Sunday, May 20th 2007

Hello everyone,

We just got back from our trip to Mexico and SoCal and it's time to update the blog...

We had a action packed 5 days of traveling, shooting the Volcom VQS contest and visiting some new spots in Baja.

Wednesday
Everyone met at the San Diego airport and quickly made it to the rental car. After picking up the Dodge Durango, we loaded the board bags, packed the car and hit the road.


We had Julian Locatelli AKA Castro from San Francisco, Ryan Shaw from Daytona,
Rodrigo Miranda from Ormond Beach and myself on this trip.
Once on the highway, it felt great to be on the road again. We spent the first day meeting up with some friends, filling ourselves on mexican food and getting a sesh in at Oceanside.

Thursday
Off to Baja. After looking at the swell models on surfline, we decided to head to this little spot Julian was familiar with. It paid off. The spot was sheltered from the winds and pumping a point ground swell, the guys had a fun little session.

After the session, we drove into a little town near the break and ate a traditional Mexican dinner overlooking the ocean. A beautiful place! Not a bad first day in Baja!

Friday
We took off early in the morning for the first day of the VQS Comp at Newport Beach,Ca

Rodrigo did amazingly well considering the conditions. The surf was small and the winds were onshore all morning. The combo made for difficult surfing in the first round but Rodrigo advanced to the second round on Saturday by claiming 2nd place in his heat.

Saturday
With a spot secured in Round 2, We decided to hit the town and celebrate a little. Jack's and PB made for an interesting night...

For the Comp on Saturday, the conditions took a turn for the better. The wind died down and the swell increased a bit in size. Although Rodrigo surfed a great session, he didn't advance...We were all bummed!

Sunday

Off to Mexico again. With the disappointment of the comp fading away with every mile, we were looking forward to the morning at Baja Malibu and "The Trailer Park" with the crew and Baja guide, Shawn Walker of Wave Hunters

Baja Malibu was a nice little spot. With Julian being fluent in Spanish, we got to drive down the private road and park at the stairs, walk down the beach and paddle out. Here's Shawn getting a nice little wave first thing in the morning.

Rodrigo got his share of small set waves coming through as well.

With the water temps around 58-62 degrees and the sets small, the guys decided to wrap up the first session quickly. We took scouting mission south, to a place I named "Trailer Park" and scored the best session of the 5 days. This little left, with occasional rights was working very well. The wind remained minimal and tide and swell came together to create a steller afternoon session.
Here is a couple pictures of Shawn, Rodrigo and Julian AKA Castro scoring the goods...






All in all, I had a great trip to SoCal and Baja with Rodrigo and some new friends! Although we missed the swell by over a week, we did find some spots that worked. Yeah, the whole comp thing was a disappointment, I did get to meet Sunny Garcia though! I learned a long time ago that soul surfing is much better than any comp.
To wrap up, we had a awesome time, met some great people, surfed Baja, I made great strides with my surfing at Oceanside, We ate and drank traditional Mexican food, chew'd on chicklets, captured some footage and soaked in the sun. A wonderful trip!

The video will be up soon...Stay tuned!

Max