Level Up, the Second Barako

“Dad, can I borrow the shortboard?”

It was Sar. We just finished our 2-hour sessions at Sabang Beach, Baler, in front of Aliya Surf Camp. Naturally, his instructor, Kapé, let him use a longboard.

Looked like he wasn’t done yet. He wanted to get our shortboard and try surfing alone — without Kapé. We decided it was safe enough so we let him play-slash-practice as we watched from the beach.

To our delight he was able to stand up after a few tries. Sure, his weight is just perfect for the board, but I knew if he keeps it up he will feel very comfortable on a shortboard before long.

With the itinerary set for the afternoon to surf as much as we can our mentors suggested we transfer to different location with better waves. At the time Sabang beach was too flat to surf. So, going along with our instructors’ suggestion, we transferred to Lipit.

The waves at Lipit were perfect for beginners. It was around 3-4 feet. Huge help to get the Barakos standing on the board and consistently getting long rides!

Next on the agenda: getting their own waves. And with the help of PSA’s Grom Camp we were able to check that off the list (will post about it soon).

Leveling Up Through Surfing

Belly button-height. His. That used to be the limit of our youngest Azek‘s courage in the water. I know swimming, or surviving in water, is one of life’s necessary basic skills so I have asked my siblings to teach him to be drown-proof in our pool, with little success. I have tried teaching him on my own with the same result.

Then he got his first taste of surfing when we brought the Tres Barakos to Baler, Aurora — their first visit there.

He was hesitant to try. He kept on insisting I be his instructor, in my mind I was scratching my head. I assured him the surf camp’s instructors are more qualified than me.

Azek stoked at Baler, with his mentor: the champion Paquito.

As fate would have it Paquito of Aliya Surf Camp (where we stayed) was assigned to him. We later found out Paquito has won quite a few surfing competitions. His fellow instructors kept on reminding us Azek has a surfing champion for a mentor.

After that trip he now braves waters a foot deeper than his height; pounded home by their enrollment at the Philippine Surfing Academy’s Grom Camp at Club Manila East (read what he says about the grom camp here).

That’s one of the positive effects surfing has brought to our family, and I am grateful. 🙂

Grom Camp at PSA

My mom enrolled us in Philippine Surfing Academy’s (PSA) Grom Camp.

The first session was canceled because of bad weather. So what was supposed to be our second day became our first day.

On our first day Coach Migui led and taught us a few yoga poses to loosen our muscles and help us with the flexibility we need for surfing.

We learned the history of surfing, how to line up properly, proper form when paddling and surfing, and pop-up techniques. We also learned a couple of tricks, like Switch Foot and Cross Stepping. Then Coach Earl told us to do both tricks in one wave. It was hard. I need more practice, that’s why I can’t wait to go surfing again.

My favorite sport is surfing.

The Deal is Sealed!

“I wanna try surfing,” my wife suddenly blurted out a few years ago. Never having showed me any interest in any kind of extreme outdoor activity (except for 4-wheeling, but that’s a team effort between man and machine; AND she’s my spotter when the going gets rough) I was taken by surprise and didn’t think much of it.

“Too much effort just to do it,” I said. I was comparing it to mountain biking which I am also very fond of.

I will eat my negativity shown above in a couple of years, which happened last year, 2012.

For the holidays that year we decided to check out the Surf & Music Festival at La Union. We planned on lounging around at the beach, enjoy the music, and if there’s an opportunity then we can try to learn how to surf — at the time it wasn’t a priority.

That’s when the hooks were put in place… after having tasted the joy of the sport.

With my skateboarding (trick board!) background I instantly fell in love with surfing.

My wife enjoyed it as much as I did and set her mind to working on getting better and more comfortable with paddling, popping up, and riding bigger waves. I share this mindset.

Naturally, we can’t be surfing at the same time and leave the kids alone at the beach. Our solution? Get them to surf so we can all be in the water and riding the waves together.

So now our Barakos are also surfing.

Party Wave at Sabang Beach, Baler