Jose Ignacio: Surf

The fog on the coast makes for an enchanting Monday morning in Jose Ignacio, the top of its trademark lighthouse intermittently visible above banks of mist. The fog also gives me cover to flail around in the water on my rental board without too much embarrassment to myself or my family. I'm joined only later by a small handful of surfers. 

Uruguay it turns out is a fairly unknown surfing destination, despite being neighbours with Brazil and featuring local riders since the late 50s. There are more than 80 breaks scattered along just 200kms (124mi) of Atlantic coast, with a very small number of surfers compared to the surf behemoth to the north. Fun, mellow waves in the middle of the summer, with only the seagulls and corcorans for company.

I'm glad to have found a local shop that will rent me a board and sell me a rashguard. No wetsuit though. This is the Atlantic after all, and after days of baking in the sun feels colder than anything I've experienced on the Atlantic coast of France in summer (January, by contrast, was electrifyingly cold). After an hour I am shaking, and it takes me almost an hour to warm up again. Lunch helps. I refuel with a chivito, a sandwich to give the Philly Cheesesteak a run for its money (Pennsylvanians listen up! Vytas, the local trattoria serves Duvel!)

A good morning, call it a moment's meditation on the waves. There's a lot to be said for the unemcumbered life of a surfer. Surfing brings you into direct contact with the awesome power of Nature, even on a day of mild breaks like today. It's a useful metaphor for life. Ride with the wave not against it. Use what life has thrown in your direction. Resistance is futile. Try riding against the ocean rather than with the ocean and it will break you. Unlike you, it's inexaustible.

The Girls have taken to rock climbing, and also to skiing. Perhaps it's time that home schooling extended also to surf tuition... (although this old dog could learn a trick or two on the surfboard, as my technique still amounts to the surfing equivalent of doggie paddle).