A bit over 6 years ago I accepted a new position within the federal government, transferring from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland over to the Department of Veteran Affairs in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Career-wise it was a small step, but geographically and culturally it was a giant leap for Pat & Jenn-kind.

My first day in the office I was greeted by my new boss, Ivan Rosado. He took me around and got me acquainted with the campus. From the get go, he seemed like quite the character and my instincts were not wrong. Next we went to the office to meet the rest of the team. As the door opened, the cacophony of voices hit us and it was difficult to discern whether multiple of my future colleagues were having a passionate argument, just having a laugh, or something in between… almost always it was something in between, but always passionate. It turned out that this would be a pretty common, if not daily, scene and usually would involve 5 to 10 people talking at the same time but somehow making it work. It wouldn’t be long before I’d also be part of it and contributing in my own broken Spanglish.

I’m very grateful and genuinely feel lucky that my new office welcomed me so warmly and took me in as part of the team without hesitation. Our project, was extremely complicated and I like to believe that my contributions were significant. At the very least I got the mosaic (below) relocated from the original 1965 bedtower (seen behind me in one of my first posts) and reinstalled in front of the hospital entrance. I feel particularly indebted to Arq. Francisco Jayo who showed me the ropes in my new position as well as Orlando Casillas who always looked out for me as my 2nd supervisor (also he makes some tasty BBQ). Though I certainly have learned much from everyone in a professional capacity, in probably a more invaluable way they taught me a ton about Puerto Rico and the culture in general. I still have a lot to learn but I certainly have got some of the Boricua influence and have a better understanding of the island. For that I’m eternally grateful to all of them.

There are plenty of others that were part of our team that are not in the above photos and certainly influenced me, mostly for the better, but on a project this size it’d be too many to name. I’m sure some of them will pop up in future posts as I hope to stay in touch with many of the guys.

So essentially this all has been a very long-winded way of saying that I’m leaving the VA and federal government to go out on my own. My thoughts and reasons for doing so are complicated and more appropriate for discussion over drinks than an internet blog post, so feel free to come find me if you want to pick my brain.

We’re not leaving the island, I’m just doing some professional transitioning. Maybe I’ll even have some more time to update our website. I hope all the best for everyone that worked alongside me and will always reflect fondly on the time we spent working together.

P.S. if you need an Architect in Maryland, DC, or Puerto Rico, send me a message ;D

Once again we’ve been lazy about posting our comings and goings here. Truth be told, we haven’t been up to too many interesting things as of late. Cats are still cat-ing, work is still working, and weekends have been mostly filled with chores and some relaxation time at the beach. That doesn’t mean we haven’t done anything, and certainly have plenty of photos to dump of our favorite felines. Here’s some of the highlights.

Anyways that’s good enough for now. Hopefully we’ll get into some more interesting adventures soon. I’m hoping to get back out on the Hobie Cat this summer and finally learn to sail. Maybe I can get the GoPro out with me and not lose it; TBD.

Ever since I’ve been here at Pine Grove, I’ve watched a particular wave off in the distance on the outer reef. I’ve decided to remove the name of the wave because frankly it should remain a mystery to most. During big swells you can tell the waves are massive from shore and can see waves crashing on the rock outcropping, so obviously I’ve been dying to go check it out.

Fortunately and unfortunately it is not easily accessible. The wave is about a mile offshore from pretty much any point. I’ve considered paddling out to check it by myself but without knowing the lay of the land (water) and the intricacies of the reef, channels, currents, etc. I’ve decided the adventure to stupidity ratio was leaning too much in the stupid direction. So up until recently I’ve been resigned to watching from shore. My various other surfing neighbors have been out there and we always talk about getting a boat to go out when conditions are good, but things never have lined up. That is until a few weeks ago.

So in comes Eddie. If you’ve read any other posts, it’s not that Eddie; however, it is his grandson. Eddie’s also a surfer and we’ve discussed surfing that wave on more than one occasion. Usually the discussion revolves around how the hell do we get out there?

Luckily Eddie’s visit was also coinciding with a pretty significant swell. I was working the first day or two he he was here but finally on Saturday we were able to get out for a surf. Additionally, it was the biggest day of the swell.

We started off going to the inner reef and catching a few waves. The swell angle wasn’t lining up great for the spot but we got a few and had some fun. We went in ahead of lunch and decided we’d all go out to Ocean Lab just down the road for some food.

As fortune would have it, as soon as we walked up the stairs to Ocean Lab we could see wave after wave just perfectly peeling down the outer reef. My jaw and Eddie’s both hit the floor and we knew we had to get out there and see it in person. Although we often get nice waves, we don’t often get nice offshore winds throughout the day. If we hadn’t gone to Ocean Lab for lunch I don’t think we would’ve realized quite how good it was. We wrapped up lunch quickly, mostly because Eddie Sr. wanted to get back for a pilón delivery for his collection (we’ll save that for another time) and returned to Pine Grove.

Once back, we began discussing our options. I knew from conversations with my neighbor, Tito, that there was an “abandoned” kayak in the storage area of one of the buildings and that he would probably lend me his. We went down to investigate. The initial plan was to each take a kayak, with me borrowing Tito’s; however—again fortuitously—another neighbor happened to be around and mentioned that Carlos had a two-person Hobie kayak outside his storage locker. It was perfect! Thanks Carlos!

So Eddie and I pivoted to this new vessel and wrangled it up the stairs and outside. This was the beginning of our 4 hour workout. I went back up to my apartment and grabbed my trusty 7′-0″ Ashton mid-length, threw some fins in it, lathered on some sunscreen, and then met Eddie back outside. After a bit of scouting, we decided on a spot to launch our adventure and picked an area of the reef that looked deep enough to get across but without much wave action. At this time it was pretty much dead low tide and it would’ve been embarrassing getting rolled on dry reef within the first few hundred feet from shore. We timed it well and made it to deep water past the reef without incident.

The next leg was about 30 minutes of paddling to the outer reef. It was mostly uneventful but we had the wind at our backs and adrenaline in our systems as we began approaching the break. At first we weren’t entirely sure if we’d be able to make it out. It seemed like waves were breaking all the way across the reef; however, we took our time and managed to find a channel which was a lot smaller than anticipated. After some careful maneuvering we managed to get to where the boats were anchored and got to take in the spectacle.

Unfortunately, my GoPro wasn’t charged and didn’t seem to be working at all and we had to rely on Eddie’s phone for video, so apologies for the quality. Here’s some of the videos from when we first got out there… they really don’t do it justice.

While we were spectating we had a chat with one of the surfers coming back to his boat. He seemed to know the spot pretty well and told us where to sit and gave us a nice little breakdown. He even offered to come scoop us up if we got in trouble. We both thanked him but at that point we were still pretty set on just watching.

Maybe about 20 minutes passed and the lineup started clearing out some since it was getting towards the end of the day. At this point we had to decide whether we wanted to take a go at it or just call it and begin paddling back. Eddie gave me a bit of an encouraging nudge to give it a shot and I decided he was right, I wanted to be able to say I’ve surfed it.

With that, I was in the water and paddling over into the lineup. There was a lot of water moving around and I realized it wasn’t quite as easy to figure out as it seemed. Initially I was sitting too far out but after a few went under me I moved inside and prayed that I didn’t get caught by a huge set. A few of the other guys caught some and finally it looked like I was in the spot; I turned, put my head down and scratched into a massive lump of water. I made the drop, was gliding down the face and started a nice drawn out bottom turn and that’s when I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye…

I had just committed a major faux pas: I went on a wave when another surfer on my inside also was going and he had priority. Realizing my mistake, I said a curse or two and promptly pulled up and off the back of the wave. I was then almost immediately and properly punished for my error by having to take two fairly sizeable waves on my head. My leash held and thankfully I didn’t get much more than a good rinse and I was back on my board paddling towards the channel.

As I was making my way back I saw that I was inadvertently in the perfect spot to catch another; so once again I turned, put my head down, and got into a second massive wave. Thankfully, this one I took solo. It was one of the largest and most perfect waves I’ve ever ridden. As I was getting to the end of it, I saw the other surfer I had dropped in on filming me with his GoPro… I took this as a good sign that he wasn’t too pissed. I promptly apologized to him and he took it all in stride. At least with waves this size there’s a lot of space to maneuver so I didn’t really mess up his ride. I probably should’ve exchanged more information with Matt from Barceloneta and could’ve had the video of my wave but I was too excited and we just chatted for a bit, stoked on catching some great waves.

I paddled back over to the kayak since I had my taste and checked to see if Eddie wanted a run at it. He ultimately decided watching was enough for the day so we packed it in and began our laborious paddle back to shore.

Navigating the channel back was much more nerve racking. Neither of us particularly wanted to get caught by a 10′ wall of whitewater and they kept getting awfully close to us on both sides; however, I think with a bit of luck and hard, well-timed paddling we made it to the inside.

I’m not sure whether it was the wind or lack of adrenaline or just being tired but it took us about an hour to get back. We made it back past the inside section of the reef and pulled the kayak up to shore. We were triumphant! And tired. The kayak seemed about 50 lbs. heavier than when we first took it out.

Regardless, we were both stoked on the day and happy we finally got to see this wave in person. We parted and each got some dinner and then Jenn and I spent the rest of the evening down at his grandad’s all sharing wine and stories. All and all a great day! Can’t wait to get back out there… next time with an electric motor!

Mostly due to laziness we haven’t updated our page for awhile, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been doing stuff. I figured I’d just do a small photo dump of various little things we’ve done in the last few months.

Jenn and I finally got ourselves out of San Juan and took a quick trip over to Luquillo, the sleepy little beach town to the east of us. We only stayed two days but overall had a pretty good time.

We frequented a fun beachside bar and restaurant called Boardriders.

While there we had a chance to meet up with one of my coworkers and his wife, George and Aida. They recently bought a condo to spend weekends in Luquillo and invited us over for some wine and snacks. Jenn of course was mostly infatuated with their dog, Apolo.

The next day I went for a surf in what I hope was mostly sediment the rains brought down from the mountains and later we had plans to go out to lunch with George, Aida, and Apolo. Unfortunately, in typical Puerto Rican fashion the owners of the establishment we planned to dine at were out on vacation. After our lunch failure we parted ways and went back to San Juan. I’m sure we’ll be back for another round sometime soon.

So we took the cats out West to an area of Rincón called Puntas this week. It was a bit of a mixed bag if you were to ask Minx and Ruffian.

As usual, beachfront cocktails were had.

I, of course, mostly made the voyage to get some fun surfing in and the waves definitely didn’t disappoint.

The surf was fun but left me battered and bruised. At least I still caught some fun ones.

Overall I’d say it was a success, even if the 2.5 hour car ride was the worst thing that has ever happened to the kitties. Maybe they’ll join us for more adventures… screaming all the way.

A few weeks ago we went on a mini overnight adventure with some buddies. Our first stop was Guavate, aka La Ruta de Lechon, so called because of the many, many pig roast food stalls that populate the area.

Our friend Tim insisted that Lechonera Los Pinos is the best, so we stopped there. We did get some roasted pork but the ribs were the tastiest!

Next up: Charco Azul, a little pond/stream/bathing pool area that requires a brief hike through the rainforest to reach. No waterfalls, alas, but it was still cute.

Finally, we bunked for the night at Finca Corsica, an Airbnb/glamping/camping area by the ocean. There was direct beach access and a pool, but personally I (Jenn) was most excited by the cows!

This past Wednesday was Noche de San Juan, obviously named for the patron saint of the city – well, island really. Interesting side note, the island used to be called San Juan and the city was called Puerto Rico… which actually makes more sense. I don’t remember why it got flipped but here we are.

Every June 23rd, the residents celebrate by going to the beach, partying, and then at midnight “dunking” themselves in the ocean 3 or 7… or 11 times. No one seems to agree on the correct number but the important part is you face backwards and jump into the waves some prime number of times. I’m pretty sure the result of this ritual is that you have good luck for the year or your negativity rinsed off, something like that.

Unfortunately, since this all takes place at night it was tough to get any good pictures but imagine the below image with more people and at night.

Since I’m currently working night shift (which is terrible and I hate), things were a bit easier in hanging out at the beach at midnight during a Wednesday. Anyway it was a fun little experience to take in. One thing I’ve definitely learned while being here is that Boricua never miss a chance to have a good time.

Just wanted to share with everyone a pic of our friends Alex, Jason, Julie, and Margie. This was before paddling out to Tres one more time during the last big swell of the season. Let’s just say it didn’t go as smoothly as the first time; I had water coming out of my sinuses for 2 weeks after this session.

So the last few months have been terrible in a pretty wide variety of ways. Even though it wasn’t the year we had hoped for, Jenny and I did occasionally find some time for fun and enjoying what we could of life and… cats. Here’s some highlights of the last few months.

Occasionally Jenny and I would hang with some of our favorite neighbors, Eddie and Emma. Usually they keep us up far too late…. seriously.

Jenny and I made a few strolls down the beach to enjoy some beers at the outdoor brewery and restaurant… also visit their parrots.

Obviously one of the few things keeping me sane through all of this is being able to surf and recently I just had one of the highlights of my surfing life; surfing Tres Palmas. Unfortunately our documentation of this trip was kind of poor, I blame it on all the excitement.

Tres is a break on the west side of the island in Rincón. We actually have already mentioned it in one of our earlier posts, I think right around this time last year in the before times. Anyways, this spot can handle a lot of swell and if the direction is right, it can produce quite a wave.

As any diligent surfer does, I keep a close eye on the meteorological forecasts to pretend I know what’s going to happen with the waves. About two weeks ago everything was pointing towards a big incoming northwest swell which made me and all other surfers on the island excited. Jenny and I booked a nice little spot just in front of Tres Palmas.

Upon arriving we found that the waves were pumping but kind of messy. I called up one of my surf buddies from Maryland, Alex, who has taken up temporary residence with his wife, Margie, on the west side of the island and worked up a plan. Alex was keen to surf Tres because he had just bought a new gun (a big surfboard for big waves). However, we decided that the wise move was to wait until the next day to go out when Jason would be around. Jason’s another gringo who spends his winters here surfing. He’s a pilot who has to work about every 8 days or so and spends his time in between surfing… pretty sweet life. So in consideration of Jenn’s number one rule for me when I go surfing, “Don’t die”, we waited and surfed some other small stuff in the area.

The next day I got up at dawn and checked the waves; everything was still working nicely, maybe even bigger. Alex had a few chores to take care of so we decided to meet up later and I walked down the road and surfed one of other breaks. After a short session I got out so I could have some shoulders left for the rest of the day and Jenny and I had some lunch at El Ancla (the anchor) at the marina, watched the surf, and had a few Don Q’s.

Alex and Margie joined up with us and we did a check of Tres and decided it was time. Jason was back and ready to go. Us three caballeros met down on the beach and set off for the long paddle out, roughly about 30 minutes. Thankfully, when we got out the lineup it was in that sweet spot of enough people around to make you feel comfortable for safety (and cheering) but not too many too make it feel overcrowded.

At this point I was feeling pretty undergunned, in that the biggest board I own is 7′. I didn’t really have any plans on catching a wave though, just to observe and get a feel. Since I was generally just trying to avoid the big sets coming in, I was sitting pretty wide towards the channel in the reef and hooting Jason and Alex into waves. This was also Alex’s first time in waves of that size out there and he was enjoying how his newly acquired gun was working.

Suddenly I hear Jason say a set’s swinging wide, so I picked my head, looked over my shoulder and low and behold I was just about in the perfect spot. A little repositioning, I put my head back down, gave a few deep paddles, and I was into the biggest wave of my life. The next few moments are a bit of a blur, I mostly remember the crazy speed you get going down the face of a 20′ wave… it’s a lot. I had a nice little line then hopped off over the back of the wave and right back onto the board without getting my hair, or scalp I suppose, wet. I paddled back to Jason and Alex with a grin from ear to ear. I knew from then through the rest of the season, any other waves I get would just be icing on the cake.

I paddle over and sat chatting with Alex, we were both pretty content and the sun was starting to set. Jason, on the other hand, was not content and didn’t want to go in until he caught a bomb. So Alex and I bobbed around waiting on the inside for Jason. It was starting to move past dusk and into the evening proper, so Alex and I were debating paddling in but it didn’t feel right to leave him out there. Just as we were discussing this, Alex saw a group of flashlights on the beach waving around. Alex immediately knew he was in much bigger trouble… the wives were signaling us back in. Thankfully, in what was now almost complete darkness, Jason paddled up next to us having given up on his efforts, we made our way back to the beach. We had a surprisingly easy exit onto the slippery rocks and joined up with the wives. I think our overall giddiness made them quickly forgive the late return.

We all went out for a nice outdoor dinner and recounted the events of the day, while Jenn and Jason’s girlfriend bonded over their mutual love of airplane disaster shows. Apparently she enjoys quizzing Jason on various emergency piloting situations. After finishing up we departed and got ready for the next day of surf.

The next morning Jim (another philopatric gringo surf visitor to Rincón) paddled out with Alex and I to Tres. Once again the waves were pumping but this time there were far, far more people. I again took to the shoulder and sat back and watched. I was hoping to catch one but wasn’t pushing it given I had already seen two collisions. Jim eventually caught a nice one and we went back to the beach. A few hours later the onshore winds picked up and made everything a mess. Alex and I took a drive around to spot check but eventually called it quits and we settled on a nice dinner in town with the ladies.

Thankfully, I got one more session in with Alex prior to leaving at a lesser known but fun spot. The waves were slightly overhead, clean, and fun. I bid adieu to Alex and started back to our place to pack up, but promptly got lost in the hills. Eventually, I made it back with enough time to pack before check out and we got on the road back to San Juan. Successful trip.

So overall, the year hasn’t been all bad, in fact, if you ask Ruffian it’s probably been the best year ever .