Lineated Woodpecker

This morning there was a huge Lineated Woodpecker near our house.  Lineated Woodpeckers can get up to 14 inches long and have huge crests on their heads.  They are native to southern Mexico and all the way down to northern Argentina.  Their diet consists mainly of insects and larvae and they are usually spotted pecking holes in trees to look for grubs.  Their lineated, or barred chest makes them easy to recognize and is what gives them their name.

Looking for grubs.

Here it is looking startled.

SUP Events in Sayulita Mexico

Normally we stay away from the crowds of the town beach, but over the weekend, we were never anywhere else.  That was because of the Punta Sayulita SUP Classic, an event that brings SUP competitors from all over the world to compete in races, and SUP surfing. Dad and I competed in one race each and we both got second place. Our races were just 2 kilometres but some people did a 10k using long pointy race boards.

Beginning of the 10k race

After that was the SUP surfing finals.  There were two heats, in the first heat the competitors were trying to get the best wave, and in the second heat it was the "most radical maneuver".  Those two scores put together were your final score. Also there were two divisions, pro and amateur, and there were two divisions inside each division, under 35, and 35 and over.  Some of the pros were getting some air and one person did a 360.  My favorite SUP trick is the "laid-back revert tailslide" which is when you stick your paddle behind you into the wave lean back towards your paddle and crank really hard pushing your back foot forward and to the side really fast making the tail slide out for definite style points. We saw a lot of of those and I'm hoping to get it down next year.

Competitors and people who organized the event.

At the end of the day we all gathered in front of the podium for the awards ceremony to find who won  which event and what prizes people were getting.  Riviera Paddlesurf donated three paddle boards with paddles, and Punta Sayulita donated $10,000 USD in prizes and cash.

Our friend Leland Pierce took 1st in a 4k race.

Melaque, Barra, Ticla, and Arroyo Seco

     Last week our family went on a road trip through Mexico to visit some friends from Alaska.  We were visiting Carlos, Sierra, Hayden and Asher.  Hayden is eight and Asher is three.  They were staying  in Melaque, Jalisco.  Melaque is five hours of driving away from Sayulita, we left at nine am stopped and ate lunch around noon and got to Melaque around three pm.  We had arranged to meet our friends at the plaza at six pm, so we had until then to look around and find a place to stay.  We ended up camping in a trailer park right next to the beach.  Griffin, Pico, and I were in the water less than ten minutes after the car was parked.  When we got in the water I noticed lots of skim boarders.  I looked up and down the beach and there were probably thirty skim boarders skimming out and catching the waves back in.  Later on in the trip we were told that every year an international skim boarding contest is held in Melaque and that the area is known for world class skimming.  After that I went to our car, grabbed my skimboard, and prepared to catch some waves.  I was unable catch any waves that evening, because I wasn't used to turning around and using the wave as a bank to keep up my speed.

One of my first tries.

The next day we hung out across the bay with Hayden and Asher.  Mom and Dad paddle boarded at a little man-made reef break.  My mom caught one wave that was nice and long and took her all the way to the beach.  We all saw her wave and cheered as she pulled off the back of the wave.

     The day after that we went to a little town called "La Manzania", there was almost nothing there except for a rocky beach, lots of houses/restaurants, and a boardwalk over a swamp with crocodiles.  The first thing we did was the crocodile tour. On the way over we looked through the chain link fence at the crocodiles, there were several 8 footers basking in the sun near the fence and there were spots where they could easily get out.  One was sleeping right next to the fence and I touched its foot gingerly.  When we got further in to the swamp there was a place with cages for the baby crocodiles and turtles. I got some great pictures of the babies and some of the turtles.  On the way back when we were walking back across the road/bridge, a huge ten foot crocodile was laying on road.  We waited for a car to go by and then walked on the other side of the car.

A baby crocodile with needle sharp teeth.

When we got back to the beach I grabbed my paddle board and went out.  The waves weren't very good but while I was out there I saw a Spotted Eagle Ray with a wingspan of four and a half feet.  As it glided beneath my board I almost fell in on top of it with surprise.  After it swam away I paddled in and told everybody what it looked like.  After eating four quesadillas I paddled back out but on a boogie board this time and with  Hayden.  I pushed him into a couple waves but pretty soon he got tired.

A huge crocodile on the side of the road

 The next morning our family left for Ticla, a break we'd heard about from Kirsten and Geordie.  To get to Ticla, we left the state of Jalisco, passed through Colima, and into Michocan. In Michocan There were lots of people with guns, soldiers, police, and even Mexican protesters.  We passed through three army checkpoints in about a mile.  At one of the check points they made us get out of our car. When we got to Ticla we went to look at the waves, they were overhead, and some.  Dad is the only one who went out and caught real waves.  We saw lots of shortboarders on the right, but it was really heavy choppy so Dad surfed the left.  The following day, Dad got up early and went surfing again.  That morning it was nice and smooth, and not as peaky as the day before.  Dad made some late drops and one fast and really long ride.

Dad on a shoulder high wave

After Dad came in, we ate breakfast, loaded the car, and took off back to Melaque.  After three hours of uneventful driving, we got to Melaque.  But we didn't stop there, we drove 20 minutes past Melaque to a break called Ranchitos.  When we got there we looked for some waves, and looked, and looked, and there were no waves.  We left Ranchitos and drove back to Melaque to look for our friends.  Eventually we called them and decided to meet up at the waterpark we had been hoping to go to.  It was thirty pesos per person, about two dollars, but there were only two slides with running water.  It was fun anyways and we stayed until 5:30 pm.  When we left, we drove to the trailer park where we had stayed a couple night before.  Griffin and I went skim boarding, and Mom took some cool pictures.  I caught some really good rides and made some big drops.

The next morning we left Melaque at 9:00 am heading towards Sayulita.  On the way to Sayulita we stopped by Arroyo Seco, a break we'd heard about from Kirsten and Geordie.  When we were driving down the road on the way there we saw a huge tarantula crossing the road.  We stopped the car and walked over to it.  It was mostly black with red and orange legs and its body was about six inches across.  Later we learned that it was a Mexican Redknee Tarantula and that they are very common in Arroyo Seco. 

The tarantula biting a piece of grass.

My hand a safe distance away from the Tarantula.

We pushed the tarantula safely to the side of the road and continued on. We drove through a little town and asked for directions to the beach.  After taking a right we saw a sign saying"→ La Playa", so we kept going down that road. At the end of the road was a little white sand beach. There were some waves but they were mostly blown out from a nasty side shore breeze.  For some reason the water there was colder than the water in Ticla, Melaque, and Sayulita.  We drove back up the road and stopped at a little home run surf shop to find out more about the break.  the first thing they told us was that there were two beaches and we had gone to the wrong one.  The right beach, Playa Grande, was on the other side of the little town and down a really bumpy road.  They told us that the waves over there were more consistent and usually bigger.  We drove to Playa Grande and instantly learned why it was called that.  It was a really really big beach.  The waves were bigger but there was still the massive sidewind ripping at the beach.  We decided to take a twenty minute boogie board break before driving back to Sayulita.

Fun waves at Playa Grande

Griffin touching the crocodile.

Last week the Sayulita Days fair came to Sayulita, bringing with it rides of all sorts, carnival games, traffic, and opportunities to waste your money.  The first night was my birthday and we went just to see what rides there were.  We saw lots of different things including bumper carts and electronic bulls, but the most impressive thing was the fireworks show.  It was all mortars and crazy big fireworks.  In the states, USA, all fireworks displays are barricaded and people usually have to stay about a 200 feet away, but here, in Mexico, they set off the fireworks without warnings, barricades, or any security people.  Another huge difference would be that in the states, most mortars or big fireworks go up to about 150 feet high before exploding, but in Mexico, they go up to about 50 feet before exploding and raining down sparks on everybody.  Another amazing thing about the fair is the smells.  You can smell funnel cake, flan, crapes, hotdogs, candy, soda, churros, and, a lot of alcohol.

My favorite ride at the fair is the bumper carts.  They go really fast and make tight turns and you can run into people probably going about 10 mph! One of the other really cool things at the fair was the prizes.  There are tons of booths where you can throw darts for different costs and win different prizes including candy, cookies, plates, buckets, top-a-ramen, chips, soda, paintings of jesus, clay minions, silly string, bb guns, and clay jesus's.  My parent's favorite thing was a game where you pay to throw rocks at beer bottles and you win different numbers of beers depending on how many rocks hit bottles and break them.  One night Sophie, our friend named Cameron, and I went on one of the bouncy house obstacle courses.  We played tag and made huge dodges and jumps, once when I was avoiding Sophie, I fell off the side!  Sometimes we would jump from the top, where the slides were, to the big bouncy pillars at the bottom.  The next night we went back to the fair and I got to watch as everybody spun around and around really fast on a crazy Mexican roller coaster.  When they got off we went back to the darts and Sophie won two whole boxes of Oreos.  I tried to win some Oreos too but I guess it's not just luck.

Triple decker trampoline

Spinning "Himalaya" ride

Darts

Bouncy House Obstacle Course

Busy

The past few days have been busy,  really busy.  It started on the 14th, when Dad and I and some friends went to Pinadas for the day.  We got up at 5:30 am and got picked up at 6:15 am.  I took my 7'0" paddle board and Dad took his 9'0" longboard.  We got to Pinadas around 9:00 am and we were in the water a few minutes later.  In the morning the waves were small and there weren't very many people out, but in the afternoon the waves got bigger, more powerful, and crowded.  I got a couple awesome rides and Somers got a really cool video of me.  When we left, at 5:30 pm,  the waves were so big we almost couldn't get on the boat.  After everybody piled in, we took off towards Boca.  When we got back to Sayulita, Kirstin and Geordie dropped us off at our house and we put our boards away.  I went to bed and fell asleep in less than five minutes.  The next day I ate breakfast and and walked over to visit our friends/family from salt lake that had gotten in the night before.  There are five kids, Finnigan, Annabelle, Sophie, Leo, and Nona.  There are seven adults, Jimbo, John John, Carolyn, Jennifer, Cassidy, Parker, and Clover. Seeing as it was my birthday, when I walked in they all wished me a happy birthday while I awkwardly stood there. From that moment on it has been non-stop activities.  First we went boogie booarding, then we went swimming, then went to town, later we went to the bike park, and even later we went to Sayulita Days, a big fair with "almost free" bouncy houses and three story trampolines. That night we were just looking to see what rides we would want to do, but the next night we went back and raged.  First we went to the bumper carts(John John and I dominated) at 40 pesos a cart.  Next we went to the Bull where I stayed on for a record three minutes.  After that we walked around some more until we came to the Music Machine which was really just a roller coaster that went back and forth really super fast.  Everybody except for me and three other people didn't do that one, but we got to watch as it went on for what seemed like forever.  Later we went to the trampolines where Annabelle, Sophie, and I bounced for 20 minutes.  When we got out of there we went to look for everybody else and found them near the bouncy house obstacle courses.  We went on them and played tag up and down the slide for a while until I had to leave for homework.  It turned out I didn't have any homework but I was tired so I went to bed.  Today I woke up to Pico giving me a big wet lick on the face while standing on my chest.  After recovering from that slobbery mess I jumped out bed, grabbed my computer, and got right back into bed!

Skimming and Surfing

     Over the past week a huge swell has been rolling into Sayulita, lot's of huge waves, and a massive shore break.  The first day of the swell Dad and I paddled out in between two sets.  I caught a smaller wave on the way out and learned that the wave stayed really flat allowing for late drops and maximized carving.  I got back out to where Dad was just as a set pounded through.  Four 5-7 ft waves rolled through the lineup as 15 to 30 people paddled for them.  I caught one and worked just until it closed out.  I think Dad got a nice ride too but it was hard to tell.  I stayed out for a long time but went in when the waves got bigger.  I ran back to the house and grabbed Mom's camera.  It wasn't until I got back to the beach that I found out the camera was dead.  I went back to the house, switched out the batteries, and ran back to the beach just in time to see Dad catch a monster.  He caught four or five more waves but came in when he saw me on the beach.  After talking to me for about 15 minutes he paddled back out and caught more waves.

     The next day I took pictures of Dad, and his friends surfing.  On the third day I noticed how good the skim boarding was.  I left the camera with Mom and griffin on the beach and grabbed my skimboard.  The waves kept setting up perfectly one after another.  I did some huge airs and perfected my flips.  The next day the waves were even bigger and even better.  As I was walking down to the beach I saw Mitch, my friend Miller's dad, and he told that Miller and a couple friends were at "Foamies" a body boarding break a couple hundred feet down the beach.  I thanked him and slowly made my way towards them.  When I got there I said hi to Miller and checked out the skim boarding waves. It turned out the skimming was better at Foamies that at the main break.  After skimming for about an hour Dad walked over with the camera.  I got a couple huge airs but the camera was running out of battery, so we only got the best ones.  When the camera died Dad and I walked back to the main break and I went skim boarding there with Somers and Wheeler until the sun went down.

Ori Icaza getting an air

Me trying to do a cork

Unknown short boarder getting massive air.

"Check it out!"

Over the weekend we followed our friends south, past Puerta Vallarta and stopped at a little seaside town called Boca.  We loaded all of our stuff plus us into a blue boat called a "ponga" and a drove away.  Our destination, Yelapa, a small layed-back village with only a couple hundred people.  We got out of the boat right on to the beach.  While searching for our hotel we left our boards at the beach.  When we found the Oasis Hotel we checked in and put our backpacks and bags away.  We decide to leave our things at the hotel and go check out the surf break, Piñadas.  We took all of our boards plus the dogs Dulce  and Pico.  It was about a five minute ride to Piñadas and it was well worth our time.  The water was clear and clean and there were barrels abounding.  We jumped out of the boat and waxed up our boards.  As we watched a set roll through, we knew that this was where we would spend our weekend.  I put on my leash and paddled out.  As I took off on my first wave I learned that the rocks though round, could be very unforgiving.  After waiting through the set I paddled back out and learned how the waves work.  They were fast but rewarding if you made it past the foam.  After a while I tried Sommers's 5'2" and it was a lot easier than my 6'0".  I caught a lot of waves but the wind came up and I got too cold.  Later when the wind disappeared I went back out with Finn.  He rides a 5'1" and is getting really good.  Finn is my age and Sommers is ten.  Kirstin and Gordie are their parents and they are both great surfers.  A little bit later an offshore breeze started to make barrels.  I pulled into one and got spit right out the back.  Fin pulled in to some and made it out a couple times.  When the tide got lower I would be taking off on a wave, I'd see rocks inches below the surface of the water.  When ever that happened you'd have to pull out the back as fast as possible to avoid getting scraped across the rocks.  We left Piñadas around seven.  The boat ride back to Yelapa was terrible. But it would have been a lot worse if we'd had all of our boards.  The owner of the restarunt at the beach had let us put our boards in his bodega if we bought some food at his restaurant.  Well, we had no problem with that because his food was amazing, the best quesadillas, fish, tacos, pancakes, and lemonade for five miles, partly because he had the only restaurant for five miles.  When we got back to Yelapa we showered and walked across the lawn to the kitchen where we ate and ate and ate and ate, and ate some more.  I ordered one corn on the cob and 3 plates of meatballs.  After everybody finished eating we went back to the house and passed out in our boardshorts.  The next day we got up early to go surfing, but little did we know the tide was too high to cross the river.  That didn't stop us though.  Finn, Sommers, and I found an old yellow kayak on the side of the river.  Finn grabbed a long stick and I got in the kayak.  Sommers hopped in the front and sat down, Finn remained standing and paddled us along like a gondolier.  When we got to the other side we watched the boats drive around in the ocean.  When all the boats left we paddled back to the other side with Pico swimming behind us noisily.  We stashed the kayak and ran to tell everybody else about it.  When the tide went down we all packed up and walked to the dock.  We got to Piñadas at about eleven am.  We all got off the boat rapidly.  Finn and I were the first ones in the water and we stayed in for a long time.  Later that day Mom, Griffin, Sommers, and I hiked through the green jungle up to a waterfall to go swimming in the cool water.  There were little fish and the water was cold, but we still got in.  Sommers found a spot where we could jump into the water off the slippery rocks, so we did that for a while.  When it was time to leave I asked Mom if we could ride horses back down.  Sommers worked out a deal with one of the guys that rented horses and we all got our own horse.  The ride was bumpy and Griffin was a little nervous, but by the end Griffin was having fun.  When we got the the end Sommers stood up on his white horse and I took a picture.  We saw a spotted pig on the way back and we would have stopped if we didn't have Pico scaring the pig.  When we got back to the beach I grabbed a board and paddled out for a short sesh.  When the blue boat came, we all piled on and imagined how good the hot clean showers would feel.  Luckily the tide was still low and we could cross the river.  We had a little dinner and went to bed really fast.  The next day we checked out of the Oasis Hotel and got on a boat to Piñadas.  When we stopped at Piñadas everybody got out except for Dad and Gordie.  They went back to Bocas to get our tents that we had left in the car.  On that day it was rainy and windy and the surf was mostly blown out.  While we weren't eating quesadillas and sipping lemonades we were exploring the town.  Later, it got really stormy and everybody went back to the warm dry tents except for Mom, Dad, and I.  We kept walking through the drenching rain and watched as the streets began to flood.  When we got back to the tents we all got in bed and read, and read, and read, until we fell sound asleep.  The next day we got on a green boat, in the rain and went back to Bocas.  We packed everything into the damp cars and started driving home.  While driving through Puerta Vallarta the roads flooded with brown water and we ended up driving through a foot of water until we got to the highway.  When we got home we unpacked our stuff, took hot showers, and went to dinner with some other friends.  About halfway through dinner it started pouring.  Luckily we had driven the golf cart, which provided some cover on the way home.  When we got to the house I went straight to bed and fell asleep with Pico.

Here is a link to a video I made about the trip:http://youtu.be/VLhimTDMmxo

from left to right: Courtney, Gordie, Sommers, Darsie, Carver, Griffin

Carver about to fail

Finn going for an air

Pico leading the kayak

Darsie trying to shoot the line

The kids the dogs and Mom sitting in the rain