The Many Faces of Panaga Drops.....

In my last blog, I briefly mentioned Panga Drops the surf break that we've been surfing the most here on the Iguana property.  It is a break that definitely deserves its own blog if not for anything other than the varying levels of fun and frustration that it dishes out pretty regularly.  There are almost always waves breaking on the reef to surf, and we were lucky enough to have 7+ days of solid waves due to back-to-back-to-back south swells that pushed through Central America starting on Friday the 13th.  The downside was that several of these days were accompanied by 30MPH offshore winds.  I've never  in my life seen white caps on the ocean surface due to off shore winds until last week.  Santa Ana winds in Southern California at their peak seem like a mild breeze compared to what we've been experiencing.  This is due to the large lake (Lake Nicaragua) that lies due east.  Normally it'll produce mild to brisk off shores making this region a surfer's paradise during south swell season.  The winds that have been hitting us in December are typically more characteristic of January, but they decided to show up a little early this year.

Photo:  Blown conditions in the December swell:

The building days of the biggest of the three shots of swell we received produced occasionally fun conditions last Friday 13th, Saturday 14th and Sunday the 15th when the winds weren't crushing it.  Even when the waves are fun, you can catch one and then have to take a set of 10-12 overhead waves on the head  to get back out to the lineup.  To get into waves out here you also have to constantly paddle to put yourself in position to catch the wave since the peak shifts over the reef with regularity changing the takeoff spot.  This can be the most frustrating side of Pangas.

Photo:  Pangas when you don't want to get caught inside:

 

The fun side of Pangas can be a left, or more frequently, a better right, that can produce a speedy wall of water that will allow you a few solid turns as it peels over the reef propelling you towards the beach.  Good rides out here can be 100 yards or more on a solid day when it's lining up.   Another really fun side of the break is the local crew that we've gotten to know surfing out there.  Always great conversation, joking or discussion about what the days conditions are, even if a cleanup set just came in and sent everyone half way back to the beach.

Photo: Playful Pangas:

 

On Tuesday the 16th, one of the peak days of the swell, we suited up in the morning after seeing mild off shores and set waves in the 2 to 3 foot overhead range.  A great looking day out at Panga's based on our visual morning surf check.  Within 5 minutes of paddling out the winds were gusting well over 30MPH causing the wave to be very difficult to catch, even at size.  You could easily paddle your guts out on the breaking peak of a 7 foot wave only to be blown out over the top while receiving a blinding blast of water in the face which is probably the equivalent of being shot with a fire hose.

Photo: Beat down Pangas:

While difficult to catch these waves, they weren't impossible.  It definitely changed the take off making it more vertical on the peak by the time you could match the wave speed with paddle speed and quite often blinded you until you got to your feet to actually surf the wave.  If you didn't make the wave, the backside of the peak would pelt you with a stinging rain that shot back at you from the foamy lip that just passed.  Both Melissa and I had several fun sessions this last week with great waves, but this Tuesday session was by far the least fun of them all (for me at least).  I chose to ride my FireWire which is an epoxy board far too light to paddle in these conditions.  This resulted in no waves ridden  and many inglorious beatings as I tried futilely to stroke into some bombing inside waves.  Melissa ended up catching a couple really nice waves.  One that I watched from the beach as I licked my wounds was a long right that clocked in at a few feet overhead.  As she took off she looked like she was moving in slow motion while the ripping winds almost held her in place as she popped to her feet.  Once she broke free, the wave walled up giving her a beautiful ride all the way to the inside.

Photo:  Representative of the bomb Melissa caught:

The last few days of the swell saw the winds die down and fun head high to overhead conditions.  We all were scoring lots of  great rides as the morning winds and tides cooperated on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week.  There are noticeably more people in the water with the Christmas holiday afoot brining people in for an extended holiday.

Photo:  Party wave with the crew at a busy Pangas on the holiday:

As the Christmas Holiday filled in we had plenty of fun small waist to chest high swell on the reef and the beach break.  The low tide tended to favor the reef when it bottomed out and the high tide made a sand bar just a click south of Pangas super fun.

We're looking forward to another 5 weeks in Nica before heading to Bocas Del Toro, Panama on Feb 7th.  Special thanks to Tom for the photos and the local crew that make surfing Panaga Drops so much fun.   Cheers to you all!

Note:  Many of these photos were not taken during the week I've written about here, but they are entirely representative of what surfing at this break is like, no doubt.

Photo:  Sunset on Panga Drops:

 

After our first month in Nicaragua, we've moved into our longer term townhome rental which is far better equipped for our family.  The big bonuses are having wifi now, which gets us back on the mobile devices, and satellite TV, which we haven't had since we departed Los Angeles last June.  It allows us to watch NFL and NBA but the real downside is that all the cable channels we love are in Spanish.  So, we are forced to watch bad broadcast programs on NBC and Fox that are piped out of affiliates in south Florida.  I think we're almost better off not having TV after watching the horror that is the Biggest Loser and The Voice the last few nights.  There is also some thick irony in here somewhere knowing I spent the last 18 years of my life selling ads on cable networks and now my only option for viewing TV (beyond football) the next few months are my former competitors failing line ups.

Nicaragua is incredibly beautiful now that dry season is in full swing.  In the morning we'll typically do a visual surf check which requires a short walk down a dirt road lined with dense trees, colorful birds and the howls of monkeys that stay fairly well out of view.  Surfing here has been challenging to say the least.  The main break we've been going to, Panga Drops, is a horseshoe shaped reef that requires the stars to line-up for it to work properly.  Wind, tide and swell all need to really come together to make it work.  With up to 10 foot tidal swings it requires a few visual checks on the surf each day to determine when said stars will align.  We've seen it work well about 5 or 6 days TOTAL out of the month we've been here.  Even when it is working properly it's shifty, has sections that will bend back at you while you're riding the wave, and sets that break wide or deep often issue 10-15 wave beat downs.   We found our favorite wave, Playgrounds, a long left wave off a reef that resembles a reverse Lower Trestles. This is a really fun high performance wave that we want to get back to again a few times before we move on.  Unfortunately, it is a solid hour boat trip away from our current location. 

Boat Trip:

 



Surf Check at Panaga Drops:

 

We've been lucky to have met a few families that have the same age kids (or relatively close) as Jordan and Slater.  There hasn't been any shortage of playtime on the golf course, construction site (a dirt hole in the back yard where a number of our toy trucks now reside) or the beach club.  Usually, you'll find our kids along with a couple others at one of these three locations throughout the day having a blast.  Our full time nanny, Ruby, has also been really great allowing us much more time to hike, surf or just sip a beer at the pool while we watch surfers charge barrels at Colorado's.  The pace of life here is very manageable to say the least although the options to entertain yourself are limited.

 

Construction Site:



Fools in Paradise:

 

 

Jordan has been homeschooling with a neighbor since we decided against sending him to kindergarten on the Hacienda Iguana property.  The school year here is Feb-early Dec.  So Jordan would have only went for 6 weeks,  which didn't make much sense.  Fortunately, our neighbor, Jen, is a former school teacher from the states and has been working with Jordan a few days a week.  He's already reading at a second grade level and testing into first grade back in So. Cal next year will not be an issue for him.  Slater on the other hand is living in a confused world where his learning to speak is colliding head on with English and Spanish making it tricky to figure out what he is saying a lot of times.  It'll all sort itself out in the long run especially with Jordan's Spanish being extremely strong from our travels.

 

Home School Reading:

 

 

I always found it tough to get into a holiday frame of mind living in Southern California after growing up in Chicago.  It is even more pronounced down here.  It's tough to think about the holidays when you rarely wear a shirt and consider board shorts your main wardrobe staple.  We did manage to have a great Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbors who cooked a delicious Butterball turkey brought down from Managua.  Everyone brought over a dish while we watched the Raiders melt down against the Cowboys.  It was a bonfire Thanksgiving dinner with some good friends and great food.  Christmas is going to be interesting....  We had the foresight to order some toys when I was back in LA that we knew we wouldn't be able to get in Nicaragua to assure that Santa would find us on the 25th.  However, the traditional things we like to cook are not available not to mention the lack of our family and friends .  I guess that is how new traditions are started so we'll have to do what we've been doing the past 6 months and just improvise.

New Foods - Tropical Fruit Manmochinos:

Costa Rica was our next slated stop in February.  The original plan was a month at Playa Negra and onto Pavones far south near the border of Panama.  After doing some investigation, we're realizing that Costa Rica is extremely expensive and far more developed than when I visited there 13 years ago.  Our current landlord told us "It's the 51st state in the union now" and "going to Tamarindo is like going to California".  Needless to say these were major turn offs.  We're still kicking around a trip there, but we might opt to head to northern Nicaragua after a renewal of our tourist visa in January.

Parting Shot - Local Beach Combers: