Tuesday March 26th, 2019 was an interesting morning in the wonderful and beautiful paradise, known as Puerto Rico. I had left my sandals on the beach (after swimming for two hours taking water shots of the surf and surfers) so I left the condo and walked down with my camera to retrieve my sandals, and take a few more pics. On the way back up I stopped to say hello to Holly, a local surfer/resident. 

She pointed out that there were three kids caught in the rip.

Sure enough, three kids were struggling in the rip, one free swimming and two on boogie boards. I looked over and saw that their dad was just sitting there in the shade, under some palm trees. He was a good 30 yards from the shoreline. So I yelled to them to start swimming parallel to the shore. I pointed in the direction they should be swimming. But they were not getting it. Then the dad got up and started running down to the shore break. I could tell he was new to all of this. He was a large, and very white man. He dove in and started to swim out to the kids who were now getting sucked out to where the waves were breaking. But now, they were all yelling for help.

This was getting more serious by the second. 



I looked at Holly and said “ Hold my camera.” As I stripped down to my trunks and headed down the beach. “Should I go and get a surfboard?” Holly yelled.
“Go Get Kevin!” I yelled back as I dove in and started swimming as hard as I could towards the kids. Just as I got to about 25 yards from them, I saw a wave hit one of the kids, and then my heart sank as I saw a loose boogie board. “Shit” I thought to myself. I knew we needed that board for that kid to hold onto. So I swam over to grab the loose board and swam back out to give it to the kid who was really on the verge of panic. 

I went into Marine mode and started to bark out orders. “Hold onto your boards and start kicking your feet! We’re going this way!” As I pointed down the beach. I checked on all four of them to make sure they were on the same page. The dad was a concern for me because he was on his own. But he seemed fine. He was clearly anxious but OK for the moment.

Then before I knew it, Kevin was there. He had my fins!

“Ralph put these on!” And I yelled “No you put them on!” Unbeknown to me, he had his own fins on. But having known Kevin for a lifetime, I instantly felt relieved. I don’t know a better waterman than Kevin. He instantly went into action. He held onto the youngest kid and calmed him down. And then we all started the long swim back to the beach. At one point Kevin and I heard a chopper fly over us. A US COAST GUARD rescue chopper flew directly over our heads. And kept going. Kevin and I looked at each other and just shook our heads. 



Any way, long story short. The kids and their dad made it to the beach. Nobody drowned. Nobody got hurt. The dad vomited. But other than that, we were good. I went into my Drill Instructor mode, and made them all listen to me as I barked out orders on how to avoid getting caught in a rip, and more importantly, how to get out of a rip once you are caught in one.

I hope they heard me. My guess is they were still pretty shaken up.



Kevin and Kim being more diplomatic than I went and calmed everyone down. Turns out it was their first day here. They were from Colorado and on vacation. Forgetting my sandals turned out to be a good thing. 

Thanks to Holly, Kevin, and myself, we were able to extend the Colorado tourist’s vacation. And in doing so, we provided them with a pretty scary story with a good ending. Thank God.



Because Puerto Rico is such a beautiful Tropical Destination with perfect
tropical surf for any surfer, from any level, it does see it's share of tourists and surfers from all over the world. We love it. Let's face it, PR has it all!



Aqua marine green water with water temperatures in the 70's, it's been a dream trip for most of the New Hampshire surfers each winter as they leave the frigid cold, and make their way to the warm and friendly tropics that is Puerto Rico. And it's been that way since the 60's.



Now for something good and uplifting. The 5th Annual McCarthy Strong
" Fight Against Pancreatic Cancer" walk. Sign ups start at 9:00 AM at the Marston Elementary School in Hampton, NH.

"Surfing, Swimming, Puerto Rico, and McCarthys Heals All Wounds."

Because I blogged about my recent R&R to PR I thought, why not post Ed's real R&R from Vietnam in 1969. 50 years ago, Ed chose Australia as his destination for some downtime away from the war. This is a pic he shot at Bondi Beach. It must have been surreal for Ed to see surfing again. And I can only imagine the struggle to leave this place and go back to the war. But he did, as we all did back then. Watching that surfer run down the beach must have felt so good to Ed. Photo by Ed O'Connell
*Click the photo above to see a larger version of Ed's Pic.

Now for Some Local, National and International News
Mueller? Mueller? Mueller? Well, the long wait is over. But...are the nagging questions behind us? According to 45 they are. Not surprising, 45 has put his own spin on this. Like we all knew he would. Let's face it, he would have put his spin on it no matter what the outcome. It's just who the man is. It's all smoke and mirrors with him.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

The snake charmer/con-man is very good at what he does. I'm personally going to wait until the smoke clears and Barr releases more than just the four pages he's deemed fit for us to read. After all, it's a solid 300 page report. It's not that I don't trust him, no wait, it is because I don't trust him.



This would make a wonderful Gift item for most Americans. And I suppose the Russians would find it interesting as well. Hell, even Krazy Kim in North Korea wouldn't mind getting a copy.



The DVD's are available at all the local surf shops. Or by
sending me an email. ralph@adlantic.com or send a check for $20.00 made out to ADLANTIC and send it here:

ADLANTIC
c/o OC Studio Suites
703 Ocean Blvd Suite C-4
Hampton, NH 03842

Or RENT or BUY it Online. You have spoken and I have listened. You don't have a DVD player so I made it available Online. Watch it on your Smart TV, your computer, or your cellphone! I can't make this any easier my friends.


GRANITE GIRLS and The RIVER WOMEN from Ralph's Pic Of The Week on Vimeo. NOW AVAILABLE on VIMEO ON DEMAND.

On April 15th, 2019 the BLOG is turning 15! FIFTEEN YEARS without missing a single week. Who does that? I'll tell you who. NOBODY does that. I'm the only fool who has committed to writing, shooting, and filming every single week for 15 straight years. I'm going to have a BIG Blog that week with all kinds of pics and videos from the last 15 years. So stay tuned kids.



I've enjoyed every single week, every month, and every year!

*Click on the photo above to see a larger version

(Above) The sunsets at Doc's Reef are worth shooting every single time we go there. March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) This is what I'm talking about my friends. Puerto Rico's sunsets.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery




(Above) Cory basking in the glow of another beautiful PR sunset.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) This is Brian. He's a very tall man. He reminds me of a friend of mine, John Carden. It's funny how that works. People in other countries reminding you of other people that you know in your life. Brian reminds me of John.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) This is our daily view in the mornings. Pretty nice huh?
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) This piece of coral was the size of a First base bag. I so badly wanted to take it back home, but it weighed too much. March 24th-28th, 2019.
Photo by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) This is a pic of me working out on the beach one day.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Our lovely host and hostess Kim and Kevin. I've known them both for well over 40 years. Can't say enough good things about them. Love them both to death. March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) This is part of the Puerto Rican charm that I embrace.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Another tropical mini, for your pleasure.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

Today- The Cory Pics From Puerto Rico.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photos by Cory Fatello



(Above) This is a pic of me getting ready for my first go out. I'm operating on all of two hours sleep here. I probably should have waited another day.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) This was one of my better rides of the afternoon. This was an inside wave that didn't close out. March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) The "Patch Of Blue" March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Father and son after a great session together. Kody and Dave are just hitting their stride of surfing together. It gets so much better Dave, as Kody gets better. No better feeling than surfing with your kids. March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) A common sight on all of the beaches in PR these days.
March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) This is another pic of me. This is from the last day. I was out there alone (again). March 24th-28th, 2019. Photo by Cory Fatello
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery