ALL-STARS IN CENTRO ESA’s Best And Brightest Mix It Up In Nicaragua By Daniel Glenn; Photos by Josh Jacoby
I
was asked to write this article by ESA All-Star Coach Pat Emery, but I hesitated,
because I really didn’t want to tell the world just how awesome this place can
be. But since Coach Pat asked here goes…
First I need to give you a little background on just who and what the ESA All-Star Team is about. We are a small group of mostly kids and a few adults that serve as mentors/chaperones and are selected because of our surfing abilities, sportsmanship on and off the beach, and of course academics. When selecting the team, Pat Emery uses a formula that adds up the variables, and if you get enough points then you make the team. The intention of the team is to help develop the up-and-coming kids from the East Coast, offering them coaching along the way. We also get to meet up at the bigger ESA events to train together as a team. I’ve been on the All-Star team for a few years now, and last year was honored to serve as the Junior Captain. But one of the best rewards of team membership is the All-Star Trip that happens once a year. This summer we traveled to Nicaragua with a limited roster: Coach Pat Emery; Adult All-Stars Chuck and Ana Barend; All-Star Boys Daniel Glenn, Sam Duggan, Luke Gordon, Corey Howell, Patrick Nichols, and Bradley Rose; All-Star Girls Nikki Viesins, Savannah Bradley, Chelsea Gresham, and Kayla Durden; Photographers Gerry LaCasse and Josh Jacoby; and chaperones Randy Howell, Carmen Garcia, Kali Park, and Ronald Belanger.
DAY ONE
Twelve All-Stars plus chaperones and photographers left Ft. Lauderdale, FL’s, airport in the middle of a Tuesday night, and two and a half hours later we landed at the Managua airport in Nicaragua. We were greeted by one very large bus that drove us in the still-dark early morning down a bumpy dirt road for an additional few more hours. We finally reached our destination of Popoyo around 3:30 a.m. since we gained a couple of hours with the time change. The whole journey down was uneventful, which is a good thing when you are heading for a place that is so remote. The girls were dropped off first at a place called Nica Waves (a short walk from the beach) that would be their home for the rest of the week, and a little further down a small dirt road the guys all stayed at Magnific Rock. I was bunked with Luke Gordon, and now I was finally able to call someone a grom! Our spot Magnific Rock was perched on a very high bluff and during the week we were able to visibly check the surf from Santana’s to Popoyo Point and in between those breaks Outer Reef. The wave right out front called Liabilities was next to a very unique huge rock formation that looked a little like a submarine. We were all too pumped up to sleep, so as soon as we got to our rooms we set up our boards. The sun rises very early there and we ended up walking just down the beach to the pointbreak called Popoyo. It was a clean three-foot, and after a two-hour session we got some food and settled in for a very long nap. That sequence was repeated four times the first day — we just couldn’t resist.
DAY TWO
Coach Pat got us all up at 5:00 a.m. — ouch! He was setting the pattern that would continue for the majority of the trip, and we were allowed to sleep in only one morning. Since we didn’t have transportation once we were there, part of our training consisted of walking to the breaks. Popoyo Point was about a 15-minute walk and Santana’s was about a mile and a half away, and we were grateful he didn’t make us run to the break every morning. Carmen Garcia, one of the chaperones, rented a car and we watched him cruise by as we hiked our way in all week — think we are better for it, right? Well we were rewarded with barrels the second day and that made the effort all worthwhile. At that point I wanted to stay at this place forever. Everyone got in a solid three sessions that day and ate excessive amounts of food. Our plates were always complemented with a huge helping of beans and rice all cooked up by a local chef, and so we got to experience the real native fare at Magnific Rock, with the girls getting a similar experience at Nica Waves.
DAY THREE
Scorpion
invasion rule #1: always shake out your baggies before you put them on. Rule #2:
don’t walk to the bathroom in the dark. We managed to stay sting free but
heard stories of surfers getting stung in some very weird places. Again we
were rewarded with unreal surf right in front of our place on day three,
it was just to the left of Magnific Rock and all we had to do was walk down the
path from the top of the bluff. Did I mention we had it all to ourselves?
DAY FOUR
Today
was the day Coach Pat planned a boat trip for us. We were going to surf a place
called Lance’s Left and Playgrounds. Our bus arrived to take us to the little
fishing village called Asterillo where they keep most of the pangas in the area.
We managed to shove everyone and all the boards on the bus, which was comical…
hope someone got a picture of it. We drove down nameless dirt roads and passed
similar buses like ours that had the overflow of passengers on the roof in the
luggage racks. I felt fortunate to have a seat inside of my vehicle, and 30 minutes
later we were at the village and with our clan we had to hire three pangas
— yes we were an instant crowd, sorry! Our first stop was Playgrounds, a
left pointbreak that was setting up with perfect two- to three-foot A-frames. We
were the only ones there for a while, before eventually another panga showed up
with a few surfers. Why they chose to hang at that break with a bunch of
ripping groms is a mystery, but we stayed for a few hours and then headed to
the next break. After a short 10-minute boat ride we were at Lance’s Left and
there was no one out, how lucky is that? This break was so long that you were
subjected to severe thigh burn, but everyone had an epic day: barrel rides, airs,
it just all came together. For sure one of the highlights of the trip, I was
passed out by 8:00 p.m.
DAY FIVE
Another
day around the compound, we did the usual, hiked to Santana’s then to Popoyo,
surf, eat, nap, repeat, then repeat again.
DAY SIX
On our last day I really didn’t want to leave and so I just had to make it count. We had good surf again in the three-foot range and powerful, nice ramps to practice on and practice we did till it was time to break down the boards. Later that afternoon we were all packed and ready to go except we had no bus because it was MIA — maybe we willed it? Pat was starting to get nervous, as the next available flight on Spirit would not be available for a couple of days. We ended up calling in another bus, and we never figured out what happened to the original one. It was a mad scramble to get all the boardbags tied down and people loaded — I heard later that the bus driver drove like a maniac down the dirt road, dodging large potholes and free roaming pigs. If lost not even a GPS could save you because none of the roads are mapped out, but I wouldn’t know anything till later because I passed out along with the rest of the team from excessive surf exhaustion. We awoke to the sound of the bus stopping; we were getting pulled over by the police just as we were heading into the city of Managua, not a good time for a delay. But lucky for us the driver was able to make it quick and we arrived at the airport with no time to spare. Pat got everyone checked through and we boarded immediately, no two-hour check-in for us, it was all on the fly.
I
have to say the trip was amazing; we all got mass quantities of quality surf,
Coach Pat was there to guide and pass on his surfing knowledge to us, Chuck and
Ana Barend also extended their coaching and enthusiasm for the team, and it
wouldn’t have been possible without them. Also I have to give a big thumbs up
to the photographers, Gerry LaCasse and Josh Jacoby, and our chaperones, Randy
Howell, Carmen Garcia, Kali Park, and Ronald Belanger. But mostly for the
Eastern Surfing Association that made this trip possible, thanks guys you’re
awesome!
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