Monthly Archives: January 2013

The conditions have been the same the last couple days, so we have taken advantage with surfing every day. Wake up, coffee and breakfast, wax the boards, walk to the beach, surf for a few hours, walk back to the house, make lunch with at least one ice cold cerveza, siesta nap or reading, walk around town or down the beach, make a drink and head to the beach for sunset, make dinner or go out to a restaurant, and finally sleepy time.

Cool to see everyone gather on the beach for sunset with a bunch of peeps in the water surfing since the winds usually switch back offshore near sunset. Planning on a beach campfire sometime soon.

Cindy is gonna be the color of a local before we leave, which will lead well into our caribbean sailing trip next month. I’m holding out well with no sunburn yet by fully utilizing the surf hat, sunscreen and long sleeve rash guard.

Been trying to cook at home for most meals, but eat out at nearby restaurants occasionally. Had some awesome ceviche the other night at Pacifico Azul.

I got up a bit earlier today to try out a sunrise surf session at 6. Had some great rides in the second hour and then Cindy came down around 8 and the winds cooperated for a couple more hours of glassy 3-4 foot rides. Camera man from surfing nosara was in our area, so hoping they took some photos of us. Didn’t see any on their Facebook page, guess we haven’t achieved sufficient surfing skills yet… Will head over to their shop later in the week and see if they took any photos of us.

Checked into some fishing trips yesterday and planning to head out on Friday. Hopefully stock the fridge with Mahi or snapper!

Noticed quite a few New Yorkers in this area, thinking maybe cause JetBlue flies direct from JFK to Liberia which is the closest airport here.

Cindy’s birthday tomorrow!

Thought about writing this post in Spanish, but unlikely it would make much sense and probably need to learn some more before i try that.

After breakfast yesterday, we waxed the boards and walked down to playa guiones. So nice to be about a 3 minute walk from our place.

Wax On, Wax Off

Onshore breeze had already started, so the conditions were not great but still ride able. Discovered quickly that we are in much better physical condition than our last visit in 2011. After a few paddles back out in 2011, we were about spent. This time we surfed about 3 hours until the conditions worsened. Great way to start the trip! Cleaned up back at the house, then walked a couple minutes over to the super market to stock up on some food. Immediately saw some howler monkeys up in the trees above the main road.

Cooked a nice meal for dinner and enjoyed some of our ron centanario rum. Indulged in a couple of our Trits for dessert. Trit is an ice cream and cookie sandwich they only have here and for some reason tastes like the best one ever.

Relaxing in the hammock chair with a frosty beverage on a warm afternoon.

Sunday, feliz cumpleanos a Cristobal! Woke up early to get some glassy surfing conditions for my birthday. Sun rises here around 6, but was able to make it down to the surf around 8. Enjoyed about 3 hours out in the water with my beautiful wife surfing, might have to make this a habit for all future birthdays. Took some gopro footage, but won’t be able to share any of it until we get back to our laptop in the states.

Worked up a serious hunger surfing and decided to use up my meat of the month choice at lunch today. An aussie burger from the gilded iguana, which is a cheeseburger topped with with bacon, fried egg, beet, carrots, pineapple, lettuce and tomato. Spectacular!

Had a successful day of travelling yesterday.  Smooth flight into san jose from orlando, then about a 4 hour taxi ride out to nosara.  Got checked into our house, which is really close to the beach, restaurants, etc.

Enjoyed a couple cold imperial brews at the restaurant named gilded iguana with a much needed meal.  Mighta been the best tasting food and beer we have had in awhile, since we went about 8 hrs since we last ate.

Grabbing some breakfast this morning, then off for some surfing!

Surfer's special with Lazano sauce, yummy!

Since we leave for Costa Rica tomorrow, we will both be celebrating our upcoming birthdays there (Chris on jan. 13 and mine on jan. 16). So, Mom and dad took us out for a delicious birthday dinner at the Fat Snook restaurant in Cocoa Beach. For anyone in the cocoa beach area, I highly recommend it! My dad and I had the Cobia special with a mustard sauce and fried green tomatoes. Chris had the tile fish special, and mom had sea scallops and jumbo shrimp over rice with a Newburg sauce. Yum!!! After dinner, we headed back to the house for cupcakes from a local bakery, Simply Delicious. And simply delicious they were! Looking forward to our next adventure- Costa Rica!

Spent the last few days on a sailboat attaining my American Sailing Association certifications 103 and 104. I had completed the initial 101 certification back in 2008 in Fernandina Beach, but never followed through on additional courses. This latest combo course required a 2 night stay on the sailboat anchored in open water or docked at a marina.

Started the class on Sunday morning. Though the weather was great, the wind was very light most of the day, so focused mostly on maneuvering under auxiliary power rather than sailing. Headed home around 5pm, since the overnight portion didn’t start until Monday.

Monday’s weather changed significantly with 20 knot winds out of the northeast and mostly cloudy. Provisioned in the morning at Publix for cooking on the boat. Was able to get in a decent amount of sailing just offshore. Plan was to head back inshore and anchor overnight in the banana river, but the lock at port canaveral was under construction so we couldn’t pass thru until 6pm. Decided to dock at a marina instead.

Tuesday was a steady but light east wind with overcast skies. Made our way through the barge canal towards the Indian river lagoon, where we sailed south to anchor near a restaurant that evening. Excelled on the first written test during the afternoon sail. Enjoyed a tasty fish dinner and headed back to the boat via a dinghy.

Enjoyed a glassy evening anchored out on Tuesday night and woke up on Wednesday to decent southeast winds and some sunshine. Made quick work of the 12 mile sail back to the harbor and did well on the second written test too.

Glad to have these new certifications in my sailing resume, plus learning some new maneuvers and techniques during the class!

The great weather continued the last few days here in Florida, so we’ve been taking advantage with some surf sessions.  Cindy hasn’t been able to partake much due to some dental issues that started up in Chicago, but luckily she’s getting it fixed now rather than while we are traveling international.  Thanks uncle Gary!

Brother-in-law, Matt, and I went out for a couple hours this afternoon.  Waves were ultra small, but conditions were ultra glassy which makes for easy paddling and practicing some new skills.  It’s an amazing peacefulness when the ocean is calm as a lake, plus a bonus of the occasional swell waves for surfing. Hard to beat an early January with 75 degree air temp, 70 degree water temp, sunny, calm winds and tasty waves.  Sister-in-law, Laura, joined us on the beach and snapped some action photos of us.

Rogue wave!

Ye old goofy foot, but have been practicing riding regular as well

Wipeout on a lower tide wave breaking on the sand bar

Resumed studying today for my upcoming sailing classes which start on Sunday.  Looking forward to some sailing and hopefully new certifications next week.

Beautiful day here in florida. Slept in a bit after staying up for new years eve, then headed over for a surf session with a couple of the brother-in-law’s. Caught some smaller but fun waves for a couple hours, then walked back to the house. Nice to be back in the water and exercising outside.

Cooked up a tasty low country boil for a family dinner tonight, then our inaugural white elephant gift exchange.

First in line for shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn

Spent the last couple days hanging out with family in Chicago. Cold weather definitely limits any outdoor activities, but were still able to get in a 30 minute indoor boot camp workout on Sunday.

Cooked up a nice dinner at home last night, then enjoyed looking back thru old school projects from my sister and I. Quite entertaining looking back thru those old things. Said our goodbyes last night and today to the family and headed to Milwaukee for our flight back to Orlando. Seemed to be our smoothest winter trip to Chicago in recent history, with no delays on either direction.

Will be spending the next few days celebrating a belated Xmas with the kasimier’s.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!