Lost vision in the waves

• Name: Santiago Guadalupe
• Age: 30
• From: Ocean Beach
• Location: Tourmaline Surf Park

Santiago Guadalupe was heading to the showers, board on head, when we stopped to chat.

“I just got this longboard. It’s a Murphy Noserider, nine-footer, and I really love it. I surf [Ocean Beach] more, but I came out here to try this board out.”

Guadalupe began surfing in his birthplace, Ecuador. “But when I moved here about ten years ago, that’s when I really started to surf. I taught myself, and after that I met up with a friend who was a professional surfer. He was kind of a tutor for me.”

“In Ecuador there’s warm water, eighty degree weather, and there’s not that many people as here. You’ll basically find empty line-ups. The crowds don’t really bother me here, but there’s a difference. You really have to watch out.”

A big wipeout happened when Guadalupe was surfing in Mexico, near Rosarito. "I’m not very good with left, I always chose the right, and there was this big left that I decided to just go for it.  I took off and went over the falls and the wave landed right on top of me and got me inside the water for a bit."

“The most terrifying thing about surfing is the possibility of drowning. You have a big board with you and it can knock you out. That happened to me one time, my board popped up and hit me hard in the ear. I lost my vision and my sense of orientation and I was still in the waves.”