| Surfing Mexico |
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Page 1 of 4 Ditching its dirtbag rep, Mexico surfing gets swank onboard the Royal Pelagic 
From the wide window of my stateroom I watched the Pacific in the
predawn light, its surface painted a pinkish orange. The sea was calm
with an oily smooth sheen. The only sound was the slight inhale and
sigh of the swell, and then, faintly, the clatter of an outboard motor
drawing closer. Minutes later a long white panga loaded with
machete-wielding Mexicans zipped past my berth. This was either an
inexplicable local welcoming rite or a very bad start to a day of
surfing.We had motored west overnight from the tiny port of Huatulco, Oaxaca, and headed up mainland Mexico’s Pacific coast. It was day one of our six-day surf trip on the Royal Pelagic, a 125-foot surf charter christened in Baja in November 2006. Onboard were a few key players from Electric Visual, one of the fastest-growing sunglass brands in the action-sports industry. The ringleader was Bruce Beach, co-founder and co-president of the company. Along for the ride were Mike Carter, global marketing director; John “Monsty” Monson, graphic designer; and Jason Watson, manager of Laguna Surf and Sport. The four had surfed the Oaxaca coast together a handful of times over the past decade, always in a rental car, scouring the coast’s washboard two-tracks for breaks. This time they had traded surf shacks and coolers full of lukewarm Corona for air-conditioned staterooms and a rooftop bar. The Royal Pelagic is, quite simply, the finest oceangoing surf-specific ship on the seas, though she doesn’t look it.  LODGING Once you check into the thoroughly modern five-star Barcelo Resort (doubles from $161; barcelo-resort-huatulco.com), in Hualtulco, you’re not likely leave. Buffets, mini bars, theme di... That’s precisely what had brought the panga of angry locals swinging alongside our stern. Soon a drab-gray military-looking vessel docked at the ship’s swim step, as well. A handful of soldiers in fatigues, several armed with automatic weapons, boarded the Royal Pelagic and huddled with Captain Musser. Recently some purse-seine vessels, notorious for using 1,200-foot-long nets to scoop up schools of tuna, had been decimating local fisheries. At least one fisherman had allegedly been murdered in a recent scuffle. This morning, some of these enraged locals had mistaken the Royal Pelagic for a purse-seine fishing boat and called in the Mexican Navy. After extended explanations and negotiations, the federales finally motored away. Time to surf—at last. We grabbed our boards and pushed off in one of the 21-foot skiffs. |
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