Holly Beck Building a School in Nicaragua

Howdy,


My partners at Waves of Hope have been working for over a year to secure the proper permits to build a high school for students in Nicaragua. We finally have them! Now it's time to raise the money to give the opportunity of an education to a community that desperately needs it. See attached .pdf for more info or click here for the video version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIZneuwRFKg

 If you are interested in helping either with donations, time, or putting a group together to come down and build the school with us, please let me know!

The waves have been awesome of course. See attached photo from a session a few days ago. For the full sequence, click here: http://hollybeckadventures.com/2012/10/07/backside-tube-sequence/

We have begun improving our lot up on the ridge, starting with clearing weeds, planting trees, and installing a living fence: http://hipehabitat.com/2012/09/15/the-new-living-fence-on-our-lot-in-tierra-del-sueno/

We also started construction on our storage shed/garage/workshop building called a bodega down here.
check out the beginnings of the project here: http://hipehabitat.com/2012/10/07/teak-post-and-concrete-block-bodega/

We're off to El Salvador for a couple of retreats next week, then back to Nicaragua for prime time retreat season. I added an option for guys in Feb. Check out info and dates athttp://www.surfwithamigas.com/schedule

Cheers!
hb

"Hola Amigos!" from Holly Beck

Hola Amigos!


It's been a while! I am enjoying summer vacation in Nicaragua - no new retreats til October, yay! I've been getting a lot more waves myself without having to put energy into helping girls improve their surfing skills. Stoked!

My Rusty boards have been working amazingly well and I put together a little video analysis of my top 3 boards with some cool surf footage mixed in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9AyOgK0x6k

I've been working over the last two years with a non-profit called Waves of Hope which is run by a couple friends of mine. We've been trying to promote education in the local communities and to lobby the government to green-light the construction of a high school. Currently the only educational opportunity for kids in the area after grade 6 is attending school only on Sundays. We've made a lot of progress. You can check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIZneuwRFKg

I recently got engaged! Yay! You can see a bit of what our life is like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xIry9ENE8

Finally, we're also working with Waves of Hope on a sea turtle conservation project. Baby turtles are the cutest things ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O2Dixa907c

Thanks for the support!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!
: )
hb

Garrett McNamara Takes a Trip to Nicaragua

Garrett and his manager, Nicole, took a trip to Nicaragua and here is a story from their trip. 

"Last summer the idea of a family occasion was being discussed. In the past this trip was always made to Costa Rica, but this year everyone decided to live a little and be adventurous so we headed over to Nicaragua for two weeks. This is not typically the ultimate surf destination for Garrett so fortunately we were blessed by the wave Gods with an amazing swell that had the outer reef at Popoyo breaking with some great back side barrels to warm up for Fiji. He had his SUP board so he was a happy camper. The consensus at the end of the trip was that Nicaragua was a beautiful untouched country with beautiful people. The only negative was the trash issue. These small little villages sitting in the middle of a coastal paradise are littered with trash… plastic bags, plastic bottles, candy wrappers etc.

Anyone who knows Garrett will understand that after this small wave trip he really didn’t have an interest in returning. The only way he was going back was on a mission. So when the family started talking about a return trip this summer Garrett was admit on having a purpose and making a difference. The best way to create change is through the youth. The idea developed into going into these small fishing villages and talking with the local children about the life cycle of trash, teaching them that everything thrown on the roads will end up in the ocean. So that was the plan and that is what we did. We also organized a cleanup with the village so we could “practice what we preach” with the kids. On the first day we had over 150 kids come and collect over a ton of trash and the second day we had about 100 kids come and collect and equal amount. All of the children who participated received new hats and slippers and the most popular item was their personalized poster from Garrett. It was definitely a success and we were amazed when we returned home to find an email from the children of the homemade rubbish bin they made out of recycled bottles!!! The way we look at it is if we activate at least one kid and he ends up in office or creates a business that provides a trash service and a recycle program we hit a home run!!! 

An Update from Holly Beck

Hola Amigos,


It's officially rainy season in Nicaragua which means greener fields, bigger waves, and awesome evening thunderstorms. Kim and I snuck down to Central Nica for a strategic strike on a new swell. We totally scored.

I posted a silly little video on how much I love tube rides (who doesn't?): 

An Update from Holly Beck!

The words of Holly Beck herself...

Hello Amigos and Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I sent out an update and there's almost too
much info to cover... The waves in Nica have been super fun as usual. I did a bit of filming both with my GoPro and during the retreats, and put together a little video with a few waves and fun.

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BslOmOtXp6c

I had an incredibly rewarding week of 17 high school kids from High Tech High in San Diego who came down for 10 days to participate in all the normal retreat activities but also helped to build a new classroom onto the local school. They surfed in the morning, then learned to mix cement, dug trenches, and painted, then participated in fun activities in the afternoon. I made a fun video about the experience here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxAaDF9-1EE

The following week I had a group of 10 for a Suave Dulce surf yoga retreat where we finished up the painting on the school and scored the bay about as good as it gets. Check out the video below and stay tuned to the end to see some clips of me surfing it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-eIx1Dcnmc

I've been on a mission building schools lately. I just got back yesterday from El Salvador where I was helping to complete the High School project that we started in September with Surf For Life. I haven't gotten to editing the footage from that experience yet, but hopefully will soon!

Thanks for the support! Hope to see you in Nica sometime!
: )
Holly

Holly Becks Simple Life in Nicaragua

The words of Holly Beck... "I’ve been in the States for two weeks and I’m getting desperate to be back home. After a year of living homeless, bouncing around from one available cabana to the next, sleeping in a tent, the back of our truck, friend’s houses, my parent’s house, it was so good to finally have a place to call home. Somewhere to unpack, put books on a shelf, cook whatever we wanted for dinner, sit on the porch quietly, watch seeds sprout."

The Words of Holly Beck

Buenos dias amigos!

It's been a crazy past week. I've been in El Salvador with a non-profit called Surf For Life, working to build a high school in the town of El Cuco. In between three hour surf sessions with Jay Nelson, Danny Hess, and a crew of San Fran Ocean Beach chargers, we spent hours in the hot sun shoveling and working with cement. Good times. More photos and videos coming soon, but check out the video below for a little taste of the action.

Building a High School in El Salvador with Surf For Life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6z745dgq1k

The week before I was in Nicaragua scoring fun little waves within walking distance. Longboarding at the Bay in Nicaragua
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4hlvlmwv8o

The eco-friendly cabana we're building is close to finished. For a look at what it takes to source palm fronds for a thatched roof in Nica, see below...
Building our cabana - palm fronds for the thatch roof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD9GwXU9-8Q

The non-profit that I work with in Nica is going strong, working to improve the lives of local community members. One part of the project is an afternoon kid's club that builds confidence, teamwork, and is also a lot of fun.
Slip and Sliding out of Trouble with Waves of Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgbSS7KjlEY

See you around,
: )
Holly

Holly Beck August Update

Another great update from Holly Beck. We dare you to find someone in the surfing world who is doing anything as exciting and unique as Holly. Body Glove is so stoked to have her part of our family.
Hola Amigos,

It's been a very exciting and busy month! I started building an eco-friendly cabana at El Coco Loco resort to temporarily solve my homelessness issues. Check out the following blog post and videos for the beginnings of the process:

Building a home in Nicaragua blog post:
http://hipehabitat.com/2011/08/08/building-a-cabana-in-nicaragua-eucalyptus-posts/

Shopping for Eucalyptus posts in Nicaragua:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmlSkfVdym8


I finished up two more successful Suave Dulce retreats. See below for highlight videos (the first is more silliness and lifestyle, the second is more surfing):

Suave Dulce Learn to Surf, Yoga, Adventure Highlights :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Grdtf5j6Y


Suave Dulce Surf Coaching Session Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UEi5sDCEnE


In between it all I scored some waves myself captured with my GoPro
camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZhk-szuBOk


In September i'll be in El Salvador helping Surf for Life to build a high school. More fundraising is needed and for $5 donated you'll be entered into a drawing to win a custom Danny Hess surfboard! All the info is available here: http://www.surfforlife.org/

I hope your summer is going well!

Holly

Explore. Connect. Inspire.
http://www.hipehabitat.com
http://www.surfwithhollybeck.com
http://www.hollybeckadventures.com
http://www.facebook.com/hollybeckadventures

Holly Beck Building Her House in Nicaragua

Holly Beck has been moving back and forth from El Coco Loco's Cabana's to a tent in Nicaragua. Looking to set up more of a permanent residence she is designing her own cabana at El Coco Loco. For more information on how she is making her cabana visit her blog.

Here are the first sketches of her cabana.

Setting up eucalyptus posts.

What her cabana will look like when completed!

An Update from Holly Beck

Holly Beck just got back to Nicaragua after a month in the US. She is all healed up from her Volcano surfing fall and surfing again :)

Starting July 2nd, she is putting on two back to back women's surf and yoga retreats. Suave Dulce has officially partnered with the non-profit Waves of Hope to assist them in helping out the local community. Check out the video about the partnership on the Suave Dulce website: http://www.surfwithhollybeck.com

or access the youtube version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNud3U_s7iQ

Holly along with boyfriend Kim launched a new project called Hip-E Habitat. It is a resource for information on sustainable living and green building. Aside from providing information on things like building with bamboo, organic gardening, solar power and grey water systems, it will also chronicle their experiences as they build a home on an ocean view ridge top in Northern Nicaragua.

Check it out! http://www.hipehabitat.com

Holly Beck April Update

Body Glove's Holly Beck lives a radical life. Here is the latest from our favorite globe crossing surfer girl.

April's update isn't quite as cheery as usual. On Thursday of the first week of two back to back ladies surf and yoga retreats I was sliding down Central America's most active cinder cone volcano on a piece of wood at 76km/hr when i bounced, caught my heel, and did two flying rolls, coming to a stop at the bottom with a very messed up left foot and ankle. It was an opportunity to check out the medical care in Nicaragua (clean but not very thorough). They told me my ankle wasn't broken, so I wrapped it up and hopped on one leg through the second retreat - still paddling out (but not standing up), horseback riding, and cheering for the ladies. Now that the ankle swelling has gone down, I'm pretty sure the ankle is not the only problem and I probably have at least one broken bone in my foot.

I had a GoPro camera mounted to the nose of my volcano board and actually captured the whole wipeout on film. See attached frame grabs and this link for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXOLTb2w9Ig

I'm out of the water for a few weeks, but I did have some time to put together a few little videos to remember the times when I was able to surf. Here's an ode to my favorite Rusty Surfboard, the Dwart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8xgg7biEEM

Here's a video about my learn to surf philosophy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcEUpG2nLRY

More content coming soon (since unfortunately im gonna have too much time on my hands in the next few weeks) Send healing vibes!
: )
Holly

Catching up with Holly Beck

Latest post from Holly Beck

Hello friends!

I just finished up an intensely exciting and action packed two month adventure that included stops in Hawaii, Portland, an Oregon to LA coastal road trip, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Costa Rica, Bocas Del Toro Panama, and finally a few weeks in Nicaragua. I'm now back in LA for a week trying to process, recover, and prepare for the next leg of adventures which begins on Feb 19 with a Sector 9 trip to Ecuador, followed by Thailand and then Nicaragua.
Unfortunately my computer, external hard drive, camera, wallet filled with cash, and passport were stolen in Costa Rica. No bueno! I'm still replacing things and catching up after not having a computer for the last month.

My women's surf and yoga retreats are really taking off! I recently hosted a group of 10 ladies from all over the world along with a yoga teacher and photographer (see attached photo). I have a few retreats coming up the last week of March, first week of April, and again later in May. Check out my website for details: www.surfwithhollybeck.com/schedule

Now that I have a computer again i've been busy updating my blog and youtube with photos and videos from my recent adventures. Check out my blog for new posts and videos! http://www.hollybeckadventures.com


Thanks for your friendship and support!
Holly

Explore. Connect. Inspire.
http://www.hollybeckadventures.com
http://www.surfwithhollybeck.com
http://www.facebook.com/hollybeckadventures

Holly Beck teams up with SYRV.org to do some volunteer work in Nicaragua

SYRV.org is an non-profit dedicated to making good happen. Over the last few years the SYRV crew has been working hard to create a community center to benefit the people of the Northern Nicaraguan town of Jiquilillo.

This time around Holly Beck teamed up with the group to donate musical instruments, jam out with the kids, help release recently hatched sea turtles, put the finishing touches on the community center, do some surf lessons, yoga, and make some amazing new friends.

Check out the video highlights below:

Holly Beck Update Before Heading Home

From the mouth/keyboard/pen of Holly Beck

Good Morning!
I hope you had an awesomely sunny, red white and blue 4th! It was my last weekend in California for a while and I caught up with my friends from Body Glove in Hermosa Beach. We just got back from Fiji filming another Drop Zone where we surfed epic Cloudbreak, swam with manta rays, and dove with bull sharks!

Check out my blog for stories and a few photos from Drop Zone Fiji. The film will premiere sometime in November.
http://hollybecksurfs.blogspot.com/2010/07/drop-zone-fiji-journal-entries.html
For more stories and photos from the rest of the crew (Alex Gray, Cheyne Magnusson, Bede Durbidge, and Maria Del Mar)
http://dropzonefiji.blogspot.com
Body Glove also finally released the short film "We Love Sharks" by Scott Smith which shows me getting a chance to be a part of tagging a whale shark, travel adventures in Mexico, and outside of the cage with great whites. Awesome experiences!
You can watch the 17 min film here:
http://tv.bodyglove.com/tv/116/
I was also featured in the Athleta catalog recently. Surprisingly, they didn't airbrush away my logos! If you didn't receive the catalog in the mail, check it out here!
http://athleta.gap.com/
Finally, in less than 48 hours I will be headed back home to Nicaragua! I can't wait!!!
I'll be co-hosting a surf, yoga, volunteering trip with SYRV.org August 30 - Sept 6. We'll be surfing, doing yoga, and helping to complete the community center which will allow the local village access to sewing machines, computers, after-school programs, and clean water! Join us!!!
More info here: http://surfwithhollybeck.com/Giving_Back/Entries/2010/6/30_Surf_Yoga_Volunteer_with_SYRV.org______Join_us_8_30_10_to_9_6_10.html
That's all for now!
if you want to be kept up to date with photos and videos more regularly, become a fan on facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/HollyBeckAdventures

Holly Beck is Very Busy

Holly Beck updates us direct from Nicaragua. Holly is very busy. Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day weekend! I suppose in many places that signals the start of summer. For me, it's the last week of a three month stay in Nicaragua. I head home June 4 for a Body Glove promo at Sport Chalet in Huntington Beach on the 5th, a UCSD alumni surf contest at Blacks on the 6th, then a week of catching up with friends and family before heading off to Fiji to film Drop Zone 2 - a dive and surf documentary - with team Body Glove on June 15, then back down to Nicaragua after that.

The last few months have been awesome and I'm sad to leave. Hopefully the surf and weather are cooperating and you're beach-bound this weekend. It's raining and onshore where I am, so here are some links to check out if you haven't seen them already...

I'm doing a women's surf and yoga retreat in Nicaragua July 17-24 and have a few more spots to fill. If you or a friend is interested, check out the promo video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp46GNpEEAM or go straight to the website. www.surfwithhollybeck.com

The episode of The Lazy Environmentalist featuring me aired recently. You can view a few clips from the episode on their website: www.sundancechannel.com/lazy. Scroll down the list of videos on the right til you find Lazy Surfer - and keep in mind they told me to act more skeptical so that i could be convinced in the end)

I wrote a story on my trip to Haiti for a European women's surf mag called Cooler. It will be out next month, but they did an online interview with me that can be viewed here:
http://cooler.mpora.com/features/interview-surfer-model-good-soul-holly-beck.html

We started construction on our big 2 story, 3 bed/2bath house that we'll end up renting out down here. So far only the foundation has been laid, but it's an interesting process. I made a little explanatory video and posted it to my Facebook page. It is viewable here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holly-Beck/125160486073#!/video/video.php?v=396796651134

Another GoPro video of my dogs and I playing in the surf (me getting tubed, them just splashing in the shorebreak) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_dKIJIZ9tg

And if that wasn't enough, Team Body Glove came down last week to shoot photos and video of the 2011 swimwear. The weather and surf only partially cooperated so we spent some time exploring and driving through rivers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u1AkbH59CE

Enjoy the start of summer!
: )
Holly Beck

Body Glove Surf Team in Nicaragua

Erica Hosseini- Look out Reef Girls

The Body Glove Team of Cheyne Magnusson, Erica Hosseini and Maria Del Mar have been down in Nicaragua hanging at Holly Beck's house surfing and shooting for some upcoming boardshorts and bikini campaigns. Below is an up to date post from deep in Nicaragua from Holly Beck.

First let me say we scored really fun waves this morning and got some great shots. We split up the team to maximize our productivity. Cheyne and Rob Giley went to check out a super shallow slab for tube shots and Mike Balzer, Scott Smith, and the ladies took a panga out to a big open water left reef. We all scored. It was a couple feet overhead but pretty mushy. Great for photos with a big drop and a solid turn but not at all scary.

Maria Del Mar Getting her fashion shoot style

Day one the beach out front was solid and hollow and good. The next day we went to a smaller playful beach. It was waist to chest high and mushy, but good for turns and photos.

Yesterday afternoon we went on an adventure to go check a bunch of other spots which involved some cool local scenery and off-roading, tide pool shell hunting, etc. We have been surfing a ton and getting some great shots. I hope you enjoy the first couple behind the scenes shots here. There will be a lot more coming.

Cheyne Magnusson Doing His Thing