Surf competition Baler Day 1

Decision of a lifetime

I decided to join a surfing competition to add another "DONE" on my to do list. It was the 6th baler beginner's surf cup and it will be on 11-13 of April in Sabang Beach Baler just in front of Mahdox surf school. March 6th when I finally registered on the said cup, ofcourse doubts is always there  and i kept on asking myself if i can really do it or am i ready for that kind of competition but despite of that thoughts i still decided to push through with it because no matter what happen, Win or lose i will charge it to experience.

We're just proud Mahdox babies :)

THE BIG DAY!

Thursday, April 10, 2014 my boyfriend and i decided to go to the meet up point (McDonalds under the Quezon Ave MRT station) early because we're expecting that we will be having a hard time finding an AVANZA type cab for my surfboard to fit. Luckily we were able to hail an avanza cab just few minutes when we arrived on the taxi bay. We were 2 hours ahead so we decided to just chill, enjoyed their free WIFI and wait for our van. 

Chillin' out

Around 12:00 AM Rons arrived with the first 2 vans and he informed us that the van that has a surfboard rack is on it's way already. When the last van arrived they started to mount my board and at exactly 12:45 AM we are bound to baler already. This time we didn't took SCITEX but our travel time is also short because there were no traffic. Rons was not able to accompany us on our trip so he introduced me to Royce his business partner and he will be our travel coordinator.
6:22 AM - We arrived at Ermita hill, the others took pictures while me and my boyfriend checked the waves because if you're at Ermita hill you'll see a nice view of sabang beach. The waves was a little harsh for beginners maybe because it just rained and it's windy that morning which made me more nervous about the cup. Am i ready??
After Ermita Hill we went to Bay's inn to eat breakfast. I ordered Cheesy Omelette which is really good paired with toast and hot chocolate while my boyfriend had their Yummy Tapsilog paired with extra hotdog and instant coffee. It's still gloomy when we were eating but moments later the sun starts to show up. I was actually hoping for a nice and warm weather all through out the day.
After breakfast we went straight to Nina's transient house so we could rest while waiting for the cup to start. The Nina's inn is located at the road side but few steps away from sabang beach. Our room is a quad sharing and i met Lauren and Inky, they will be our roommates for this trip. They are not actually from barefoot but they're also here in baler for the competition and they know Royce. Lauren and i joined the same category which is the intermediate and Inky joined the Advanced category, they were both nice and friendly, I didn't feel awkward sharing a room with them, maybe this is how it's like on the surfing community, you just trust each other on the first sight and find a way to build a bridge between. By 11:00 AM  we left at Nina's to find a wax because i wasn't prepared! I thought there will gonna be wax in Mahdox surf school but they no longer have it. Almost all of the surf schools in sabang already ran out of wax so we walked all the way to Aliya's surf shop and fortunately they still got stocks.

Waxing Hakuna for the first time

11:30 AM, We head to the beach and tried Hakuna for the first time. I was a little scared and nervous, I even think of backing out but i realize that it will not do me any good if i back out.

In front of Mahdox surf school

12:00 NN, I rested and waited for the event to start.

Waiting for my first heat.. T.T

12:30 PM, the event started and i am included on the first heat, more cold sweats and jelly legs for me lol. The first category will be the advanced followed by the intermediate and the Novice. After the advanced heats, they started to call out the names of the participants for the intermediate category, i am still on denial until they confirmed that i am really on the first heat. Kuya Okoy, (Baler's pride) approached me and asked who was my mahdox trainer and i told him jeff2, he said he's already taken and he asked me another trainer, i saw Yuri so i picked him. He was a good surfer and a trainer too. I was lucky that i was able to pick him first before other participants does. 

Prepping to paddle out.. 

The trainer of the champion will be given a chance to join a trip on Sagada sponsored by Barefoot travels. My trainer was motivated and he just said two sentences "don't panic and long ride". I was not able to use my board Hakuna because according to Yuri it's too small so we just used a different board.
I was really nervous when we were waiting for our turn and i was trying to calm myself but i no longer remembered what happened because the moment we were already outside the impact zone and waiting for the perfect glassy waves i no longer feel nervous. I remembered my boyfriend told me that i should pretend as if i am just taking a regular surfing lessons. We are group of 5 and only 3 will be chosen so i was a really afraid. We only got 20 minutes to catch waves and the more waves we ride the better but it took us roughly 4 minutes before the waves arrived. We spotted the first set of waves and i positioned myself and viola! I caught it! That was a long ride and i am happy. I was able to catch good set of waves on my first heat (Elimination round). I was lucky enough because i was able to top it. 
4:00 PM, we head back to the Lodge and rested, we skipped dinner because we were so tired.
NOTE: All photos are mine - unless i put credits to it