El Salvador: August 2006

Page 9 - K59 Sunday, My Last Day.

Well I guess I’d better make the best of this day, ‘cause it’s my last one around here, for what might wind up being a pretty good while.

Last night, I enjoyed the company of Luis and Geovanny until late. Eventually, Edgard arrived back from his birthday party, and the four of us chatted and enjoyed each other’s company for a while.

Edgard wanted to see the photos I took of the wave over in Sonsonate again, and was disbelieving of the perfection of that wave, once again.

He asked me to email him copies of the shots, and when I get back, I will do this.

Eventually, everybody departed, leaving me to my computer and the night.

The distant thunderstorm on the horizon was eventually joined by one that brewed up just offshore, and the thunder and lightning became frequent and dramatic.

I enjoyed it immensely, watching and listening to it all.

Finally, it was time to go to bed, and I retired to my room and fell asleep instantly, and slept deeply and well, all night long.

And now it is the morning of the next day, and I’m out here on the porch, perched in my chair with my legs up on top of the wall, and all’s well with the world yet again.

Edgard, Luis, and Geovanny are all chatting amongst themselves, over my left shoulder, and the waves are out in front of me.

Unfortunately, it’s not all that good right now.

I got up at six a.m., and had the place to myself.

The sun was behind the cliffs to the east, and everything was wet from the rain last night.

Out in the ocean, the waves seemed to have lost not only some size, but also some period. It’s looking almost like a local swell, and it’s got more than just a little morning sickness on it, too.

The point is not working correctly at all and I attempt to take a few pictures anyway, but it’s more or less a lost cause, despite the clear water and offshore winds.

All of that said, if this exact thing was transported back to Florida, there would be at least a hundred and fifty people out there all scrapping and jockeying for position on every single wave that came in.

But after yesterday’s sessions, I’m content to merely sit and relax in the plastic chair, just outside the gate to the compound.

Eventually Luis shows up, gets his own chair, and places it beside mine and we have as much conversation as our differing languages will permit.

A goodly portion of this conversation consists of, “Pura vida, en EL SALVADOR,” followed by laughter and smiles. Neither of us ever seems to tire of it.

And the waves roll on, and the sun is starting to come up over the cliffs, and things remain tranquillo.

Soon, Geovanny arrives and now it’s an amigo threesome, once again.

Geovanny makes coffee, and I’m now sitting in the chair, proofing yesterday’s work, again, with a cup of delicious coffee next to me on the table as the waves continue to roll down the point.

Breakfast is huevos and frijoles and hits the spot, squarely.

Edgard arrives, as well as a couple of his amigos, and we desultorily discuss the waves, and what we might do by way of catching some today. The thought of going to Sunzal is brought up, but the prospects of a Sunday crowd there, coupled with the fact that the incoming tide seems to be improving the aspect of what’s right here in our lap, causes us to decide to stay put.

So we do.

Eventually, we grab the gear, and paddle out, despite the fact that it’s still quite a bit less than sterling out there.

Today, the counter-rip is even stronger than it was yesterday.

The nearly due south swell angle is causing a current to flow westbound, toward the point, from in front of the cliffs to our east.

This current has a good ways to work up some volume, and when it encounters the current running down the point, it more or less just completely overpowers it, and keeps right on going.

Which means that when you’re sitting in the lineup, you find yourself being pulled the “wrong way,” up point.

And today, the strength of this counter rip is enough that it’s actually horsing up the surface of the water, in the middle of the lineup, and things are suffering as a result.

The waves are chest to shoulder high, with occasionals, very occasional occasionals, I might add, that come in noticeably larger than that.

So we surf anyway, and manage to have fun despite the off conditions.

There’s just a few of us out, and the waves are there for the taking, any time they come in.

It’s a fun session, and I have no close encounters with other surfers or any of the rocks, which is always nice, right?

Back on the beach and it’s relax time, once again.

Luis arrives, and informs us that he’s about to leave, and what this means is this is the last time I’ll see him on this stay. He’s going in to San Salvador to spend some time with his family. I’ve grown fond of him, the thought of him departing saddens me. So we give each other a hearty hug, and then he’s around the corner of the building and gone.

Goodbye my bueno amigo, I look forward to seeing you again, soon I hope.

Eventually, I decide to go back out again, and this time I surf it alone for a while and then a couple of locals join me later on. Very relaxed session, all the way around.

Back once again, and a few of Edgard’s friends are lounging around, and Geovanny has been at it with my camera, again, and as we look at the photos he’s taken, we see a few of one of the guys and he likes them, so I’ll be sending him copies via email after I get back to some place where there’s an internet connection.

And speaking of internet connections, the lack of one here has turned out to be yet another blessing that this place has chosen to bestow upon me. Yet one more damnable intrusion into my life that has been snatched away.

Suits the hell out of me.

Eventually Edgard comes by and inquires after my taking pictures of the rest of his little compound here, and so we take some additional shots right on the spot, and then we go and get shots of his first guest house on this property, which sits directly behind the place I’m staying in.

Nobody in any of the rooms, so I have the run of the place, and Edgard’s shooting too, with his own camera.

Come back down here and load the shots into the computadora and then have a look. Some of them come out fairly well, and both Edgard and Geovanny approve.

Yaaaaaay.

Edgard has purchased another property, down the coast toward La Libertad, just two months ago, and he asks if I’d like to go and photograph it too.

Of course. Let’s go.

And off we go, on the smooth well-maintained coastal highway, with the sun shining and the greenery greening, and El Salvador sure is a pretty place, ain’t it?

We arrive at the little driveway that we’d ducked into on the first morning, and inside the gate we take a sharp left and park.

Out of the car, and it’s a completely different setup from K-59.

What we’ve got here is a longish building that hugs the cliff top, with rooms and a little shop with t-shirts and such, and a bit of a food preparation area.

But the main event is over the side of the cliff.

Half way down a spectacularly rugged cliff of eroded lava, maybe forty or fifty feet high, maybe more, maybe less, there is a swimming pool that has been more or less built right on the side of the cliff. A set of stairs takes you down to it, and it’s filled with a crew of laughing men and women, hanging out in the water, drinking cervezas, and thoroughly enjoying both themselves and the tremendously beautiful view all around them.

After photographing things up on the top, Edgard asks me to come down the stairs along the cliff face, to get more shots, and I’m all over it.

Past the pool, down a switchback of more stairs, there is a sort of gazebo, with hammocks and chairs, and inside it is yet another group of happy people, hanging around and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

And there’s more.

Yet a third switchbacking flight of stairs takes you to the bottom of the cliff, where another swimming pool has been constructed,

this one filled with salt water supplied by the crashing waves that blast its seaward side, sending spray flying with each new watery assault.

The place is impossibly beautiful, with views to die for on all sides, along the cliffs on either side, toward the deep blue ocean, and back up the cliff face.

Jagged rocks and erosional features duel in superextreme slow motion, in a losing battle with the everlastingly patient, battering sea.

The place just looks INSANE!

I’m all over it with the camera, grabbing shots from every possible angle, even as the raucous crew in the pool urges me on with shouts and waves.

I get some good shots of those guys, along with everything else.

Edgard tells me again that when it gets big, there’s a wave that breaks out in front, but from the looks of things, I’d sure the hell hate to get caught inside at this place, ESPECIALLY on a big day, ‘cause the waves are just BASHING up against some very wicked-looking rock formations.

You could easily get yourself killed surfing here on a big day, from the looks of things.

But I’ve got a feeling that the wave is a good one, and you’d have it all to yourself, without a doubt.

Back up top, I get introduced to Julio, who works in conjunction with Edgard, and he’s just as nice as everybody else down here. This place is just crawling with superpleasant people.

Eventually, it is time for Edgard to go up to San Salvador, and he won’t be back before I’m gone tomorrow morning.

I wish him the fondest of farewells, and he reciprocates with gusto.

Edgard is one hell of a guy. The kind of person you only come across just a few times in your life. I sincerely hope I’ll get to see him again soon.

I feel like I’ve known Edgard for a very long time, even though this is just the afternoon of my second day at K-59. Funny how that works with some people, and other people you can be around for literal years, and you never feel like you got very close to them at all.

Ah well, such is life.

Once Edgard is gone, Geovanny drives me back to K-59. Along the way, we stop at the overlook above K-59 and K-61 and both points are glistening blue under the sunlight, and the waves are warping around into both points and peeling off nicely. 59 has a few folks out, and 61 is empty of people.

There’s one HELL of a lot of untapped surfing potential in this place, and it’s just as glaringly obvious as it gets, from our vantage point above it all.

Drive back down and turn left on to the only bad road in El Salvador, once again.

From sea level, on the porch, the waves don’t look nearly as good as they did from above, and when a couple of Edgard’s buddies come in and affirm that it’s weak, I just sit down and relax for a while.

And then, by slow, slow, SLOW degrees, the aspect of the ocean begins to take on a completely different look.

Geovanny asks me if I’m going to go back out for one final session, but I decline. It’s late, and the sun is beginning to go down, and I’m tired from my two previous sessions.

But the damned ocean continues to nag at me from the corners of my eyes.

It has become more linear than it has at any time since I’ve gotten here. The wind is more or less dead, and there’s just a very very light texture on the water. All of the wobble and weird crossing waves seem to have disappeared, and then I notice that the stupid counter-rip has decided to move well away from the lineup and instead is heading straight out to sea, leaving things spiffy clean.

Another batch of lines pours through, with a single surfer in the water, and I say, “The hell with this, I’m going out.”

And I do.

Geovanny laughs as I walk past him with the board under my arm.

Stroking out into the lineup, I can see that the aspect of the water and waves is smoother and more organized than at any time since I’ve been here.

The guy already out nabs a shoulder high wall, and instead of the chunky shoulders that I’ve been seeing all day, this thing walls up and just rifles down the point. It’s not seriously hollow or anything, but it’s got that zippy look to it that says, “Come ride me. You’ll be glad you did.”

It was right.

I came and rode it, and I was glad I did.

All of a sudden the place was a complete snap to line up, the waves would come in and the crossing piece was now crossing at a VERY shallow angle, which served to kind of bowl things up on the takeoff, then allowing for a long speedrun down the point.

Mayhaps this was the beginning of a new swell, with a better line and a better angle?

Dunno. All I know is that I proceeded to have the best session of my entire stay.

Chest to shoulder high, with larger strays.

Me and the one other guy, a grinning El Salvadorian, began to trade waves and it just went gold on me.

The board was doing its thing, and so was I, and it just all clicked together with a precision fit.

See the set. Paddle over to the tapering peak. Whip the board around. Stroke into it. Go straight, way the hell down to the bottom, and then crank it over into a deep bottom turn. Fire out of the bottom turn up to the top of the wall, and then sweep it back down and around. Bank it off the soup. Pump a couple of times through the middle. Fire through the inside section, dangerously close to the sucks and boils of the large cobble rocks lurking just beneath the low tide surface. Run it fast up and over the top and come down out of the standing position to lay back down on the board just as it comes to a halt, and then proceed to paddle back out and do it all over again. Along the way, back outside, be sure to scope out the moves my El Salvadorian amigo was doing and hoot him on, and then grin at him as he grinned back at me.

Well holy shit, batman, but ain’t this some kinda fun?

Yep.

Overhead, the cirrus blowoff from a thunderstorm somewhere inland gets lit up from underneath by the setting sun, and the sky bursts forth in a riot of color.

Eventually it gets dark, and I have to call a reluctant halt to the proceedings.

But not before surfing myself silly, one last time.

So my farewell session turns out to be my best session of the entire stay.

I’ve got a feeling that El Salvador was trying to tell me something.

And I was listening to it closely.

It was saying, “Come back amigo, and we’ll do this all over again some time.”

I heard it loud and clear.

And I’ll be back.

Rely on it.