Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Support the SAYULITA JR SUP TEAM's First International Competition!

The SAYULITA JR SUP TEAM is going north of the border to California and could use your support!

The SAYULITA JR SUP TEAM's "elite squad" is gearing up to take their first international trip to compete and represent Mexico on the worlds biggest racing stage at the Pacific Paddle Games (PPG) 2017 in Southern California at the end of September of this year. This event has been the game-changer of countless athletes, but to these kids it would be an experience that will change their lives forever.

Trace and Alex have been invited to help represent the team in their respective age groups and we are making sure our kids and their teammates can go experience this awesome event.  Help the team with any donation so our team can compete at the end of September!  


Donate today at this Go Fund Me Page! 


Monday, August 21, 2017

First Day of School At CVIS - August 2017

Today the kids went off to their new school, Costa Verde International School.  It is a private school here in Sayulita.  They will attend class for a half day in English and half the day in Spanish.  It will be a much more demanding curriculum for the kids and totally different socially with a lot more kids to interact with at all grade levels.  They both spent 5 years at Escuela del Mundo and the campus, staff and kids were all very comfortable for them. It will be all new this year but they do know many of the kids, some of the staff and will be able to find their way around the small campus with ease by the end of the week.  Saw lots of friendly parent faces this morning too welcoming us to our new school.  A new world for them and us.

Sorry my phone's camera is so bad.



Saturday, August 19, 2017

Trace - "The Surfer"

This post marks the day when we saw Trace become a "Surfer".  Not just a kid who plays in the waves but a "Surfer".  He has been showing a growing interest in SUP surfing in the last year and we have been going out early almost everyday this summer.  He has two friends who are brothers who also have been developing the same passion for the sport.  I been trying to coach them a little on safety and surf etiquette in the main break and it has gone well to this point since the waves have been smaller and the crowds have been less aggressive in the mornings.  Technique is all self taught by the boys themselves and by some cross over from their SUP Paddleboard Race Team experience.

Yesterday, with the surf building, the boys had a taste of larger and better waves in the morning and they decided they wanted to go out in the afternoon as well.  Afternoon or Happy Hour surf time is usually a very local time to surf and the the caliber of surfers can be much higher than in the mornings.  The waves were bigger, the surfers were faster, the action was hectic and I sat nervously on the beach with the other boy's dad and watched.

All the boys did great!!  They rode waves that were theirs and got off waves that were not.  They dropped into waves well over their heads at a time of day that I totally avoid altogether just based on the who is generally out there at the time.  They acted like they belonged there and they did.  We were so impressed with these new surfers!  One of the best parts was having a local SUP Pro, Felipe Rodriguez Lorenzo (aka "Pipe"), take them under his wing while they were out there.  He would have them sit down and huddle up and he would tell them where to catch the best waves and other tips.  Really?  This guy finished 8th in the 2016 World Championships in Fiji and he takes time out of his training to coach the kids.  The best SUP surfer in Mexico.  Just AWESOME!  He totally has a bunch of new fans in these boys and their dads who watched this go down.

"Sayulita Bros" 

Anyway, it looks like this is a real interest of Trace's and we think that is great.  We have been waiting for either of the kids to really show some interest in the ocean and it has now officially begun.  Looks like we need to find a way for Trace to get his board down to the beach on his own too.  His 10 year old arms just can't handle his board yet for very far.  We will have to work on that.

"Pipe"

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Sayulita Scenes - Gully Washer

The first real "gully washer" storm hit the other night.  People soon realized that their roofs may not have been as water proofed as they thought they were.  These kind of storms wash out the dirt side roads sending debris, gravel and lots of other items into the main streets that lead to the river and out to ocean.  Needless to say the beach becomes a place to avoid after such storms as the ocean kicks a lot of it back onto the beach.  The pueblo ends up muddy, wet with sewer systems overloaded due to so many roof drains hooked up to the main sewer lines rather than storm drains.  Anyway, things eventually get cleaned up but it is a big mess for a while and we need the water.

Photo by la Rustica

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Blogger Glitches

For some reason this area of Mexico, including Guadalajara, has not had Blogger service for a few weeks.  Anyway, we are still here and will be updating soon.