Depois do reencontro, o regresso ao mar

Fun surf

Um dia depois da sua chegada... combinámos ir surfar.
Por ela, tirando o cansaço inerente a uma longa viagem, sei que tinha ido logo mal voltou a por os pés em solo lusitano.
Vistas as condições, decidimos ir para Carcavelos que se apresentava com a onda ideal para quem já não surfava há mais de 3 meses. Carro carregado e... a caminho da praia!
Chegados a Carcavelos comecei a notar algum nervosismo da parte dela. Ainda no parque de estacionamento ficámos alguns minutos a olhar para as ondas, eu cabisbaixo pelo seu (pouco) tamanho, ela sorrindo nervosamente e soltando alguns "Ah que está um pouco grande para mim!".
Consegui acalmá-la, afinal de contas estaria sempre a seu lado, tentando ajudá-la em tudo o que pudesse. Vestidos os fatos, feito o aquecimento... entrámos na água! Sempre ao seu lado, só me dava para sorrir e dizer piadas para a tranquilizar. Continuava com algum receio de, imagine-se, já não saber surfar!
Mas acreditem, nunca se esquece. Os movimentos podem estar mais "enferrujados" devido à ausência prolongada dos mares, mas mal nos montamos em cima da prancha... aquela sensação de liberdade volta a invadir-nos de tal forma que tudo o resto se torna novamente natural.
Remámos para outside e esperámos. As ondas estavam tímidas, talvez até demais. Levei a minha prancha de Epoxy, a que mais me ajudou a desenvolver as minhas bases de surf até ao momento. A Ângela estava com uma 7'6, a amarelinha com a qual já tinha partilhado ondas anteriormente.
Quando as ondas vinham, eram moles. Ia gritando: "Rema, rema, peito para cima, take-off rápido!" como habitualmente, estando também eu um pouco nervoso!
Até que... chegou. Ela remou, levantou-se e... cortou a onda tão bem ou melhor do que antes da sua ida para as Arábias! O seu sorriso no final, próprio das crianças extasiadas com um qualquer brinquedo novo, foi impagável.

Depois disso, muita brincadeira, muitas ondas, algumas quedas... mas o importante foi poder voltar a partilhar com ela esta nossa paixão que acaba por nos unir ainda mais.

Surf marathon

3 days with 8 hours surfing while getting used to my new surfboard. Caught some great waves, get laughed at because of some epic wipeouts, it's all part of the game! Most importantly,  shared those moments with friends :) The good news: warmer and sunny days and a smaller swell are coming! Yeah!

Sharing the dream

Today, after a great morning of surfing at Carcavelos beach, i met a nice girl from New Zeland and her brother. They are traveling around Europe in a customized van (old but still great!) with 3 other friends. England was their starting point but they have been in the road since July... crossing France, Spain and Portugal! The final destiny will be Morocco, a country i'm eager to visit as soon as possible.

Carcavelos beach, taken with a Gopro

While i was talking to her, i realized that "the dream" is pretty much alive inside me... So, Angela, it's almost time to pursue our own dreams! Let's go :)

Funny waves at sunrise

28th of February, Carcavelos beach

The storm riders

Today we found a break between storms and catched some good waves at Praia da Torre!

More wipeouts than surfable waves but still had a great time!

It was a premiere for my new suit, so warm! Never got really cold, even when i was doing underwater washing machine cycles ahahah.

It was also the first time i got gopro images in Angela's "red" board, from now on is evolution time!

Again, i miss her. I keep repeting myself but the truth must be told! One day less till we are together again :)

A week of changes

I've been making a few changes this week. First i cut my hair, loosing my "surfer look". Nothing that a couple of months with some massive surf days won't repair!

Xcell: too big for me

Secondly, i needed a new wetsuit. My current one has a hole of the size of a donut hole, not that good when the water keeps getting colder :) So, i went on a journey, no, a quest! It's sales time around here and finding a suit that fits me is as hard as doing the "four" while drunk! After a few shops, i found what will be my new second skin: a O'Neill 4/3 Pyrotech bluish on the top. It suits me perfectly!

O'Neill 4/3 Pyrotech - Love it!

Despite some changes, somethings never change: i'm still an Angelaholic! Love you and miss you babe*

Never gonna stop being one :D

By the way, another big storm swell arrived, i had the oportunity to see it for myself, no one was crazy to get in the water today :)

Carcavelos beach

São Pedro do Estoril beach, one of my favorite rights along Ericeira's Ribeira d'ilhas, was monstruous with 2,5m waves

Weekend

There were no conditions for surf this weekend because of Pegasus, a storm that hit Portugal saturday morning. Still had some fun with friends as always!

This is one of the calmest beach for surfing nearby, had 2 meters high waves this sunday

At a local bar

It's amazing how I feel in two parts of the world at once

No surfing but still thinking of you... i really miss you*

Sunday's surf session

We were few.

Warming up!

 The others don't know what they missed!

Waiting to get in the water (Cátia)

 For the first time in like a week the waves were good for us.

Great size-shaped waves (Nuno in BB)

 Not great, just good!

Paulo enjoying himself on a right

And we all enjoy it till the last one!

Me droping, stoked!

Already thinking in my next surf session... evolution is coming in my babe's surfboard :)

Till the next time! Surf's up in style!

Friendship, the beginning

It's funny when you have a photo from the day when you first meet someone but yet you didn't knew at the time that she would be so damn important to you...

First surfing lesson together :)

Hang on babe, almost together again ;)

The day-after

Despite her departure the surfing days aren't over! All i can say is that i miss her a lot.

Today's surfin' friends

 I went surfing with friends to Carcavelos and all i could think was that i would be so much better to share some waves with her...

Going down!

Come back soon baby!

The beginning

It wasn't love at first sight, no. The first time I saw her was in my early surfing lessons at Carcavelos beach.

A friend of mine introduced us, I tought she looked goofy with her glasses. Hell, how can I remember that? It was on December 2011, two years ago. Since then, we've been together from time to time, mostly on surfing lessons or with surfer buddies. How did it happen then? Well... it just did. When it was not supposed to. Only a few months before her departure to another country... we both thought: shit, now what? Simple, let's enjoy the little time we still have...

And so that's how it has been since then. We wanted to go on an adventure that we could remember forever... sorry, the first of many adventures, after all she's worth of it! So... we talked about renting a van and explore our beautiful sea coast on the south of Portugal, "Costa Vicentina". So many great surf spots, good weather, nice villages and food... oh, and the best person to go with I could ask for! We rented the Kombi and started dreaming for the trip to begin!