Breathtaking moments (Surfing in Portugal)

I’m thinking of a sentence a good friend of mine once said to me. "Life is not measured in breaths and exhales, but in moments that are breathtaking." Now, this can be literally understood as this is a sport that can literally take your breath away for a certain time when the masses of water crush you. However, after it lets you out again, everything starts again from the beginning. Yet here I am talking about different "breathtaking" moments. If you take this sport, which to me represents a long-forgotten childhood dream, which requires physical effort of each atom of your body, which meets human fatigue, joy and adrenaline, and combine it with the lifestyle that is associated with this sport, develop all this which I mentioned into a philosophy and with it add to it the warm-hearted people of Portugal and its scenery, you get a paradise on earth, peace, incredible sense of belonging and moments that are truly breathtaking, only that this feeling lasts forever.

As a prelude to the whole story it is necessary to mention just a few terms used in the world of surfers. Surfing with a board on a wave means standing on a board on a wave and this is self-evident. :) However, it is necessary to come behind the line where the waves break from where you start to catch the waves. It takes incredible skill of diving under waves with your own body and your surf board. This term is called "duck dive". If you fail and get yourself under the huge masses of water and thereafter the “washing machine", or you fall from your wave and get crushed by it, means that you have experienced a "wipe out". As we paddled into waves up to three meters, and spent the first few days in the "washing machine", we got our nicknames by which we are known for our fierce "wipe outs" that we experienced that day. From that moment our unofficial association “The Association of Wipe Out Professionals” (AWP) was born. Not to be confused with the generally known “The Association of Surfing Professionals” (ASP), an association of the best surfers in the World who have appeared at the same time in Portugal at the Rip Curl Pro Surf Contest 2010. However, the last two days we managed to surf a few waves and the overall situation has improved.

Generally, the whole journey was a complete destruction and cleaning, and someone might probably say that the worst week and the worst journey in their life passed. However, we took everything with a smile and didn’t care about anything except for a good surf, our little moments of glory in the water, beer and good company afterwards. Specifically, at the beginning of the trip we immediately started to loose things. It started with a gas stove at the London airport, although I have travelled with it many times by plane. Every day we lost some of our valuable things, sometimes unnecessary small items, but for us priceless. The first day we arrived to the beach Foz do Lizandro near Ericeira. The waves were huge for us, about 2 meters, completely chaotic, without an overly polished arrangement. Even some returned from the coast back and collided with the upcoming. The other day we had a perfect situation, crystal and regular waves, perfect tubes on the beach Supertubos and Mohle Leste. After a rush of ecstasy and elation, surprise followed when we wanted to remove the equipment from the car. In fact, I managed to lock the car with the keys inside. Beside that, it started raining. It all ended up in countless beers at the Xakra Beach Bar, the local beach bar at Mohle Leste, awaiting some expert, a professional “car unlocker” sent from our rent-a-car company and drunk surfing afterwards. The funny thing is that the current took us all the way to the surf spot Supertubos where the trials took place for the Rip Curl Pro Surf Contest, where we came out practically before the jury. Of course, we felt like kings, although we certainly were absolutely not brilliant in the water. One day we had the pleasant company of Croats, some Portuguese and an annoying company of members of the local homosexual society. To explain myself at the very beginning, I absolutely have an open and liberal spirit, and respect all people, as I think that everyone is building its own path and has a choice in life. However, the emphasis on "annoying" was solely because of their obsession to be rewarded with a satisfactory experience in the evening, that did not quite match with our vision of the evening. It also escalated when they followed our car for three hours. So we had to response in attempt to solve the problem. Once we found a place to sleep in the wild and the vast wastelands of sand dunes, put up a tent, arranged a place to sleep, ate and washed our teeth, in the distance two lights appeared of the gay duo so we had to use stronger language. It was an interesting experience when our tent flew away the next morning due to strong wind and we had to search it for about 20 minutes. However, the crown of this whole story is the burglary of our car. They didn’t take a lot. The biggest problem was the loss of all documents of my travel companion (Borna). As strange as it may seem, no one took my camera on the same seat or anything else. I am quoting a sentence the police officers who arrived on the scene said: "I know you think we should take fingerprints, but we do not. I know we should, but we do not.” :) This is not in any sense a criticism of their work, but the fact is that these outbursts occur every day. They themselves are angry because this happens, but the warm and innocent character of the local Portuguese is not responsible for it. Obviously, by joining the European Union the doors for immigration opened and these things that were not present before started happening. In my next statement I will not exaggerate when I say that the biggest idiots that we met on our trip were our dear compatriots, namely bureaucratic parasites in the Croatian embassy in Lisbon, sent to this foreign country in order to represent the rights of us poor and eager for help. The situation developed into a scandal, as I was not allowed to enter their "palace”. However, my travel companion (Borna) spent two hours waiting for relevant documents to return home as he had no Passport anymore. In our crazy and dreamy head we thought and hoped we would, after what we have been through these days, been given hot coffee, or at least we would have a place to wash our hands. To our surprise, Borna asked to use the toilet and they replied that they have no toilet for clients, and that they will be free to wait for him when he goes three streets away to the first bar where they have a toilet. What f...... clients?
I would not be so outraged over this story that the documents issued to him did not coast 71 EUR, and that the same documents were not valid in London when we tried to change the planes, which led us to the awkward situation of innocent explanations of what happened. In addition Borna experienced an unjustified night in immigration detention according to the official documents (I quote) "On Her Majesty's Service, HM Immigration Service Removal of a Person from the United Kingdom". Good that they deported him with our plane to Croatia for which we had tickets. If they wanted to play by the rules, the story would end with the deportation to Lisbon where he came from. This rather unpleasant experience didn’t manage to spoil the fun and joy, so we become indifferent to what happens to the car and all. We went to surf the waves, we went to catch countless wipe outs, and we went to experience our little moments of glory, and according to the good old surfing philosophy, we left all our problems on the mainland.

Every night we managed to find an impressive place to sleep. Our tent, wilderness, a view, home. Yes, it’s possible to sleep outdoors and the police will not bother you. Except during summer season.

The route from Lisbon, Ericeira over until Peniche adorn dozens and dozens of surf spots. Beautiful beaches with constant waves during the year. The local people showed some effort so these spots are beautifully marked. Some of the most famous are Coxos, Baleal and according to some locals in the top ten most beautiful surf spots in the World and according to surf guides, "totally epic" Supertubos, where the Rip Curl Pro Surf Contest 2010 Portugal took place.

Awful diet in "Lidl" but with memorable and impressive moments.

We definitely suggest to invest in roof rails for surf boards.

The Association of Wipe Out Professionals (AWP). No one can survive so much "wipe outs". :)

The surf spots  Mohle Leste and Supertubos, beautiful long, crystal and regular tubes, perfect for all surfers. It is a completely different world when you're in the water. Everybody is waiting for that perfect timing, the right place and when it all comes together, you are chasing that wave as it is your last. Nothing else is in your head, and for everyone around it’s the same. Each surfed wave is a reward, a special experience, abnormal energy and desire for life. Each "wipe out" is a reminder that you're just a little pea in all this.

I've locked our car with the keys inside. From now on we know to open virtually every car. Certainly, that is always a good experience.

Two of the best people we have met in Peniche, lively spirits and rich people, Mauricio and his surf bar Xakra Beach Bar and Alban The Big Kahuna, lifeguard, a longtime surfer and member of the jury at the Rip Curl Pro Surf Contest 2010 Portugal. It seems that in this World there are still people worthy titles of legends, friends and good spirits.

Surf Parties.

Magic.

Lots of problems with burglars.

Don’t miss that. Little towns Ericeira, Peniche and the small medieval fortress Sintra and Obidos. Beautiful architecture, history, cozy bars, people and good local food.

Here are some stolen pics from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal 2010 internet page..

R.I.P. Andy Irons