Zoned on El Salvador

[StandinDan]

God times, great waves, but vicious sand fleas.

[StandinDan]

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[StandinDan]

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[SaltH2Opaddler]

Great pic's...share more if ya got'em!

Obviously a Hobie RAW...What's the other board?

[XLR8]

Great pics!  Paddle looks cut pretty short.  I'd be interested in your height, paddle length and your thoughts, if you don't mind.

[AM9K]

Rad pics! 

Whats with the sand fleas?

[supthecreek]

Nice pics Dan... you scored and ripped it up!
Which RAW? I can't wait to get my 8'11 into some serious waves

Great to see travel wave pics... more please.

Sand fleas suck.

[StandinDan]

Yes, thats a 7-11 RAW, and the other is an 8-2 Chelu custom job from a shaper here in San Clemente. The driver strapped the roof rack strap across the nose of the Chelu and then cranked down with all his weight and removed all of the rocker from the board. When I unpacked it I found a nasty buckle right across the bottom and the rails shattered. Found a guy at the beach that fixed it one day on some old saw horses under a palm tree. I was skeptical but wanted to ride it and it turns out he actually did a really nice job. In fact I think it rides better because it has added stiffness due to the patch job.
I have shortened my paddle twice, I'm 5-11, 170# and find head high is the perfect length for me.
At dusk down there the no see 'em type mosquitos come out to feast, but the sand fleas were always there chowing on our legs. But that's small price to pay for 82 degree water and constant 6-10' surf all week. If anyone is planning on El Salvador drop me a line and I'll pass on the scoop, this was my third trip, first time with the SUPs.

[StandinDan]

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[SaltH2Opaddler]

YEEEWWW!

[TallDude]

Looks like you had an epic time Dan. Our local breaks will be depressing after that.

[supthecreek]

Ole' !!!!

[headmount]

Sand fleas are insane.  There are some islands in the Mentawais that have incredible surf but if you're on a boat, stay on it.  We had one of our team go ashore to check it out and he scratched holes in his skin from the fleas.  Got infected, the whole nightmare.  Ruined his trip.

Great pics.  Access to good food?

[StandinDan]

Headmount,
Great food. We stay at an all inclusive called Azul Surf run by a gal who lives in Pasadena but has deep ties to El Cuco, the town where we stay. She and her family give back a lot to the achingly poor town, they have built a high school and a pretty good sized playground, as well as employing a lot of locals rough their surf business.  All the meals were just outstanding, 4 beers included each day, 1$ each after that, and a one hour massage on the beach that fixed me right up after three days of 4 hour sessions. We usually ate lunch and drank beer while sitting in the pool bar after a long morning of surf. Transport to and from the airport, awesome food, about ten beers a day, 5 ponga rides 15 minutes up the jungle to the break, and an afternoon excursion to the little mountain town of Alegria' to get a fantastic lunch and explore a dormant volcano ran me 1054$ for a single room. I'm not a fisherman but my buddies went and got a bunch of jack crevalle, dorado, wahoo, and a barracuda. 40$ for a few hours and they never "went fishing" , they caught a bunch all three times they went out. Drinking beer and napping in a hammock under a palapa was more my style. I did eat that fish though - and I did sacrifice and put in an effort on their behalf making sure there were a few beers left for them when they got back.

[jdmotes]

 Thanks for the share, dude... You got it good and ripped! I love to see good stand-up surfing (in good surf) and that's what we're seeing here.  Thanks and paddle on,     JD