One of the Floripa’s claims to fame is that the waves are always breaking nicely SOMEWHERE on the island.  It’s got 42 beaches with different exposures, land features, and bathymetry (that means underwater topography), which make for different wave outcomes depending on the swell and wind direction.  The locals have a great sense of this.  I’ve heard tidbits: Joaqina works with most everything and that’s where the waves are biggest.  Barra da Lagoa has small but perfectly shaped waves and is the place to go when the southern wind messes up the swell elsewhere.   Praia Mole works really nicely with a Northwestern wind.  And so on…

I am still piecing it all together – but the other day, while I was waiting for the bus to Joaquina, my friend (and former body-boarding champ) Clara happened to walk by on her way to the supermarket and told me that the waves at Praia Mole were particularly good that day.  So instead of jumping on the bus for Joaca, I took a quick jaunt over a different hillside road to land at Praia Mole.

Praia Mole seems a bit more wild than Joaquina, or maybe that’s just because I don’t know too many people there, or because the line up is far from all the seaside cafes, along the rocky headland at the North end.  But Clara’s tip was right on, Praia Mole was serving up some sweet waves that day.

I huffed and puffed as I made my way through the deep soft sand towards the

Looking out from the life guard station towards the break at Praia Mole

northern end of the beach (Mole means soft in Portuguese), marveling at the dudes in wetsuits who chose to run through this pudding-like medium.  They streamed by me, in an impatient swarm towards the paddle-in spot.  I was watching them very carefully at this point, because it seemed that the ONLY place from which people were paddling in today was off the rocky headland at the North.  They ran across a big  jungle-gym style pile of rocks, out to a point where, as far as I could tell, waves were breaking rather roughly.  Then they waited for just the right moment, and took a leap off the rocks into the water onto their surfboards, steering past the lone boulder ahead before the next big wave broke.

Call me boring, but in my life thus far I have generally tried to avoid jumping into water off rocky headlands where waves are crashing.  I prefer launching my watercrafts off flat sand beaches, where, if the waves are going to sweep you backwards, you will not be smashed against a big, hard, barnacle-covered object like a boulder.  So I was hoping that MAYBE there was another place to paddle in.   I was taking my cues from the locals here.  If I saw just a few people paddle in from the beach, I would have gone for it.  But no one did.  The waves were coming in one after the other, and there was a strong southward current which meant that by the time you got far enough out from the beach, you would have been swept away from the  break at the North end.  It seemed that today, there was only one way in to the waves at Praia Mole, and that was by launching yourself off the headlands.

So after I suited up, I followed the procession onto, up, and across the boulders to the slippery patch of rocks at the end which was the designated take off point.  I lurked right next to that spot a long time, inviting many surfers to go before me so I could get a sense of how the waves were breaking here, and so I could observe exactly how they did it.  A couple guys gave me some advice in Portuguese, which I fear I only half gathered –something about watching out for the slippery portions of the rock and gripping on the mussel shells – but that was useful.  It was all in the timing, making sure that a big set was not coming in to cheese-grate you across the barnacles.  Then you just hopped off and paddled quickly to clear the other boulders that surrounded you.   “If all these people can do it, I can do it,” I told myself.  And when I felt ready, I hopped in.  I’m not gonna lie, I paddled like hell to clear those boulders, and judging by the amused smiles that greeted me when I reached the line-up, I may have had a look of terror on my face.  The southward current quickly helped me get out of the way of the hardcore shredders, and I caught some pretty glorious waves that Mole that day.  And when I rode a really nice left, all the way into the beach, I did what I saw everyone else do, and I got out and ran through the sand back to the headlands.  A great introductory day into the world of launching off rocky headlands on my board.  Many firsts here in Brazil!

Looking out at the North end of Joaquina

Early on in my travels in Brazil, I stumbled my way by bus to Joaquina, which is probably the most famous surfing beach on the island.  It is beautiful, with  a rocky headland of big smooth tawny boulders to the north (where you can spectate the surfing show below), and a beach that stretches for miles to the South, made of crystal white sand, so fine that it squeaks when you walk on it.  The waves tend to be the tallest on the island, and it hosts a lot of local and national

The dunes on the way to Joaquina. You can rent a “sandboard” at the tent.

championships.  If you come at the right time, you can see some CRAZY good surfers shredding it on the outside set.  Behind the beach is a trippy landscape of sand dune mountains and coastal forest.  On the narrow road that winds through the hills and dunes to Joaquina, you can see crowds of people “sand boarding” – which is basically snow boarding down the dunes.  I’ve heard that this sport was invented on the dunes of Floripa, which does not surprise me, given the overall love for sports and the outdoors that I have encountered here.

College Surf School, meeting point for grommets and seasoned surfers alike, all under the auspices of jedi master, Fabricio Machado.

On my first trip here, after a bus odyssey that seemed to circumnavigate the entire Island, I arrived at the beach at 5 pm.  This was just when the only surf school open that day (or during the whole winter season for that matter) was about to close.  The owner, Fabric, a local surf legend, took pity on me  and hung around an extra 45 minutes so I could rent a board and catch a few waves.  That evening, I hitched a ride home with another surfer and discovered that the beach was only 20 minutes from my house, rather than 2 hours, as my bus ride suggested.  Cool.

Ever since then, I’ve been going back a lot.  As a solo surf adventurer and

Typical saturday at Joaqina. Lots of families come to spend the day.

videographer with no car and a house far from the beach, I have a lot of logisitical hurdles to overcome on a daily basis – like dragging my board on and off crowded buses, dragging a wetsuit and a bunch of video equipment to the beach every day, finding a place to stash it while i am surfing, and taking it all home (soaked wetsuit and videocamera in the same bag).   The nice folks of the Joaquina surf community have helped me solve a lot of these little challenges.

When I am in the water, I stash my stuff in front of the surf school where all the local grommets keep there skateboards and backpacks after trekking here after school each day. While the bus journey is still pretty painful, I can usually hitch a ride back with one of the surfers in the parking lot, and this has been a fun way to meet new people (a

The sunset session

personal trainer, a local graffiti artist, a surf photographer/capoeirista, a guy named after the Greek philosopher Themistocles).  And recently, in a major breakthrough in life options, a kindly old-timer surf shop owner down the road has let me store my board at his place so I don’t have to haul it on the bus every day, prompting the ire of my fellow passengers who get bumped, tripped, displaced, or boxed in by the 6 foot 9 inch fiberglass behemoth I force upon them.

Marcia and Fatima – devotees of Joaca. Marcia is a mom and Fatima a personal trainer, and both of them are out in the water just about every day.

I’ve had lots of firsts so far in just a short time at Joaquina.  I caught by far the longest wave of my life last week.  I got it right on the shoulder, and just kept going for ever and ever.  I couldn’t believe it.  I was so excited, I forgot to do any of the other things I’ve been trying to work on (like turns!) and just froze like a dummy with a big fat grin on my face, literally squealing as I rode the wave into sunset.  I think I was still smiling when I went to sleep. Next step: learning how to carve.  But oh it is a long road.  Hopefully the good juju of Joaquina will stay with me as I learn.

And while I am still living in a world with no video or music editing capabilities, here’s a quick clip of my friend Clara catching a wave on her body board.  We met when I was eating dinner at a restaurant where she works.  She is a mom and a former body board champ who lives by Joaquina and surfs every day!

http://youtube/wxhNMQ_XucY

Pretty soon after arriving in Brazil, I realized I was going to have to buy myself a surfboard.  It worked out for a while to rent one, but the problem is that it’s  winter here, so a lot of the surf shops are closed for the season.  Only College Surf School at Joaqina beach, owned and operated by local surf legend Fabricio Machado, stays open during these chilly days, but even then its somewhat unpredictable.  If the weather is extra lousy, or Fabricio has other business in town, the shop stays closed and I am grounded on land, with no chariot on which to ride the lovely waves.

So… commence Operation Purchase Surfboard.

Self portrait of me on the bus on the first leg of my journey to buy my very own Brazilian surf board!

It just so happened that on my very first day in Brazil, while blindly navigating the bus system (blindly because I had no idea where I was going and my Portuguese comprehension at that point was pretty much nada), I landed in the beautiful seaside fishing town of Acores, so named for the Portuguese islands from which many of its residents immigrated.  To my dismay, all the local surf schools were closed for the season, but I tracked down a small shop which sold surfboards made by a local shaper.  The kindly owner, Marina, after suffering through my abysmal Portuguese, informed me that her shop did not rent boards, but she would be willing to rent me her own personal board so I could go surfing that afternoon.   What hospitality!   The waves in Acores were unusually good that day and after an absolutely perfect first day surfing in Brazil I hung out with Maria, and her cute baby and across the street neighbor.

The bus terminal, where I spend a lot of time transferring buses on my long journeys to the island’s many beaches

Maria had some used boards at her shop, including a locally made 6′ 9 board, in great shape, perfect for me as I transition towards shorter more nimble boards.  After doing some comparison shopping, and deciding I wanted to support Maria’s business, I gave her a call and told her I was coming back down to Acores to buy the board.  Here’s the long  journey that follows (it involves 3 buses!), mostly recorded through photos.

View from the bus as we drive by Morro das Pedras, another cool surfing spot that I’d like to check out some time.

The Lonelines surf shop where I bought my board. The beach is a block away.

Me and my new surfboard. So excited!

Solo shot of my new board, with Acores beach in the background.

And these are the waves I am about to surf! I christened my new board with a very very long left — I think perhaps the longest wave I’ve ever ridden. Many firsts here in Brazil!