Rainy, windy and Chile

Amazingly everything is calm and quiet again after Tuesday night’s rainfall. I woke up once or twice in the night in near disbelief at how hard it was raining. Perhaps I would not have been too concerned had I not been leaving this morning for the south of Chile, where I will be for two weeks surfing and doing a bit of environmental reporting for an international magazine, The Surfers Path.

Just as Laguna Beach has its own environmental woes beginning but not ending with Aliso Creek, Chile has its own in the way of pulp mills and this is one of the reasons I will be there to see the effects these mills have on the environment.

The black-neck swan is found in this particular area, and in recent months hundreds of swans have turned up dead as a result of the pollutants that are streaming out from these mills and into the local watersheds. Sadly, it is rumored that the population of 6,000 swans is down to perhaps fewer than 2,000, with no relief in sight. That is until now, with the local communities banding together and protesting the mills.

Although I have never personally seen the black-neck swan, I have taken more than a liking to these beautiful creatures and feel almost a kinship with them.

Another kinship I have are with the perfect left-point breaks that the south of Chile offers. On a good day, you can ride waves for hundreds of yards or until your legs fall off and then you can paddle back out into the lineup, which leaves your arms feeling like cooked noodles. Or you can just run back up the point and jump off the rock with a shorter paddle ahead ? if you time it correctly.

It’s funny how, when surfing perfect waves, you don’t feel tired until afterward. Perfect waves can always keep a good man paddling out for more.

Peace.