peruvian wool blankets, mmmm. (Thankfully, the days were sunnier and warmer the more north you went, but it was still chilly after surfing in that cold water.)

The next day, we went through Trujillo, a really large city in La Libertad province with lots of cool street vendors lined along the main road. We drove on through to Chicama,

reputedly the worlds longest left. They say it goes for 4.5 kilometers when it's working, but it takes a pretty big swell to turn it on. The swell was weak (nonexistent) when we were there, but it was obvious that it is a heavenly setup. Bill, Erik, Lara, Marc and I decided we'd try to catch a set wave (thigh high at best) anyway. Antonio drove us as close to the point as he could get with the van, and we hiked down a dune valley. Erik put his board down and tried sand surfing. It was sandy, but the end of the line looked pretty rocky and sketchy. Bill went out to the farthest point, and the rest of us hopped in at various points along the "setup". The bottom was very rocky, and the nonexistence of swell made it more of an exercise in paddling than surfing. We made our way back to the beach, where Antonio and Dan were waiting. As I was exiting the water, Erik got the wave of the day, a thigh high peeler that nearly enticed me back in, but- you know, those waves only serve to draw you in long enough to lose your patience. Then you paddle back in, only to see the wave you've been waiting for come marching in as you walk away in regret. We hiked up the long stairway to Hotel Chicama Beach, a very elegant, modern three story Hotel where we ordered lunch and a couple of drinks on the third floor patio restaurant overlooking the break. The town has a few hotels, all of them relatively new, with a wide range of prices (read: okay, nice, nicer) all of them are empty most of the time, unless there's a swell, which is pretty rare most of the year. Since the surfing wasn't stellar, we decided to check out some archaeological ruins for our next day's adventure.

That evening we went to Pacasmayo and we stayed at Hotel Pakatnamu,

which was a beautiful old hotel in a town full of beautifully maintained buildings with gorgeous architecture. We ate at one of Antonio's favorite restaurants where he ordered WAY TOO much delicious food (he had to cancel the last two courses). I consider Antonio personally responsible for that extra weight I'm running off.

The next day, after a short (but memorable in Lara's case) surf in El Faro, where Lara folded Antonio's longboard by depositing the nose in a submerged boat with her face following close behind, we left our gear at the hotel Pakatnamu so we could explore the Museum of Sipan in Lambayeque.

It was a very worthy expedition where we learned about the Moche people and El Viejo and the Lord of Sipan. The Moche lived and developed the Lambayeque Valley from 100 to 700 AD. Trujillo is a city of Moche history, their culture left impressive archaeological sites and some of the most outstanding pottery to be seen in Peru's museums. The most important people, especially the priests and warriors, were members of the urban classes and lived closest to the large ceremonial pyramids and other temples. They were surrounded by a middle class of artisans and then, in descending order: farmers and fishermen, servants, slaves and beggars. The priests and warriors were both honored and obeyed. They are the people most frequently shown in ceramics, which depict them being carried in litters wearing particularly fine jewelry or clothing. The Moche had no written language; most of what is known about the Moche comes from the stories told by the subjects depicted in their pottery. We hired a guide to translate the placards in the museum, and it was worth every penny of the twenty soles ($7.00 usd) (including tip) we split six ways.

We had a huge lunch in Chiclayo, returned to the hotel, gathered our boards and packs, and set off for Huanchaco,

the beach town famous for the "surfing reed boats". These are boats "woven" from reeds gathered in the nearby estuaries. The local fishermen, who paddle these reed boats, or caballitos de totora, take these boats out in heavy surf and ride the waves back in to shore (with their fish in tow). We ate another delicious, too large dinner and a had restful night in the Hotel Tortora (our room had a hot tub, but I'm not sure it could've been filled by the trickle of hot water that came from the spout). The next morning Bill decided to try a ride on the reed boat while the rest of us got some really nice waist to chest high waves. Antonio arranged for a local fisherman to take him out, and it looked like it took some skill to stay upright.

I'm sure he'll long remember that experience! I think it's local entertainment for the fishermen to watch gringos to attempt paddling these reed "boats".

The next day, we headed for Chan Chan, the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America. Chan Chan was constructed by the "Chimor", a civilization which grew out of the remnants of the Moche civilization.

Chan Chan was built between c.850 and c.1470 and was the imperial capital until Chimor was conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. An estimated 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan. This was a civilization who were into sacrifices, and when the king died, all his close friends and relatives (including his dogs) were sent into the afterlife with him. They buried these kings with treasures of gold and gems. Our guide, Gustavo was passionate about the place and the tour (in the true meaning of the word,) was awesome.

We then drove back to Chorillos Beach near Barranca and checked in at the beachfront "Hotel Casablanca" owned by a friend of Antonio's. The beach was pretty, Antonio knew it well, his parents summered there all his life. Antonio took us out to a "Chifa" restaurant. Chifa is the Peruvian version of a Chinese restaurant. The food was great, and as usual Antonio ordered enough food to feed a Sumo team. The Duck in sauce was especially amazing.

The next morning we drove to Bermejo, where we had scored great waves on our way up the coast, but it was small, so we went to the ruins at Caral. Caral's ruins cover 35 square miles in the Supe River Valley and has been carbon dated to be 5,000 years old.

There, Caral's largest social class was dedicated to agricultural production. Farmers, using irrigation canals, nourished their crops of pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, corn, chili peppers and cotton with the waters from the Supe River. Caral was populated by the oldest civilization in America. They worshipped the Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth and Ocean. They sacrificed grains & fish, and were peaceful people. Musicians played flutes crafted from pelican and condor skeletons and horns made from llama or alpaca bones in the city's amphitheater.

After a few hours in Caral, we decided to head back to Lima, where we stopped at Antonio's cousin's house to drop off the broken longboard to be fixed. His cousin Alfredo Tello Desme makes some beautiful shapes. His Balsa boards are gorgeous. www.atellosurf.com

After we dropped off the damaged board, we dropped Dan off near the bus stop and headed for a restaurant (of course!). Another fantastic meal with a few too many beers, and a delicious dessert of Lúcuma mousse with chocolate. (Plan on gaining weight when you visit Peru.) We drank a few more and headed for San Bartolo. We arrived at Penascal Surf Hotel in time to have another beer or two with those fun loving Aussies:

Brighty, Jesse and "H" as well as my friend Missy and a new guy, James Meyers from NZ.

Missy left the next day, and over the last two days of our vacation we got a couple more sessions in at Carlos' place with Bill.

All in all, it was a fascinating, fun and very different from what I expected. The eerie but beautiful dunes, cold water (bring a warm suit) and the rocky shore... even when the beaches looked sandy (bring reef boots). The food was fabulous, the people were incredibly kind and friendly. The surfers we encountered were welcoming everywhere we went. Antonio knows his country, the roads, and especially the waves (not to mention the food!). He was the ultimate host. His wife is a warm and gracious host and a phenomenal cook. Archie is a comical and friendly driver who takes care of everything, in case you feel like being lazy with the gear. The entire staff makes you feel like you are welcome and appreciated. You really get the feeling they are "sharing" their country with you. We'll be back.

Ultimate Surf Set-Up Contest - ends December 22, 2007

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Enter to win:

• Surfboard of your choice
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• Leash
• Drawing on December 22, 2007.

Enter the contest on our web site. You might just win!

Mele Kalikimaka, Feliz Navidad, Happy Holidays
Nanci

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