About surf

The thing with surfboards came about one afternoon. My dad dragged me to watch this movie, on a Wednesday I think. I must have been seven or eight years old. The movie was showing in Costa Rica for two days only so we had to go. I remember the guys loading their boards on the back of their old trucks, the sun setting on the horizon, the golden light shinning through the fiberglass translucent fins. That stuck in my memory bank. I learnt how to surf ten years later, the year my father died. I went on to be part of the same movie some years later and saw my life come at full circle. Having been part of that project means a lot to me. Last year Bruce Brown was in town and I was able to thank him for the opportunity and talk story with the man. What a guy! some one that night asked me how I got the part in the movie. I said I'd be the wrong person to ask, you are going to have to ask Bruce that question. So when he got to it he said, "well, I just asked you if you wanted to work for free"..........................surfing has given me so much so building boards is a lot like playing God in a way. You decide who gets what. Charles Williams was the guy that taught me how to shape. I'd been playing with all the concepts and such but it was Charley who gave me the visuals, the method to the madness. I am always quoting him when talking story wherever, whenever. Specially among the young guys. Charley if from Florida and he charges. I have seen him committed to the most horrendous pits and his facial expressions show nothing but piece of mind. I find my self surfing my best when he is here. Some times I'll paddle to the channel and enjoy the show. I have my limits. He has spent a lot of time surfing his surfboards IMPACT in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. He is extremely humble and was one of the things that impressed me the most while going surfing. I want to leave you with one of his favorite lines. "It's easier to be a better surfer than a better person"

Tamarindo Today

This chapter begins with Tamarindo today.

A lot has been said about the lack of lifeguards in Tamarindo etc. You and I might not be willing to dig into the complexity of excuses from the people responsible..., but how about the inherited responsibility we obtain when we learn how to surf. Back in the days when surfers where just beginning to grasp the lifestyle it wasn't that rare to find guys that life-guarded during the summer and traveled to the islands during the winter months. I mean, who else but a surfer to understand the desperate sensation we experience when underwater after a long hold down? I have noticed a divorce from the young to their primal responsibility: "The Need to Preserve Life"; especially if you are the closest person to a drowning victim. So let me just say this to every guy out there with a surfboard under their arm. Nobody really cares how many trophies you hold above your head, what people really want to know is how good of a person you really are.

Another subject I really want to touch is a recent movement in town against what they call "HIGH DENSITY' Big Words! What bothers me regardless of the actual building is the fact that I see so many ticos wearing this negative press. They need to open their eyes to what it's really happening here. Some rich people's view of the ocean is getting blocked by this new project, right behind that public parking area. For some reason the people against this project claim this is bad for local bussines; yadda yadda.... Please you people, if your bussines is hurting it is because it sucks. There are plenty of places doing great, thank you. A building like the one they are talking about would provide many job opportunities to so many Costa Ricans for such a long time. My question to the people of this town is 'What are you teaching your kids?', since I see so many of them with the "bad press logo".

PROTECT THE RICH? BURY THE TICOS?

What we have to understand is that we are no longer a sleepy little town. We are going to be an epicenter for many good thing. Remember, every job a Costa Rican or Nicaraguan or even a foreigner from a developing country represents a separation from poverty. If you ask me; what would you rather save, a tree or a family of three?