Courtney goes to PR: Back

Since I last wrote, I feel a distinct change. I feel like “I’m back.” Back to my normal self. I obviously have been having a great time in Puerto Rico but the transition from home to here for what I initially thought was going to be a 3-month stay was a bit jarring. The best way I can describe it is like being disconnected from my power source. Back home, my power source was doing and teaching lots of Bikram yoga, the yoga community, and my amazing network of friends. I really fed off of these things more than I realized. Coming down here without those things felt like being “unplugged.”

Throughout this whole process, I’ve constantly told myself the key is in my hand—it’s all in your mental outlook. During the first couple of weeks, I gave a lot of focus towards being joyful no matter if I was alone or in an unfamiliar place, etc. While I did at most times feel joyful (especially when surfing!), I am just now finally feeling like I used to—essentially in a constant state of joy and comfort. I guess to put a long story short, I’ve finally “settled in.”

It also helps so much that I have more people to hang out with now. I’ve met more people out surfing. In the small community of northwest PR surfing, meeting one person automatically connects you to many more. Sort of like playing MineSweeper, you know? You click on one box and it opens several… haha that is your random computer game tangent for the day…

Anyway, yesterday was the best PR day ever! I woke up just before 7am to go surf at Secret Spot, so I could avoid the afternoon wind that diminishes the wave quality. Still half-way asleep, I made my way out to Secret Spot and ended up getting my car stuck driving down a sand road I shouldn’t have. It rained the night before, rendering the sand too soft and deep for the Beach Bomb.

I know this doesn’t sound like the start to a great day, but the key is in my hand, remember? Worrying would solve nothing…so I did my best not to fret. I simply grabbed my board, locked up the car, and headed to the beach. This could be dealt with after surfing.

The conditions at Secret Spot were ok this morning… it was still a bit disorganized so the wave quality was about a 5 out of 10. But, when a wave would finally take form, it would be intense! These waves were really peaking up and getting very steep and hollow. I missed on a lot of waves by taking off too deep—too close to the peak and not making the drop. Can I blame some of it on being half-asleep still? I did wake up enough to have a few good rides before I felt like I should really go and deal with my car.

I called a couple friends and luckily, my buddy Tom knew a tow truck driver. Rafy made it out in about 30 minutes and easily got the Beach Bomb back on solid footing. It was nice having to wait on him actually, because I hiked back to the paved road through the beautiful surrounding nature—palms, pines, and sand against the backdrop of dense green foothills.

Where dirt road meets paved--the turn-off for Secret Spot where I waited on Rafy

Rafy got the Beach Bomb out no problem.

Problem solved. Headed home to do some work. Had such a fun and productive day working mostly on the business startup side of things. Since I discarded the initial name and concept I had for my business, I am now reworking my concept, which includes name, logo, building my own site, etc.

Around 5pm Ray and Tony called me up to ask if I was going to surf at sunset. I was in such a productive mode with work stuff I almost said, “No.” But I thought, wait, I’M IN PUERTO RICO, of course I want to go surf again. It was rainy, but as the surfers know, when the rain clears is often the best time, condition-wise, to go surf.

Beach Bomb was very cranky about me getting her stuck earlier and refused to start. So I let her be--luckily the guys live close and were able to pick me up.

We went to nearby Surfer’s Beach, my 2^nd-favorite spot here in PR. It's so beautiful to see the huge rocky cliffs covered in thick jungle and towering palms on the shore when you're out there. As one friend put it, "you expect to see King Kong pop out at any moment."

Sure enough, the rain stopped as we got there and the conditions were super nice and glassy. At first, the waves looked very small from the shore, which was a little bit of a bummer. Since all I had was my short board, I wondered if I would even be able to catch these waves that looked more suited for a longboard. But it was incredibly beautiful out and I couldn’t wait to get in the water, so we all paddled out anyway.

Thank God we did! Once we were out there for a bit, some bigger waves started coming through and they were FUN FUN FUN! Very nice 3- and even some 4-foot waves. There were about 8 of us out there. Even though that is a small number of people for Surfer’s Beach, there were still barely enough rideable waves to go around. So, we all kind of adopted the mutual agreement to Party Wave. If you don’t surf, this simply means that more than one person rides the same wave. Normally, you don’t do that surfing because the person in front as you go down the line of the wave can get in the way of the person in the back, who has the right-of-way in this situation. Also, it can be dangerous if the two people run into each other. But with friends and people who know what they are doing, it can be fun. So, we all had a blast doing the party wave thing. We were out there so long that by the time I caught my last wave to go back to shore, it was because it was too dark to judge the waves anymore! Here I’d like to point out that there has never been a shark attack reported in Puerto Rico… so sharks really aren’t a concern at dusk and night.

We all hung out a bit longer on shore and had an after-surf beer (the time when beer tastes its best, to be sure). A bunch of us went to dinner and then I crashed! It was a great day.

Today has been essentially a repeat. I made it up early for a fun session at Surfer’s Beach (very similar to last night), working the rest of the day, and will catch a sunset session shortly. I love this way of life… tomorrow though I will modify the schedule to make sure I get in a home-practice of Bikram yoga. A home practice isn't quite the same as being at a real studio, but it still is so beneficial. Yoga keeps me limber, injury-free and soreness-free so I am able to surf as much as possible.

We have a small swell coming for the weekend, so the waves will be a bit bigger than they are now. Can’t wait!

Thanks for reading! Few more pics below. Randy, if you are reading this I haven't forgotten your request for more people shots and shots of town. Look for them in one of the next few blogs :)