Christmas In Tamarindo

If you are lucky enough to be here on Christmas, then rent a car!  Things usually get very busy with tourists from San Jose (Costa Rican's); many of who have 2 weeks paid vacation as well as an annual bonus equal to one month's pay.  (It's the law here)

You'll find that the quieter breaks will be south of Avellanas towards Nosara.  Make sure you know how to change a flat tire, and for Pete's sake, be careful crossing some of those streams because the currents can be stronger than you think.

The Papagayo winds have begun. The Papagayo wind is a north to northeasterly wind which periodically blows through the gap in the mountain ranges of Central America in which Lake Nicaragua is located. It is named for the Gulf of Papagayo on the Pacific coast in this region. The wind is stronger than the trade winds which normally blow here. It is notable for causing a pronounced increase in upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich waters on the Pacific coast which in turn supports an abundance of sea life. The wind and upwelling are together referred to as a Papagayo event.

The Papagayo is caused by a surge of cooler, drier air originating from the North American continent. Such surges are more common in the winter, but may occur at other times of the year as well. This air is denser than the tropical air mass normally present in the region, thus a strong pressure gradient is established which induces the wind. The wind is further accelerated by the funneling effect of the mountain gap between the Caribbean and the Pacific coastlines. The same conditions are the cause of the Tehuano wind in southern Mexico and the Panama wind to the south.

What does this mean to you?  Colder water and jellyfish.  Wear a wetsuit and/or long sleeve rashguard!

The Papagayo winds shriek across Nicaragua, pulling dust out over the Pacific Ocean in this true-color image acquired by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) on March 19, 2004.


Merry Christmas!  I'll be in Ireland hunting waves!

Surf Forecast December 2 Tamarindo

Even though the surf forecasts don't show it, waves have been pretty decent on many of the local beaches. The best places have been in front of the Diria and river mouth. Playa Grande has been good, but super busy and other favorites like Avellanas have had a lot of beginners on the mains breaks.

According to Wetsand.com, a sizable system in the SW Pacific off the coast of New Zealand recently has kicked up a surfable swell for the end of next weekend into the week.  The angle on the swell looks like it will be around 220-221 degrees filling in with 18-second periods Sunday and Monday. 

Paddle boarders have been an issue lately, and have been really pissing people off here. If you are a paddle boarder please remember:

a) Because you can take every wave, you shouldn't. There is a thing called a line up. That means if you are last to the break, you need to wait until everyone else has either taken a wave or bowed out.

b) If you cannot control your board, then you have no right being on the water. yesterday I was on a wave and a Paddle Boarder jumped in front of me. His excuse was that he found it difficult to back off the wave. NO Excuse! He shouldn't have been on my wave in the first place.

c) Stay of breaks that are dominated by short boarders and beginners. Since you can paddle, go to remote breaks where you won't be a danger to other people.

Anyways, 'nuff said on that topic.

See you out on the surf and remember, "Surfing Comes First"

Technology

The leaves here have turned from green to orange to brown in the weeks that I have spent up in Saltspring. I had forgotten how beautiful Fall is in Canada, and had definitely erased the memory of being cold. Funny, because I never used to find this weather cold, and played rugby most of my life in conditions worse than it has been. That’s what happens when you move to the tropics.

Fishing has been slow, although yesterday I managed to hook into a decent size salmon only to have it throw the lure. Up here, we use barbless single hooks to make catch-and-release easier for the fish...but it also has the effect of making fishing much more difficult when you are fighting a beast that jumps into the air to when trying to escape.

Work has been keeping me busy, and it’s really great to have 3G wireless and a BlackBerry. Unfortunately, I have become too used to the technology and must resolve the fact that I will be back in Costa Rica soon where internet connections are sketchy at best. The great thing though, is that I will be back working out of my office and keeping regular hours again rather than being available 24/7. I just don’t get the mindset of people demanding replies immediately. Something like this:

Start the clock

Rob emails me a document.

T + 2 minutes

Rob text messages me, “did you get my email”

T + 5 minutes

Rob text messages me, “are you there? you aren't answering your texts”

T + 6 minutes

Kyle texts me, "Are you awake?"

T + 7 minutes

Silvio (Rob ’s Partner) texts me, “Did you get the email from Rod?”

T + 10 minutes

Rob phones me, “did you get my texts and my email?”

T+ 12minutes

Silvio phones me, “Did Rod get a hold of you?”

T + 13 minutes

Kyle calls me, "everyone is looking for you"

Meanwhile, I have just woken up because it's midnight on a school night and have had to go pee before looking at what kind of person would be so desperate to get a hold of me. Notwithstanding, have you ever tried to digest a legal document with the sandman on your shoulders?

It will be great to be home and not have that availability. So, for all you reading in North America, I will be back to market hours again soon!

The thing that I am missing most is the warm water, and of course, surfing. Hope to see some of you out there! (ps – November’s best spot to surf is between Grande and Casitas...a place called Palm Beach or Marker 26)

Saltspring BC

It’s pretty cold in the mornings here on Saltspring Island, a small socially active “Green” community located between the southern mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

The first thing I have to do at 6am before the sun rises is to light the woodstove for heat...quickly followed by plugging in the kettle to make some hot java!

Jasmine isn’t liking to cold too much, and manages to pull the covers over herself and wait for sunrise at just past 7am.

Kate too, bundles herself up waiting for the warm glow of the Autumn sun to rise from the East where the big city of Vancouver waits.

Allergies have kicked in, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the dust and cobwebs that have accumulated in the cottage over the years. Today, Sunday, is cleaning day.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and have spent the first couple of days buying groceries, supplies and launching Duggan’s boat so we can harvest crab, prawns and maybe, if the sea Gods smile upon us, a salmon or cod. Yesterday, the outboard engine holder almost fell off the transom of the boat, and I had to pull the engine back in lest it plunge overboard. I managed to get to the hardware store before it closed, bought some stainless steel bolts and a wireless drill. Found some good pieces of wood, and re-set the mountings using the timber as a bolster to the stern of the vessel. Today will be the big test when I go and check the crab pots.

Saltspring, like the rest of the planet, has changed in the twenty or so years that I have been visiting. But surprising less than most places. It still has its unique hippy charm, lesbian activists and active retiree population. What was once frowned upon as being a fringe element of society, “socially active environmentalists” now call places like the Gulf Islands their bases, and those newbies who are looking to understand sustainability, now flock to the Islands like some sort of Mecca.

I think of myself as one of those who waxed eternal the importance of environmental stewardship, learning it equally from my parents, the Boy Scouts and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards where I achieved the Gold Medal. As a person who loves to fish, I only keep what I will eat, and ALWAYS, return those species that are too small or too few. Recently, I have become very involved in a number of projects relating to Clean Energy, and am in the midst of launching a solar power company.

It all starts at home though. My parents taught the importance of composting and recycling at a very early age. They still take used envelopes and put blank white stickers on them so they can be used again. My grandmother used to count how many sheets of toilet paper she used, and collected all sorts of things like pieces of string and wax paper. These generations learned from living during the Wars and Depression. It wasn’t that they were being consciously ‘Green”. They needed to survive. But their necessity evolved into what has become a mainstream doctrine in the West.

If you are interested in looking at SRI, then visit www.cleangoal.com

Canada Fall 2009

So, I spending some time up in Canada this Fall to escape the rainy season in Costa Rica. Don't get me wrong, I like the rain, but sometimes it can just be a bit too much in October especially. I left Tamarindo on the 26th of August, and have been living out of a suitcase since.

So far i have spent a week or so in Toronto, and now find myself in Whistler. Things here have been really busy with work and play...

This Friday I head to Saltspring for a month living in a cabin on the water.

"Summer" is swell

Well we are well through July and the swells continue to fire in every week. I have been getting out as much as possible and surfing more of the beaches to the south including Marbella and Avellanas at least twice a week. As you note from the forecast, we are in for a good week here in Tamarindo and all along the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica

(Marbella)



The bigger swells mean that some beaches close out sooner than others such as Grande and Playa Negra.

Airfares from most major hubs are dirt cheap, so if you can make it down before the middle of August then you'll be in for a treat.

I moved into my new office this past month and here is a view of it.

See you on the break

July 5th Surfing Update Tamarindo, Costa Rica

The surfing conditions in Northern Costa Rica's Pacific Coast have been outstanding lately on the SSW and South breaks. Recently, I have surfed Marbella, Playa Grande, Tamarindo and Avellanas in better than prime conditions. The best time has been on the incoming tide in all cases...from about high tide minus 3 hours to flood.

The wind has also been very cooperative, and we have been fortunate to enjoy offshore winds during the peak times, which have made for some excellent barrels.

This morning I surfed the river mouth at Avellanas, and caught some of the best rights of my life. Didn't quite have the power to get the board airborn, but I sure caught some major airtime jumping back over the waves.



This coming week looks sick. Note the lack of wind Sunday during high tide.



And have a look at the southern-hemi swells coming.


Hope to see you out there!