The Bacallao family makes any already sunny day shine even brighter.
SJ, a clean beach and clean planet activist and the youngest Bacallao, was ready to hit the sea again after a few months of delving into school and being laid up with a broken arm (after jumping off a lifeguard tower). While we stretched on the beach and raced around the 10th street tower, her dad Jose, who runs the Santa Monica aquarium, took to the waves on his new green SUP, racing down the little Hermosa lines with speed and flow. SJ and I bobbed back and forth in the surf and sun, and after the mermaid-in-training had her fill, it was on to Brothers Burritos, where the surf gang was already in a feeding frenzy.
“It’s not just about the surf SJ. This is what its about. The family and relationships you create through surfing,” said Jose between hugs and hellos from the lot , and bites of his burrito bowl, smothered in their tasty homemade salsa.
This journey has taken me from California to El Salvador, and brief acquaintances have been nurtured by the water and emerge as close friends, now etched permanently into this smiley network of water lovers that I regularly see. We help each other when there is a need, we have parties and share our favorite meals, we look out for one another in and out of the water – the creation of true community spawned by the ocean is a model for all. The best thing about surfing this past year, is that my family has grown quite a bit bigger.
