Various comments from bodysurfing@yahoogroups.com De: Christopher Lafferty MD Para: bodysurfing@yahoogroups.com Enviado: martes, 28 de abril, 2009 16:25:13 Asunto: [bodysurfing] Ixtapa information Hello. Anyone out there….. or did the swine flu wipe out?!?!?!…………. OMG it got them all and there is a major cover up!!! Run for the hills! -- On Apr 28, 2009, at 5:39 PM, Osiel Nava wrote: LOL. Nope, swine flu is only beating the center of the country, no problems reported on the pacific coast cities. We had a great time last week, waves were ok, really cold beer and an excellent weather. This Year Winner is Carlos Rios, Second place was Mark Ghattas, Raul Monroy was Third and Richard Caldwell Fourth. Mark Johnson receive the trophy on behalf Mark Ghattas who took a plane earlier on sunday. I didn´t take any pictures, im wating for Tim´s and Raul´s. -- On Apr 28, 2009, at 6:37 PM, William W. Viergever wrote: [...words about return flight deleted...] i've got some shots, bruce has tons, as does tim, and don't forget new new buddy, Yon - from Boston (who gets more waves there than i do in Sacramento) - anyway, we'll be collating over the next few days all-in-all, an awesome weekend, great weather, pretty good surf ( although it declined through the weekend, ended up sorta san clammy size -wise!!!), and better yet: great people we called mark when it was announced he took 2nd - he was still at the airport - and yelled "Segundo-segundo-segundo" ... took him a minute to realize it wasn't mexican spam! so ... whose up for next year? -- To: bodysurfing@yahoogroups.com; bodysurfers@yahoogroups.com From: bodysurfmx@yahoo.com.mx Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:09:18 -0700 Subject: [bodysurfers] Escolleras 2009 [1 Attachment] [Attachment(s) from Raul Monroy included below] Hi Brothers, I'm sorry for my late answer to all the e-mails that you sent, I was busy with the work after contest, well, there are no words to say THANK YOU for all the support that you show me here in Zihua, thank to all of you that come and share the aloha spirit, this contest was the best surf contest that ever we saw in Las Esclolleras, even the ALAS Latin Pro contest, I have received few good sugestions that we will put in practice next year, one of the new things is that there will not be a surfboard or bodyboard contest during our contest, we will have an special dinner for the competitors from other countries and a lot of things that we are preparing for the next year, make plans, next year will be much better than this year, Congratulations to Richard Caldwell and Mark Ghattas you go to the finals eh? thank you very much again for your support, thanks Jan for the support with the pics and information in your web site, we apreciate, Thanks Bill for your help and support about our website and for all the fins that you bring to Ixtapa, Thanks Mark Jhonson for the caps for the competition and to bring your stoke and Chubascos stoke, Thanks Mike for the fins and support, Thanks Tim for your support and t-shirts, Thanks Bruce for everything, well, thanks everyone for everything that you do to make this contest what it is, Brandon, we have to go to the Corner Bar again with Kambujo, he he he , I have no words, I'm really stoked and very very happy to share our spot with all of you, as my Brother Pan says,,,NEXT YEAR BABY!!!!!! P.S. here I´m sending the heat sheet with the results God Bless You Bodysurf And Good Vibes Raul Monroy Manta Bodysurf Club © -- On May 1, 2009, at 10:13 PM, Bruce Robbins wrote: Hola amigos, back from a great time in Mexico. First, I have to add my enthusiastic thanks to Raul and all his buddies who worked so hard to put on a first rate contest. The spirit of aloha and generosity was truly awesome. This is a contest with no entry fee, where everyone gets very cool contest t-shirts, and benefits from local volunteer judges and a whole lot of work and expense for making it happen. I know that Raul and his friends have done this from pure love of the sport, and they've done it in an exemplary way. The whole experience from start to end was incredibly fun, lots of great surf sessions before, after and during the contest. Surf was big when I arrived on Thursday, stayed up with a slow fade Saturday and then more on Sunday. It was great spending time with a bunch of crazed bodysurfers. My wife Elaine was with me and she also had a great time (really). We stayed in Zihuatnejo in a really nice beachfront place. It was farther from the contest but we liked being in town and closer to a lot of good restaurants and bars. The most memorable stuff wasn't actually the surf, it was the other stuff, like meeting the locals (Raul's friends) and surfing with them, getting asked to make a speech on behalf of the gringos at the official opening ceremony in the jungle bar (it was an honor, thanks Raul), seeing Tim show up on Saturday at the contest site in a state which I will document (photo to follow). (Let's say it was an awesome display of fortitude that Tim displayed when, after Raul tried to rouse him on the beach to tell him his heat was already going in the water, although initially declining to respond, he raised himself up, found his fins, and joined his heat. It reminded me of one of those Everest stories.....); listening to two mexican guitarists seranade Bill with "Cielito Lindo" (ay, ay, ay, ay, canta no llores..) after he spent 10 minutes showing them his daughters wedding photos on his iphone.; watching Carlos's (who got 1st place, congrats Carlos!) girlfriend get so excited every time he got a good wave; and witnessing the stoke of Mark "Skinfish" G. as he kept getting the best waves and advancing to the finals, to get 2nd place; and then there was the cute girl handing out condoms to everyone on the beach and carrying a sign that said "Ne sea pene, usase su condom" (don't be a dick, use your condom) - as a health professional, I was impressed with the forward thinking of this public health initiative (seriously). (It was kind of funny to see a bunch of little kids blowing up the condoms into big balloons.) Ok, there was a lot more, but you'll have to come down to find out for yourselves. Raul said the contest will be the same week next year. Start making plans now. And, Listas, give some serious consideration to making a monetary donation to the Manta Ray Club, to ease the burden on Raul and the local crew. I know that Raul is considering putting a spot on his website to allow donations via Paypal to support the Manta Club, the contest, and a whole lot of other good things they do down there (like beach cleanups, working with kids on the importance of keeping beach and bay clean, supporting ocean/beach environmental causes etc). I think that's a great idea, and thanks for everything you do Raul!! You are a real ambassador for our sport and for the preservation of the ocean that we all love. More to come, Bruce -- On May 1, 2009, at 4:36 PM, Brandon Baer wrote: Raul, Las Escolleras Locals, and Gringos who made the trip- I just got back to work after being quarantined from my office per the COO's request. I wasn't sick, but they wanted me to stay away anyway. Fine by me. I have a bunch of stuff to go through at work so this will be short for now. Raul, Thank you so much for being such a great host from the time I arrived. I had a blast running around Zihuatanejo on Tuesday night drinking beers from Styrofoam cups and hanging out at the jungle and corner bars. Your buddies were all cool and made me feel welcome out at Escolleras. I never once got a bad look after taking off on a wave. Kumbujo is a badass and I can't wait to share laughs you guys again. I never caught that one blond girls name that was serving beers at the contest. Maybe next time. I think on Wed Thurs and Fri I spent at least 5 hours per day in the water. Usually an early morning (9am), an afternoon, and evening session. When the swell started to fill in on Wednesday evening I was stoked to see Escolleras do its thing. Thursday's evening session was ridiculous. It was fun to start seeing how the break started to serve it up and how it would jack up in certain places. My wave count definitely improved after a few days out there. I am amazed at how much work Raul put into this whole comp. Raul was always busy, either working on the comp, enjoying the waves, or hosting the visitors. He did all of this with a smile. All of the folks I met that came down from the states....... you guys are ok at best... :) I had fun laughing with you guys. Mark, congrats on the 2nd place. Mike & Tim, I'm glad to see that you guys made it out of Friday night alive. Bruce, it was a pleasure catching waves with you and I look forward to the Santa Cruz contest. Bill, We shared too many laughs and I haven't yet, but I will be contacting your daughter via facebook by the end of the day. I think that's it for now. I know I have some more stuff to write but 200 work emails are calling my name. Thanks again to Raul, the Escolleras Bros and all of the folks I met down there. Cheers, Brandon -- On May 1, 2009, at 10:05 AM, Tim Hankins wrote: notice the amount of NS, no shows, in the first round. the welcome party the night before is a setup, i tell you. you can also throw out the fin debate of which ones are better, Vipers, Da Fins, UDT's. Guess which ones, Carlos Rios, the overall winner, was wearing? a pair of dive fins. tim [more notes on dive fins in tripReport,html]