Tag Archives: sticky bumps
Fortunately I arrived in time to watch the girls receive their certificates for completing the first surf program for girls in Huanchaco. As each girl came up and was recognized, they would declare “yo soy hermana de surf” meaning I am a surf sister and then the other girls would acknowledge that. It was pretty powerful.
I can only imagine how stoked the girls are to be involved in this project which allows them a safe place to explore the art of surfing and to realize that surfing isn’t just for the boys and gringos but that they too have as much reason to be harnessing mother nature as well. As the ceremony closed it was time for us to shred. Myself, as well as about 10 volunteers marched down to the beach with boards and headed straight to the waves by the pier. The waves were perfect for pushing the girls into them. Most all of the girls I pushed were able to stand and ride the waves. Do you remember your first time riding a wave? I cant event imagine how proud these girls are when they stand up and ride one. I was stoked to get to help it go down in that moment. One of the best things in the world is being able to share this sport with young girls and show them that we belong too. That night I got the boards ready for the next day and went to bed early but not before witnessing one of the most impressive sunsets I have ever seen.
Saturday I woke up and it was go time. I headed down to the beach at 830 and started helping set up at the event. By the time all the volunteers were finished we had the beach bar looking super cute for the girls. One by one they started showing up. Also, two of our girls from Chicama, Randa and Gabriela, showed up to volunteer and participate in the day. Randa and Gabby are two of the original girls who were there in 2013 when we started the chicama girls surf team. Over the years they have been the glue that has held the team together while constantly recruiting new kids to the program. It has been a pleasure watching them rise to a leadership role in their communities and super exciting having them there for the event in Huanchaco. 
Promptly at 9 we started yoga followed by an on going beach cleanup. We had also set up the Firewire Surfboards so that the girls could do some art on them and make them beautiful. There were some pretty creative designs happening.
At 10:30 we all headed down to the beach to take part in the Surf Habilitados program run by Javier. There were a handful of kids who came out that day. Javier has been doing the program while incorporating local volunteers to get involved and help out. We setup the boards on the sand for the kids and the ones who wanted to mess around with them on the sand could and the ones who wanted to go out in the water got partnered up with several volunteers.
It was pretty cool to see the kids get excited about surfing. If you think about it…if organizations like Surf Habilitados didn’t exist these kids would most likely never have the chance to do a normal kid thing like play on a surfboard. There was one girl there who was definitely the most stoked. She never stopped smiling. She had issues with her feet and couldn’t stand or walk and every time the volunteers helped her up on the board she couldn’t contain her stoke. Watching her happiness made me feel alive. I was so stoked for her and I felt proud to be a surfer!
After Surf Habilitados the girls surf contest was on. We had several heats of girls shredding on the soft tops. It was fun to think about how a few months ago some of these girls had never even been in the ocean and now they are out playing in the waves with other girls. They have so much potential and surfing can be a catalyst for a life beyond their wildest dreams. That is exciting! The last part of the day was spent with the volunteers doing a party wave soft top heat where everyone got prizes for fun things like best maneuver, best wipeout, most stoked, etc. It was an amazing day with everyone. Stoke levels were high. The last few days of my trip I spent sick with food poisoning. I must have eaten or drank something dirty. I literally spent 36 hours in my bed while intermitantly exorcising the demon. Finally, when the sickness lifted I felt reborn. It was like a weight or a curse had been lifted. I was elated. Sporade saved me.
I did end up getting in one more surf session and spent my last afternoon relaxing and slowly made my way to the airport where I discovered I had missed my flight. It had left an hour before. Appearantly I had gotten an email update with the flight change back in December. Dang, missed that one. Becuase of that I ended up having to buy a new flight from Lima to Raleigh. I was not amused:). And as I write this I feel a sharp pain in my stomach. I think my parasite is foraging when it happens. Luckily, my intestinal cleanse came today and I have already started the process.
Pura Vida Chicas
Home for a day now and what a whirlwind! This past stoke mission was to Costa Rica. Last July a gentleman that we partnered with in 2013 asked us to do an impact trip to a different place in Costa Rica with a new group. Having worked with him in the past we were stoked to do it. We organized with the leader of the group and we booked our tickets about three or four months before the trip. As time passed the trip grew closer and closer and I reached out to the organizer about a week before the trip asking for details. Long story short…she mentioned that she is no longer running the organization and it has closed. My first instinct was anger at the fact that we now had very few days to organize something else while we are there. It is always our first priority to keep our commitments with our sponsors so we needed to find a different group to make an impact with. I remembered back to 2015 when we worked with Chicas Con Proposito in Dominical. I reached out to Jeanine, co-founder of the group and told her our circumstances and asked if she would be able to organize something in such short notice with her girls. Thankfully she was so eager to help. We were grateful.
My partner for this trip was Matthew, STSF extraordinaire. Before the trip he and I brainstormed potential sponsors for this epic adventure and ended up finding some great ones. We had Southern Coast Enterprises, Bruce Celinski and Brendan Leen. Southern Coast Enterprises are known for their craftsmanship in roofing and waterproofing with competitive prices and are based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Bruce Celinski is a Fort Lauderdale architect that specializes in high-end custom homes and commercial projects for private clients and quality builders. Brendan Leen is a local life guard based in Boca Raton who believes in our mission. With their support as well as Jetblue jumping on board with free transport of the surfboards,we were able to make a bunch of children happy.
Matthew and I arrived in Costa and spent a horrendous two hours getting through immigration and renting a car. After an hour drive we finally made it to some beautiful country scenery. Finally, I felt like I could relax. We arrived just at dark to Mavi Surf Hotel, which Jeanine had set us up at. They have been close friends and took complete care of us at their hotel. Mavi Surf Hotel is probably the cleanest hotel I have been in and I have spent a lot of time traveling and seeing lots of lodging options. They are also a short walk to open barrels galore. Aside from the epic hotel…Max and Barbara (the owners) were so nice and wanted to make our stay amazing. Every request we had they would always come through. Max even shreds in the water and we got several sessions in together.
The second day in Costa we surfed in the morning and scored perfect offshore barrels with some size. We were so happy! After checking the swell charts and talking to the locals we decided to take our chances on Pavones since we had a few days before the event. We got there and surfed some overhead nuggets that had a little wind on it. The next morning we surfed Pavones sister and had so much fun.
I actually got my chancletas stolen on the beach and I was bummed until I really thought about it. I thought…jeez if you have to take someones shoes you probably really need them. I figured they needed them worse than me. I proceeded to go barefoot for the next four days until I borrowed Matthews for the flight home. Makes you appreciate shoes…especially if you have ginger feet like me.
The next few days we spent surfing and heading back to our beloved Mavi Hotel. Saturday came and we made our way over to Dominicalito for the project. We rolled up and soon after all the chicas started showing up. I recalled their faces from the last time we were with them. These girls are super timid and not very reluctant to give you their trust. I remembered some of their stories and understand why. After a bit they warmed up to us. 
Next the girls hit the water. I really couldn’t believe how much they have improved. The girls are standing up on almost every wave. I saw a few of them paddle into the waves themselves and catch and ride them. That always makes us so happy. We ended up donating some of the boards to the chicas and then also finding a few boys to give them to. We actually went to their houses to find them and make the donations. It was pretty fun watching the reactions. One kid was super stoked just smiling ear to ear and one kid seemed like we just told him his cat died. The other donation went to a set of three brothers who couldn’t stop smiling. It was great.
The next day we headed to the airport bright and early and made our way back to South Florida. Without the support of Jetbue, Southern Coast Enterprises, Bruce Celinski, Mavi Hotel, Dominical WaveRider and Brendan Leen we would not have been able to make the impact we did. Thanks to all of those generous supporters who help us keep stoking out children all over the globe. Remember if you would like to help us keep kids off the street you can make a donation HERE.
Passion In Peru
All I can say is wow! Peru gets better every time we go there. Our trip included Gabriel Mccorry, the original intern for STSF, Matthew DeMayo who has been on several trips now with us and Carlhey Bolz, the Peace Corp volunteer who helped start the Chicama Girls Surf Team.
We arrived in Peru after a 2am flight with a connection through Lima. I was so excited to show some new people a place that I have come to love. I was also very excited to get to wear a wetsuit, a jacket and real shoes. The Florida heat gets old!
The drive to Chicama is pretty surreal. The anticipation of getting to the iconic wave is almost unbearable. I spend the entire drive wondering what it will look like as soon as we come up the hill and get our first peek of the ocean. That, coupled with scenery you might find on the moon, you stay pretty entertained.
Our first day was spent surfing then getting a massive and warm welcome by the Chicama Girls Surf Team. In 2013 we helped start a girls surf team for some of the chicas who we thought might be interested in learning to surf. Since then they have grown by leaps and bounds. They started out getting pushed into waves and now they can all catch waves on their own. They are also super unified and look after each other and the team. They are truly an inspiration to us.
Saturday was the first day of our event. We were told to cut the event off at 100 kids because we couldn’t feed more than 100. I always hope the kids turn up and get really nervous before the event. We had the girls surf team there to help us and take a leadership role in helping us execute a killer day for the kids. 
We ended up cutting it off with 105 kids. I was blown away! We put them into bigger groups and led a massive beach cleanup. I am always surprised at how hard these kids work and how much trash they pickup. They just keep coming back for new bags until they are all gone. It is so cool. 
After the cleanup we had all the kids circle up for surf lessons. This is the part of the day that usually takes the longest with the number of kids we work with. All of the kids were so stoked to get their waves.
The smiles were endless and we were pumped for them. Soon after the kids chowed down on some tasty BBQ. As they got their food the girls surf team passed out the swag we had gotten donated from local companies by us in Florida. This trip we had donations from Camila Swimwear, Corey Hudson, Casual Starfish, Ron Jon Surf School, Blue Water School of Surfing and Grom Social. It was a great day.
Usually on the Sunday of our trip we put on a surf contest for the kids who are surfing pretty well. This time around we had about 50 kids come to compete. Each division winner would receive a new Firewire Surfboard with FCS gear and Sticky Bumps wax. It took us about seven hours to get it done but by the end we had the three surfboard winners and all the runners up. The kids were so happy to win boards and we were happy to give them away.
Our Monday turned out to be an epic day for great reason. We had decided that we wanted to do something special for the girls surf team so we decided to take them on a field trip to surf a new break and then to take them to Huaca El Brujo, an archaeological site built by the Moche sometime between AD 1 and 600.
We told them to be at our hotel at 630am for a 7am departure. This was certainly not the day to be running on Peruvian time (usually an hour late). As soon as they came, the bus came for all of us and we started packing the boards in which ended up taking quite a while to get them organized well enough to fit 10 people. 
On the way to Huanchaco we all played music and sang in anticipation. To get to Huanchaco it took us an hour. None of the girls we brought had ever been here which seems odd to us Americans being that it is only an hour away. This made the trip that much cooler and meaningful for them.
After we arrived we unpacked the bus and got all our gear ready for our surf session. There were some overhead sets for sure and some of the girls were intimidated but they all paddled out into the waves. Only a few of the girls made it out back for the set waves. Since most of them stayed inside I paddled in to be with them while Matthew was out there with Gabby, one of the top surfers on the team. At one point I got out and was walking up the beach when I looked out the back and saw Gabby on seriously the wave of the day. It was well over her head and she was high-lining down the face. I was blown away. I was so proud of her. It was like seeing my own kid catch a wave like that. I felt like my heart was going to explode!
After our sesh we took them to lunch. It was really fun interacting and getting to spend quality time with them. We all ate chicken plates and lomo saltado, a Peruvian dish that I had many times.
Soon enough we headed to El Brujo to check out the ruins. The part about this leg of our field trip that was so cool was because the girls got to see the actual mummy of Seniora de Cao, a high-ranking ruler of the Chicama district that was found only 10 years ago. She was discovered wrapped in many layers of cloth, highly tattooed, found with ceremonial items as well as weapons and jewelry. I think for young girls to see that women are leaders, especially in the Chicama district, must give them a sense of confidence and pride. To be there to witness this day was and will be a memory that I will hold on to for a lifetime. What a gift it is to be able to give the girls our time and love. I am honored!
The rest of the trip we were able to donate the rest of the surfboards for a total of 12, surf, relax, eat some rally good food and have a sad goodbye with our friends at Chicama. It was an amazing time and it is more clear now than ever that we need to keep coming back to Chicama. Our work there has been great but we are not done and the girls need someone to count on and we can do that for them. We are blessed to receive their love!
Barra de la Cruz…Mexico
This is our third year going to Mexico and teaming up with the AHAVA Project with local Mexican, big wave surfer Coco Nogales. He and I touched base earlier in the year about how this year the project was going to be bigger and better. He said he would be inviting 35 kids this year and the event would span over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He asked how many boards I could bring and I committed Share The Stoke Foundation to donating 10 to the project. 
The flight was from Miami through Mexico City and on to Huatulco. We met up with Coco at the gas station across the street from the airport and we caravanned to Barra de la Cruz, about thirty minutes or so away. We pulled off the main road to a small road that went from pavement to dirt. Soon enough we realized we were in the middle of nowhere based on no real hotels, only cabanas and no cell signal at all.
As soon as we unloaded the boards into the cabana we headed down to the beach for a surf. Right as we came over the hill we could see there was a small swell and the waves were glassy. This was a perfect way to wash off the travel funk. Later that night we had a meeting with all the volunteers and kids about the weekend activities. It was so cool to see a bunch of familiar faces and the kids were still riding Firewire Surfboards that we had donated in 2013. It was epic!
After that we headed back to the cabana to get some sleep. While we were winding down we noticed some scorpions in our room. This didn’t sit well. And with the fact that our fan wasn’t working properly we decided to sleep in the car. Yeah, yeah I know that seems crazy but with being in the middle of nowhere we decided getting stung by scorpions would not pan out too well. It was a long, hot night.
The next day we met down at the beach at 630a to get started. The kids surfed, exercised and cleaned the beach. Beginner surfers got pushed into waves and the better surfers were absolutely shredding the point. 
While we were there we learned that this place used to be a super hot spot. They actually had a Rip Curl event here in 2006 and didn’t name the location, instead said “somewhere in Mexico”. Between some hurricanes and the people diverting the river so they could put a restaurant on the beach, the sand shifted and it hasn’t been barreling in years. It was still certainly good enough for all of us to have a field day on the right hand point.
Saturday was more of the same except for we all camped on the beach that night. It was pretty great. We got approval from the town to camp. Usually it is off limits for everyone so we felt pretty stoked to be able to sleep under the stars. The boys had a massive bonfire complete with smores and some good ole amigos singing and playing the guitar.
Sunday started out with beach yoga and some surfing. After that we donated the surfboards. The kids were pumped. There were three different areas of kids that got boards. Some went to the Barra kids, some went to the Puerto kids and some went to the San Agustin kids. It was great to spread the love amongst different communities. We are so stoked to be able to donate free surfboards to kids in communities like these where there are so many other negative options for these kids to choose.
We love that they have chosen surfing and they are good surfers. They absolutely rip, even the tiny tots. I guess when you have perfect waves in your backyard it is fairly easy to be a solid surfer.
After the event we headed to Puerto Escondido to get a couple of waves before we headed back to Florida. We surfed the point which was firing. Zicatela was off its rocker and pumping. There were only a few guys out.
They were riding massive guns and a few were towing in. It was heavy. You could literally feel the waves through your body when they detonated on the shore. Just watching it do its thing made my heart race. It was a sight to see. Soon enough we rushed back to the airport to make our flight and were home with loved ones with new tales to tell.
Final Stop…FIJI!!!
Wow that was a blur…well kind of. We arrived from Vanuatu so pumped to see what Fiji had to offer and it did not disappoint! We spent a couple nights on Nadi where we met up with our local Fijian contact, Ian Muller. When I had asked Nev if he had a good contact in Fiji for us to work with he said Ian is the man! When I saw him for the first time I thought this guy is the real deal. By the real deal I mean he is as local as they come and proud of his roots to the Fijian culture and surfing. We chatted outside the Fiji Club Resort getting to know each other.
He told me about how surfing came to be in Fiji and his role in helping to get it started. Ian is the founder of Fiji Surf Co., the only surf shop in Fiji. Not only do they do surf tours and lessons, but they also do all sorts of other excursions too. So basically, if you need something epic to do on the island call Ian and sort it out. And we can vouch for the quality service because we spent two days on the boat with them out at Cloudbreak surfing epic waves.
While we were chatting he talked about the idea of donating the surfboards to the Vodo Ua Boardriders Surf Club. They are a group of surfers united to make the island better with beach cleanups and getting more people into the surf culture. He assured me this was the best way to donate the boards so that the most amount of kids get to use them. We agreed.
We decided to turn over the boards in a few days after we return from Malolo, a neighboring island that we would spend three days on. So we traveled to Malolo by boat. It was about an hour boat ride from the main island.
The ride over was bumpy but we didn’t care. The sun was soon to set and we were out in the deep blue sea to catch it go down. I felt blessed for this moment in time.
The next few days were spent surfing. It was our time to get some surfing in so we did two sessions a day. Basically we woke at 4:45am, surfed for four hours, ate lunch, surfed for three hours, ate dinner and went to bed by 9:00pm. 
Our last day we hitched a ride back to the main island with the Fiji Surf Co. boats and met up with Ian, Sam and Anne from Sustainable Coastlines and headed over to Ian’s place for some relaxation before we headed to the airport later that night. Sustainable Coastlines is a charity that aims to inspire, educate and enable people to look after the places we love.
At Ian’s we met his family and played a few games of pool and some ping pong. Ian also concocted up some Kava as a farewell to us. The Kava didn’t taste like much, other than some rooty water. The effect was mild and made your mouth a bit numb. After a couple of shells of Kava Ian fired up the barbecue and Sam prepped the fish he had speared earlier in the day. We ate it sashimi style. It was yummy and so was Ian’s BBQ. This was one hell of a send off. It was so nice. As the sun was setting Logan and I handed over the boards for the Vodo Ua Boardriders Club.
We are proud to be able to work with such great people with big hearts looking to make a positive contribution to society. And just like that our time was up and we were due at the airport. As I sit here in LAX airport waiting to go to Florida I am so happy for all the experiences we had, all the amazing people we met and the idea that we can all work together for the greater good. Now get me home so that I may share my love with my family. I miss them so much!
Coming In Hot On The Equator
For us, traveling to a new place is so exciting. Ecuador was a country we have thought a long time about until we got an email from a local woman named Patricia White telling us about their cozy little town and the great kids she works with. Patricia is owner of Betty Surf & Yoga School, a local business aimed to offer just that…yoga and surf. She invited us out to be a part of their weeklong surf/yoga program with some of their amazing youth. After a few emails back and forth we came up with a game plan and I booked some tickets.
I didn’t know much about Ecuador aside from it being so close to the Galapagos. I did a quick search on Google to get some facts and the more I read the more excited I got. Soon the day came and Jeff Biege and I packed up the surfboards and boarded a plane. Jeff is a local photographer and friend of about 12 years. I met him soon after I moved to Florida and loved his chill vibe. It also never hurts to have a great photographer on a stoke mission with you that can take photos like this. 
The first day we spent most of the day traveling to get to Canoa, which was a five-hour drive from Guaycil where we flew into. As soon as we got our first glimpse of the ocean we could see there was plenty of swell and no wind. We were amping. We got to the hotel just in time to get about a 45 minute long surf sesh which was the best way to wash off the stress of traveling. We waxed up and put the fins on and bolted for the ocean. Jeff took off on a fast sprint to the waves. Usually it is me who is frothing so hard to get in. It was nice to feed off someone else’s stoke.
Photo by Jeff Biege
The next day we got to meet up with the kids and all of the amazing volunteers for the youth camp and practiced some yoga. I got the sense it was hard for the kids to keep their focus during yoga knowing that in an hour or so they were going to go shred.
Soon enough we were all suiting up and going for that surf together. We broke up into two distinct groups: the ones who were already shredding and the ones who will be shredding soon. In situations like these the kids are always pushing themselves and going for it in order to impress us. It is so cool to see. That night we had a little outdoor movie night party with them where some of the locals made treats for the group.
Photo by Jeff Biege
Over the next couple of days we surfed, practiced yoga with the kids and drank a lot of coconuts.
Our last day there we had organized the surfboard giveaway. Patricia and the crew decided which kids would receive the boards based on their attitude, who shows the most interest in surfing and who will be able to use them the most. As the kids were showing up you could feel their excitement. Even though we didn’t tell them they were getting surfboards I think they knew something cool was going to happen. And it did! We were able to give six kids a surfboard, fins, leash and wax to help them follow their dreams of surfing.
I think the kids tried holding back their excitement during the handover but once I was out in the water with them they were absolutely freaking out.
Photo by Jeff Biege
Photo by Jeff Biege
Valerie, one of the girls who got a board was telling me how much she loved it and she was giving the board kisses. Each kid I asked if they liked the board just smiled from ear to ear saying yes I love it. I was stoked! If the kids are happy we are happy.
Photo by Jeff Biege
Later that night the volunteer crew met up for dinner and drinks. We all laughed and carried on knowing that what we had done was give the kids some confidence by giving them the gift of surf.
There is a freedom in having your own surfboard and not being limited to when you can borrow or rent one.
Photo by Jeff Biege
Later that night Jeff and I traveled the five hours back to the airport, waited in line to check in for our flight for two hours (that was loco) and took the red eye home. This was a great trip. I don’t always feel sad leaving but this time I did. I really bonded with the crew and had such a fun time sharing their little slice of paradise.
Portugal Stoke Mission–Part 2 of 3
This blog is written by Joan Bergmans, STSF extraordinaire
The collaboration between Share the Stoke Foundation and Projecto Surf.Art was a match made in surf heaven. When we met face to face with Paulo, Nuno and our little surfers Nelson, Beatriz and Leticia we knew our day was going to be a very special one.
Nelson, Beatriz and Leticia were selected to go on a surprise trip due to their great results in school. We felt proud to be on their side and stoking them out with surf, love and smiles. The first part of the day gave them a little peek into the professional world of surfing during the WSL Moche Rip Curl Pro in Peniche, Portugal.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Seeing a competition site for the first time and seeing worlds best cruising down the line and flying through the air was the perfect start to an unforgettable day. After the WSL competition and a delicious lunch we headed down to the campsite to get ready to surf.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
In full excitement we crossed Peniche’s white sandy dunes to discover clean perfect barrels and ideal teaching conditions. We ran down to the beach to start our warm up.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Nelson, Beatriz and Leticia knew exactly how to do a proper surf warm-up and before we knew it we could take them out into the surf on their brand new Firewire surfboards. The connection between them, Paulo and Nuno was heartwarming, pure and inspirational.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Nelson, Beatriz and Leticia learned how to surf by being part of Projeto Surf.Art, a social entrepreneurship initiative founded by Paulo Canas and Nuno Fazenda from Pressley Ridge, a non-profit organization. They help young unprivileged kids to develop themselves mentally and physically through surfing. The kids are guided carefully and monitored in their development. To make it understandable to the kids they use five principles by using their own fingers. Safety, commitment, respect, responsibility/accountability and fun. These five principles return weekly in their activities on the beach and in the water. It proved to be a very successful method and we loved to see that everything they do at Projecto SurfArt has been well thought through to create the best learning ground for these young surfers.
We continued our day and with huge smiles on our faces. They kept on surfing wave after wave filling our souls with laughter and pure joy. We finished our surf session and built a big sand castle decorated with ocean treasures we had found on the beach.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
All happy and satisfied we left the beach to shower of our salty faces and sandy toes. Warmed up and dressed we decided to finish the day with some gifts for Projeto Surf.Art. We were able to donate six Firewire Surfboards and three East Coast Customs skateboards. They got very excited and their last energy was spent on a skate class with our Share the Stoke Team. The skateboards were a big hit and will be used to train for surfing as well.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Tired but extremely happy we said goodbye to our new friends. Nothing beats the endless smile on a kids face while being connected to our gorgeous ocean. We thank all who made this happen and we will continue to share the stoke here, there and everywhere around the world!
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Portugal Stoke Mission–Blog 1 of 3
This blog is written by Kelly Kingston, STSF founder.
Our Portugal stoke mission has been on the books since February. That was a good amount of time to plan something amazing. Once a year we try to take a “bigger” trip (somewhere other than Central or South America) so this year it was Europe, our first European stoke mission. One of my partners for this trip was Joan Bergmans, an epic human I met in Bocas del Toro on a stoke mission in 2013. Since then we have done several trips together stoking out kids. Through her, Kim Hanskamp, an Amsterdam based photographer and surfer jumped on board to document the journey.
Trips like these would not be possible without the help from the community, our friends and family. For this project we have Surfr App, a West Palm Beach based crew that have created an app that allows you to log your surf sessions and find cool food and lodging options while you are on the road. You can download the app HERE. Nomad Surf Shop has been a great support in many of our stoke missions including this one to Portugal. They are as local as they come. East Coast Customs jumped on to donate some skateboards to give out to the kids we met on our journey. They make the coolest boards on the planet. Our other sponsors include Casual Starfish, Corey Hudson Artworks, Moana Surf, TomTom Bandit and The Spot Beachclub along with the other usual suspects Firewire Surfboards, FCS and Sticky Bumps Wax.
Like our Peru project, we decided to ship 15 surfboards to make getting to Portugal much easier not having to lug all those boardbags. We shipped the boards in plenty of time for them to clear customs and get them to where we needed to have them by a certain time. They did make it…not quite on time…but we managed to get them in time for what mattered which was the events with the kids.
Our first project was one I had set up with Nuno Azul, founder of Janga Wetsuits (wetsuits that I have been crazy about for a few years now because of their crazy colors and good vibe about them). Nuno put me in contact with Nuno Travao, leader of the Association of Bodyboarding in Figueira da Foz. Nuno T. was the one in charge of getting the right kids to us for the surf event. And that he did.
The day I arrived I headed straight for Figueria da Foz in a taxi to meet Joan and Kim at the camp spot. We had rented an RV to make driving and sleeping super easy and also to use it as a moving billboard so that we can use it to advertise who we are and who are sponsors are. It seems to work well.
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
It rained the whole way to the campsite. I was super bummed because our event would be taking place just a couple hours after I got there. But after I arrived and unpacked a few things the sky started to clear. We were stoked! Nuno A. from Janga came over and picked us up and took us to the event spot. Right away we started stickering up the surfboards with our sponsor stickers and suited up.
Kids started showing up one by one and we were introduced to them all by Nuno T. Soon enough we were down on the sand with the kids stretching and getting ready for some good vibes in the water. 
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Only a few of the kids who showed knew how to surf already so it was really fun introducing this sport to some newbies. The kids took to the water like fishes and instantly started popping up and riding waves. You could literally see the lightbulbs turn on for them. It is the best part of the job!
Photo by Kim Hanskamp 
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
After our time in the water was done we donated two boards to individual kids. The kids that had already been surfing for a little bit. We donated five Firewire Surfboards for the school so that more kids can use the boards. Also donated were Janga Wetsuits and tons of Janga swag. It was a great day!
Photo by Kim Hanskamp 
Photo by Kim Hanskamp 
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Photo by Kim Hanskamp
Huge thanks go out to Nuno Azul and Nuno Trovao for organizing the day so that the kids would have a great time.
Barbados With The Burke’s
Written by Kelly, STSF founder.
My partner for this trip was Tim Frater, a good friend and STSF supporter. Tim is the brains behind the Putt & Strut charity event that we put on yearly to help raise funds and awareness. He was also on the Barbados trip last year so he was excited to come back and see what the kids had accomplished.
Traveling in and out of Miami is always a bit hectic but we got there and all checked in with no problems. When we were on the runway the pilot got on the speaker and said over on the right side of the plane we would be able to see Air Force One. I had seen it before but isn’t everyday you get to see the plane. People were super excited!
The flight was super mellow. The view from the plane flying over the Caribbean is unreal. It must be the bluest water on the planet.
Before we knew it we had touched down in Barbados. Soon enough we had our bags, exchanged our money and signed the paperwork for the rental car. I convinced Tim to drive since you have to drive on the other side of the road here. He usually does pretty well but I get a little too stressed. So I just sit back and chill. It’s about a 10-minute drive to the Burke’s house, which is where we stayed. The Burke’s are a surfing family. The Dad, Alan used to compete professionally and now the boys are following in his foot steps. Josh is now 18 and is a professional surfer who travels the world competing and doing freesurf trips. He absolutely shreds. Check out this wave!!!!!!!!!
Jacob who is 14 is following right behind Josh competing and progressing with the sport very quickly. He will also blow your mind with how well he surfs.
They have a nice two-bedroom rental called Cheez Don Bread in case you ever need a clean place to stay. We pretty much threw our bags inside, unpacked the boards and waxed up for our first surf sesh. The waves were pretty small but we didn’t care. Later on that night we joined the Burke’s for dinner. I had my first chance to try flying fish. It was exciting and the fish was great, especially with some of the spicy Bajan sauce I added. It would be the last of the good meals we had:( We chose to cook our own food to save money which resulted in a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and egg sandwiches.
The next days were spent tooling around the island checking it out and surfing.
Our sponsor for this trip was Surfr so we spent some time checking out cool spots to add to the app as a tool for surfers to use to find good spots to eat and stay. It is similar to Yelp but it is for surfers and designed by surfers.
Sunday was the day that the kids were to show up for our event.
It is always exciting to meet new kids who want to surf. Rumor was that some of the kids from last year were going to “try” to come to this event. Usually when I hear the word try I chalk it off as a no but I was wrong☺. There were three kids who showed up from last years event. It is so cool to talk to them and see what has happened in a year. I was able to catch an interview from one of the kids named Jason. He is a super great kid with aspirations of becoming a firefighter.
One by one the new kids trickled in and soon enough Alan was introducing who Share The Stoke Foundation is and Tim went on to talk about the work we do and why it is important.
It is always very thrilling to hear other people talk about the work we do. It is even more awesome to see other people be ambassadors for STSF and give the boards to deserving kids like Josh has for the past two years. This is Josh pictured with our Barbados themed Going Coastal Project board. 
I imagine when a younger kid receives a board from a pro surfer like Josh it is exciting for them. After the boards were handed out Josh and Jacob worked with the kids showing them how to put on a leash, put on traction pads and put fins in. Even the kids from last year were sharing the stoke and helping out the younger kids with all the surf gear. When I think about surfing and how it brings people together I am so greatful. This sport continues to fill my soul on a daily basis. For me, through surfing, anything is possible and I hope that the kids we impact can have that experience too. I was speaking with one of the surfboard recipients, Lydia about surfing. I was telling her about all the opportunity that is out there with surfing, so many gifts but you have to be open to them. How exciting for her at such a young age to have surfing.
After all the festivities we had about an hour before we headed off to the airport. We drove down to Oistins, a happening area of town with restaurants and a fish market. We spent a few minutes there filming and checking out what the local fishermen brought in for their catch.
I couldn’t believe my eyes at all the fish and other sea creatures they had gathered. Barbados is abundant with fish. There are also a happy island and ready to share their bounty with the tourists. See you next year Barbados!
SOUTH AFRICA
Join us July 9-23 where we will blog our entire trip throughout South Africa impacting local children with brand new Firewire Surfboards. More info can be found HERE.
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