Sick Tullan,empty early

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine. Surf and Sun on a Bank Holiday. Rory Gallagher festival on here so alot of sun burnt sore heads about. Stuck a few pics in the gallery of Tullan this morning. Only 2 guys out forthe early. They defo got the worms this morning. Should still be waves about tomorrow.

Enjoy

Chicama, the longest left point in the world

Got some good waves during the week at Chicama on the north coast of Peru. The wave is well known as the longest left point in the world, and it lived up to its name. From the take off to the pier is about 2 miles but in reality you catch a good wave and ride it for about 500m or more. Some of the really good ones were breaking for more than that. The wave was quite differnet to what I expected. The paddle out is quite tricky with a nasty shore dump to get through and very strong currents. Once you get in the line up you have to constantly paddle to keep position, but its a losing battle if the swell is head high or bigger. There are a few barrels to be had from the deep take off spot but the wave is breaking very fast so not really very makeable. The more normal take off spot is just left of the rocks and from there you can get some really good long waves. If you mess up your wave then you are probably caught in the current so hope for a smaller one on the inside. The wave is really fun and you can do really nice snaps and cutbacks into cover ups. After a few waves down the point you just paddle for the shore and start walking again, with hopefully a big smile on your face. There are a few boats ferrying people from the fancy resort back to the take off spot, much to the annoyance of those of us walking and paddling. Even with the boats and 50 people surfing there are loads of good waves for everybody. We had head high waves for 2 days and overhead for one day. The photo here does not do the spot justice, as I was too busy surfing. After that surfed Puemape for a few days, about 3 to 4 foot. Swell has gone small here now but more waves on the way. After that its off to Cusco and Macchu Picchu.

Sunday Swell

Looks like a nice swell arriving tomorrow and with the winds turning more southerly should be a few good sessions to be had. The swell direction looks perfectand the surf should hit 4 to 5 foot at the peak. Streedagh is probably the best bet if you looking for a beach break. The long days now mean its possible to surf 4 times in a day if ya got the stamina. See you out there.

Surfing in Peru

Hit the coast after the mountains and headed to the beach town of Huanchaco. Although there was not a lot of swell for the weekend it was about shoulder to head high with some fun waves. Huanchaco is a popular beach town outside the city of Trujillo. It is popular with Peruvians and tourists alike. Although this is winter there were still plenty of local day trippers on Sat and Sun, so the town was busy. They all seemed to leave around 5pm so it is quiet in the evenings. Plenty of good seafood restaurants serving ceviche and chargrilled fish. Costs about 3 to 4 euros for a good plate of fresh fish. The coast is quite arid and desertlike here, but Huanchaco is a bit of an oasis. The waves here are very consistent and not very heavy, so plenty of beginner and intermediate level surfers in the water, as well as some really good guys ripping it up. The local standard is high. It would seem that it rarely goes flat here at this time of year. Even today is small but still there are waves. The local fishermen here have been making fishing boats out of reeds bound together for the last 2,000 years. They paddle out in their craft to fish and then ride the waves back in. This is the only place where they are still used and each craft lasts only for a few months. These may be the worlds first surfers as they traditionally stand up in the boat when riding the waves in to shore. Hoping the swell will be enough for Chicama on Wed and Thu.

Santa Cruz trek

Set out from Huaraz early on Monday to start the 4 day Santa Cruz trek. There were 3 others in my group. Steve from Boston and also Gia and Helen from Perth. Our guide was David and the muleteer was Bernardo. To get to the trailhead we had a 3 drive through some spectacular scenery. We walked for about 4 hours to the first camp site. On the second day we took about 4 hours uphill for 1,000 metres to reach the pass at 4,750m and then down about 3 hours to our campsite at 4,200. Very cold at night - about minus 5 degrees and hard to sleep at this altitude. The next day we had good walking down the valley along with a side trip up to a look out point and glacial lake. The last day was an easy walk down through the valley, the scale of which is amazing. We got the best weather on the last day. We had a fair bit of rain but nothing like Irish rain. There is a big swell hitting here next week so now its down to the serious business of surfing. Next post hopefully from the coast.

Lima and the Andes

Arrived in Peru last Wed with my new all time favourite airline KLM. They give you a lot of food and there is a great selection of movies to choose from. Although they did not have a good reputation for carrying surfboards in the past I had no problems as long as the boards were booked in advance. Plenty of swell in Lima when I arrived and no doubt La Herradura was going off but I was too late. There were plenty of people surfing around Mirraflores but it looked pretty lame. Looked like the best of the swell had passed so decided to wait for the next one and headed up to Huaraz in the mountains. Straight away you notice the altitude. The town is at just over 3,000 metres. Had some good hikes the first few days to try and acclimatize. The mantra is climb high and sleep low. Went to Churrup lake today at about 4,500 metres. On Monday heading on a 3 night/4 day hike on the Santa Cruz trek. Opted to join a group since my track record at altitude is not too good, in Nepal and Ecuador. The last trip to altitude was to Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador at about 5,500m. It is now referred to as Coto-f-ing-paxi in my house. Needless to say we did not make the summit. The 4 day trek here with all the tents and food, and a mule to carry all the gear, as well as a guide, costs 90euros. Looking forward to not carrying a heavy backpack over a 4,800 metre pass. It is cheap here - you can get a 3 course meal for less than 2euros in the places that are popular with the locals. After the trek will be off to the coast for hopefully some very long left hand points.

Headed to Dublin with the seasession boys and sampled the capitals delights. Ronan from Kila came down and had a go on the surf simulator earning himself a few Bavarias. After a nervous start he got the hang of it and is now keen to hit the real thing when he comes down for the Seasession festival at the end of June. Looks like a cracking weekend.

Details at http://www.seasession.com/