Today was a good day. We got our collective asses handed to us on the big, steep, hollow waves of southern Nicaragua. The surfing is difficult; no fucking joke. I can't ride a tube, let alone an overhead right to deadly closeout on a shallow shore break. We were all a bit scared and tentative today; a couple of rinse cycles will do that to a brother. When trying to surf in conditions beyond your ability, there is a brief moment - a pause, if you will - when you know you are about to choke on a mouthful of shit sandwich, yet a peaceful feeling envelops you. You stroke for the gathering horizon and feel the swell lift your board. The momentum is with you! Somebody yells "Stand up like a man you fucking puuussssyyyyy!" You steel yourself to pop up, and in the blink of an eye 6 feet of empty space opens beneath you and you're pulled ass over tea kettle into the maw. Game fucking over, good luck finding your teeth. Tomorrow we either find a wave that crumbles a bit and doesn't rain tons of pain from on high, or we snorkel for something delicious to eat and nurse our bruises with a generous ration of rum. Which brings me to chicken nuggets. So as we enjoyed this evening's half bottle, a Nico strolls up with a plastic bag he waves under our noses. Turns out this fellow has a sack of freshly hatched baby sea turtles, each about the size of a chicken nugget. I figure we're about to barter for dinner. As cute as the little buggers are, I know they're delicious with BBQ sauce. Alas, this Dudley Do-Right collects eggs on the beach at night as the mama turtles lay them. He gathers them up to protect them from poachers, dogs, birds, gringos, and whatnot. When the eggs hatch, he returns the turtles to the beach so they can make their way in the big, bad world. Whatever. Sounds like a scam for the white people. Anyway, baby turtles are pretty cute......and surely delicious.