when i finally get around (and get the money) to build a house on Hacienda Iguana, I'm mentally and emotionally prepared for it to take years
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Potential Move to Puerto Rico
- Thread starter ULUSURFER
- Start date
slowest part is finding a contractor. That took almost a year! Build time is more or less 8 months to a year. Considering Christmas goes November to Feb here basically they are making good time.
the build process is very different to standard USA style homes and takes time to ensure the quality is good.
Fresh off the plane. Warm up session about 10 minutes from Ulu's new house
Morning Marathon session at this spot. First uncrowded surf we’ve caught this trip to Ulu’s hood. This was a cell phone shot taken after the trades came up when we got out of the water. Will be back on this spot for the evening session. About 4-feet overhead with some bigger sets and only three others on the piece of reef my son and I surfed. Sessions like this are why I come back here.
It was alarming to me, after snapping my leash in barely overhead surf, how powerful the waves can be there. Glad you're getting some!
I went and bought a stay covered big wave leash for this swell and glad I did. Wildos was MACKING. I quickly realized I was out of my league when I saw people wearing flotation gear and using big guns. Had 2 good sessions and one where I got sucked up the reef and cleaned up hard. Glad I had a new leash. Guy in front of me snapped his brand new tokoro gun. Thought I was gonna drown.
In all my trips down there over the years, this was the biggest I've caught it and for days on end. That's kind of a double edged sword when you're travelling. First off, when its that big down there your options become more limited such that the fewer places that are breaking are even more crowded not to mention that a swell event like that draws more people flying in.
Then there is the board situation. We each brought two boards down. I took a 6'4 Disco Cheater and a 6'8 Disco for myself. My son took a 5'10 Sharpeye and a 6'0 Lost Driver 3.0 that he grabbed new off the rack the day before we flew down. We were both severely undergunned for the conditions and crowd for about half of the days of our trip.
Fresh off the plane and into this on a board he'd never ridden. I'm pretty sure this bottom turn-top turn combo was the first wave he dropped in on with the new Lost. This was actually one of the smaller waves out there that afternoon.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he was pretty unhappy with that board and came in and switched to the smaller board half way through the session and the smaller board was just too small for the amount of water moving.
The next morning we went back. It was now even bigger with a look that was along the lines of really big Sunset Beach or small Waimea. The parking lot was guys with big guns and floatation. Also, the channel was closing out. My son paddled out on the 6'0 and got cleaned up in the channel and finally got out the back a good quarter of a mile down from the peak. Pretty frustrated with the amount of wasted energy, he rode one wave, got caught in the channel again and just came in. Random guy on a wave that wasn't even close to the biggest wave we saw that morning.
Now we made the hour long drive to Rincon where conditions would be more favorable. We got there and both paddled out into dreamy 2-foot overhead to double overhead perfection. Only one problem........about 100 other people were at the same place and that's no exaggeration. Terrible mix of guys on guns, longboards, pissed off locals and aggro groms. In three hours I managed two waves and went in.
Day three. Pretty much a repeat of day two but we got a call to meet a friend from back home and one of the top locals down there at a spot that would be good right before dark. We found a light crowd and manageable but wonky waves. Swell was finally dropping and I snagged this shot of Wilderness from very far away right at dark (shot at 600mm and heavily cropped)
Finally on days four and five and six we got some dreamers. Basically three solid days of this.
Day seven we didn't bother surfing having gorged ourselves the three prior days. It was waist high at best. Instead we went and snorkeled the breaks called Dogmans, Tres Palms, Steps and Little Malibu. Perhaps its best not to know what the bottom looks like at the spots you surf because these places have some of the gnarliest gigantic coral heads you've ever seen just below the surface.
Day eight was our last day and we made the most of it from sunrise to sunset. Dreamy conditions in the morning with a building swell that was nearly double overhead by dark. On the last day that new Lost finally clicked in waves that were perfect for it.
Ulu introduced himself to my son in the water during this session but unfortunately our paths didn't cross. @ULUSURFER you might want to check out the link below as this photographer was shooting that spot all morning and got some good shots:
www.rinconsurfphotography.com
Then there is the board situation. We each brought two boards down. I took a 6'4 Disco Cheater and a 6'8 Disco for myself. My son took a 5'10 Sharpeye and a 6'0 Lost Driver 3.0 that he grabbed new off the rack the day before we flew down. We were both severely undergunned for the conditions and crowd for about half of the days of our trip.
Fresh off the plane and into this on a board he'd never ridden. I'm pretty sure this bottom turn-top turn combo was the first wave he dropped in on with the new Lost. This was actually one of the smaller waves out there that afternoon.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he was pretty unhappy with that board and came in and switched to the smaller board half way through the session and the smaller board was just too small for the amount of water moving.
The next morning we went back. It was now even bigger with a look that was along the lines of really big Sunset Beach or small Waimea. The parking lot was guys with big guns and floatation. Also, the channel was closing out. My son paddled out on the 6'0 and got cleaned up in the channel and finally got out the back a good quarter of a mile down from the peak. Pretty frustrated with the amount of wasted energy, he rode one wave, got caught in the channel again and just came in. Random guy on a wave that wasn't even close to the biggest wave we saw that morning.
Now we made the hour long drive to Rincon where conditions would be more favorable. We got there and both paddled out into dreamy 2-foot overhead to double overhead perfection. Only one problem........about 100 other people were at the same place and that's no exaggeration. Terrible mix of guys on guns, longboards, pissed off locals and aggro groms. In three hours I managed two waves and went in.
Day three. Pretty much a repeat of day two but we got a call to meet a friend from back home and one of the top locals down there at a spot that would be good right before dark. We found a light crowd and manageable but wonky waves. Swell was finally dropping and I snagged this shot of Wilderness from very far away right at dark (shot at 600mm and heavily cropped)
Finally on days four and five and six we got some dreamers. Basically three solid days of this.
Day seven we didn't bother surfing having gorged ourselves the three prior days. It was waist high at best. Instead we went and snorkeled the breaks called Dogmans, Tres Palms, Steps and Little Malibu. Perhaps its best not to know what the bottom looks like at the spots you surf because these places have some of the gnarliest gigantic coral heads you've ever seen just below the surface.
Day eight was our last day and we made the most of it from sunrise to sunset. Dreamy conditions in the morning with a building swell that was nearly double overhead by dark. On the last day that new Lost finally clicked in waves that were perfect for it.
Ulu introduced himself to my son in the water during this session but unfortunately our paths didn't cross. @ULUSURFER you might want to check out the link below as this photographer was shooting that spot all morning and got some good shots:
Friday Feb 16, 2024 Surfers Beach AM - RinconSurfPhotography
Fresh NNW storm swell filling in. Single snaps on here, sequences available 7875251456
Strongly suspect that my credit card got skimmed at this place last week and got hit for $650. Recommend cash only.
I didn’t shop there but same week my card got hacked for a $3,000 plane ticket.
Met groms dad’s son in water he was ripping. Fat out of shape me not so much.
The days above I surfed Wildo and it was terrifying on some sets. Spent 90% of the time trying not to cleaned up. Only saving grace was the limited crowd. Never in my life did I think I would be buying a big wave leash and looking into flotation gear. Will post some vids when I get a chance.
You need a full quiver down there. Considered buying my son a semi-gun and floatation on Saturday afternoon when we were in Rincon but didn't because of cost and travel logistics and knowing my luck the waves would have gone to poo the minute I spent the money. On the flip side, there was one day my son was wishing I'd have packed his fish so he rode one of my boards for the extra foam. Its always amazing how fast the surf can go up and down in size there in a single day.
Why not bring your bigger boards knowing what the forecast was going to be before you left?
Back in NJ we don't get waves where you need legit guns and semi-guns. Here you need grovellers and barrel boards. We don't have the sort of boards for Wilderness at 15-20 feet. The other factor was the crowd.....not just the size of the waves. When you're surrounded by people on bigger boards in big open ocean waves you are at a severe disadvantage. In a perfect world my son alone would have had four boards for the conditions on this trip up to a Sunset Beach style semi-gun.
The shot below is from last year. He had boards he could handle this stuff no problem but on Saturday and Sunday of this trip it was literally twice this size at Wilderness.
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I wonder if he met "Control" on his visit to Jobos.Looks good and all, but did you guys even get to shred with this surf celeb?
