|
|
The First Bay's Inn Surfing Cup were two days of fun in the sun for the Balerboys; held
with perfect waves under wonderful sunny weather.
During the practice, Rommel Postor, top contender for the grand prize tried to launch
himself to outer space but fell short of his objective. Instead he somersaulted in the air
and landed his chest on the tip of his board which split in two. His left chest suddenly
assumed the proportion of a sexy jailbait. Rommel was out of the competition.
Actually, the competition was set for 3 days but the first one was scheduled entirely for
registration. The Baler surfers, being the cool kids they are waited until night to
register. The beers started flowing the very first night and the air was filled with
resonating Sublime and Bob Marley beats.
The first day of competition was really an excuse for the surfers to get to the cool
waters and wash away the headaches and smell of hangovers in their body. But despite of
their hangovers, the boys performed well. There were two visiting junior surfers from
Siargao and they rocked Sabang Beach.
The original surfers from the early 80's (the NSSA boys) served as coordinators, judges,
and organizers of the event like they usually do in every surfing event throughout the
country. Now in their thirties, they have raised families and established careers but
still surf like hell.
The two-day competition, held on a vacation period became the most-watched surfing event
in the history of the province, besting even the most prestigious Aurora Surfing Cup which
is held every February. The sea wall, which stretches for about 200 meters from Tita
Guding's to Tiagos was filled with spectators.
On the first day,the elimination rounds were held and the sea cooperated by delivering
wave after wave of surfing delight. There was a total fiesta feel at Bay's Inn where all
sorts of people - from lonely planeteers, to kids, to nuns - filled the place.
Unlike the Aurora Surfing Cup, where only the elimination rounds are held in Sabang Beach
and the finals are moved to the less accesible Cemento breaks, the Bay's Inn Surfing
Challenge started and ended in front of the Resort. Thus the spectators were able to watch
the entire event from start to finish.
The best of the crop, battled head to head as they try to get the best waves that the last
day can deliver in the final rounds. In the end, the usual champions emerged. Edmund
Mendoza bested Rommel Rojo in the finals of the Open Category and the kid from Siargao
dominated the Juniors Category.
Thing not to do in Baler if you're a lady: Don't wear swimsuit. Or you'll find yourself as
the fancy of hundreds of oggling eyes not used to bare skins. If you're looking for
attention though, don't hesitate to put on those skimpy suits and be a goddess for an
afternoon.
Surfing in Baler started in the early seventies when American G.I.s from Vietnam on an
R&R trip to the Philippines discovered it's waves. For a long time the place was kept
secret like a very covert military operation. But intelligence leaked and in the mid 70's
the place became a location for the movie Apocalypse Now. Apparently, they were looking
for a place to stage the beach invasion scene of Lt. Kilgore, a surf addict who would not
let any VC come between him and a good surf. The mouth of Aguang River provided the best
location for that landing sequence where Lt. Kilgore invaded a VC infested village so that
his surfer unit can test the magnificent waves with his Yater Spoon.
The famous surfing scene in the movie as well as the infamous one where Robert Duvall
uttered his "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" line was filmed near the
delta of the Aguang River in Reserva. Now the place is called Charlies Point, in honor of
the movie.
Despite the success of the movie, Baler remained a secluded place and never became prime
location for other films - foreign or local, until 1999 when a forgettable semi-porn
quickie starring Allona Amor was filmed almost entirely in Baler. No surfing scene was
used in the movie which flopped and flipped and evaporated into oblivion.
After Apocalypse Now, Baler was put in the map of the few surfing sites in the country.
Soon the locals were surfing using boards sold or left to them by soul surfers from
Australia, US and Japan. But most of the boards they used were the broken ones left on the
beach. Somehow they found a way to stitch them back and give them a new "leash"
in life.
In the early 80's a group from Australia staged a surfing clinic in Baler and taught the
local boys who would become the first batch of Baler Boys, a community of surfers
unmatched in skills and style by any surfing community in the country. Now, the best
surfers in the country were from Baler, even occupying the top slots in the official
rankings.
Baler boast of the biggest community of surfers in the country. On any given day you can
spot at least 20 figures bobbing up and down the sea waiting for the perfect wave to ride
on.
These surfers are not the Jericho Rosales type, who can easily fork out cash to buy a 20 K
surf board and those ultra expensive body suits and shorts. These boys are your ordinary
Baler kids. Some are junkies, some are tricycle drivers, some are fishermen but most of
them definitely can't afford a 2,500 peso Quicksilver surfing shorts. The Baler Boys are
grassroots surfers, responding only to the call of the waves.
The Baler Boys are the most filmed and photographed bunch of people in the province. They
have appeared in all sorts of sports programs in all TV channels in the country. They are
also the most visible Aurora people on the Internet. They have been featured in most
Aurora related websites. They are the stars of Aurora and not John Arcilla.
Surfing is Aurora's best tourist bait, besting even the Aurora Suman Festival conspiracy
or the Millenium Tree hoax. The Suman Festival is a manufactured event that the government
started to give the province a cultural identity which it definitely lacks. In truth,
there is no real suman industry in the province. Aside from the two vendors in the bus
terminal selling badly cooked and packaged suman, there is no place in Aurora where
you can have suman on demand. A trip to the town market would prove it. Suman are ordered
from the rapidly declining number of suman makers in Baler. There are more mami stalls in
Baler than suman outlets. The Millenium Tree on the other hand is widely boasted as a 600-
year old balete based on carbon dating tests. In reality, there's not a piece of that tree
that was carbon dated. And carbon dating is done on dead things - like calcified bones,
petrified trunks, or fossils and not on living things. If you carbon dated the balete tree
it would turn out as 1 day old. The real test for aging trees, counting tree rings, will
prove futile in the spaghetti looking trunk of the tree.
But surfing in Baler - even with president GMA boasting that she made it popular and was
the one who pioneered the sports in Baler - started, grew, and became known throughout the
country on its own. Although every government officials, short of donning surfing gears
and riding waves to prove it, are claiming left and right that they made surfing popular
in Aurora, it is the Baler Boys, and the Baler Boys only who can establish claim to this
honor.
The Bay's Inn surfing challenge was another chance for the Boys to show what made them
different and what made them the best. The good waves are needed, but there are also
good waves in other places. The real key ingridients are the Baler Boys, found nowhere
else in the country. A group that lives, sweats, and breathes salt water. Kids with fins,
kids with gills. Kids at one with the waves.
::Top of Page
Pasirit Homepage
Batangbaler Homepage |
4 days and nights of surfing fun with endless music, party, and Baler beach riot.
The biggest surfing event in the province. Click here
for more info
Vangie is a writer/ photographer /surfer, among other things, on a mission of
documenting on the net her adventure travels in the Philippines and around the world,
hoping that you, too will be inspired with the places she had the opportunity to visit.
TRAVELS WITH JULIANA
FEATURES ARTICLES ON:
:: 5th Aurora
Surfing Cup
:: 1998 Action Asia
Aurora Surfing Cup
:: 1st Aurora Surfing Cup
LINKWORTHY
:: wannasurf.com
:: surf.com.ph
WEATHER
:: buoyweather.com
:: Baler
Weather
wunderground.com
Travel info:
[email protected]
[email protected] |
