Mexico Surfin', Traveling

2009-03-07T08:25:00.001-08:00

Unknown Surfer At Puerto Escondido

2009-03-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

Texas Surfer At Puerto Escondido

This is a pic I came across years ago and it is said to be a Texas surfer on the wave. I can't verify that but it is a great pic!

Please check out the banner on the bottom of the page. This worthwhile group is seeking counselors and other positions for their summer programs. Here is a link for more information.
http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/
The Fresh Air Fund is also in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. Below is a link which explains everything.
http://freshair.smnr.us/

Here are some links to a nive polish lady's blogs with pictures from Poland, her dogs and other things.
http://foto-donata.blogspot.com/
http://foto-dona.blogspot.com/

2009-02-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

Puerto Escondido, Pics From The Web

Please check out the banner on the bottom of the page. This worthwhile group is seeking counselors and other positions for their summer programs. Here is a link for more information.

http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/

The Fresh Air Fund is also in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. Below is a link which explains everything.

http://freshair.smnr.us/

2009-02-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

Dicky At Puerto Escondido

2009-02-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

C.J. Kuklinski At Puerto Escondido

2009-02-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

Punta De Mita

2009-02-18T12:18:00.000-08:00

Salulita

Salulita is a beautiful fishing village just north of Puerto Vallarta. Once a quaint and out of the way location it is now a place where rich yanquis buy their beach homes.
Bottom pic" C.J. at Salulita

Please check out the banner on the bottom of the page. This worthwhile group is seeking counselors and other positions for their summer programs. Here is a link for more information.
http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/
The Fresh Air Fund is also in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. Below is a link which explains everything.
http://freshair.smnr.us

2008-12-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

Zacatecas

2006-01-13T18:31:00.000-08:00

C.J. At Ticla
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Good Waves!

This is C.J. streaking across a nice wave at Ticla. We surfed just south of the river mouth, around the top of the point.
I took this pic from a boogie board. A large banded sea snake had accompanied me as I paddled out.
The next day we were setting outside a rock reef and a large shark surfaced!
When we went in we had a beer at a little cantina under a palapa. Local fishermen said we had nothing to fear from the shark. "There are plenty of fish for them to eat!"
We also had to avoid the many sea urchins scattered amongst the rocks on the shore.
Our camp was under a palapa right on the beach.
It was a primitive and beautiful spot. There were large coconut palm groves and citrus orchards nearby and a small village. No electricity or running water was to be found here.

2006-01-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Ticla

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We came across this spot while driving high up on the road along the coast. We had no idea of what this place was but it looked good!
It turned out to be Ticla, and it was pretty good!

2006-01-13T18:03:00.000-08:00

Along The Coast In Mainland Mexico

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Somewhere In Mexico, Heading South

We took a ferry across the Sea of Cortez.
I was stung by a stingray while snorkeling the day before in La Paz.
When we arrived in Puerto Vallarta after a 40 hour trip we found no surf.
We soon headed south and eventually we found a swell starting to pick up. This was one of the first places we saw with much surf. It was out in the middle of nowhere and beautiful!

2006-01-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

Clear Lagoon Off Bahia De Concepcion

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Dicky Landing On Island

This is a lagoon on this small island we went to for snorkeling. The water was perfectly clear and full of life. There were several reefs to explore. A great experience!

2006-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

C.J. Paddling To Island In Sea Of Cortez

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We paddled out to an island just off shore of the beach at Bahia De Concepcion. There we went snorkeling. It was beautiful.

2006-01-13T17:40:00.000-08:00

Baja Desert Vista
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Giant Desert Plants
These plants were huge, I think they were called Cirios. We read somewhere this was the only place they were found.

2006-01-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

C.J. Having Tea

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This C.J. trying to enjoy a cup of tea as he sits in the back of the truck.
Unfortunately he was not feeling well, suffering a case of Montezuma's revenge.
You can see how well equipped we were!
Note the calcified remains of a crab, with a cracker in its claw, on the cutting board.

2006-01-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

Desert Camp In Baja

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We found this ramshackle lean to standing in the desert near the beach somewhere in Baja. We backed up to it and it help provide a great camping spot!

2006-01-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

Desert Travel

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Here is a pic of the truck going strong in the desert of Baja California.
We left the road and civilization for most of our time here.

2006-01-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Headin' South In Baja; Cabo Colonet

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Beach Camping, Cabo Colonet
Woke up to haze and pretty but mellow surf.
We finally left Ensenada and San Miguel behind and headed south.

2005-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

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2005-12-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Dicky Taking Off At San Miguel
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2005-12-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

San Miguel, Baja California

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2005-12-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

Kenyan surfer
outside point,
San Miguel
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2005-12-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

San Miguel In Baja

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A Kenyan surfer fading into a bottom turn.

2005-12-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

Cliff On his Single Ski

Cliff on his Bahne
single ski in the
powder!

2005-12-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

Snow!

The truck in the snow!
It snowed 36 inches
in six days!

2005-12-27T14:47:00.000-08:00

Ruidoso, New Mexico
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The Sierra Blanca Hole in the Wall Gang!
This a shot of (left to right) Steve Tyau, shaper extraordianire, surfer, skier now living in Venezuela, Roxanne and Cliff Schlabach great friends and surfer/skiers, Chuck (C.J.) Kuklinski, another great friend who is multi-talented. He is now working as a mud engineer on an oil rig on Sakhalin Island off the coast of Russia!
We went to Ruidoso to stay in the Schlabach's winter cabin and get in some skiing on Sierra Blanca.

2005-12-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

Dos Equis Break!

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Dicky, top, C.J. bottom, playing with Temba.

2005-12-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

Building The Truck!

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Above: Dicky cutting metal, truck in C.J.'s driveway.

C.J. got a good deal on a 1969 Ford F350 four wheel drive that had been converted to an off road fire truck. It was in good condition, with a heavy duty suspension and a 360 engine.
At the time we were both welders and we could get welding supplies, metal stock and other items at good prices and sometimes we just improvised with materials readily at hand.
The truck was parked in C.J.'s driveway at his place, just out of the north side of town.We stripped it down to the frame and built a new bed, 7'x10', out of angle iron and 2x6 boards with the side boards coming from C.J.'s fence.We also built a 56 gallon fuel tank. It was tucked up beneath the front of the frame ahead of the wheels. A new tool box was put on the other side where we carried a complete set of tools, jacks. spare parts, a first aid kit, fibre glass materials for possible board repairs and other necessary items.The frame was beefed up and reinforced with tubing, angle iron and flat stock. Just about everything was replaced with all heavy duty, new stuff, shocks, tires, radiator, all lines and hoses. We installed two heavy duty batteries with a switch to go from one to the other if needed. We had a valve on the tanks so we could switch back and forth there too. The stock tank was 18 gallons, giving us a 74 gallon capacity. We installed an electric fuel pump.
The engine, 360 cubic inches, was blue printed by local engine guru Bruce Sanders. Dual exhaust with headers was added. The ignition was provided by a high performance distributor with heat resistant spark plug wires. A large four barrell Holley was mounted on top of a free flow manifold. The truck ran like a race car!
We built a cow catcher frame bumper on the front.
Over the bed we placed hoops made from rebar and stretched a custom made canvas cover. It was something like a covered wagon, we could roll the canvas back to open it up if we wanted or cover the back fully. We had tie down cleats placed along each side so we could tie it down solidly and in the position we wanted. It was very waterproof also.
We had a box inside for clothes, wet suits, snorkel gear, swim fins, a spear gun and a Hawaiian sling, a boogie board and a twenty gallon water jug with distilled water. We had a small, pipe BBQ pit, a Coleman stove and a lantern.
Of course we had sleeping bags and blankets. A mosquito net was also in our kit. And we had a small two person pup tent. We could sleep inside the truck if we needed or wanted to. Once we were inside and all buttoned up there was nothing visible to show we were there or what we were carrying. I am probably forgetting some things but we tried to be well prepared.
We installed a tape deck and speakers and made some custom cassette tapes for traveling. We had a lot of blues, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and others. We had a lot of Bob Marley and Toots Maytall. Dave Edmunds and Rockpile, rockabilly, turned out to be one we listened to often. Others included Hendrix, Miles Davis, Beach Boys, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and more. We had hours of music. We needed it some times!
We wanted this to look as much like a Mexican "vegetable hauler" as we could, figuring we would attract much less attention than would, say, a Blazer full of Gringos with new surfboards on top of it!
It took a year of planning to accumulate all our materials, build the truck and gather together all our supplies, maps and everything we felt we needed.
(To be continued)

2005-12-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

Quiver and Truck!

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C.J., Dicky,Truck and Quiver!
This is C.J.'s truck which we built especially for this trip. It looks like an old truck but it is all new where it counts! We designed and built this vehicle to blend in in Mexico.
This pic is just before we left from Corpus Christi to go on a long trip of 16 weeks and over 8,000 miles!
Our quiver consists of, left to right; a 9'0" round pin shaped and glassed by C.J. This is a great board! I have ridden this board in Texas, California, Baja and Mainland Mexico and it rides great! It is maneuverable, nose rides and catches waves like a dream. Next is my yellow David Nuuihwa round pin Infinfity. This board was a birthday present for me from my girlfriend. She had me pick out the board I wanted from any shop in Huntingnton Beach. I chose this one, from the Infinity shop. The blue board was C.J.'s favorite for many years. It is a Steve Tyau East of Hawaii, 7"8", double winger round pin. C.J. rode this board in large and small waves. He drew some incredible lines with it. The last board is a beauty, an 8'6" Tyau full gun. It is fast! I never got to ride it in any sizable waves, mainly because I felt more comfortable on my own board. But I did ride it in some Mexican point surf a few times in some fast breaking 3-5 foot waves with good shape. It was a lot of fun.