In August of 2007 I decided to blow this joint for a while. Maybe it was out of frustration with America’s failing political system, or perhaps an escape from the Yankee yahoo idiocy all around me, or maybe it was out of desire to drive on highways that have no speed limit. Then again, maybe it was just a damn good excuse to surf my ass off for six straight months, without the constant nag of responsibility. Whatever the reason, I seemed to have gotten all of the above wishes. I arrived in Portugal in August, shacked up just north of Lisbon in an old stone house overlooking the ocean, and dialed in to all the local spots. The crowded days of summer quickly receded and the fall treated me to day after day of offshore winds and increasingly powerful swells. Southern Europe experienced an abnormally dry fall this year, which meant warm temperatures and lots of sunny days. The following pictures are from my stay in this surf-soaked country, where I stayed until early January.Unidentified surfer drops into a wall at Coxos.Ribeira d’IlhasJoe Veselko at Coxos