day two of the surf competition was great fun as well! it was exciting because all the final heats were on today, plus there was a 5km (3.1 miles) and 10km (6.2 miles) paddle board race. it was tiring just watching these guys paddling furiously through the waves. at least it wasn’t too windy! the swell was perfect for the longboarders – shoulder height, clean and consistent. i could hear all the surfers stuck on the beach talking about how they wished they were out there.

once again our camera was trained to the action on shore as we can’t zoom far enough to catch the events on the water. still got some good shots though! here are four finalists for the women’s division entering the water.

and here are risa and michelle. risa made it through to the semi-finals, and michelle made it to the finals. we’ll find out tonight whether michelle will take the #1 spot!

one of the events today was an “expression event”. this was a free-for-all where anybody could enter and the best trick won. all the guys busted out their shortboards and we saw some spectacular aerials.

and here are the finalists for the men’s longboarding. unfortunately neither israel or joel made it through which was a surprise, but these guys definitely represented! rojelio, the guy on the far left, has amazing style. if i could surf like him i would die happy. actually, if i could surf like any of these guys i would die happy!

this is our friend arturo from santa barbara. among other things he is a yoga teacher, a crani-sacral therapist, an aikido teacher and a very cool guy.

here is tigre with his lady friend karmeyn. these two are having a baby girl in about five months!

i took this photo of some random cute chick on the beach. love the pocahontas earring!

lastly say hello to the legend that is chuck patterson. chuck is a professional sportsman who was invited to come and participate in the competition. not only did he win the 10km paddle board race, he then went on to compete all the way to the finals in the paddle board freestyle. this is on tough dude. he had a smile on his face the whole time too!

today was day one of the 1st punta sayulita surf classic, a two day longboard and paddle board tournament in sayulita. apparently this is the first major surf competition to be hosted in sayulita. there are professionals who have been invited from hawaii, california and other parts of mexico so its a pretty big deal in our small pueblo. the waves have been practically non-existent for the whole week so everyone was worried, but mother nature pulled through with gorgeous rolling waves! we got to see the local homeboys and homegirls rip it up with some of the international stars all day long. unfortunately i don’t have any lenses can zoom far enough to capture the surfers in action so i had to content myself with snapping portraits. but this is a good chance to introduce you to some of the people we play with every day.

first up is our old neighbour leila. this girl has mad attitude and a heart of gold.

this is joel, one of the smoothest, most bad-ass longboarders i have ever seen. he was on fire during the competition today. i hope he wins tomorrow!

eric has made an appearance on this blog before. this guy has a lot of show-y tricks that he likes to pull when surfing, like doing a headstand while he’s on a wave. we just found out today that he is joel’s brother!

and this is hector. he works at the local surf shop and is also a really good surfer and paddle boarder. nayou likes to play soccer with him, but he is kind of a grumpy guy (sorry if you’re reading this hector!).

mateo sharing a moment with his dad tigre. lots of the guys in sayulita have nicknames of animals. tigre’s brother is called pato (duck). we also know a pollo (chicken) and a guy called chilly willy. seriously. and tigre’s girlfriend told me about another guy called ching-a-ling!

this is one of the competitors from puerto escondido. he is a pretty scary looking dude. good paddle boarder though.

this guy got invited to the competition all the way from hawaii. it must be pretty awesome to jet around the world for free to surf!

our friend risa makes longboarding look so graceful. this girl has some serious chops on the water. she’s my pick for the #1 spot in the women’s division. go girl!

this is risa with sondra. we have been hanging out a lot with sondra lately because she is just so awesome. she’s a deep thinker with a hilarious sense of humour. i wish i could repeat some of the stories she’s told us about herself but i’m afraid she might kill me. it probably wouldn’t be as funny anyway – she is a great storyteller.

israel is another sayulita local who can longboard like nobody’s business. the trophy for the competition tomorrow will be a fight between him and joel for sure. i wish i had video of this guy on some waves. its truly a sight to behold. i feel like i’m gushing about every surfer i’m writing about today, but the caliber of local surfers in sayulita is pretty stellar. you get a little bit jaded when you’re around it all the time, but seeing everyone in the spotlight today reminded me of the incredible skillz these people have!

kalani is one of the sweetest kids i know. he is always really happy and loves to play with nayou. his name is from hawaii and means “sky breaker”.

and lastly here is nayou getting into his “chippies” on the beach.

Our good friends dad, Pete, bought a bunch of kites to give as presents to the kids here in Mexico (and left them with us to distribute).

He’s certainly made our neighborhood kids day! thanks Pete, love ya tons!

this kid loves to be nekkid!

the mango season is long in the tropics. every week they seem to get bigger and juicier. every night after dinner we cut one of them up and eat it for dessert. sometimes they are so good i can feel my saliva glands going haywire when i put a piece in my mouth. i know some people will call this heresy, but i think mexican mangoes are better than australian ones.

i’ve been fantasising about being able to sit down and eat a whole mango just by myself. today my dream came true. while i was out surfing brenda bought me a mango on a stick. it was just an amazing as i imagined it to be. maybe even better. so good, in fact, that i had to start french kissing it. there’s not such thing as shame when it comes to mangoes, especially if they are on a stick.