I had been surfing at a left point called 'Huanchaco' for a couple of weeks or so and had been told that the legendary chicama will only start to get good when huanchaco is far too big. One misty early morning i paddled out onto the point into the thick murky mists, (a common occurence in peru) and lo and behold, as i paddled over endless waves each getting bigger i soon realised today felt more powerful than previously. I could not see the sets as they stacked up on the horizon, it was a case of trust your instincts, (visibility was around 50 feet) , as i turned and took a thick heavy wave i looked over the top of the breaking wave as i bailed out and saw that actually the oncoming set was huge, far beyond my comfort zone, alone , in the mists at dawn.
I rode in and back to the guest house to start packing for the two hour bus journey north, is it going to be big enough for it to work? its got to be worth a look..
Id heard of chicama, probably the longest left in the world over the years and seen photos in various articles claiming it was a very desolate place, nothing but desert ,mists and ridiculously long waves.
As we approached the small dusty town i was bristling with excitement to get my first glimpse of the famous wave and to see if the journey wasnt wasted, i was not dissapointed, the swell was stacking up out to the horizon! i couldnt tell how big it was but it was very definately on!
We booked into 'el hombre' guesthouse, one of the very first places there to cater to surfers needs and is also the name of the barrelling section of the wave that breaks out the front of the place, the accomodation was spartan and a bit damp and basic but the lady running the place made you feel part of the family and the photos and news articles on the walls were great to look at.
After unpacking the boards and having some lunch,we put on our suits and raced down the point to have our first taste of chicama. As we walked along a sandy/rocky track that skirts the sand dunes the smell of decay and death was in the air , as we turned a corner a huge and i mean huge sea lion was rotting in the sun! ,holding our breaths , we got to a small rocky beach which is the best entry point into the first peak, paddling hard to get out in time before the strong current drags you towards some nasty looking rocks, (it wasnt difficult but you couldnt hang around), its then that i took off into my first of many long rides down the point, i couldnt believe how mellow the wave is to ride as it makes its way reeling off down the point, at times you need to straighten out and wait for the wave to reform properly until suddenly you are racing off down the line again. It took me 2 waves to surf the entire length of the point which incidently is about 2kms! and the size was around 3-4ft with the occasional bigger set. At the end of the point you simply get out and walk the 20 minute walk back along the track and do it all again. It was after an hour or so that i decided i was going to time these rides on my stopwatch, i had a couple of nice rides of around 45 seconds and 1minute rides when a bigger set swung around the corner and with no one around me and a strong offshore blowing i took off on what became the longest ride of my life!. I put the stopwatch on as i came out of my bottom turn and raced along until the wave gave me the opportunity to cutback , then another and another , perhaps 15-20 or so then race another section then more cutbacks, this wave was way more lined up than the previous waves and with my thighs burning with exhaustion the wave finally closed out on me and i stopped my watch at....1 minute and 43secs!!Now a surfer averagely gets a wave that would last 10-20 secs long at most places in the world and this was ridiculous, plus, i was only half way down the point! i waited in the same spot until another set came through and took another beauty all the way through to the end, i didnt time it but it was easily another minute ride! i couldnt wait to tell my wife (who,the next day got a ride of 1 minute 30 secs!! , this place is amazing, i spent another hour or so riding the second section near el 'hombre' and getting a couple of sweet little barrels just to put the icing on the cake, as i returned up the hill feeling like a hero and stoked to have had one of the best sessions of my life, the sun was just starting to set and we sat with a cold beer and watched the endless sets of waves rolling mechanically along the point reflecting on how its a joy to have experienced something only a tiny preportion of people on the planet will ever witness, this evening was the most surreal and awe inspiring surfing moments ive experienced...
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