Skimboarding at Dahican Mati
Skimboarding is a foreign island for me, but I am long attracted to movement—beautiful, purposeful movements. So it did not come out as a shock when most of the photos I took at Dahican focused on one particular athlete.
My camera instantly followed his movements—fluid against the waves. He simply stood out. I later found out, he is Sonny Boy aka Bayugyog—a local word for capri—the 19-year-old who made Dahican, Mati, Davao Oriental the skimboarding capital of the country.
***
Beautiful detours are often last-minute decisions.
I intended to spend the entire five-day trip at Cateel, Davao Oriental—one of the places where Pablo (Bopha) poured out its unanticipated fury to the equally unprepared Cateel, Banganga, and Compostela Valley. Instead of taking the shorter route (Davao City-Compostela Valley-Cateel), I took the longer one (Davao City-Mati-Cateel). My supposed one-night stay at Dahican became two. I spent my time talking with Amihan Boys and the locals including the drunk Carding, taking photographs, walking, female gazing, and (controlled) flirting. 😉
I went fishing as well (more like photographing the act of fishing). And I was the only woman in a sea of 30 men. It might take time for me to write the narrative (as always).
These past few months I have encountered a number of stories worthy to be written. But I am aware that I do not have the grasp of language yet.
So I will let the memory filters these stories and let the photos console me for the time being.
5 Comments
hahahaha naa lagi surf board gi skimboard
this is my kind of heaven!
Haha! Nagsurf na oy. Manukad ang mga taw didto kay isog kaayo ang mga bawd. 🙂
Hindi na kailangan ng words Jona! the each photo speaks! Ganda ng angle en composition 🙂
Oh, thank you, Jeffrey! But I have to write about it sooner and later. 🙂
[…] an interesting character. I took photos during the kid’s “duwa” (their word for skimboarding), tried it, and failed big time. Walked around and covered a good portion of the 7km Dahican Beach […]