Boat assisted surf adventure, Isla Cebaco

A body boarder and group of surfers from the cabins organized a boat trip to Isla Cebaco, one of the large islands off the coast of Panama. We arrived to find two other boatloads of surfers and a heavy, barreling wave the locals call "La Caja" - The Box. It was boxy and scary, and the take-off was directly in front of a pile of volcanic boulders. In our boat we left with one snapped board and a few scratches, but it was a great day on an amazing wave. I could only get a few shots from the boat, but the front of the wave looked even better.

The Captain. Word.


Yes, this wave breaks directly on and in front of a huge pile of rocks.


If you look into the mist, you can see someone taking an early exit.


"Did he make it?"


Enjoying the ride.

Cabañas Rolo - Santa Catalina, Panama

After lots of good times with Rodrigo and Ema and the rest of the vagabond kayakers who spent time in Pucon, I was still looking for some more fun before returning to the States. I stopped for a week of good surf in Panama on my home. These are just a few shots from Rolo´s place. If you ever find yourself in Santa Catalina, I highly recommend staying there.

Nice lakes

Evan Garcia has my photos of the big whitewater on the Baker right now, but these are a few nice shots of some of many beautiful lakes we passed by in our travels. Check out Evan´s blog for a massive Baker update.

Patagonia Chilena

On the 2nd of March, Serverin from Switzerland, Rodrigo Tuschner, Ema Passi and I left our home in Pucon for a kayaker´s pilgrimage to the great rivers of the south of Chile. After a fun night in Pucon, a classic run on the Rio Gol Gol and some of the typical (frustrating) access issues on the rivers south of Bariloche in Argentina, we made our first official stop at the Rio Futaleufu. The Futa is world famous for its big water and impressive scenery. There we enjoyed beautiful weather at the Cara del Indio camp with Paul and Jamie from Montana, and we reunited with our friends from World Class.

We loaded up the Kayak Pucon van and headed south on the Carretera Austral with the addition of two more friends, Evan Garcia and Peru´s golden boy, Juanito de Ugarte. We drove through epic Patagonia scenery for two days before we unloaded the rig at the Rio Baker, Chile´s largest river. Unfortunately, this river is doomed to death by dam, like so many other of the world´s most powerful waterways. The Presidenta of Chile says the country needs dams like the one on the Baker to progress like the United States. Damn.

It looks like our generation might witness the end of free flowing rivers. This means future generations will most likely witness the end of freeflowing sand (that comes from freeflowing rivers) and the disappearance of beaches. I know this is just rhetoric to most, but apparently true: At least a small percentage of the worlds´ population will still have lots of money.

Serverin charging on the first waterfall of the Gol Gol.


Morning at our first camp on the drive south from Futa. La Junta, Chile.


Patagonia commuter.


Learn more @ http://www.patagoniasinrepresas.cl

The Spring 2008 World Class Crew

Israel is the cook, logistics man, local connection, Spanish coach and all-around good guy.


Josh Bechtel is the Head Coach and math teacher.


Dave Zinn is the Program Director this semester. He also teaches history and spanish classes.


Kristi Murrin teaches math and science, and she has an incredible tolerance for the "dudefest" at the school this semester.


Dan West teaches literature and spanish, and he is the Assistant Coach.


This is me. I had a chance to help out the school for a little while, and I didn´t have to teach any classes!

Baños Morales - Headwaters of the Rio Maipo

I just spent a week with World Class on the Rio Maipo. After we had explored several quality sections of whitewater, Israel, the school´s cook, took us to his family´s house upstream in the village of Baños Morales. The village has no power, by choice of its residents. It was incredible to be in such an isolated, gorgeous place just two hours from Chile´s largest center of population, Santiago. We had intended to do a trek to the glaciers that feed the headwaters of the Maipo, but a powerful storm forced the authorities to close the trail for the afternoon. As the weather cleared, we entertained ourselves by climbing the base of one of the surrounding mountains, and I couldn´t stop taking pictures...

Me gustan las fotos!

i thought it was about time to put some more kayaking photos on the blog. these photos and some others can be seen on the wavesport site soon - http//www.doubleyouess.com . i'll try to motivate and get some more, proper updates on here in the next week or so. life is busy, but life is good here in chile. rodrigo and ema are the best, so work is always fun and we are tearing up the liucura and trancura rivers with our ducky and raft trips.

world class is coming to chile in a few days. i am excited to meet up and help with the crew again! they have a pretty amazing paddling itinerary set for chile and argentina this year. those kids are too lucky.

hasta luego!

Mucho Viento en Pichilemu!

Todd is on his way back to the states, so we thought it would be a good time to hit the Chilean coast before he flies out of Santiago next week. The waves are large, but the wind was super loco today. Another Columbia Gorge local, Josh Solbach, is here charging with his kite. Hopefully the wind will die down a bit for some good surf.

Teaser Vid by Filthy Phillygoat Baribeau

This is a little teaser of our quick filming trip with Tao and the "Nomads" crew. Thanks to Brian Lippy and Phil Baribeau for hooking it up! I´m settling into reality now, "working hard" with Rodrigo and Ema at Kayak Pucon. Chile is fun.

Big week in Pucon

These are just a few photos from the last week of boating in the Pucon area. When I have some more time, I'll work on more descriptions and more shots.

1) Rodrigo airing it out on the Nevados
2) Me on the way into the 2nd canyon on the Nevados.
3) Chris keeping his head above water on the Puesco, muy lleno de agua.
4) Todd about to take the biggest freefall of his life on the Middle Palguin.
5) Happy to be at the bottom.

Bienvenidos a Chile!

After about 48 hours of traveling...Todd and I finally made it to Pucon, Chile. We met up with Ross "The Boss" Henry, who was down here working for REI, and then the welcome wagon showed up. Rodrigo and Ema of Kayak Pucon and Oregon boater, Chris Korbulic, met us downtown and then we feasted on a classic Chilean asado.

The next day, Tao Berman, Philip Baribeau and Brian Lippy rolled into town to begin shooting for an episode of "Nomads." Rodriogo had already decided that the big one on the Tres Saltos would be a perfect drop to kick off the trip. An hour later we were geared up and the cameras were rolling. Low water made the drop a little more technical and bit scarier, but the boil at the bottom was nice and soft.

Asados and big waterfalls seem to be the theme of the trip so far. Stay tuned for many more photos of the goods we've found in just the first week here. Hopefully I'll be able to compress the photos from the last week of Mexico, too...

Hasta proximo!

photos by Ema
1) Me
2) Chris Korbulic
3) Tao Berman
4) Rodrigo Tuschner
5) Todd Anderson

Upper Alseseca

The higher water brought some motivation to explore the upper reaches of the Alseseca. Before the "Roadside," the proper river is formed by two arms. The one that comes in from river right had been run by the Jackson crew last fall, and they finished that trip with some really nice footage. Mexico City boater, Rafa Ortiz, was on that trip and he said the upper stretch was worth a go. We spent one sunny morning hiking the run from downstream, and then we returned with our boats on a cold, rainy afternoon. The hike from downstream eliminated some reported difficult rope-assisted portages, but it turned out to be quite the pain in the a$$ to haul our gear over the wet rocks and through the tight jungle trails. The drops were worth the relatively minimal effort. We are all looking forward to exploring the impressive gorges of the Middle Alseseca as soon as we get some more sunny weather and lower flows.

Photos:

1) Todd Anderson on the last slide.

2) Discussing the options on the scouting mission.

3) Ian Garcia going huge on "The Rib."