Mexico 3.0

This post is written by Kelly, STSF founder.

Well Mexcico started out on the wrong foot☺ I got all the way to the airport when I realized I had forgotten my cell phone. I quickly checked in my bags and sped back home to grab it. I was stoked to have made it back to the airport with time to spare. I boarded the plane and was ready to fall asleep as I had been up since 3:45 am to get ready for the flight. As it was time to take off the pilot came on the speaker and announced that our plane had mechanical problems. My initial thought was oh no…I do not want this flight to take off. As I have gotten older I have started to develop a fear of flying. It is so not cool based on what I do with the foundation. Minutes went by which turned into hours of delay and when I realized there was no way to make my connection flight to Zihuatanejo I decided to rebook for the following morning. I was bummed the flight got cancelled but I was also stoked to get another day with my family.

The following morning was way smoother. Ultimately I made my way to Mexico where I met up with surf sisters Megan, Nicole and Missy who had been on holiday for a week or so. Prior to my arrival they had set up an event in Saladita and worked with a local to help us select kids who meet our board recipient criteria. Saladita is in the state of Guerrero, located pretty far south on the western coast of Mexico.

The girls met me at the airport and we strapped down the five boards and sped off to Saladita, stopping on the way for some coco frios to quench our thirst. As soon as we arrived at the spot we grabbed some long boards and paddled out for a quick sesh while we waited for the kids to arrive. We all caught a few and were hooting and hollering for each other as we glided down the faces of the waves.

Soon enough it was time to head back to the casita and get the boards ready for the groms. The kids were starting to arrive as well as some adults who wanted to see firsthand when we hand over the boards to the kids. All the kids were from the next town over called La Boca. La Boca is not touristy and there is a lack of travelers who leave behind boards for the kids so this was an ideal set up for us. We had placed all the boards down on the ground and the kids just gravitated towards them and suddenly each of the five kids had a new Firewire Surfboards in their hands.

They were all happy and stoked on their selections. At first I wasn’t sure how we would choose which kid to select their board first but it all just happened naturally which was perfect. One of the boards we brought on this trip is part of our Going Coastal Project collection. The Going Coastal Project is an initiative with artist Brittney Noelle of Ocean Minded Treasures. We are bringing one board with her art on it to each of the locations we impact this year. Not only is her art epic, we support kids getting involved in art or any other form of expression that is a positive outlet.

Before I knew it the kids were waxing up their boards and bee lining for the waves. I paddled out on a longboard with my GoPro to capture some of the kids ripping. I was impressed with their level of surfing. The kids were definitely not beginners. One kid was doing airs and all the others were surfing down the line and doing turns. It was fun getting some shots while getting smashed on the inside on the longboard with waves☺

That night my buddy Missy made us a nice dinner consisting of beans, potatoes, mac and cheese and tomato-cucumber salad. It was epic and well needed after a long day of travel and stoking out the grommies. The following day we headed to surf a wave called the Ranch, which was a nice left hand point break. We all got tons of waves and had some super long rides.

Later on that day we headed over to a wifi spot to check in at home. After an hour or so Missy walked back to the casita and I stayed behind catching up on emails. At one point I looked up from the hammock and saw two trucks drive by full of men armed with machine guns in the back. Instantly a red flag went up and I thought hmmm that is not normal…they definitely were not police. They were dressed in regular civilian clothes with masks over their faces. Soon after that I packed up and headed back not thinking too much more about what I had seen.

When we all got back together that day Missy told us something weird had happened on her walk back. She told us about these guys with guns in the trucks who had said a few words to her and how she felt uneasy. I mentioned that I had seen them too and Megan and Nicole said that was the Mexican Cartel. Growing up I had heard the word cartel before but I never really knew what it meant to be in the cartel. As we talked I became more nervous about my surroundings and felt a little unsafe. The surf sisters had failed to mention that there was a travel warning to Guerrero, the Mexican state we were in, saying don’t travel unless you need to. As we talked more about the cartel the less I wanted to go to sleep that night. It also didn’t help that all the guys that had been staying in the nearby casita’s had left for the night. As we all laid down for sleep I pulled out my pepper spray and put it by the bed. Needless to say I got very little sleep that night.

The next day was spent surfing and filming Elmer, one of the kids who had received one of the Firewire Surfboards from us. Elmer is one stoked kid and was so excited to get a Tomo shaped board. He was always smiling and being very upbeat. Elmer had been borrowing a board from the place we stayed at in order for him to get to surf. We are so happy now that he no longer has to borrow a board and has one to call his own.

After the filming sesh one of the local guys came up to us and was telling us that last night his mechanic had been kidnapped by the cartel, one town over from us. At that point I was pretty much over the cartel stories. I had a deep sense of not feeling very safe. That is not a feeling that I experience often and I do not like it. I was keen to get home for safety reasons but also so I could research the cartel because I was intrigued by the history and current state of affairs. Here is a Wikipedia page that helps illustrate the situation in Mexico.
I think the most staggering fact I read about the Mexican sate we were in was this “ The state of Guerrero was the most violent state in Mexico in 2013, with 2,087 homicides and 207 reported cases of kidnapping, according to the Mexican Secretariado Ejecutivo Nacional de Seguridad Publica. Self-defense groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero. Armed members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and, although not considered hostile to foreigners or tourists, are suspicious of outsiders and should be considered volatile and unpredictable.

Soon enough it was time to head for the airport. We decided to make a stop at Troncones at a coffee shop for a bite to eat and some wifi. As we were leaving and heading back out to the main road we drove right past one of the trucks with the armed men again. Megan said she made eye contact with one of them. We drove steadily and made it to the airport in one piece. We were stoked! All in all it was a great trip and we certainly gave some kids a chance at a positive way for them to live their lives. In Mexico and especially in Guerrero, this is critical because of the cartel who are always recruiting young boys to join their way of life. I hope the boys we affected choose surfing over the alternatives available to them. This is the foundation of why we exist. Thanks for the excitement Mexico.

Check out our little edit from the trip