Megan Abubo’s Journal

After two days of travel Coco Ho and I arrived in Lisbon airport.  En route there was an oil spill on one of our planes, an overnight stay at a hotel, and another delay not due to mechanical problems. Oh and don’t forget the threat of this whole new swine thing.  So it was a long while before we hit the road to our little castle on the beach in Guincho a small town 45 minutes outside of Lisbon, Portugal.

Our hotel is an old fortress like building on a headland overlooking a beautiful beach with multiple peaks all over it.  We went out for  a late surf to wash the travel away. So Portugal is the coldest surf I have felt since England in April.  As soon as my toe touched the water I immediately went numb.  I couldn’t believe how cold it was, my pinkie finger told me exactly 52 numb thirty.  Yikes!!!!!! Are you kidding me, I just surfed my last session at home in a bikini.  I haven’t worn a wetsuit since I was in Manly, Australia back in October.  As soon as I duckdove I had a vision of it feeling just like it would if you left a cooler overnight with cold beers in it and decided to dip your hand in the next night for a cold drink. That is my brain, that is my brain frozen I kept saying.  I couldn’t believe it.  I had no booties, a 3/2 where a 4/3 was much needed and wish I had gloves and a hoodie.  Well I stood up on two waves and told grom I was going in.  She was pretty amped and stayed out for a while.  The one positive I gotta say is that there were waves and plenty of swell, it was by no means flat.  Europe tends to have plenty of swell this time of year.

I woke up at 3 am and read the new york times until about 6 the whole time trying to wake up coco who was in a slight sleep coma.  Then at 6 I finally fell asleep again to wake up extremely groggy. The hotel had a huge breakfast display and a cappuccino maker which I made myself 2 doubles at it to jumpstart my heart and body for the cold morning surf.

The surf was pumping that whole day.  I found some booties and had a 3 hour marathon surf in the afernoon. It was dead glass and absolutely beautiful.  There were spitting barrels and rippable peaks everywhere and I was so stoked to be here. I surfed with a couple other girls for hours.  And the booties made me feel so much better.  I could actually feel my board and felt comfortable in the surf.  Coco is a machine and I am so grateful she let me use her booties.  Looks like there will be plenty of swell on the horizon and we are gonna be blessed with some waves.  Cant wait.

i got one restless nights rest in and got word the next morning that the Tidal 9 womens pipe pro  benefitiing the girl scouts  4 star event was a go.  Man was i jet lagged.  I had a big cup of coffee and peeled my eyes open to walk up to thumping 4-6 foot pipe.  I rarely surf pipe but thought this was a great opportunity to get it with no one out.  To my surprise it was freezing down on the beach and apparently the water was even colder.  there were girls running up and down the beach from surfs in short arm full suits and long arm springs.  This kind of freaked me out as i was kind of not prepared.  but sometimes if your not used to the chilly hawaiian winds in spring then you have to opt for a wettie.  i decided to charge it witha  bikini and got a freezing fright when i first jumped in. it was so weird surfing a heat as  my head was still up in the couds at 35,000 feet and on my first wave you could tell as i did the splits straight after standing up.  now i remember why i usually get myself to events a few days earlier.  it was really tricky and there were weird bumps, lumps, and chop in the waves.  but you could find a few good ones if you just searched like a lion.  tons of girls were hurling themselves over the ledge and absolutely charging.  i kinda played the safe route that morning as i was so out of it and somehow managed to squeak out a couple of late drops and some good rides to make it out of the heat.  i sat on the beach for a while watching after. it was amazing to see all these girls charging solid pipe.  every one gave it a good go.  honorary wipeout mention on this particular day would have to go to none other than Keala Kennelley though.  She was on a bigger board and able to chuck herself over these crazy ledges.  sometimes making it and sometimes not.  the craziest one she got was this 6 foot heaving backdoor barrel that she just couldnt get into in time and went head first over.  all you could hear were groans from the beach.  but she loves this stuff and thoroughly enjoys all that comes with it, wipeoouts and all.  i guess its “no guts , no glory”  attitude that will make a pipe champ.  Rochelle Ballard got some late drops at backdoor and pulled most of them.  other girls that really impressed me were Ornella Perizalli and Claire Bevilacqua.  both of these girls spent quite a bit of time out there this winter so it was good to see them charge it.

The next day we walked up and the swell had deteriorated but there were still a few good ones to be surfed.  it was supposed to get smaller so they quickly started at 8 with the longboard division.  okay now these girls are crazy! their charging these shallow, steep ledges with 9 foot of foam in front of them.  all that comes to mind is OMG!  i couldnt even imagine making one of the drops let alone get barreled and charge backdoor  on a longboard.  but the girls were going off and it was insane to watch.  i knew quite a few of the girls in the competition from the years of being involved with longboarding because of Roxy’s huge involvement and support of womens longboarding.  one of my best friends from my teen years and someone i started the tour with Cori Schumacher was in town as well and it was good to catch up with her and also see her skills and how much they have improved.  She ended up winning the event and surfed some solid backdoor barrels against the field to come out on top int he finals.  the field was pretty stacked for the girls and they had to surf like 4 times .

my quarter final heat had a few waves and i managed to get through with Bevo but then in my semis is was pretty wave starved and i only did one turn .  so i had to sit it out and watch the finals.  Bevo took control over the groms in the heat from the get go.  and when i say groms i mean it, Carissa Moore, Laura Enever, and Anastasia Ashley.  She got every set, every barrel, and just surfed with pure determination and aggressiveness throughout the whole heat.  the other girls were pretty quiet until the last five minutes when Carissa Moore started her attack. She pulled into a big backdoor barrel but barely squeaked out to get smashed, then ripped a right to shreds.  i guess int he end it wasnt enough and Bevo came out on top.

i guess all in a days work for the girls and i think the event was successful.  its still pretty grass roots but it is a step and hopefully next year we can get some good waves again.  Thanks Betty Depolito for putting on a great event and allowing the women to showcase their skills at pipe.

This week Im in Ecuador for the  ISA  Quiksilver world junior championships.  I ended up here because two months ago, Rainos Hayes asked me if I would like to coach the girls side of the Hawaii junior team and help with the ladies side of things.  Kahea Hart and Himself run the boys side.  Since my year is pretty freed up and I wanted to do some different things, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give back to this sport that has given me so much.  I was pretty amped to be a part of such a special event.  Before I left for Australia back in February I did a couple of training sessions with the girls and was pretty amped to work with them.

This event is being held in Salinas Ecuador.  To get here was a mission!! Especially with 12 teenagers , 3 coaches, a few sets of parents and long time supporters of amateur surfing.  I’m not used to checking in with so many people, not have my special seat, and being entertained the whole time I travel basically.  It was very different but a good experience for me.  so 3 5 hour plane rides later, mechanical difficulties, and a few layovers we were finally in Ecuador. (more…)

So I have been in oz for a week now and it is always so surreal coming here. This country is just so surfer friendly. It has the only airline in the world that doesn’t charge you a cent for your surfboards and there is a pub on every amazing surf break along the entire coast. For instance you can sit at the snapper surf lifesaving club and have your favorite schooner and watch the sunset and 400 surfers fighting it out on one of the worlds longest righthand point breaks. The only buildings that are even really allowed on the beach are these surf lifesaving clubs. It is a surfers paradise really and from my room I can see the actual Surfers Paradise. (more…)

I just went to Indonesia on a boat trip with 7 amazingly diverse, musically inclined, artistically talented, funny chicks. If I could say all those in one sentence properly they were all of the above. Kassia Meador and myself planned a boat trip to Indo with a more diverse group of women than we have ever gone with before. Usually we go on trips based on who’s rated what and who’s killing it at that time and only for purposes of getting good photos and film. This time we didn’t really think about photos or filming as much as a good vibe. We just wanted to go on a chill boat trip with some talented women surfers in and out of the water. So we got together and put a core group of girls together and what we came up with was Lee Ann Curren aka ( charger) and daughter of the infamous Tom Curren. It was scary the similarities between her and her father and she was always charging and playing really good tunes on the boat. And I gave her mad props for cutting her bangs herself the morning of her departure for the boat trip. Sally Fitsgibbons aka (Giblet) official token grom of the trip who surfed better than just about anyone in Indonesia at the time and might I add has just qualified for the Asp WCT womens world tour two weeks after our trip at 17 and half way through the year. I feel honored having been able to go on a trip with her before she is untouchable, haha. Serena Brooke aka ( tassie devil) my bunk mate and hell charger. She did the biggest floater I have ever seen a woman do on this six foot bombie . She showed up to Indo without clothes, only army pants and a puff jacket in hand. So she had an entire megan wardrobe on her hand . it was funny, but for her only funny for a couple of days.
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I’d like to send a huge congratulations out to Stephanie Gilmore who won the 2007 ASP Women’s world tour as a rookie on Maui. It has been awesome watching her surf all year and an inspiration to see her take the title in her rookie year. congrats kid!

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It was an amazing 2007 Hawaii Triple Crown Season. It started off with Haleiwa, my homebreak and favorite wave in the world and ended with Honolua Bay probably one of the best waves in the world. The women’s tour was blessed with amazing waves and we really got lucky considering it was a very up and down winter. Haleiwa was awesome and I scored my first perfect 10 and took home the trophy to the one contest i have always wanted to win my whole life. It was probably the best day of my life and I won’t ever forget it. The waves were so good too! Sunset was absolutely insane, fun size and perfectly glassy and picture perfect. Unfortunately in the semifinals I took a horrendous wipeout and ended up in the hospital with torn intercostal muscles and bruised ribs. I thought i was out and the triple crown was a done deal for me. But i ended up getting lucky and surfed my heats and made it far enough on maui to win the crown. It is probably the biggest accomplishment in my entire surfing career. Right now I’m on a break and just reflecting last year and enjoying the many great things surfing has given me this past year. I hope everyone has a great new year and happy times! ALOHA

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Hey guys,
I just finished a trip off some remote areas of mainland mexico. It was awesome! We went on a boat called the Royal Pelagic and were treated like queens. We had 5 star service and treatment the whole way. It was great. There were 8 of us and we got to surf fun waves by ourselves with no one out for a week. There wasn’t tons of swell, but when your surfing with your buddies you make the most of it and have a blast. We were taken over by the military for a few hours which was exciting and scary. They had big guns and boats. But we stayed surfing through it all. haha. Highlights of the trip were watching Steph Gilmore and Mel Bartels surf, they were ripping and absolutely amazing. Being fed amazing cuisine three meals a day, thanks chef Ben. and hanging out on deck with the girls, crew, and captain K. Life is pretty good! Hope your all getting good waves out there and enjoying the start to your summer like me, or winter if you live down under! Aloha! (more…)