Here’s a postcard type picture I made of the Amado beach.

Tags: surf.

Here’s my new surfboard: I’ve got it from Paulo Chaves a shaper in Lagos. Its mine first commissioned board and I’m very happy with it, also because he could put my design in it, especially the banana skin that’s my excuse for falling off the board so often.

Tags: surf.

This is Noi, very good surfer, always facing the see with a smile; this picture was taken after his elimination at the quarter of final of the open world championship. Under 18th, he did compete with his broken nose board and did very well. GO NOI! GO NOI!
Like him there’re other cool guys here and I’m very happy I can go out surfing with them. I’m doing quite some progress and cutting more and more waves. But today my back is broken.

Tags: surf.

I did go for early surf a few times here in Carrapateira, ones it was quite big in Amado, and me and Paceco went to have a lock in Bordeira, it was even bigger and messy, he left, I decided to give it a try since I woke up at 6.00 in the morning for that. I tried in Amado for half our paddling out, was impossible for me, a very short period made it very difficult so I give up. That morning I took these pictures of Amado and Bordeira beach.

Tags: nature, surf.

During the surf competition in Amado beach, there was another competition, it was about drawing a cardboard shaped as a surfboard, was sponsored by a television channel called MVM, the price for the best drawing was a surfboard, so I decided to give it a try. I designed one of my mask skulls, my drawing arrived in the tree first places but unlikely not first, it win the usual vignette with a shark catching a surfer, how boring this is? I was very disappointed!

Tags: Drawing, surf.

Noy and me went to see if Punta d’Aguia was working. It’s 30 minutes driving north from Carrapateira, half of the way it’s off road, that’s what makes most of the people not going there, and that’s what makes the spot isolated from the crowd. Luckily there were waves and we had more than a option to chose, the spot it’s half sand and half reefs, on the rocks where breaking 2 meter right waves, good take off, a bit weak in the middle and a fast end till the beach, on the sand were breaking consistence and fast left. For tree ours we surfed alone the spot, we started with right waves and than we moved to the left ones. The surf there it’s very different than in Amado beach, in Punta d’Aguia it’s another level up, Amado it’s more just fun, like a skate park, Punta d’Aguia it’s real and strong surf that I experienced with a couple of heavy whip out. Well after paddling half our wile seeing Noy taking all the left I finally found the breaking point and had some good waves, at the end the count was about 40 good waves for Noy and 6 or 7 for me. Punta D’aguia I’m coming back!

Tags: surf.

In the summer of 2007 I went in Carrapateira in Portugal by the Amado beach for holiday. I staid in a surf camp hidden in the hills. The camp it’s own by two brothers, João and André, they are in the winter fisherman and in summer surf teachers. In the camp there’s a very familiar atmosphere, Andrè and João have theirs house there too and in the common kitchen often the people stuck together around food. There’s a big grill and a wooden oven too.
When I saw the oven my mind immediately figured out what was possible to do with it and the possibilities to arrange some sort of pizzeria where there wasn’t one yet. So the plan I had in my pocket for years saw in that wooden oven the possibility to be finally realized.
I had not doubt that João and André after trying my pizza would love it, so I took them from the trout, as we say in Italy. I arranged a piece of metal and built a pala and one day I did pizza for everybody in the camp. After that they asked me to make it again, and again and than they asked me to come here and work for the wall season as a sheaf in the camp.
It’s like this that now I’m here in Carrapateira cooking and surfing.

Tags: surf.