(I know I wrote a lot on this posting, but it’s a story really worth telling, so read the whole thing)

How can I even begin to start this story??? I will start by saying that we were all a part of surfing history today and a page of writing won’t even due this story much justice or show the intensity of the situation!

My friend John Pisacano (aka: Juan) who is originally from Miami and living in Mexico for the past 13 years has had this dream (along with a small crew of Peta legends) to resurrect Petacalco with his Jet Ski and Tow In gear. Petacalco hasn’t been surfed in over 20 years. For several reasons, this once best wave of Mexico disappeared sometime around the early 80’s. Once a year or less, on really big swells, this sleeping GIANT wakes up from the dead and delivers! The only is that it’s coming out of deep water and moving so fast that it makes it impossible for paddle in surfing. Not to mention the consequences if you fall and get mowed into the shore break. It’s absolute death!

Before I go on, let me tell you about the crew that Juan (John) put together. We were still wet from our epic session earlier today at Cobbles when Juan started making the cell phone calls as we drove to Petacalco for our crew to be ready with a boat and captain waiting in the lagoon. I’ll start by introducing Fortino Rumbo who is a Mexican Big Wave legend/diver from Petacalco. Fortino is as Hawaiian as a Mexican can get. He’s in his mid 50’s and still surfing hoping one day to ride Peta again after 20 years of waiting! Next is Kevin (Kevincio) Moss. Kevincio is a gringo, but raised in Mexico. He is a boat captain/waterman and arrived in Petacalco in 1973 when it was at its prime. He and the late Pat Tobin lived in this dangerous dusty Mexican pueblo for more than 10 years riding and designing 10ft plus surfboards. Together with Fortino they discovered and pioneered most of the famous surf breaks we know today in Mainland Mexico. Of course, I mentioned previously on another posting the Commander (Corky Crandal) our fearless leader in riding GIANT waves. By the way, after today the Mexicans were referring to him as “Huevos De Fierro” which translates to “Balls of Steel”. You’ll understand why one you see the pics…. Our boat captain was Roy Wider a local fisherman. Then we have John (Juan) Pisacano who made it all happen and drove the Jet Ski. Myself (Eddie) who shot documented this historical event with photos and video. Oh ya, at this point I must also mention a crazy guy we picked up on the shore and somehow ended up in our boat and became a part of the crew. He called himself the Capitan, but not of the boat. He said he was a Capitan de Meseros, which translates to a Head Waiter or Captain of Tables. Anyway, if you understood stood Spanish, which most of us did, this guy was non-stop comedy to say the least! Even thinking about him right now makes me laugh. Definitely someone who we will all never forget to say the least!

Now let me get to the surf….We arrived at Petacalco at around 5pm with howling offshore winds. As we arrived at the little lagoon, we walked to the rocky shoreline and got our first glimpse of what was really going on….Mountains of Water marching out of the deep! Before I could even get my camera out, the Commander (Corky) was already unloading the ski and passing orders. He wanted to tackle these mountains before dark. Once we launched through the shallow river mouth, and as we got a closer look the seriousness of the situation became evident. A mistake could cost you your life! The Commander and Juan took a closer look with the ski and after 30 minutes of observing and studying it Corky says to Juan in a serious tone of voice “Lets do this thing”. They cautiously towed into these mountains little by little gaining more confidence with every ride. A credit to Corky’s skills in such strong offshores with mogul like bumps in this never before ridden realm. Once Corky got his stance, he looked like not even a 2x4 could knock him off to say the least! He definitely earned the respect of crew and local spectators. What a feeling we all had once we pulled back into the lagoon at dark after being a part of this historical surfing event. Even the locals were there waiting to congratulate us on this accomplishment. Swell is peaking tomorrow so we will be on it at first light! Hope we can all sleep tonight. The journey continues….