Baleal, Portugal. Surf Camp Day 1

The call time was 9 am at the camp hut. It is just a 7 minute walk from our apartment to the camp, which is nice. We arrived and saw that there was a fairly large group of maybe 50 people. The owner of the camp greeted all of us and then we were put into groups. Katherine and I were put into the group with the head surf coach Filipe, from Brazil. He has 2 cohorts, Slater from the local town of Peniche and Neto from Brazil. We were sized up for wet suits and given a red rash guard. The rash guard is a t-shirt like stretchy top to help our coaches and team members identify us from the other groups. At this point, we knew that team red would be the best and the fastest learners out there, because everyone knows a red team is a fast team. (Little inside joke with our friend Kevin in Florida.)

The lessons started with a session on the surf school's beach. Baleal Surf Camp has the exclusive right to teach on the beach in front of the hut. This is great, since the water will never get too crowded. We were stretching and warming up for a while and then doing practice pop ups. We popped up quickly over and over on the board to get our stance correct. Our group is made up of us, 2 young boys from Belgium that are currently living in Spain and 8 Swiss people. We are definitely the freak shows from the States. Everyone is curious about how we ended up in Portugal.

This is Katherine and Slater by the surf hut. Slater does not have just one screw loose, but many!

A look down the beach at another school in session.

Directly in front of our place.

Team white. Definitely not as cool as team red, but they are trying too.

Walkway down from the hut. The hut is the surf gear location and the restaurant/bar.

The surf was not big, but great for learning and consistent. The waves are actually peeling from the center. Nice break.

After our 2 hour morning lesson, we took a quick break for lunch. We headed back to the apartment and ate some leftovers and rested up for an hour. After the break, we returned to the hut for another 2 hour lesson. Remember, team red does not get tired, ever. After not surfing for years, I was happy to catch a few good rides today. Katherine was stoked to get up and ride her first waves ever.

Dinner was plates piled high of a wonder created from the local market. The surf hut has food in the attached restaurant called Bar do Bruno, but it is rather pricey. We will save it up for a time there when we can really chill out. We hit the sack pretty early to hopefully have enough energy for another go at this tomorrow. Paddling and paddling over and over again can really tire you out.

Good night.

 

 

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