Visiting Masiphumelele

Here is a group photo of everyone at HOKISA.

Yesterday we had a fun day with the kids at HOKISA in Masiphumelele.  It was pouring rain on our way to the township but cleared up by the time we walked around with the children to take pictures for their photojournal project.  We'll be meeting with them again tomorrow to share pictures and visit an organic farm for lunch.  On Sunday afternoon I'll be taking some of them Stand Up Paddling.  Many of them were asking me about it yesterday.  Paul, owner of Baysports in Cape Town, has been kind to offer his time and boards for the children. 

Baysports is the Cape Town distributor for Starboards.

Aaah... South Africa

We're doing well with our jet-lag.  Woke up at 9am and got going on a busy day of errands. 

Here is the view from our place in the Marina de Gama near Muizenberg.
We can launch off boards to cruise the waterways.

Another view from our place, Waterways, run by a
fabulous couple, Roy and Leslie (who is letting me use their computer to write blog.)

Number one on the "to do" list was to meet with Paul from Baysports in Cape Town to arrange SUP boards use while we are here.  It was a great visit.  Paul helped us get our itinerary figured out.  He told us about some great surf spots ideal for me (no supertubes) and lots of great flatwater paddle places.  Tomorrow we visit with the orphans at HOKISA and then maybe paddling with Paul and his son, Mitch, if the weather permits (60% chance of rain :( )

Sneak peak of Baysports~ more photos to come.

That's Table Mountain in the background and that
ship on the right is called The Wreck, a cool little surf spot.


I've extended our stay in Cape Town through the weekend because surf is supposed to be good and I can't miss this opportunity to surf in front of a wrecked ship! 

Geese Showing Us How It's Done

Charging it!!

And the Journey Continues

San Diego to New York took about 5 hours. Just completed our second leg of the trip-- New York to Amsterdam (7 hours).




Breakfast in coach not bad- yogurt, muffin, juice, tea, Pipeline Masters surf comp on the monitor and tons of leg room in the emergency exit aisle.

Now on to the last leg of our trip. Final destination- Cape Town (11 more hours!)

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Location:KLM flight

On Our Way

We had an early start this morning- 3:30am wake up and 4:30am check-in to jump start our adventure to South Africa.



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Location:SD Airport

Pinch Me... I'm in the Mag

Check out who is in the most recent STANDUP Paddle Magazine!  Pay no attention to the beautiful silhouette on the left, that's not me.  I'm on the right side of the centerfold.

South Africa Dreamin'

Tomorrow we leave for South Africa.  This will be our home for the next week.  Muizenberg Beach is well known for its colorful Victorian  bathing huts that line the beach and its long break with a rideable wave nearly a mile long.  I'll have two SUP Starboards waiting for me (Thanks Gunter!) and will hit the water as soon as day breaks.   We'll be in South Africa for 3 weeks so I'm hoping to post pics daily but you know how that goes.

Blue Crush 2

I attended a screening for Blue Crush 2 the other week at Surf Diva in La Jolla.  I'm not a huge fan of the first movie, aside from the surfing scenes, but my daughter is and I was hoping to grab some swag and the sequel movie for her.  I've been to La Jolla Shores many times but never took the opportunity to run into Surf Diva.  It's a cute little boutique.  There is the usual surf clothing lines for sale, but what struck my interest was the handmade jewelry they sold made by local vendors.  (I ended up buying a really cool handmade ring.)  Surf Diva is also a big provider for surfing lessons done in the area.  Their quaint little store was stocked with surf boards and I noticed a couple of standos.  (At least they're headed in the right direction!)

Izzy is on the left and that's Shelby, journalist, on the right.

Wahoo provided the refreshments, which included fish and chicken tacos/ burritos.  As I cruised the store and ate some goodies, I met some really cool people.  I was greeted warmly by sister owners Izzy and Coco.  Izzy stand up paddles so I was stoked to meet a fellow SUPer.  And then I ran into this little girl who wanted to show me a picture.  It was the price tag on one of the Surf Monkey shirts.  She made me look more closely at it until I recognized that it was her in the picture.  Check out the smile.  Isn't she adorable!!

Surf Monkey creator/owner, Beth, with her adorable
daughter, Elena, whose picture you can find on all the price tags.

If you're ever in La Jolla and have a moment, walk into Surf Diva.  It can be a one stop shop if you're looking for clothes, beach shoes, cool gifts, surf gear and even baby clothes.

Surf Diva is located at 2160 Avenida De La Playa.

The Best Surf Day

"I had the best surf day ever!"  Okay, you've heard me say this before but I also said that it just keeps getting better so get used to hearing me say this time and time again.

Yesterday at San Onofre was a GREAT day...  surfing my favorite spot with my best friend all day, the lightbulb in my head finally going off getting me to catch a ton of fun waves, making a new friend who once lived in South Africa, surfing with a seal and eating an amazing chicken skewers lunch complete with libations.

Thanks Jake for all the info on South Africa beaches.
Let's have another braii when I get back!

Yummy-  tootin' my own horn because I made these
from an Ancient Filipino Recipe :)  

All my hard work and effort is finally paying off.  I'm catching waves -- consistently.  Yesterday at SanO was a fun day.  Things finally clicked.  With my new found confidence, I was catching shoulder-high waves and LOVIN' it.  Hunger usually gets me out of the water fast but this time I was having too much fun and surfed until my stomach could no longer bear the pain.  Another treat on this special day was hanging out with a harbor seal.  Or shall I say, he kept hanging out with me?  He just followed my tail the entire time, including when I caught waves because when I turned around to go back out... there was Blackie (I named him :) )  still tagging along.

It was a long. beautiful day full of surf and sun.  Okay, no sun.  If only the sun popped out -- eh, no matter.  I still had the best surf day ever!!

Good Hearts Aren't Difficult to Find

I'm counting down our departure to South Africa-- exactly 4 days, 16 hours and 35 minutes.  My daughter and I will be near Cape Town for the first week, close enough to work with the HOKISA orphanage and also close to the Muizenberg beach for surf.  Then, we'll be traveling up the coast of the Garden Route and Eastern Cape in search for more surf and flat-water paddling.

As we're preparing for our journey to work with the HIV/AIDS-infected orphans, we've run into some amazing people with generous hearts.  I am so grateful to everyone who attended our fundraising screening of the movie, Themba, and all proceeds will go directly to HOKISA to help pay for high nutritious food and medicines.  Also, thank you to those who have donated the items below:  (I'm sure your generosity will come back to you ten-fold.)

Josh, Ocean Minded, donated this box full of caps.
Look forward to seeing a picture of the HOKISA kids wearing them!

Nylie, Framed for Hope (www.framedforhope.com), donated these cameras
and a laptop for our HOKISA project.
Look forward to hearing more about what we did with the cameras when we return.

Reid, Stand Up Paddle Magazine, donated a few surf jackets,
caps and Kaenon sunglasses.

I can't thank everyone enough for all of their generosity.  I only wish you could be there with me when I present all these goodies to the children.  I'll do my best to capture the brilliant looks on their innocent faces when they see everything.  Stay posted-- I'm hoping to blog during the course of our travels to share our experiences with the children and the amazing surf and paddle spots we'll find along the way.

Checking Out of Reality

It was a tough emotional week, sucking out all of my energy and enthusiasm for anything.  I needed to get away.  I needed to recharge.  So when the opportunity arose, I took it -- surf trip!  This was my first time to Zihuataneo and my first major surf trip.   I didn't know what to expect.

It was all that I hoped for and more... sleep (much needed), eat (absolutely delicious), surf (warm enough for sans-wetsuit) and happy hour (all day)!  It was time to be selfish and only think about me and what I wanted.  I left the responsibilities of home, work and mother.  It was as if I suspended time for the moment and lived in a dream.  I loved not having to wake up to an alarm clock or knowing what time it was during the day.  I loved not having to worry about showering, wearing make-up or fixing my hair.  It was easy to pick something to wear in the morning-- swimsuit, and I could wear it all day if I wanted (recycling from wet to dry throughout the day).  Best of all, I got to hang out with some amazing friends and made some fabulous new ones.

How'd ya like waking up to that every morning.  Sweet.

Muy delicioso!  Yep- that's a stiff margarita on the side :)

Hard to see but that's my laundry-- swimsuits hanging out to dry
and that little black case was my boom box for the trip.

Back in the Surf

I got to surf Dogpatch twice in one week- something I needed and missed. I haven't been surfing in more than two months and today was a reminder about why I started stand up paddling in the first place. I love surfing. Granted, there is so much more I have to learn. And believe me, I've been getting beat down with almost every lesson learned but the cool part is that it doesn't stop me. I'll get better and I'll have less bruises sooner or later.

Today I got caught inside a big set on three different occasions. In the past, I'd let it freak me out and then I couldn't surf the rest of the day. Yeah, I got tumbled around today, pulled under more than a few times and almost hit in the face by my board but I still paddled back out.

And in between all the wipeouts, there is always that one ride I'll take home with me for the day. That's what makes me want to keep surfing... The rides keep getting better.

Tough Day at the Races

I struggled during the Hobie Hennessey's Waterman Challenge.  It wasn't that it was difficult, per say.  I just didn't have the energy to endure through the race.  I did my usual pre-race carb-loading the days prior.  (Although I didn't eat much that morning thinking about my grandma in ICU and then of course, getting the sad news during the drive up to the race.) 

Also, as soon as I stepped in the water, my toes cramped!  What's the deal?  I didn't take my camel bak because I figured I wouldn't need it for "only" 6 miles.  Of course, when I got to the start, I had to ask a friend if I could drink some of his water because I was already feeling dehydrated.  (Thanks Kiwi.) 

Basically, I tried not to get down on myself.  Remember my previous post?  I said that I'd only look at positives on race day and analyze lessons learned later.  Today is later.  I definitely need to work on my cardiovascular endurance.  Now that I have time off for the summer, I'm going to do longer distance paddle sessions and just MORE time out on the water.  Period.   I need to figure out what was it that worked for the Coronado Loop when I did the 12 miles with no cramping whatsoever and energy throughout the race.

And a few positives from the race:

I finally got to meet fellow Boga Team Rider, Ben Sarrazin.

I had some great friends, Bree and Nikki, drive up from SD to support me.  Love ya gals!

And this is the only injury I sustained... leash wrapped around my leg
after a wipeout that EVERYONE saw.  Gotta learn to laugh at yourself :) 

My Beloved Grandma

Today we mourn the loss of an amazing woman...

My grandma was a stubborn, crazy old woman but that's what made her so special.  She was strong and independant.  She taught us that family should always come first and cared greatly for my grandfather until he passed away years ago.  Unfortunately, after grandpa died, grandma was never herself again.  She didn't always have that beaming smile and twinkle in her eyes that we loved to see.  Her mind slowly deteriorated as she refused to live a happy life without the love of her life. 

Today was a tough day for me.

She will be missed greatly...  love you grandma.

Getting My Priorities in Order

I am a Mother, Educator, SUPer, Friend... in that order.  I try to put SUP on top of the list when I can but I have my priorities in order.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have such a great kid! (She just told me that she has a 165% in Japanese, 102% in Intermediate Algebra, 100.2% in English and "just A's", rather than A+s, in her other courses for her final grades.)  This past month I've basically been able to SUP mostly at races.  I know.. not good to not train but I'll take what I can get.  I'm just venting right now because I have the Hennessey's Waterman this Saturday at Doheny and I haven't touched the water since Sunday.  Bummer.

Something to look forward to--- tomorrow is the last day of school.  Therefore, no more chauffeuring to school, dances, activities, practices and games AND no office work for the next 6 weeks (for the most part).  So SUPing can move to second on the list and that means more playtime!!

Your wondering if I have any friends because they are last on this list.  Of course I do!  But to be honest, I don't see my non-SUP friends as often as I used to.  Unless they jump on the bandwagon and join the SUP trend like every Tom, Dick and Harry is doing right now (and believe me, I'm on no bandwagon.. I truly love the sport), they won't get too much face time from me.  I do have my evenings to hang out but usually I'm too tired from a day of running around or I'm turning in early to race or go surf the next day.

So today I'm venting, like I usually need to on days I don't get to play in the water.  But after tomorrow my priority list changes and I'll get to SUP my heart out for the next 6 weeks.