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Hungasurf x The Magnet Projects | October Sessions

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Last week we had our first edition of the Hungasurf Sessions. The week was blessed with decent swell, clean conditions and great weather. We also had a chance to watch the Surfing World Champs.

Sunny days and good waves

Our guesthouse in Costa da Caparica welcomed the Hungarian surfers. This week was for intermediate surfers. They improved a lot on their wave selection, take-off technique and riding sideways on the wave. Dawn patrol and sunset sessions made our days so after dinner everyone was easily falling in their beds for a good night’s rest.

Hunga_Crew
Happy faces in the water

RipCurl Pro Peniche

We also had the chance to have a look at the World Championship Tour event in Peniche, the RipCurl Pro Portugal.

After watching the opening and closing days live at the beach, we’ve seen all the pros getting barrelled and doing some great surfing. First day was about huge barrels, finals day was more about progressive surfing. Julian Wilson and Gabriel Medina were having a really tight final. Eventually Medina came out as the winner with a buzzer beater. This result keeps the Brazilian’s World Title dreams alive:  http://www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/tour/mct?year=2017

Medina_getting_ready
Medina getting ready for his quarter final heat. He was on fire!

Surfing Safari

Besides the drive to Peniche we also searched around for spots in the area. We found some nice waves in Caparica, Riviera, Carcavelos, Guincho and Praia Grande. Highlight of the trip though was the world famous right hand point-break of Coxos. At the peak of the swell the 3 of us paddled out to be a bit intimidated, watch the pros getting pitted but also to test our braveness in bigger surf. We all had some ‘smaller’ waves so at the end of the session came out happy from the water.

Crew_CoxosPeiman and Matyi are getting ready to jump in while Zoli is on the first wave of the day.

 

It was a great week with Hungarian surfers, we will continue with these type of events and intermediate weeks in the future. We’ll keep you updated about the next Hungasurf Sessions. See you next year!

 

Waiting for Waves

How to read waves?

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Reading the ocean

Today’s blog entry is with the aim of helping you reading waves and have good orientation in the water.

After spending our first summer in Portugal and teaching all levels in the waves of Caparica, I can tell that the biggest challenge for my students has been the reading of waves.

If you know the feeling of nosediving because the wave broke on you or you just couldn’t manage to catch a wave because you were sitting too far out, this article is for you.

Nosedive
Nosediiiiiive… Happened to you as well before, right?

Here are the major points to become a better wave-reader:

Initial tips:

-> Look at the horizon
-> When you see a set approaching, compare the horizon with the wave’s line.
-> Find the highest point of the wave, this is where the wave starts breaking.
-> The side with the steepest angle/slope down is the direction of the breaking wave.
-> The direction of the breaking wave is the direction of your ride.

Set
Waves come in sets… Try not to take the first one, the ones after usually have better potential.

Personal advice:

– Practice makes perfect, so be patient. You will learn by trial and error, you’ll make mistakes, misread waves but don’t give up, progress will come.

– Observe: Before you get in the water, watch some sets from the beach, so you can identify which are the biggest waves on the given day. Also watch, how far left/right and how far in/out the waves are breaking. Imagine an X-Y axis along which you will be moving – pretty much all the time.

– Try to be in motion all the time. The first couple of times you will feel like that your arms are falling off, it is going to be really tiring, but after a while you will get used to it and you can get to the breaking point of the wave at the right time.

– Find a landmark -> pick a fixed orientation point at the beach (buildings, poles, trashcans, trees), anything that will still be there in 1 hour. Compare this point with the position of the breaking waves and try to position yourself at the same line.

– Watch and learn: try to follow more experienced surfers to get a faster reaction. Start moving when they start paddling, he probably sees that a new set is approaching.

– Again, be patient! Try not to take the first wave of the set, because it is always smaller than the others after. 3 is the magic number, in my experience the 3rd wave of the set is almost always a really good choice.

– And the most important: smile and be grateful – if you catch one at the right place and time, you’ll be the happiest person on Earth after your ride.

Here’s a little video on the subject – Source: 110% Surfing Techniques

 

Get out there and learn!

The Magnet Projects

Sintra Cover

Discover Beautiful Sintra

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Sintra – a diverse daytrip

The Magnet Projects guesthouse is located in Costa da Caparica on the southern side of the Tagus river. It is just a short ride away from the heart of Lisbon. If you’re staying with us, trips into town will most definitely be on you itinerary. But did you know that Sintra, a Unesco World Heritage village, is also only a short 40 minutes away?

This picturesque little town is situated in the middle of the Sintra Mountains. Throughout these cooling forested green hills you will find many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, gardens, royal retreats, estates, castles and other buildings. The bright yellow and red walls of Palácio Nacional de Pena can even been seen all the way from Costa da Caparica.

Palácio Nacional de Pena seen from Costa da Caparica

History

Although remnants of human occupation have been discovered dating back as far as to the Paleolothic era, it wasn’t until the third quarter of the 18th and all of the 19th century that Sintra gained significantly in popularity amongst the Portuguese and foreign aristocrats as a summer retreat. The magic of the region with its dramatic vistas, landscapes and climate went hand in hand with the 19th century Romantic vision of life. Unhappy with society ‘the romantic’ flees from the here and now to other cultures, into the past, fairy tales or nature. It resulted in the construction of many extravagant palaces and grand residences such as Monserrate Palace and Castelo dos Mouros. Build by the Moors in the 9th century, the castle was destroyed by an earthquake and fires. King Fernando II (1816-1885), who was fascinated by the medieval period, restored the ruined structure as an enchanted fairy tale ruin.

Castelo dos Mouros

Palácio da Pena

The epitome of the Portuguese (and the worlds) Romantic architecture is Palácio Nacional de Pena. Situated on top of the Sintra Mountains, the palace towers high above the surrounding landscape. Offering magnificent views over Lisbon, the river and the Atlantic Ocean. It is built over the remains of the 16th century monastery of the order of Saint Jerome. Completely inline with the exotic taste of the Romanticism King Fernando II kept many of the original elements as well as adding a mixture of styles with Medieval and Islamic elements.

Sintra_Castle1

 

The attractive town of Sintra is centred around the Palacio National. This Gothic royal residence was used from the 15th century up until the fall of the monarchy in 1910 and can be recognized by its two identical white cone-shaped chimneys above the kitchens. The cobble stone streets, twisting and turning up the hillside, are lined with charming traditional houses and offer plenty of places to sit down for a bite and drink.

At the Vila Sassettia in the historic centre a hiking trail starts which will take you all the way up to Castelo dos Mouros and the National Palace of Pena. The walk takes about 45 minutes to the entrance of the Parque Nacional de Pena and another 20 minutes through this enchanting forested park.

 

 

    

Parque Nacional de Pena

In all, Sintra is well worth a visit. So put on your hiking boots and start your day early! And, while your at it, drop down to Cabo da Roca to touch toes with the most western point of mainland Europe on your way back to Costa.

Cabo da Roca

 

 

Surf Lesson - Lili & Gabor

Surf Lesson – Lili & Gabor

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Surf lesson with Lili & Gabor

Last week we had some surf lessons with a Hungarian couple, Lili & Gabor. They were staying for a short week in Lisbon and wanted to combine their city trip with some action so they decided to take some surf classes with us. After the morning pickups from the ferry in Cacilhas we were very pleased to teach them some new skills about the ocean and on the board. Although they had some challenging conditions with rain and wind, they still managed to catch waves and stand up. They definitely got infected with the surf virus and we hope they will be back in the water soon. Here you can see a little edit about one of the lessons. Great students, was an honor to teach them!

Introducing

Introducing The Magnet Projects

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Want to enjoy the sunniest capital city of Europe and combine it with surfing? From April 2017 we offer surf and city trips in the area of Lisbon, Portugal. Enjoy our first teaser about The Magnet Projects.

Our team and our mission

Eva, Zoltán and Joao decided to start a new adventure together from the spring of 2017. They want to create a place where people can combine nature and culture and return home with positive experiences and a big smile on their faces. They found the perfect combination in Costa da Caparica, the closest beach town to the Portuguese capital.

The guesthouse is located about 10 minutes walk from the ocean and only 15 kilometers away from the city center of Lisbon. This gives you the possibility for the perfect nature & culture combination, all in the same holiday. About types of accomodation and prices you will find more information on our website.

Questions? E-mail us at: info@themagnetprojects.com

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The journey has begun

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Central-America and the search in Europe

After moving together in 2014, we were travelling around the world to get to know places, waves and people. Through our journey in Central-America we stayed in various surf hostels which inspired us to start our own business at the ocean. We’ve seen beautiful places but our hearts are pulling back to the old continent. Our blog from Central-America still brings back great memories: https://eva-and-zoli-blog.tumblr.com/. After returning to Europe we worked two summers in France and winters in Austria. Now we are ready to make the move and start our own guesthouse somewhere at the Atlantic Coast of Europe. And where? In Portugal, Lisbon area. Here we found all the things that matter to us. We would like to combine surfing and culture so we can offer a great diversity to our guests. For now we are renting a surfhouse in Costa da Caparica. Our major plan is to find our dream property for which we will encourage you to support us. Follow us on the search and let our Magnet pull you closer.

The journey to Portugal

Journey_to_Portugal

Here we are again.. We are packing our van for moving to a new country. After living in seasons for years, changing between snowboarding and surfing and not being settled, we are ready to make the Move. Now from Zoli’s hometown Kecskemét, through Budapest, Austria, Germany, our old campsite home, Vieux Boucau in France, continuing through the beautiful Spain, we’ll end our 3000km journey in the sunny Lisbon area. We are getting into the car with the hope that we will find a place where we can get settled and share our passion for nature and culture with our guests.

Many questions marks, sometimes scary thoughts and lots of adventures await us but we know one thing: if we don’t try we will never reach our dreams – to find our HOME at the ocean.

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