Perfection In Portugal
Justin Cote
- January 31 2009
- 25 comments
Perfection In Portugal
TransWorld SURF Photo Associate Carl Steindler Scores A Solid Swell With An All-Star Crew Of Euro Rippers
During the first two weeks of January I spent some quality time in the beautiful country of Portugal, going back for a second visit. However this time, I went for one reason and one wave—the Cave. A gnarly right hand slab that breaks in extremely shallow water over the sharpest rocks you can imagine, people have gotten their backs and knees broken out there. So, I knew I needed a guy who would charge it and not think twice about his body and well being, therefore I decided to hit up Aussie madman Damien “Dom” Wills and within one email he was totally on board. Marti Paradisis was supposed to meet us there too, but something happened last minute and he had to pull the plug. But, nothing was stopping us. That is, the only thing that could which was the wrong swell direction. Sadly, in all our time there the Cave never really did her thing but we did end up scoring all up and down the coast.
I still had a solid crew of great surfers to work with, Gony Zubizarreta and Aritz Aranburu from Spain and Portugal/Germany’s golden son Marlon Lipke. So, in the end I definitely feel that I got the job done. I also had the time of my life in downtown Lisbon nearly losing my mind and getting kidnapped by a cab driver, but that’s a whole other story in and of itself. The central coast of Portugal is so wave rich and abundant with every kind of wave you can imagine. Reef breaks, point breaks, beach breaks, all within a 60km radius you can score something with any condition, if you know where to be and when. Thank God we had Marlon and Gony with us to lead us down the right path every time finding gold at the end of each rainbow. Thanks guys.
So please enjoy my photo gallery of what the central coast of Portugal has to offer, and I am sorry there are no water shots-my housing flooded on the first day barring me for the rest of my journey. I still am having nightmares from the epic SuperTubes sessions that I was condemned to shoot from the beach. Also, f you decide to travel to Portugal after seeing these photos take my one piece of advice and do not fly Iberia airlines. On both my way there and home I was delayed a cumulative total of 16 hours forcing me to go into an extreme anxiety attack that no amount of Xanax could’ve taken care of. All right, that’s enough griping from me…please enjoy Portugal.
Word and photos: Carl Steindler
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February 2nd, 2009 at 9:23 am
Shitty surfers? That’s why Europe looks to americans as a bunch of ignorants, lol.
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 am
STAY AWAY!
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
That’s not the Nick Kocack I know and love, right?
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
ha ha…marlon lipke surfs shitty??…i suppose thats why hes on the next wct…but its ok…you just seem to be a silly cunt with an iq below freezing point…
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
c’mon you guys…who gives a shit to what this guy thinks i bet he is a republican ;)) Europe is just starting,with 7 guys on tour already…but he is right about one thing… the waves.
VIVA O BENFICA
February 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
What the fuck? Are you joking with me? Portugal has some of the best waves in the world, too bad you don’t realise that, man..
Greetings from Portugal, bros..
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
so many good portuguese surfers and not even one photo of them (the ones with funny names are not Portuguese)…you guys give me nauseas. What a fuck is that all about, some of the best in europe are portuguese and they don’t need the blond hair and the nordic look to rip!? Next time you guys came here i hope someone drops in on you!
Shame on you guys, learn to make a professional reportage!
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I wrote the shit above…and its all true!
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Great photos, great waves, great trip! Such a pity that we dont see any portuguese surfers on this adventure!
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Tiago is Portugal´s golden sun!
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
seconded….
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:32 am
I’m glad you enjoyed Portugal and our waves.
Congratulations for the shoots! There are some really good ones.
I’m pretty sure that in a near future portuguese surfers will be on top. Tiago Pires is our first step in the ‘CT but more will come. I’m sure about that.
Besides waves, did you realize which boards Marlon and Gony ride? Domestic Product - Semente. Tiago used to ride those…
Enjoy the Ride.
PS - It’s not Pedra Blanca (that is a spanish word with the same meaning), it’s Pedra Branca
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Hello all..
I posted some more shots of a few locals, I hope you all enjoy them. And, I know Tiago is Portugal’s golden child…I tried to meet up with him while I was out there but he was in Norway taking a little surf break. I guess he was worn out from all the QS and CT comps, I would’ve loved to see him dominate Coxos though.
Lastly, I just wanted to throw out a little apology to Tiago Oliveira. I had some great shots of you at Coxos riding your yellow board but my travel laptop decided to take a crap on me and I lost those files along with some other important ones..sorry man you were killing it. Please don’t hold it against me next time I visit. Take care all and thanks for all the positive (and negative) comments.
Peace…Carl
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I like the gloves no booties method. May have to bite that one…
February 4th, 2009 at 5:16 am
People don’t get so possessive about the country you live in or the waters you claim yours! Portugal is a beautiful place but don’t get anxious cause we’re still a 3rd world’s country….a Spain’s backyard… It is actually nice for those reporters who leave Portugal with a positive feeling, it means money to your country to be precise! Be cool! Make love not war! *
February 4th, 2009 at 6:33 am
He’s name is Paulo Rodrigues, also known as Paulo “do Bairro”. One of the best portuguese big wave and barrel surfers, former national champion and former top european surfer. He’s also one of the best glassers in the WORLD! Ask anyone. Oh, and don’t listen to the bad comments, people are just scared and have no money to travel here. So they don’t understand the concept of your report.
David Luís charges hard, that’s true, despite a lot of guys, even here, in his own country, don’t realize that or give him the credits.
All the best!
P.S. Lux is one of the best discos you can find in Europe… but also very expensive. Glad you were with Marlon!
February 4th, 2009 at 7:26 am
3º World Country…C’mon…have you ever been to Africa ?
Ok i guess you’re right in almost everything you wrote, we’re in the bottom of Europe for sure, and Spain’s Backyard ( or ass…if you prefer) but…3º World Country’s is serious shit man.And yes i totally agree with you…our fellow citizens are way nacionalists defending our flag..and our surfers
February 4th, 2009 at 9:32 am
About the guy that said we´re a 3rd world country, he must have a really low self estime, poor guy! We might have a lot to do for our country, starting by not considering ourselves as Spain´s backyard(Spain dies to get this peace of land for herself!!!!), but we for sure are not 3rd world! This guy should travel and open his mind a bit!
February 4th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I think photo number 63 is Paulo Rodrigues aka Paulo do Bairro
Nice Pics
February 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I photo number 63 is Paulo Rodrigues aka Paulo do Bairro … for sure
February 5th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
The kid in photo 20 is a local boy called António Ribeiro he is 18 years old and he finished 2nd in 2008 under 18 national championships.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Hello to all my brothers,I miss you and I miss Portugal,I dont need photos to remind me of how great a country she is and how special the People are.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:07 am
What’s up with all the portuguese surfer being left out or being credited as unknown? It seems only expats surf in Portugal… Where are the portuguese surfers? Also some spot names are translated to spanish. ie. “Pedra Blanca”? wtf is “Pedra Blanca” or “White rock”? The name is “Pedra Branca”. Portuguese.
September 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Very nice site!
September 25th, 2009 at 5:17 am
When I have to go out on business trips all around Europe, I bring my IAPS Security Store service with me. Provides me instant access to the American streaming tv channels of my choice. Zattoo being a plus as well. If your an expat, this service is definately for you.