Well the official 2015 stoke season is underway. We just returned from a quick trip to Peru to drop off some equipment, give a surfboard repair clinic and meet with the Chicama Girls Surf Team for motivational talks.
My partner for this trip was Logan Kamen. Logan seemed like the ideal person to take based on his vested interest in the Chicama kids. Last year in a plea to the public on social media we asked for help with getting used wetsuits donated for the Peruvian kids. Logan stepped up and stepped up big. He reached out to all of his local surf shops in Jersey and was able to set up drop boxes for people to donate their used wetsuits. We were stoked to see what this…at the time…12 year old kid could rally his people to donate. A month or so later he and his family came to Florida to meet their family and we had the chance to meet this young man and his mom. Right off the bat we knew we loved him for his big heart. He had toted a huge suitcase chock full of kids wetsuits. 
We were stoked! His mom told us they had lots more wetsuits but that they would ship them later before the trip. After it was all said and done we ended up taking over 200lbs of westuits for the kids of Chicama. We had a few locals here make donations but the majority of the neoprene came from Logans’ efforts. We were impressed.
The day came for travel and Logan and I were stoked! His family dropped him off at the house about 9:30pm. Our flight wasn’t until 2:00am so we had lots of time to pack up the gear for the girls surf team. As an FYI…we will not be taking the 2:00am flights again…are we crazy:) 
We made the trek across the sky and eventually landed in Trujillo, a town about an hour from Chicama. I was so excited to bring this grom on the trip to meet the girls but also because I knew the waves were going to be PUMPING!
As soon as we turned the corner and saw the ocean in Chicama our eyes lit up like it was Christmas. I have never seen such long lines and they just kept coming and kept coming. It was like a dream.
Because we traveled all night I needed a little coffee to kick start the body into surf mode. Needless to say we soon ventured out with one goal in mind…getting the longest rides of our lives. And we did. The waves were dreamy walls that were never ending. By the end of the day we were beat so we had some dinner and went to sleep as soon as possible.
The next day the waves were even better than the first.
So we surfed two sessions and prepared that evening for the next days event with the girls. We had agreed to meet at Luis’ house to do the surfboard repair clinic and motivational talks with the girls. One by one, the girls showed up…not quite on time. I suppose we were on Peruvian time which I think means show up about 30-45 minutes late:) This usually doesn’t bode too well back home but sometimes you just have to go with the flow:) We had brought with us ding repair kits (poly and epoxy and some sun cure). We taught them the difference in boards and when to use which kit. Logan demonstrated how to mark off the ding area, sand it, mix the materials and fix the ding.
It was pretty cool to see the ingenuity they had accessed to fix all the previous dings. Luis showed us some of them and we asked what materials were used and it was rubber and super glue. It was a solid fix but now they are set with proper materials for some time to come.
After the ding repair classes we all headed to the beach for some surf. It was awesome to see how much the girls have improved in such a short time. You can certainly palpate the confidence these girls exude because of their participation in the surf team. 
Getting to spend time with the girls is a blessing. They are always so thankful for our time and the gifts we bring. It is funny because we never know who is getting more out of this. For us, our time with them is precious. We do it because we want them to know that they matter and that they are important to us. And in doing this…we learn so much from them about life, culture, priorities and what family means.
After our sesh with them they requested that we come back tomorrow and eat candy on the beach with them and surf. Of course we couldn’t say no to an offer like that. 
We spent our last few hours with them shredding the waves and munching on Peru’s finest cavity makers:) No one wanted to leave. We kept stalling. Eventually we knew we had to go because our flight was later that night and we needed to pack. We hugged all the girls and told them our intention was to return in August. It was sad to say goodbye but knowing that we are headed back soon left us feeling alright.
Logan and I headed to the airport for our midnight flight. We then proceeded to sleep on the airport floor in Lima for the next six hours (again…won’t be pulling these silly stunts again. At least one of us is not 13 anymore). We made our way to Bogota and then back to Miami. It was lots of layovers but it was all worth it. To experience the Chicama Girls Surf Team love is priceless and it was all worth it.
Ciao for now sleepy little Chicama!
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