Have you ever thought of recharging your batteries with some physical and mental activities?
But really, not just going to a yoga class or a run along the river… Something like a one-week detox program in beautiful nature. Or for instance, a week with surfing every day for your physical well-being and workshops in the afternoon about positive psychology – to work on your mind and soul.
This is what we offer in the Surf & Positive Psychology Week the last week of June (23-30 June). We will start our days with 2 hours of physical activity out in pure nature. Then a healthy breakfast to recharge the batteries for the afternoon where we’ll have the workshops with our friend, Ruud Crijns. His main topic will be positive psychology.
What is Positive Psychology?
It is the scientific study that has our personal wellbeing as an object of study: what makes us thrive? It focuses on what makes us happy but also on how to deal with the negative things in life. Although it is a relatively new field of psychology, there is quite some research going on.
The goal of positive psychology is a lot different from the goal of traditional psychology: not just repairing and healing the person with problems but focusing on the positive aspects of a person as his strengths and wellbeing.
In this week, we will focus on the following topics:
Have you ever considered supporting a good cause, but most of the time end up supporting nothing at all for the lack of finding a good project that is close to your heart? Leaving you with this nagging, useless feeling where you and the ones around you are enjoying all these privileges without sharing, even a small bit of it? We at The Magnet Projects did.
We have been looking for a while for a good cause we care about. To simply dump our hard earned money into one of these big ginormous NGO’s just won’t cut it. We actually wanted to see the people or subjects affected by these causes doing better. We want to help. But a project that drives and impassions us, where our voluntary work or donations actually really are noticed, is not easy to find.
Lakey Peak on fire
Then we saw The HARAPAN Project in action.
On our recent travels to Indonesia we were so lucky to spend a few days at the fantastic surf spot of Lakey Peak in a village called Hu’u. Here we ran into Carlos Ferrandiz and his non-profit organisation HARAPAN. This Spanish former lawyer turned ‘the messenger of hope’, as the local population of Hu’u calls him, completely changed his life around and now dedicates all his time and effort to improve the living conditions of this small community in South Sumbawa. Talking about a hands-on good cause, this is it!
The current situation on Sumbawa
Hu’u is a very poor region on the south west coast of eastern Sumbawa, two Islands east from Bali. The monthly income is an average of 20$. They produce basically 3 products; rice, corn and they harvest seaweed. At the moment they are totally exploited by large companies, which buy their produce for 0,10$ per kilo and resell it over the border for more than 30$ the same kilo. There is hardly any proper education and most of the children need to help out in the fields anyway. A high percentage of babies are born with birth defects due to malnutrition. There is no basic health care available and criminality is starting to pick up due to the abandoned and homeless children hanging around the surf spots where tourists stay.
Visit at the local school
Their teacher is a 12 year old girl
What does HARAPAN do?
In practice HARAPAN works on several levels:
Education > Help improve education giving at the local schools by training the local teachers in English and in any other subject they teach at school.
Health care > Build a small medical centre and have at least one doctor in the community who can perform free medical care. If someone is in need of even the most basic care they are not able to get it. Because this would mean they need to fly over to Bali and pay for a hospital, doctor or medication.
Establishing a cooperative > to coordinate all the production of the population. By selling as a unity instead of single families they have a better chance at negotiating a stronger and fair price for their harvest. Also, teach them to produce new products. This would not only add new financial opportunities as well as a change to their very unbalanced diet.
Build refuge for up to 40 abandoned children, which have been ganging up and call themselves The Lakey Peak Boys. These homeless kids all ended up at Lakey Peak where they of course get into trouble begging and stealing. HARAPAN motivates them to go to school and keeps them active with learning them to surf and other activities.
– And finally, setting up a Surf school and homestay > to create new working opportunities for the local population by giving surf lessons, rent and repair surfboards and offering accommodation.
Lakey Locals
The ultimate goal
In short, Carlos’ ultimate goal is to help Hu’u become a self-sufficient community. A daunting project that can use all our help till the time is there that the community can support itself. Literally every cent you give to HARAPAN, someone in the community fiscally benefits from it.
For example, just the day we were flying back to Bali to indulge in the crazy scene of Canggu, Carlos flew out with two mothers and their young sons who were in serious need of medical care. Simple procedures, but without there would be no future for them. The days before Carlos was actually going around all the local tourist restaurants collecting money so he would be able to pay their flight tickets and food.
school for all ages
Help or donate?
If you are looking for a real involvement, this is the project! By giving to this cause you actually help create a future for kids who, without HARAPAN, would have none.
Donate directly on the HARAPAN site (http://proyectoharapan.org/en/donate)
Leave a donation at our guesthouse HARAPAN savings jar and we’ll make sure it gets to Carlos and his team.
Want a bit more hands on action? If you’re planning an amazing surf trip to Bali, make sure to go and spend some time at Lakeys’. Not only for the amazing surf, but also to give some of your time to this amazing project. Contact (http://proyectoharapan.org/en/contact-us) Carlos and his team in advance to see what you can do or bring; toys, (note)books, pens, surfgear. Everything is welcome.
Since many of our guests combine their city holiday with a visit to Costa da Caparica, we describe how to get to our Lisbon surf house from the other side of the river.
Lisbon airport to Costa da Caparica:
Magnet shuttle: we offer airport pickups and dropoffs for €30/one way. Call us when your plane has landed and we’ll give your a ride!
Public Transport: There are buses leaving from the airport to Areeiro. Once you arrived there you can take bus 161 which will take you to the center of Caparica. Our surf house is located about 10-15 minute walk from the center. Route: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Lisbon-Airport-LIS/Costa-da-Caparica
UBER: Unlike in other Europeans cities UBER is still legal in Portugal and definitely cheaper than a normal taxi ride. A trip from the airport to Caparica will cost you €18-24, depending on traffic. Make sure to download the app on your smartphone. A little help for the pickup location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFHrQG0r7Sw
By Taxi: Same as an UBER, it will cost you about €30. Line up in the queue (you will surely find it) and tell the driver our address: Avenida do Oceano 35, Costa de Caparica).
Lisbon town center to Costa da Caparica:
Cais do Sodré: ferry goes to Cacilhas (every 10 minutes) -> bus from Cacilhas to Costa da Caparica (124 or 135).
From Belém: from the central station of Cais do Sodré you can take a train to Belém. From here ferry to Trafaria and from Trafaria bus nr. 129 to our street, Avenida do Oceano.
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.
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 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.
Peiman 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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Coming from a landlocked country, it can be quite a strange phenomenon to befriend the ocean. In order to have fun in the waves it is essential to know about currents.
What is a current?
The biggest danger that we’re facing is the so called rip current which is water in motion, pulling you out to the open ocean.
On the above picture we can see two black arrows pointing down – towards the sandbanks, where the breaking waves are. Here we find shallow water that is how waves can break and can safely take us to shore.
Between the two sandbanks (red arrows pointing towards open ocean) we find the area of rip current.
How to identify the rip current?
If you go to the beach and look at the ocean, at certain parts of the beach you see waves breaking.
The area in between sandbanks, where there are no waves breaking, is the area of the rip current.
Water here has different color
Waves are choppy, unorganized
Trash, driftwood is floating around
Know before you go
The best way to go before entering the water for a surf or a swim is to check the specifics of the beach. Feel free to ask local lifeguards and surfers, they will be happy to help you.
As a swimmer you have a lot less flotation than with a surf-or bodyboard so if you want to go swimming do it only in the secured area – between yellow-red flags where the lifeguards patrol the beach.
If you would get stuck in the current, don’t panic, stay calm.
Don’t try to swim directly to shore but parallel to the beach, towards the breaking waves.
If you can’t manage on your own, put a fist in the air and shout for help.
Again, if you stay calm, you will end up at the shore
In the below video you find a detailed description what to do in case of getting stuck in the rip.
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!
We have been coming to Portugal for the past 2 years at the end of our summer seasons. First we stayed in an appartement in Paco d’Arcos and last year we rented a flat for 5 weeks in Costa da Caparica. Here we found plenty of sunshine and the important things we were looking for: as our cornerstones we consider two elements: nature and culture. We can call these surf & city as well. Caparica is the perfect combination for offering both to our guests.
As you can see on the picture it is already summer weather around here. Ladies, it is a good place to work on your tan!
Lively beach town with consistent waves
Located 15-20 minutes drive from the heart of Lisbon, Costa da Caparica is a consistent beach break. The northern coast is divided by 7 jetties which provide variety and stability to the sand bars. So no matter what tide and size, there is always something to surf around here. Costa is a great place for intermediate surfers and longboarders.
Compared to the open beaches of the Sintra region and the reef breaks of Ericeira, Caparica hardly ever gets too big in size so if you have the right gear it is possible to surf here year-round. If you want to surf at the northern side of the Tejo we can organise daytrips to the above spots.
Events in Caparica
As we arrived last week to Portugal we quickly discovered that they are organizing Caparica’s biggest surfing event of the year, the Caparica Primavera Surf Fest. This is a Word Surfing League Qualifying competition. Surfers of all ages (Junior Pro and Caparica Pro) compete in the 10 day event. There is a contest for bodysurf, bodyboard, skimboard and longoard as well. This festival is not only for surfing. There are lot of other programs as music in the evening, a mobile skatepark and foodtrucks. The local Portuguese surf brands are also showcasing their products during the 10 days.
In August there will be another festival which is purely for music: O Sol da Caparica is 4 days long and it features more than 30 local bands and DJs. Let us know if you are interested we can help you with booking tickets.
Summer is coming, the vibrant beach and city scene will have a lot more to offer. We will keep you posted…
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