Life is Good, Especially With This Family, and Animals, and Surf

Does it get any better than this? I'm not sure how to relate to the concerns of boredom during retirement. It seems pretty good to me!  ;-)

My body has been aching and sore for three days now so that, at least, should sound familiar to some of you retirees. Of course, in my case it's because I surfed four hours a day for a week. I'm finally going back out to brave the surf again tomorrow. It took real mental fortitude to resist surfing this morning. The winds were solidly offshore for two hours and the surf was 3-5 feet and hollow for the whole time! Instead, I coached Catalina for her fourth lesson. She, of course, performed amazingly. This time she even paddled for a wave on her own, caught it, and stood up and rode it to the beach. She rode a total of four waves standing up on a very small board, about 4'6". I can't tell you how proud I feel watching this healthy, strong, beautiful child relish the physical challenge of playing in the waves on a big yellow surfboard. I, of course, stole her board for awhile.

Coati by the Porch

Anyway, we've had a wonderful collection of lazy days full of walking to stores and surf shops, wandering the beach, cooking dinner, tutoring Catalina, napping, and snapping pictures of all the critters in the neighborhood. Last night, for example, we were awakened by a troop of howler monkeys not more than a few meters from our beds. Those things sound like a cross between harbor seals and wild dogs, despite their diminutive size. This morning, we were visited once again by a collection of Coatimundi. This time one of the braver buggers wandered right up to the house. I suspect somebody's been feeding him.

Butterfly on Porch

Parrots in Our Tree

There are many other of Creation's creatures we've see along the way. As part of Catalina's geography homework she made me a list of everything she's seen so far. Here it is, typed by the scientist herself. Click on any photo for larger image.

1. White nosed coati
2. Blue morpho butterfly
3. Iguana
4. Howler monkeys
5. Hibiscus
6. Variegated squirrel
7. Magpie Jay
8. White-fronted Parrot
9. Scorpion
10. Preying mantis
11. Sand crab
12. Vulture
13. Cat
14. cows
15. Chicken
16. Horses

Bettys

Sydney Loves Yogurt

Today was typically lazy. We did some schoolwork with Catalina. We walked to the beach. Catalina surfed a bit. We had snacks, including the ever-popular banana crunch cookies., We read a few chapters in some good books (1491, by Charles Manning, in my case). Then we headed to Robin's for some homemade chocolate ice cream and some fresh mango sorbet. After that we walked halfway home before we were offered a ride by some locals. I then made garlic, pepper, grilled onion, and grilled pepper burgers while Shannon made a nice big local produce salad. 

The Happiness Hammock

Robin's ice cream is truly impressive. Her "rum raisin" ice cream has lots of real rum in the mix. So good! Here's the Lonely Planet review. We brought home two chocolate chip cookies, but they were vegan or something. Frankly I prefer the Chips Ahoy I already had stashed at the house. Still, we'll be back for the sorbet and gelato.

Anyway, life is truly good right now. Shannon took a shot of me with kids on the hammock today. I call it the "happiness hammock."

By a strange stroke of luck our first night in Playa Hermosa was double-booked. That's good news because I was feeling that we didn't spend enough time in Playa Negra, an area we all liked, and where the surf is supposed to be good on Friday and Saturaday. Thus, I volunteered to arrive a day later down in Playa Hermosa and we're headed back to Cafe Playa Negra on Friday morning. The town there is great and we loved Cafe Playa Negra and Kontiki. Check out my Tripadvisor reviews of each:

1. Kontiki Playa Negra
2. Cafe Playa Negra Hotel and Restaurant

Anyway, the surf is supposed to be good the next few days and the winds will be offshore. Time to break my surfing fast, I think. On the way back to Playa Negra we'll be passing Marbella. I will be checking that out for sure!

Here are a few clips of Playa Negra. The first is at high tide, when it's super fun and easy to ride. The second is when the tide is a bit lower and it starts to barrel. Still a pretty easy wave compared to the beach break junk I'm used to surfing.

  

One more full day in Nosara and then we're off again.

Pura vida!

Board Swapping and Wind Notes

First a note about the offshore winds in this area. They are definitely stronger and more consistent in the mornings. Moreover, the farther north in Costa Rica you travel, the more consistent they are during the winter months. Thus, up in Nicaragua and near the border they are very reliable. In Playa Negra they were strong and blew through most of each day. At Marbella they switched to side-shore or onshore around lunch. Of course all this depends on local weather and pressure patterns. They're predicted to get much stronger over the next few days. We'll see. Unfortunately the surf is still small. At least the offshore trade winds will shape the little waves.

Anyway, as I said in my last post, our rental contract allows me to try a bunch of different boards. Since I'm pretty exhausted and the surf has dropped a bit, I'm trying out longer, fatter boards better suited to the smaller waves.

For example, I rented the Aloha Quickshift in 6'8" for this morning's session. I liked it, but it needed more solid, steeper waves than were generally rolling through today. It also didn't paddle quite as well as I'd like for such a big board. My grade: B. Details are here: http://www.surfindustries.com/surfboards/aloha_quickshift.php

Tomorrow morning, I'm taking out a 6'8" x 21" x 2 3/4" epoxy 7S Superfish. This board is seriously thick and wide. It has a stepped deck so that it's very thick until near the rail where it finally slopes rapidly down in size. I'm sure to catch whatever little waves are out there and I'm very curious to see how well a tank like this will handle turns. Details available here: http://www.surfindustries.com/surfboards/7S_superFishXL.php

Catalina Surfs! Sydney too, sort of...

Well, the surf has definitely dropped, but there are still occasional head-high or better waves now and then. Every day I say I'm going to take a break because my neck, shoulders, and ribs are sore and, yet, every day I paddle back out. Partly this is because Catalina and I have a rental contract with Coconut Harry's Surf Shop. For $120 a week we can take any board we want for as long as we want and swap it out for another whenever we like. Thus, Catalina has been learning to surf on a big foamy safety board and then I take out a small wave board or some other board I've been curious to learn about. More about that in the next post. First, Catalina managed to stand up and ride some waves on her second session and is all of the sudden "stoked' on surfing! Her little sister was jealous so she had to try it too. I think we'll call this PE class for today's homeschooling. Here are the pics. I'm sure there'll be more to come. Click on any pic for larger size slideshow view.

Check out that outside set!

More on Marbella, Playa Pelada, and Casa Arboles

Shane says that the Marbella waves look "perfect for barrel practice." Well, the pics make it look like just the right size and it was basically as you imagine, but I'm pretty frustrated about it nevertheless. First, it was heavier than it looks because it was breaking into about three feet of water and the size was highly variable. You could stand there waist deep and have an overhead barrel coming right at you. I duck-dived right into the sandy bottom a couple of times. Also, the bigger clean up sets were a foot or two bigger and were amazing. We watched it for an hour while we had lunch. The offshores were howling the whole time and a van load of pros from SoCal were getting long open barrels. I finally got stoked enough to give it a shot. It took about twenty minutes to get it wired. Then, within moments, the wind shifted to solid side-shore and all the magic evaporated. It went from all-time to choppy, shifting, and dangerous in about five minutes! Still, I dropped into three solid lefts and one heaving barrel, but the wind had shifted and it closed on my head. I wish to god I hadn't waited during lunch. Still, I'm proud of myself for giving it a shot. 

Playa Pelada - a tropical Leo Carrillo

Mommy and baby at La Luna, Pelada

I'm taking a bit of a break yesterday and today now that the surf has dropped to about 2-3 feet, with an occassional 4 footer. It's still pretty good because the offshores blow hard in the early morning and I've had some amazing rides on 3-4 foot waves. This Playa Guiones where we're staying is the most mellow beach break I've ever encountered. You invariably have a good long glide during the drop in and then a sloping shoulder to carve on. It's even easier to ride than Trestles. Strangely, it has just enough force and shape that I've been riding the Ludwig 6'4" successfully even as most of the other folks out there are now on eggs and longboards. Basically, it's mellow and fun and good practice, but not heavy at all. The locals say that when the surf is above 5 or 6 feet it gets hollow and barrels, but that happens more often on big summer south swells and then the wind can be onshore by early morning, like at home. Interestingly it will hold up to about 10 feet. The pictures are on the restaurant walls to prove it! I'll be back for sure. Between here and Marbella is about 40 minutes by 4x4 on dirt roads. It's another 40 minutes to Playa Negra, which is by far the best break around. It's then 10 more minutes to Avellanas, which is gorgeous and mellow. I also found a great little break that peels off a rock on a south swell. It's very much like Leo Carrillo minus the old guys! We were there for dinner so I didn't surf it and now I don't have a car and it's about a 30 minute hike from here. Still, the point is that this whole area has tons of surf, including miles of beach break and rocky offshore reefs I didn't even check out. It's still unpaved and relatively uncrowded. The weather is also blissfully drier and more comfortable than further south and during June. I'll be back for sure during a January school break, probably next year. 

Here are some shots of Playa Pelada where La Luna Restaurant and the little twin of Leo Carrillo surf break are both to be found: https://picasaweb.google.com/surfer.prof/PlayaPelada?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNvjw9Clwtr7MA&feat=directlink

I broke the nose of my board today on the back of my right hand during a wipe out! Yes it hurt as much as you might imagine, but seems to have done no permanent damage.That means the board has to dry for a couple days before I attack it with SolarRes repair goo. I'm glad I brought this board and not my new Becker. The extra thickness is great on Nosara's softer beach break and between the airline and my wipe outs I'm doing some serious cumulative damage to it. Anyway, my body hurts tons from so many sessions so it's probably a good thing that the surf has dropped .However, I'm a little worried that, at the moment, there's nothing really on the horizon. Still, it's a good opportunity to rent a longboard or big egg while the surf is small. The good thing about renting here is that they let you trade in the board endlessly as the conditions change so I'm going to rent a mini-Mal for a week for $90 and then switch to a different board if the surf pics up. For a trip of less than, say, two weeks there's really no reason to bring a board. Good rentals are everywhere, even in tiny Playa Negra (which we miss; that place is cool). 

Casa Arboles. We live downstairs.

The little house we rented, Casa Arboles, is very basic but is working great for us. It's amazing how we've adjusted to sitting around in 90+ degrees without any AC on (it's really just in the bedroom) and still feel completely comfortable. The kids play on the porch and hammock and chase bugs around for fun or play with pots and pans and water from the house. We're cooking a lot to save money.  I even made Gallo Pinto from scratch, including soaking the red beans and all that. Today we're hiking off to the Beach Dog Cafe for a tasty treat of familiar restaurant food for lunch, something we can't afford to do very often right now. Catalina was promised Mac 'n' Cheese and some ice cream.

Catalina in the Kitchen/Living Room/Kids' Bedroom

Hammock Heaven

Catalina in the Surf Racks

Catalina on 'Our' Street

Soon it's time to rest my muscles and teach Catalina a science lesson. After that we'll figure out dinner and use up some of the rice and beans. 

Finally, I'll be get some surf shots of Nosara/Guiones up here soon.