04. July 2013 Thursday 687  Back in Portugal

I arrived yesterday, 3 july.. But too late to start surfing. So today I had 3 hours straight at Tonel. Afterwards I was worn out. Friday there was fine swell as well, but I was still down after the sudden start I had yesterday. After a month with almost no surfing. Temp 27/19 Deg C Moderate E wind

Mareta Friday

Mareta Friday

Mareta at close to sun set.

Mareta again. With an air temp of 30  deg I am surfing late evenings. But the swell is getting  too low. 

Today I rented a 10.2 Long board. A heavy log. Nice to surf with, but a bit dangerous. You get hit by a board like that and something serious will happen.

I started surf classes with Sagres Natura today. It is good to have a refresh. Already the first day some bad habits were straightened out. I take a day course now and again.

Twice I went to Castelejo.  In the morning it was crowded, but clean waves. In the late afternoon I was alone, but it was choppy. The wind is back in NW after two weeks from East. Temperature dropped to a comfortable level of max 27 deg. And cool evenings at 20 deg C.
Tomorrow even cooler max /min 24/16. Kind of interesting with so low temperatures so far South.

11 and 12  July 2013 Friday 694

Castelejo. Small waves, but clean and no wind. I was sitting way out waiting for the odd big wave . This worked and I had some nice rides. After my day with the surf teachers,  I have got my stance corrected. I am a bit stiff, and need to loosen up, but it feels right.

It has been a couple of grey days. Nice temperature at max 25 min 15

Amado Sat 13 July. Lots of surfers band few waves. I then decided to start packing to go to Galicia in search of waves. Just a quick trip with the tent and car.

16 July 2013 I am on the road towards Santiago de Compostella and the Coast by A Coruna. Stopping at a nice hotel midway. AC and hot meal.  Outside it is summer with 30 Deg.

Galicien West Coast. This beach is right next to the camping where I pitched  the tent the following day.

18 July. Today I went to Razo beach. No swell big enough. Anyway an impressive beach. Then I went 70 Km South again and pitched  the tent a  very nice camping I had come across. In Muro betwn Vigo and A Coruna. Right on the coast. The surf beach within walking. Only no swell.

Razo beach

  Camping set up

I even became friendly with a local bird.

19 and 20  July. Driving back to Sagres. That was a 2000 Km round trip looking for wave. And I found nothing. Partly because I did not look North of A Coruna, where the summer beaches are. There I may have found 2 feet swell. The beaches South from A  Coruna are in general the winter beaches..
Sagres is great for temperature at the moment 24 Deg and a cool NW wind. Sunshine.

I am back in Bisuness at Amado beach. Trying to make a early start. Eventually it was packed, but most of the surfers are at a early learning stage. So they are not on the way.

Amado

A nasty bit of steep wave. i did actually wipe out on this one. But I am satisfied to see haw I managed to get the board along the wall. I do not take off with an angle to start with. The fin is forward in the slot and I can twist the board right from it starts gliding.

This photo is from Amado Monday. I got that wave just right!!!!

Tonel. 3 feet at the most. Windy. Sun all day. 24 Deg C max. The rest of the Iberian peninsular is having a heat wave. But here it is very pleasant.

2 photos from the camping site.

Castelejo Beach . Waves were getting bigger during the day. Ending up being to big for me, so I packed up.

I arrived yesterday from Mallorca. Today I surfed at Tonel Beach. Not too fantastic. The temp was 27 / 17 and a strong NW wind. Sun all day.
I have been reading the Kindle book ...Surf better by Dave Rearvin..I can recommend the book. It helped me with some questions about catching the wave , angling and foot placement.  Now I am looking forward to get some more surf classes.

After surf I had a cofee and some internet at  Last Chance Café. Nice view.

Castelejo. I was there early. Swell 5-6-feet. Great surfing, once I got the hang og it. Not crowded. Very little wind. A Perfect day. 30 Deg C. Sun all day.

I was surfing during the morning at Castelejo. The waves wwere bigger today, and I tired out quite quickly.

Morning surf at Tonel. First one in. only 2 feet waves, but I was catching a lot and had a good chance to try catching waves with different angle of  the board towards the wave.

Tonel during the afternoon

Tonel during the afternoon.

I started on Castelejo, but found the waves to be to big. Then I went to Tonel and had some nice surfing. After I got my  stance corrected, I can get a lot more speed on my board.

Tonel. Very small waves. I was paddeling a lot. So I was exhausted after a while, just from paddeling. Strange.

Tonel. First it was a paddle trip from one end of the beach to the other. My arms and sholders hurt.
In the afternoon I went again and actually managed to surf a little. The waves were small and difficult.
Tp 27 / 17. Sun all day . Moderate NW wind.

Tonel twice. 2 - 3 feet. No wind. A lot of the vacation makers have gone home. It is more quiet now. I was getting maybee more than 30 waves today.

A nice boat at anchor. in Tonel bay

Towards the end of the ride.

Oyambre village.

Sunday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon

I continue surfing at Playa de Guerra in the National Park of Oyambre. Today the waves were very good. However it ended in a big rain squall.

The mountains of Pico de Europa in the background.

Playa de Guerra

 I finished today one week surf instruction. Now it is a question to implement all the good advise. Here I am on one of the waves  http://youtu.be/NGslucyNfcw   and   http://youtu.be/zNR1o7Otam0

Me surfing at Gerra Beach
Photo courtesy www.surfnsoul.com

Tonel at low tide

Tonel during the after noon at low tide.

Flying surfer at Tonel

Tonel. Late , and then until sun set. Clean swell and no wind. Only a few surfers. i guess the crowd went to the West Coast to find bigger waves. Sunday flight to Mallorca.
Dinner is outdoor and the moon is full.

Dinner under the canopy.

Full moon

Beliche

Tonel looked good as well. You can not see it, but there are a lot of surfers. Some of them took quite a beating.

I was surfing Tonel. Nice swell. Sun and only weak wind. I was concentrating to read the waves.
In the afternoon I went to Cordoama. Surprising small waves

Cordoama

Cordoama

Tonel. More wind today, but a long board can handle a bit of chop, as long as the swell is there as well. The benefit was that there were very few surfers. The water temp is 22 Deg.
I am a bit worn out, but there is a chance of 2 surf periods tomorrow. A morning on the West Coast, and afternoon at Tonel.

Tonel both days. Great swell and only weak wind. Today I thought the swell was almost too big. Then all off a sudden a swimmer is passing by.. A group of 4, it turned out . So I say : "do not swimm to far out". "We won`t ", they  answer. "OH... you think we are already to far out"
Eventually I got used to the swell height of the sets. It was a day with a lot of turtle rolls.

Sun Set at Tonel

Day after day the swell is getting better. That is good because then I get used to it. The swell is not very power full, anyway. I had the camera with me today.  http://youtu.be/9HqxVyp2GhQ

Tonel.

Zavial. First time there since spring. Everybody were there. I counted 50 surfers. However I managed to find an opening and got some good waves. Sun and no wind. A great day.

Sun set at Beliche

Tonel is showing a bit of teeth

Tonel sunday

Two days off. Today Tonel. Nice swell. I counted 70 surfers. That is a lot.  It had been raining all morning, so the parking was a muddy mess. I use a 130 liter plastic bag when I take off the wet suit.

Mareta

Truck at Beliche parking

   Surfers relaxing at the beach bar.

   After 2 day rain, the sun is back.

Sunset Mos beach

I took a few days off surfing. Because a little back something.  Today Tonel. Great swell. Sunny, nice water temp.  Then I found some video obout surf stance. They are listed in the video section. There seem to be several opinions how to stand on the board , while surfing.

Tonel

S Torpe

Almost High water.

Tuesday I looked again, but the swell was now close out. So I drowe back to Sagres.

Pit stop in Carrapateira on the way  to Sagres

First surf day after I arrived yesterday. Mareta. I did not get the best timing and missed the best. Nights are down to 4 deg C Days are sunny and 18 Deg. Weak wind.

Longboarder doing rail grab.  More photos

First I went to Tonel. Not very good. Then Mareta. Here the waves were justt right for me. I was popping up without knee support several times. I am doing easy squat thrust exersize several times a day. That is helping.  Also I am concentrating on popping up in exact the right moment. Which is just when the board starts  gliding down the wave, I think. It feels right. Also I try to paddle in such a way that the board is high on the wave when this happens.
Lets see how my back feels tomorrow.

First Amado, then Cordoama. Nice swell and offshore wind, but only a few peaks working due to low swell.

.Amado . Only small swell, and only one peak working, which off course was a bit crowded. It was offshore wind, and the swell shape looked great, but it was actually difficult to catch them. Still very sunny.

Tonel. Interesting because it shows the sand bars. On  the far side of the big island you get a stront rip current. I was caught in it the other day and the strength was unusual  ...

Mareta. Actually a bit  bumpy and the peaks are very close to the shore. That forces me to  do a fast pop up. I am doing 3 x 15  ( simplified )squat thrust every day to build up some muscle. And it is helping.

Tonel. I waited most of the day for the right moment, which never came. Strong rip and lots of white water. Tired me out .

Still nice and sunny days. No wind today, so I was walking around in T/shirt. Nights down to 10 deg C

Castelejo. Today I had my best surf day ever. I was catching swell at the peak furthest out to sea , and surfed all the way to the beach, several times. Then I was given the best place at the peak , by the other surfers. I guess they wanted to study how I could surf all the way to the beach, and they barely made it 50 meters.

Well, I hope they found it out, I would like to know myself.

Surf camp. I am still using the summer awning , and it is mid December.

Great swell. Sun is shining. No surfers.

After surf i was served the Amado special burger

Tonel and Mareta. Which one would you choose??

Tonel again twice. Nice warm and sunny day, some people sitting on the beach enjoying the sun. Waves actually quite big. My wave count was less than 5 waves for the day.

Beliche has been popular as well the last days.

My Selfie for the day. Mareta

A great day for surfing at Can Pastilla. Sets up to 6 feet. I rented a 8 Feet beginners board. And I could surf with it without problems.
When a local surfer said that the biggest sets were for the best surfers, and pointed at me, I felt very proud.

Our local surf bar. We sat in the sun all afternoon. Quite good for end Dec.

Can Pastila. Swell up to 5 feet. I had to rent a SUP of 10 feet. I used it without the paddle. It worked. But now I am getting my glass longboard down.

Below is a screen shot from this morning. I got my 9 feet 2 inch board and have now placed it in storage at El Niño surf center, situated in Hotel El Cid in Can Pastilla. www.paddlesurfmallorca.com.
At one time we were 3 normal surfers and 23 SUP, so it was crowded at the peak. However everybody are very friendly. The swell kept rising during the day. I was surfing some of the biggest set, popping up in one sweep. It was a good day.