Barbados Rocks, Barbados Rules

By Mark Longenecker

Barbados is the second-to-last island in the Caribbean, situated between St. Vincent and Trinidad in the island chain. The coast of Barbados has some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and its interior is covered in sugar cane estates and sloping pastures with many great views of the ocean. Sugar and rum are the two main exports and its the home of Mount Gay, Cockspur, and Malibu. The name Barbados comes from a 16th-Century Portuguese explorer named Pedro Campos who originally called the island "Os Barbados" ("The Bearded Ones") after seeing the fig trees whose hanging roots resembled beards.

My girlfriend Rachael and I took some long-awaited time off and caught a flight down there. I wanted to check out their big surf contest the "Reef Classic," catch some waves, and see some old friends. The east coast is where the contest was held, at the world famous surf spot "Soup Bowls" in Bathsheba. This side of the island is far from town and considered "in da Bush" with lush tropical greenery, rolling hills, and huge, jagged limestone-coral formations sticking out of the beach. I got a hot tip that they had just repaved some of the roads, so I brought my carveboard skateboard along. My friend Charley and I got to bomb the main hill in front of the contest and reached some dangerous speeds as we flew by the infamous Smokey’s rum shop at the bottom of the hill.

There aren't many heavily-tattooed people down there, so I stuck out even more than I normally do, they all called me "Tattoo Man." Many of the locals I met were very cool and friendly. The first day in Bathsheba, I met a local Rasta named "Conqueror" who's had dreads for years and sold the most delicious vegetarian food out of his cooler to all the surfers. I liked his food and attitude so much I decided to do a quick painting on his cooler for him. That painting triggered many more paintings I was to do on competitors' surfboards and coolers.

The "Reef Classic" surf contest had close to 100 contestants ripping it up. I cheered on while I watched Cocoa Beach locals Sean Slater and Chris Duff advance throughout many of their heats, but it was Ben Bourgeois from Wrightsville Beach, NC who won the final and took home a check for $3,000. The surf contest ended with the "Reef Girl Bikini Contest," and that got the party started as the judges had to pick one out of 12 beautiful contestants. That night during the prize party I met another Cocoa Beach local, Chelsea Keenan. Later, all the winners got their trophies and everyone got their drink on and cut a rug to the reggae DJ.

My timing down in Barbados couldn’t have been better, because I got to attend a great live reggae concert with Damien Marley, Coco Tea, and Baby Cham. They had a fenced-off VIP section in front of the stage which we managed to sneak into. We were only a stone's throw away from Damien as he rocked out many of his originals and some of his dad's covers before closing out the night with his big hit, "Welcome to Jamrock." He got Coco Tea and Baby Cham back out on the stage to do a freestyle jam, during which they passed the mic to everyone onstage and kept the flow going for a good ten to fifteen minutes.

During the last few days of my stay, Kelly Slater came down as the swell got even bigger and I was stoked to hang out and get some great shots of him surfing. He would paddle out into a 10-person line-up which would turn into a 30-person line-up within the first 5 minutes. As crowded as it got, he always seemed to be on the best wave of each set. Before I left, Kelly went to a hospital with Barbados’ top surfing champ, Alan Burke, to visit a young surfer who had his severed by a boat while snorkeling. The doctors were able to get his leg re-attached, but he has a long recovery ahead of him. Kelly gave him one of his signed boards as motivation to get better and get back out in the water.

I have been to Barbados many times, but this trip is one I'll never forget. It really is the perfect getaway and it's only a 3 1/2-hour trip. The food, music and culture are like no other. So like the song goes, "Barbados Rocks… Barbados Rules."

Check out the song and video on www.youtube.com