Rafa from Mexico does a good deed!

By Rafael Ortiz

Hey guys!
So I was in Jalcomulco, Veracruz this past weekend. Jalco is a small town
next to the Pescados river, definately the most commercial rafting river in
Mexico. Tourists and kayakers populate the town together with the locals,
making it a place with a really awesome vibe!
What’s this all about? The thing is, I got to paddle with an amazing local
kayaker: Julio.

He is 19 and has been paddling for a while. He lives in
Jalcomulco, so he has the river in his backdoor. Something that has captured me really deeply from this kid is his inspiration, every day you see him in
his kayak running the river or just playing on the flatwater.
Last summer, he got the Tipho and had to spend his savings (which he was
saving to buy a Fun) on getting medicated.

This weekend he was paddling a WS project 45 that he was just about to buy from another kayaker. So then
that’s when I came in..
I said "HEY HEY HEY, do u wanna try my Star?" and he was like "Hell yeah!!"
(of course all in spanish). Julio weighs 55 kgs (about 120 pounds), so he is a perfect Star-sized guy.

After the whole run, Julio tore the whole Pescados apart, throwing cartwheels, loops, macho moves, kickflips and sweet moves
all over the place, in the Star. Of course I’ll just say that my feet were
destroyed by the end of the run, missing baddly my happy feet.
So… I decided to help out Julio and give a big support to his already
incomparable inspiration. He is paddling now my baby blue Star and is loving it like its his job. I told him about my deal with u guys, so he was happy
to accept the boat (for free) and later on pass it to someone else whom it
would be useful to. (Right now in Jalco there are some very young kids that
are learning, but I’ll get the full beta about that to you guys later).

Julio will be contacting you guys soon.. I’ll help him translating… and
send some pics
Sweet!!

Rafa

ps – such an amazing feeling to be able to help out someone else like this,
thanks guys!

PPs- as for myself, I started college last monday. Mechanical and electrical engineering it is, and its awesome so far. I’ll be ordering my new Star and
PuNk RoCkEr soon …