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My 7th flight to Mexico this year: Monday morning was our first day. It was smaller than I expected, about Tuesday was solid. There were some sets that were double overhead. I paddled out my 6’4” but I could have easily used an extra foot because the sets were coming in pretty fast. It was tough to get in position out there but I got one sick left that spit on me as I was dropping in before I did a lay back in the pocket. I also managed to get a good right barrel that spit me out before breaking my board on the next wave. When I went in there was a ding repair guy with broken boards under his arm who told me he’d fix it for 30 bucks. Wednesday started out raining and I decided to take Matt up the beach to a place I thought would be better for him. To get there we had to drive out through town and backtrack towards the beach again. As we started to leave it was only a light drizzle. Just after Matt said, “at least it’s not raining to hard…” It started to pour! It was raining so hard that our roof racks started causing a leak into the car at all four doors. By the time we got to the other town, about 35 minutes later, it was raining so hard we could barely see. A south wind started howling which made it just look miserable. We sat in the car hoping the storm would blow by us soon because it was still early in the morning and I was hopeful we would get some clean surf. The leaks from the racks persisted and were the worst on Matt's side. It got so bad it turned from a drip to a constant stream and he moved into the back seat. His original seat in the front became 100% saturated and ended up having a two inch deep puddle before much longer. We made the decision to bail back to our home base because it seemed like the storm wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. The sky was dark grey and angry looking lashing bolts of lightning which were instantly followed by a loud roar of thunder. To our surprise as we drove inland back towards the main high way it seemed to lighten up a little bit. Once we made it back to Tecoman, the main town, the rain had almost completely subsided. But we were amazed to see the damage and flooding caused by the angry storm that had just passed through town. Our normal turnoff to go back to the beach and our hotel was blocked off because a bridge that is a pedestrian walkway over the highway had collapsed into the side road. We were forced to continue straight where we noticed the side streets resembled rivers. There were cars stuck in 2-3 feet of water in the side roads, people were wading to get to safety and we saw a cop pushing his mopped in waist deep water! It was amazing to see the town look so different than it did an hour and a half after we had just passed through. On the way back to the beach we were forced to test our little rental cars amphibious capabilities as we had to pass through a puddle that was about 150 ft in length and a solid 2+ ft deep in the middle… we almost bogged out but the Tsuru pulled through. When we arrived back at our hotel I was happy to see that the ocean looked clean and was about the same size as the day before, with a little better shape. I was forced to ride my 6’1 because that was my next biggest board I had besides my 6’4”, which was getting fixed. Every wave I caught was basically an airdrop, which made it more interesting… I was able to come out of 6 good barrels. My last wave was a nice long left that for a second I didn’t think I was gonna make. I was doing a floater on the foam ball inside the barrel before connecting my rail with speed and making it out. Later that day we went to Ticla and the waves were good size but it was super mushy. The scenery down there is worth the drive though cause there is jungle all the way to the water’s edge. On the way back from Ticla we got stopped at a military check point and they were searching our car for like 15 minutes. I started getting nervous that they were going to plant something in the car and try to get some money out of us, but that didn’t happen. Also, we found out the town just north of ticla, where I stopped for gas on the way in, had shootings and murders really often lately and we were told to never stop there or even slow down going through there! Apparently there were some cases where cars passing through even got shot at! That area is beautiful but super shady… Thursday, was the best day of surfing for our whole trip. It was even better shape at Pascuales than the day before and still had sets that were the same size. I grabbed my 6’4” the night before but ended up riding my 6' 1 because I didn’t feel like waxing and putting fins on my 6’4. Plus when I first looked at the waves it looked a little smaller than the day before and I figured if I was able to ride my 6'1 yesterday so I could ride it today. Pete Franco, from Carlsbad, showed up this morning. Jason Franco, his brother, was already there when we showed up and Lyon Ortega also from Carlsbad showed up the same day as Matt and I. Matt was CHARGING, considering he has only been surfing for 3 months! He paddled out on the biggest day of the week and told me later that he had more adrenaline when he was paddling out than he did before his first fight in the cage! He went on to say, “for my first fight the thought of dying didn’t even cross my mind…” Pete was riding a 7’6”, Lyon a 7’2” and Jason, I think, was on a 7’0”. It was also Lyon’s B-day… and he definately got some sick b-day barrels. Again, on my 6’1 I was forced to take off late on every wave I could catch. I made it out of 8 good barrels and I think 6 of ‘em spit me out. My best wave was a good sized left. I was sitting a little south of Pete so I think he saw the drop. I grabbed my rail from the get go. When I pulled in I had tons of speed and just guided my board with my hand. At one point I thought I was too deep and then I felt a little sting from the spit as the wave gassed and I got boosted into the next section. I let go of my rail and stood up for what I thought was the end of the barrel but the thing kept going. I was able to match its speed all the way and kicked out over the back. Then I paid for it because I got stuck on the inside for at least ten minutes. On one of many duck dives I got smashed into the bottom and my knee got scraped up by the sand and clams. On another duck dive I was spun into 4 cartwheels which doubled the cartwheels of any others. I was seeing stars when I came up from that one…. During the time I was stuck on the inside, I saw Pete catch about 4 waves. I finally got pushed down the beach and into a rip which took me back to the outside. Exhausted, I just sat there stretching my arms. Then I start to see one of the biggest sets of the day rolling in up the beach where Pete, Jason and Lyon were. From the side I saw Pete barely get into a bombing right and he was behind the peak. Then it went super square… about 10-12 feet tall and 15 feet wide. At one point I thought he wasn’t going to make it cause he was riding the foam ball in the barrel. Then the wave started to spit super hard and he disappeared. When the spit finally stopped, he emerged from the barrel. I was screaming for him from about 100 yards away because it was by far the best wave I saw all week and he packed it! I think he needed every inch of his 7’6 for that one… Later Matt and I went up the beach to the next town and the waves weren’t much smaller but they were breaking in a little closer. He and I paddled out together just in time to take a super square rouge outsider on the head. I was a couple feet further out than him but it rocked both of us. I almost bailed my board but decided to duck dive it. It hit me so hard I was seeing stars after that one too. Matt got pushed in pretty far and then denied on making it out. He doesn’t give up though… after resting on the beach for a few minutes he tried again but, again had bad luck because another set basically focused on him as the current pushed him up the beach. The third time was the charm as he made it out after a little more rest. When he got out to me he told me,” I’d rather get kicked in the face by a heavy weight than do that again!” I guess he swallowed water at one point and was throwing up but that shows how much determination he has because it didn’t stop him. Friday, our last day, the waves were still decent size so I took my 6’4 out but the wind was really calm, instead of off shore so there were rips everywhere and the waves also got a little more walled. It was really hard to make a barrel but I managed to get one good right that spit me out so I just went in on that one. Looking back on the trip I learned a lot from Matt and his dedication in everything he does and it was pretty cool to go on a surf trip with a professional fighter instead of a bunch of pro surfers for a change. I had nothing to prove and neither did Matt. We were just having a good time…. V.A.
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