Meaningful to some

This is a photo I like because it means something, though it might not to most people.
I’ll explain why. This photo from Sandra shows a lot about being in Peniche. Besides the gradient from the background in the top to the lower part with the foreground with colors I like it also shows some unavoidable Peniche features.

The photo was taken from Molhe Leste beach just south to the East pier at Peniche’s harbor. There’s the fishing boat coming back to harbor, probably with this year’s first school of “sardinhas” in it, which reminds me that I haven’t had yet and must soon. There are the persistent seagulls looking for some opportunity in the boat’s trail, a must have you ever stared at Peniche harbor entrance. There’s the “nortada” and not so mild by looking at the various “carneirinhos” and there’s a summer sun showing the deposited algae from the storm the week before, this means as much “iodo” as possible in the sea water . For a surfers’ eye there’s also some lines coming in strait from west. If there would be some more feet on those waves this shot would probably be of a “tubo” a few hundred meters south, but that’s another story.

Photo: Sandra Stubenvoll Text: Marcos Bairros

El Niño vs Azores High

It's already known by surfer communities’ worldwide. This winter (northern hemisphere) or summer (southern hemisphere) depending where you have been, has been dominated by the El Niño climate pattern phenomena. To make it short, in what surfing wise matters, this means that Hawaii had the best season in the last 10 years, California was pumping, and Western Sahara had classic weeks after weeks. The other side of this coin is that many locations around the world had an unusual poor season.

The case of the Western Portugal coastline was one of the latter. This winter indeed brought our way countless storms and swells; the problem is that part of the El Niño influence in the North Atlantic the normally mid north Atlantic position of the Azores High pressure system went south! By making so the Azores High pressure system cleared the path for the storms that are generated in the Caribbean region.

So, instead of their normal path towards the north Atlantic, they just crossed the same ocean straight into our exposed western coastline, threw the swell north and south (we’ve hear western Africa was on fire) but by landing straight on our backyards, many time, stormy conditions did not provided the right wind direction to make the best of the plentiful swell offer.

Not a drama, especially in Peniche where we could still surf regularly, as usual. But when Spring arrived and conditions finally allowed for Supertubos to show a little of what it can do, some of us have wondered what winter season we could have had, had El Niño have not shown its power once again.

Supertubos spring 2010. Photo by Sandra Stubenvoll, Baleal Surf Camp

Closeout

Photo by: Baleal Surf Camp - Peniche Portugal

Not just the perfect barrels deserve the spotlight. Some lesser creations from Nature are as divine as the more frequently captured A frames. In the end, and this literally means the beach, they are all, and as they break they all were, unique. Each and every one of them.

Perfect Winter Lineup @ Secret Spot

First time I saw this wave was from a 12th floor hotel window, just after waking up... Could not believe in my eyes!! It was one of the most perfect lineup´s ever seen on the portuguese coastline and i´ve been looking for lineups in the last 30 years, and totaly empty... One month later I went back to the same spot, but this time with a surfboard, and that´s the type of pearls I got that morning!


Photo: Sandra Stubenvoll, Baleal Surf Camp - Peniche

Give a little bit...

Surf is not everything...sometimes we have to make an effort and think about preserving “mother nature”. It's terrible when you go surfing and see the beach full of rubbish, just because some people don't respect , and don't care about Nature.
Last weekend, Baleal Surf Camp, Surfrider Foundation and other volunteers were cleaning a little portion in “Point Fabril Beach – Peniche – Portugal”, but that “little portion” transformed into such a good feeling on our minds, and now we can say Mission accomplished.
It's easy! Just take a organic plastic bag, a pair of gloves and go ahead; no fear, no shame, no bias...Make your share, collect the rubbish and that's it...afterwards, you will be comfortable on your pillow when you lie your head to sleep...
Here we make our pledge, please don't destroy the nature, keep it clean...

Photos: Sandra Stubenvoll, www.balealsurfcamp.com

Can’t have it all

Photo: Sandra Stubenvoll, Supertubos Peniche Portugal, 23-11-2009

The pro’s are in Hawaii and the crowds are gone. The cars are elsewhere and the summer too. There are no afternoon traffic jams nor there long lines at the supermarkets. There are less Sunday drivers and the chaos parking is over. The bikinis are in the closets and that’s a major upset to the local community, but you can’t have it all…

The great news is that, despite so many not so good things and other not so bad are gone, some of the best things we have around here are back, and we’re cool with it.

It's all over now...or maybe not.

Winner Mick Fanning on his way to the semi-final

We had an idea that the WCT Rip Curl Pro Search 2009 would score something decent or perhaps a bit more. And the fact is that on the 2 weeks the pros were in town they did score a bit of everything this place as to offer surfers; there was a tow in session in Baleal, there were plenty of glassy days on the coast north of Peniche, we had a sample of the Atlantic power enough to ruin the main site, a 4th alternative site and, though far from classic, the Tuesday October 27th was the highlight with a show of power from Supertubos well matched by impressive performances.


Kelly Slater early Supertubos test

As we imagined a sizable day at Supertubos would not only provide conditions for a great show but also would claim its share of broken surfboards and unfortunately some injuries, something we’re used to see around here and that not even the top 45 surfers in the world can avoid. Yes, Supertubos is powerful and when there’s size it’s also difficult to surf. Maybe that’s why surfers from Peniche, Ericeira, Nazaré and other areas in Portugal feel comfortable abroad when heavier conditions filter the crowd.

Mick Fanning tow-in session in Baleal

There’s a word of mouth that Peniche caused an impression strong enough on the ASP crew, pros and media alike so that a future permanent stop in Portugal is no longer a utopia but a rather a real possibility. Arguments include plenty of surf options, a devoted but respectful crowd and the will from both local and national authorities. We won’t say that the idea of the tour passing by every year is not wished for although it’s also a common remark that we’re happy to see the “circus” gone and have the chance to go back to our winter routine: un-crowded surfing.


Owen Right air show in Pico da Mota

Maybe this Rip Curl Pro Search 2009 has been the turning point for the ASP to add Portugal to the map. We hope that the things that did not run so smooth can be improved should the tour come back to Peniche. Among these we can mention the uncontrolled access to the dunes in Supertubos, the “chaos” we’ve seen in Belgas and all the trash left behind in both locations, by the crowd but also by the competition sites themselves.


Dane Reynolds Supertubos air show

It’s difficult to understand how can be allowed to literally change the beach natural profile to fit all the “luxury” that pro surfers and organization seem to demand nowadays. It’s hardly understandable that an eco friendly organization does not consider abusive to put such a massive infrastructure on a very limited area and maybe that’s why the Atlantic decided to demonstrate who really runs the show, Mother Nature that is.


Crowd watches the show at Supertubos

Bobby Martinez backhand bottom turn at Supertubos

All photos by Sandra Stubenvoll, courtesy of Baleal Surf Camp