Day 7 - A Day of Contrasts

Very jaded this morning!! I keep forgetting I've been doing this drinking thing, and it wears you out. Slept pretty well too. However, we had to pack and stuff, and I went off to find out what time we had to vacate the apartment. The only lady there didn't speak any English, so I had to come back at 10. That wasn't really going to happen, so we winged it. All packed, after lots of swearing at the hapless harness hook especially. Then I found my washbag. Bugger. More swearing, especially as it was getting hot. But finally done-ish, some things left to sort like the jeans for the flight and so on. We had muesli again, with the last of the papaya and bananas, planning a pizza from the centre for lunch back at the apartment. We'd asked the guy with the 4X4 we'd ridden to PP to come back for 1.30 to go to the airport.

So Rog and I grabbed a 4X4 and went out to the PP break again. Some surfers out there, and later a couple of kitesurfers and a couple of windsurfers. The surfers seemed to be getting the best waves, but it was critical to time the exit right, or you'd be right on the rocks. Given the colossal speed of the wave, this was pretty hard, and made the timing for the break outside the Angulo station look pretty tame. No wonder they can handle that so easily! It's all what you're used to. One of the kitesurfers lost his board which got washed up on the rocks pretty quickly near us, someone rescued it. He dragged himself out on the other side of the bay, then hopped round and relaunched right off the rocks!! This was fairly drama-free, unfortunately, given the ongoing kitesurfer population reduction programme I've embarked on. They do have it easy though - hop over tricky waves, make sure the kite keeps flying, yank yourself out of any trouble etc. etc., no trouble changing direction. The actual surfing bit doesn't look very good though, but this guy could have been crap. It's not clear what value the wave has, since you've loads of power from the kite, unless it sort of depowers a bit because you start catching it up. This guy's kite dipped a bit when he was on the wave, so maybe that's it.

Lunch was a hastily shopped for salami, cheese and tomato bun, with an orange for afters, since Josh's place doesn't open until 1. We had to leave the apartment at 1.30, the maid was really relaxed about it, but since the 4X4 was coming then, it all fitted. Now we're at the airport sitting on the lounge floor, with a chubby baby whizzing its car up and down. Jen's bag didn't get ticketed 'cos the silly checkin lady missed it and it dropped off the back of the conveyor. Hmm. She seemed calm about it, let's hope it works out. It seemed like it happens all the time, from her attitude.

We arrived a bit late, but the luggage didn't take long. I played sevens with real cards most of the way, listening to Pete Townsend, Thomas Dolby, Paloma wotsit and, most amusingly, The Infinite Monkey Cage with the ubiquitous Brian Cox. Finally got home about 00.30, which was too late, to find the gas had been turned off to replace the mains pipe and the heating hadn't been on for 4 days… Tomorrow's solution, tonight's disaster! 

Welcome back to the UK!

Day 6 - The Fisherman Returns...

After the caipirinha-fest last night, I was a bit the worse for wear, even briefly considering the possibility of not going out in the morning. Fortunately I did, because it was great, very relaxed on my 5.7 and 114l Creola slug. Completely incapable of making any manoeuvres, well, most anyway, arms now very tired and left hand painful. I applied lots of elastoplast and duck tape which helped though, so I wasn't rubbing the blisters directly on the boom any more. 

Lunch was nice - tuna pasta with tomatoes, garlic, onions and peppers. And so I went out again - 5.7 on the trusty SuperGu, what a great board. Spent the hour or so heading upwind to where Duncan was sitting on the point taking pictures (not many it transpired) and catching swell coming back in. That was fun. Eventually my left arm gave out, and I cruised back, making a great landing for the second time of the day. Nice.

We went back to Zum Fischermann, where the genial host Uba (?) made us very welcome. We had the 5-way fish stew, with built-in veg on rice, and it was amazing. The starters (octopus, huge prawns and fish soup) were pretty good too. An excellent spot, and Gen got the guy's postcard so we can suggest it gets added to the Boardseeker guide. We celebrated with a caipirinha, and told the guy it was Juan's birthday. This was a good plan - there was a mandolin and guitar duo playing very good CV-stylee music, sounds a bit like BV Social Club, and they came over and played Happy Birthday in Portusquish. Very jolly. Juan also got a free trick drink with a flashing colour-changing LED ice cube, very hallucinatory! Then the lady of the house provided a shot each, even for Duncan who'd joined us after his noodle-fest back at the apartment, but apple juice in his case.

What I forgot to mention was that we all went out to Punto Preta before supper, straight from the centre. Josh had been out there a couple of times today and it was apparently firing. What a spot!! Super gnarly. The waves are really big, and just close out right on the rocks on the beach, with a murderous backwash that just sucks everything down the beach. We watched some surfers out there, and also a windsurfed trying to get out - it took him 1/2 hour to finally get into the kind of channel and make his way out the back. There is a sort of channel the surfers use - it kind of opens up between the shoulders of the waves. However, other times a slightly different wave type just closes out on the whole beach - guess you have to pick your moment! Rog and I decided we might go back tomorrow to check it out some more. 

Tired, drunk, happy - g'night!

Day 5 - Post-porridge Blues

The last of the porridge today, dammit. Went well with the papaya and bananas - local bananas, smaller but very tasty. Tomorrow - well, we'll be eating up Roger's muesli. We've also been planning ahead for lunch, because tomorrow's Sunday and shops won't be open - pasta again, but with tuna for a change. Tuna pasta - not rated highly in the Boardseeker guide but I think we'll like it…

People were slightly more enthusiastic today when we eventually got to the station. I got into a lengthy conversation with a solo German lass who happened to be taking the SuperGU - I thought she was Gen, and started a very informal conversation, and then when I realised it wasn't, kept on in the same tone because it was more embarrassing to change tack! Still, we got our photo taken with Josh, pity Kauli wasn't around… we are building up the Angulo picture collection quite nicely!

Today I took a Sumo 105l, with a slightly hopeful 5.7m. The tone was set at the outset, I did a great launch from the beach, but some tosser launching a kite right beside the station drifted it straight into my path, so I was forced to dismount amongst the strings. Because he didn't seem to have much idea, and was still in my path, and of course the wind was too light to waterstart or even flip the rig easily and I was well out of my depth, I swam the kit back to the shallows and started again. It still went well, but I was a bit disgruntled! Silly old fart - I really shouldn't let such things affect me so much! I just felt knackered right at the start though.

The sailing was ok, very up and down, seemed hard to get things going without turning well downwind, but I spotted RIka well upwind on her comedy 76l Fanatic Newwave, and also bumped (almost literally) into boyfriend Marco, who was on a 100l slalom with 7.8m race sail. Blimey. Chalk and cheese. Managed a duck gybe and a tack, but fell in with everything else, and got a bit fed up dragging the sail out of the water. The good bits were good though, some occasional big swell passing through which were fun. I did drop the mast on the board's nose - ouch. Subsequent examination revealed that I had converted it into a landing craft, with a front door. Lucca didn't seem too worried, and we've taken out the insurance.

I had been banging away for quite a time when I noticed my watch still said 11.25 - clearly the water it's full of has glued up the hands. Came in after 11/2 hours, had a mango juice and chilled until everyone else arrived and we repaired for buns with various meats on tomato and cheese. Yum. Duncan, Jen and Juan are playing contract whist as I write this, all very competitive and bangy.

The afternoon session involved only Juan, Gen and me - Dunc and Rog stayed back at the apartment, sharing their appreciation of Ted Baker deodorant spray. Nice. A 114l Creola and a 6.3m sail got things going in a blasty kind of way, competing with Juan on his 125l and 7.8m, which he admitted was occasionally "a bit over-powered". My hands are really feeling the strain, not just the worn out bits on the left but also the muscles, very over-worked on the left too. Maybe a bit of attention before Maui would be a good plan, so they at least start out strong.

Rike and Marco came round for caipirinhas, Two-Jugs Taylor pulled out the stops to finish the bottle of grogue and all the lemons. Unfortunately Marco doesn't drink and Rike wasn't drinking a lot, so we, or perhaps he, were forced to finish them up. Then off to The Fisherman, the big restaurant over by the bus station we were sure we could get 8 people into comfortably. We ended up sharing a table with a bunch of German kitesurfers from Kiel, friendly enough and the circumstances weren't right to just kill them. Juan thinks this restaurant is the spot - you get shedloads of fish for 2000 beer tokens for two, so we're coming back on Sunday night too, even booking a table!

Day 4 - Social Observations and Stuffed Sinuses

I haven't really said much about anything except the windsurfing and eating really. Santa Maria is a very chilled place, from our point of view, I'm sure there's lots of suffering and stress here, but not for us. Coming back into town to meet the others one evening, having nipped back to the apartment to rescue something, I saw a middle-aged guy helping a elderly lady, very bent over with a stick, through a doorway into an on-street apartment. I peeked over their shoulders - a single room, looked cosy but obviously a single dwelling in a room, a part set aside with a lacy curtain. Quite striking the difference between my expectations and their realities. 

The consumption of caipirinhas has been, well, not quite heroic, but it could be if we could only stop falling asleep! A big jug before going out in the evening sets you up, delicious flavour and contrasting sweetness and sharpness, with the grogue adding an edge. And lots of ice. Chilled. In the fridge!!

Today was a bit low key for us, we got to the station fairly late, nobody very decisive about going out. The wind was lower, lots of discussion about whether to wait or go - I eventually went out on a 114l Creola (woof!!) and 5.7m. Very gusty, got out and back no problem with the shorebreak, so not so bad today. Roger was off-duty, having had a bad case of the runs, so went up to the point to take some pictures with Juan, and who should be there, doing some spectacular riding but our mates Kauli and Riccardo! Wow. He took a couple of nice shots - it's the vertical top turns and timing that are so cool, especially as getting caught on the inside means "Hello rocks"! Apparently Kauli has already wrecked kit there - Josh's comment was "No problem, guys, just leave your credit card at the register". 

So I did maybe an hour and a half of quite genteel riding around, timing all to pot, making sure there was no chance of getting involved with any of the occasional big swells that were coming in to amuse the hot guys on the point. At least Dunc agreed with me that the Creola was a dog - he couldn't get it to release and plane easily either. Phew. And I thought it was just me. 

Just the couples went out for dinner to the Cafe Criola, we all had some kind of fish arrangement, very tasty but we were feeling extremely neglected. People were getting their dishes long before us, we didn't get any bread, and it was lukewarm when it arrived. My fish stew was delicious, but it was cooling rapidly - big chunks of whole fish, had to eat them with a knife and fork! The fluid was good too, no chance of dehydration, stew or soup seems like a good plan to me. We were all completely knackered by the time we came back, so retired. Snore… strange night of mixed reality, thoughts and dreams… lots of snuffling from my draining sinuses too. Bleuch.

Day 3 - Pizza fixes things

Not a good sleep, very disturbed by sinuses full of gunge and seawater, lots of snuffling. So not very on the case this morning.

Slightly less wind, went with a 105 Sumo and 5.7, rigged slightly baggy because it was originally intended for Juan. Might have been a mistake… The wind was fairly up and down, but the sail was pretty powerful, my arms are starting to stretch!

Attempted a bunch of duck gybes - one came off fantastically, planing out smooth as silk on the flatter water heading towards the beach. Another wasn't bad, the others failed for various reasons. Juan helped me flatten the sail off a bit, but I was knackered by then and the feel changed totally. Somehow I never really got on with it, even having trouble getting it out of the water to waterstart. Stopped for lunch pretty tired. 

Lunch was very relaxed, baguettes with salami, cheese and tomatoes and cold pasta with tomatoes. Lovely. No wine, but that didn't stop me falling asleep for an hour, and really not feeling like getting out anywhere. However, under the whip of Juan, we struggled out to meet the wind and waves. I took a 5.3 and a Creola 94l, which frankly seemed like a dog, but maybe my lacklustre performance was the reason. Nearly bumped into Rika on her shiny board, with Ezzy, she was storming along - what am I doing?! Dunc and Jen got some pictures up on the point, and I limped into the beach, calling it a day. As Gen says, "it's your mind holding you back…". Possible plans for pizza for tea :-) yummy.

Yeah, it was pizza. Calzone for me and several others, a really relaxed evening following the consumption of multiple caipirinhas. Got home for a couple of rounds of contract whist, with Juan, Jen, Dunc and Roger - who cares who won, it wasn't me. 

Day 2 - Top day

Mmm, porridge!! Apparently it's the Breakfast of Champions, but I don't think that's the James Hunt definition. Anyway, tastes good, lasts a long time, and easy to make for 4. Papaya helps too :-)

Didn't seem too busy as we hit the hut about 10, but it was busying up pretty quickly as we selected kit - people were going slightly bigger on the board, staying with 5.3, except for Juan who got a 5.7 to go with his 100l. I took the SuperGu and a 5.3 again. Why not? Lots of reasons, but hey, it's a holiday. Gen took the still and video cameras and headed out to the point to get some pictures, all we had to do was head into the point and try not to get stuck on the wrong side of a breaker…

This morning was fun! Taking it easy, relaxing on the way out, feeling good, gybes coming off reasonably frequently, catching the big swells and taking it as far as my nerve allowed, which isn't really very far - the rocks are awfully close and come up pretty fast. The point was crowded too, at one point I was coming in on a wave, the one ahead lifted to reveal a guy in the water in my path, with a kite surfer coming the other way and at least two other windsurfers at various angles to negotiate with as well. Scarey. The most painful moment was catapulting when turning sharply downwind to avoid a German guy (assume he's German anyway) with whom there'd been a misunderstanding about who was on what take etc - hit my left arm really hard on the boom, ouch, had to wait in the water for a moment to get my fingers to work again properly. 

Eventually got tired after nearly two hours, came back to find Roger already on the beach, had a josh with Josh about having to go out cos it's windy and wavy and holiday so doesn't matter how tired people are, then came back and helped to cook an excellent pasta lunch with real tomato sauce with green peppers and ham. Oh, and a £2 bottle of wind that was really nice. Yum. Proper holiday, proper holiday food!

The afternoon was a bit quieter - same kit, lighter wind, so easier to handle but harder to plane. Headed upwind practising light wind unwinding (!), did some tacks, maybe a 66% hit rate which was very gratifying. Caught some waves, but stayed away from the hollow-tipped bullets on the point, because my timing just isn't good enough to be sure I could avoid the rocks if I got caught on the inside. Duncan took pictures, as did Rog, some of Josh doing some incredible stuff on what were not really very big waves, he just works it so well. Did the best part of an hour, and then felt tired so came in. The strap-to-strap gybes are cool, tried one duck but it didn't come off, need to do some more. Lots more things I need to do too, but feels like I'm getting better (again!). 

Evening all but Duncan went to the resto in the square, lovely fish, grouper, boiled potatoes which make a change, and some lentil rice. Oh yeah, and the pre-loading on home-made caipirinhas before we went out!! Dunc fell asleep...

Day 1 - Salami, Sun, Straps

A very dark bedroom, and the door doesn't quite close, probably due to the 5mm overlap between door and frame at the bottom, so full marks to Jen for moving the door-retaining chair and getting out and back on a loo trip. Very very impressed!

The porridge went down well, with some fruit and nuts on it, lots of tea, yum. Off to see Goran and friends, very busy with people turning up at 10-ish, and it seems windier today. Unfortunately by the time I've elbowed my way to the front of the queue, he only a 5.3 or a 4.2, and I know Juan and Rog, who can both give me a few kilos, are taking that size. Should be interesting, and yes, thanks Goran, I know it's all in the mind…

And so it proves to be. On the same 92l Angulo Super Gu as last night, with the 5.3, yes it's hard work, but I can head up wind when it's too much, and it certainly eases waterstarts! Todays plan is the strap-to-strap gybe, basically flip the sail so you're switch stance before planing out and changing the feet. I thought this would be good for rig flipping practice, and it is. Of course, the first few involve working out what's happening, since I didn't really manage to do one in my mind when worrying about it at 4 this morning, but the idea comes. Feels good, and finally I make one. I then crack a few more, which is very very happy-making. At one point the boom clamp came undone, which is a bit scary because it was very hard to do up on the beach when I was adjusting the height, but it went back easily in the water. I went back to the beach and fiddled with it a bit to make it tighter. So bang off a few more strap-to-straps, until I get tired and head back. It turns out that all the other lags are already in, looking for lunch, so I park the board up and head home. A good morning, and I mustn't get stressed! Interesting that they lasted no longer than me, and possibly less.

Juan, Jen and I go on the hunt for lunch stuff - baguettes from the baker, some cheese and salami from the scrupulously clean deli, some tomatoes, papayas, oranges from the fruit selling ladies well-known for last time - the competition is strong, with the quiet one a target for tomorrow's purchases! Nice lunch. Rog wants wine - ok guy, you have it, I'm having enough trouble keeping my act together as it is, a feeling echoed by just about everyone else. Gen is having a rest, with a cold and an emerging ear infection. Let's see what the afternoon brings…

Oh yes, met Rimo the Swiss guy from last time who's here for a week, until Friday. He came on a forecast, brought his own kit (one board, one sail!) coming via Lisbon from Zurich, and has had a good time so far. Wind until Thursday people are saying. His wife is at home still ;-), so lucky man. I must get his email so I can send him the pictures from last time.

The afternoon starts after a leisurely sandwich, good salami! Those of us who left our boards on the beach instead of packing them away in approved style are surprised to find they're where we left them - this is handy, because Duncan gets a different one which he isn't too pleased with. The wind's much the same, so we take much the same kit out, and yes, the 5.3 is still pretty big! I'm more tired this afternoon, and after an hour of bashing around, I've lost the tape on my thumbs and and I'm out the back in the swell finding it hard to work out how to waterstart, so I know it's time to stop. Amazingly, Gen and Duncan have had the same thought, and they're at the station with Jen, drying off. Makes me feel ok!

Gen heads off to the doctor's to get her eye flushed out, having collected some sand in it while sitting on the beach. We know nothing of this until she meets us back at the apartment. She'd taken a taxi up to the doctor's around the Djadsal, he'd picked the rock out of her eye and put in tome antibiotic as a precaution. She seems ok now though.

Another evening in Santa Maria - this time it's fish-based food sitting outside the restaurant on the street. Get back to the apartment, game of cards, then slump into bed. Great.