Puerto Progreso

Well, I am overdue for this update but I haven’t had much access to the internet here in Puerto Progreso. The flight here was terrible. The airline, Vivaaerobus, starts out with low ticket prices but then has lots of hidden charges and their scheduling is awful. The town is nice enough and the coast is all beach with plenty of wind. It is on the northern Yucatan peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico. Countryside is mostly flat and not a lot of tropical vegetation. The town is nice enough and all the people that I have met have been great. Lots of seafood restaurants and good prices. No night life at all. The whole town appears to be on hold until July and August when it fills up with vacationers from Merida.

Puerto Progreso, Yucatan

I am off to Puerto Progreso today. I was hoping to go to Puerto Vallarta for a kiteboard tournament this weekend and then fly to Merida but it was just too much hassle to get to Vallarta. It isn't easy traveling from San Carlos. Today I will be taking a local bus to the bus terminal in Guaymas around noon to get a bus to Hermosillo. The bus station in Hermosillo is on the other side of town as the airport so I will have to take a taxi or another local bus to the airport. I am travelling as light as possible but I still have a big bag with all my gear. Then I have to hope the airline accepts my sports bag as regular luggage. They could charge me as much as $200 extra for the trip for it. Then I fly to Monterey for an overnight stop. After staying in a hotel for the night I return to the airport at 6:00am to continue on to Merida. There I will rent a car and drive to Puerto Progreso where they say the wind blows year round. I hope so. I plan on staying two weeks.

The wind here has been real light lately and the not much is expected. The season of strong northwest wind is over, replaced by light southerlies. I did get out the other day on my plywood board and was very impressed. The wind started out a nice steady 14 knots and I hoped it would build so I put up my 12M. The wind quickly dropped to only 8 to 10 knots but I was able to stay up wind (although I really worked the kite) and have a decent session on that big board.

Was That Wind?

We haven't seen much wind in San Carlos lately. Saturday was good enough for trainer kites and for really big kites and big boards. I went out on my 30M kite and a new plywood board that I made last week. Sunday was a little bit better, but not much. To kill time while waiting for wind we tried getting pulled with a tow rope behind a Quad runner. It worked well but there were too many people on the beach and we couldn't do very long runs. Finally the wind did pick up. Enough that a couple of beginners, Christian and Tommi, were able to get a feel for flying the kites and body dragging. I had fun on the 19.5 Contra, but there wasn't much wind.

I mentioned above that I made myself a new board. Well, here is a picture of it.

I made it out of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood. It is 152 x 46, almost no rocker (less than half inch) and no fins. It has two thin coats of epoxy to seal it.

Worked well in its first time out, but it is heavy. I expect to give it a lot of use this summer as we mostly have light winds from now until October.

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Not Much Wind

We were getting only one or two days a week of enough wind to get out kiteboarding and there is nothing in the forecast for this coming week. I am thinking about heading south. Altata looks a little bit better and then on the 18th, 19th and 20th of May is a Mexican kiteboarding tournament in Vallarta. It is put on by http://www.akcm.com.mx/. Should be a great time !!!

For the people that are out of town but are familiar with the kite shack (also known as the Soggy Peso Bar and a few other names) and the people that work there, here is a recent photo of Noah.

Kite Canopy Repair

Last weekend I had a tough day with my 12M Rhino. First the velcro came loose on the end of the main bladder, allowing the bladder to blow out the end. After cutting and taping the end I was on the water, but only for a short time. After I tried some maneuver or other, the kite lost air and crashed. Wasn't anything very harsh, but it blew the kite out. Ripped it all the way from leading edge to the back of the kite. I repaired it the same way I've repaired other kites. I glued it with Seam Grip. I have found this method to be very effective and will describe the process.

The damage.

First, I clean the kite and tape the kite back together. I used blue painters' tape because it is made to strip off cleanly without leaving any glue residue.

I tape it such that the two sides of the tear are butted up against each other tightly but without any overlap. Then I put a thin layer of Seam Grip on the other side. I let it dry a few hours and put on another layer. I then let it dry overnight or at least 12 hours before pulling the tape off. They make an accelerator that can be added to the glue that speeds up the drying time to two hours but I haven't seen it in the stores. I suppose you could order it from somewhere.

After pulling the tape off, I apply two coats of glue to the other side.

The repaired kite.


After allowing it to dry another 12 hours, I rub some talcum powder on the glue so that the repair won't stick to itself and sand won't stick to the repair. It is now ready to use. I have already used this kite on Saturday in winds from 14 to 30 knots. Please click on the above image to get a good view of just how clean of a repair this is. I used most of a one ounce tube for this repair at a cost of $7.00. I use Seam Grip on any small rips or pin holes as well. The only caution is that the cap will become glued to the tube if you don't clean the top of the tube real well and the tube will dry out in a short amount of time unless you store it in the refrigerator.

Carlos was the last man on the water yesterday. It was a good powered up day and I was out getting used to a new kite - a North 2007 Rhino 7M. Nice kite but the lines didn't come adjusted correctly so it took a while to get it to fly right. We have had five days of north westerly wind, although it was light a couple of days. Forecast doesn't look good the rest of the week.

Back From a Great Trip

The weather didn't cooperate as well as we would have liked but it was a great trip anyways. We had cool temperatures, a bit of rain, and some days only light wind. We got out kiteboarding nearly every day anyway and a couple of the days were super. Below is a photo of the gang.

When the wind blew from the north, an area known as the flats, on the bay side was good with fairly flat water and good launching area.

The gulf side was also an option but we didn't take advantage of it until the last day had had good waves but wind was a little light.

We all had a great time working on new moves and enjoying the different areas. Here is Jean-Francois getting ready to hit the waves. Below are a few more action shots.

South Padre

There are six of us kiters staying at a house in South Padre, Texas. We are getting out and kiting several hours every day, conditions range from marginal to very good. This blog post is short because the wind is already blowing at 9AM. Later.

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Nice Weather

This weekend we had really nice beach weather and enough wind to get out both Saturday and Sunday. Not exactly epic sessions but pretty good. I cut my last day short as I was driving up to Tucson later that night. I left real early and got to the border at 7 AM and there was already a half hour wait to cross. The line looked even longer but they were getting people through fairly quickly. A lot of the road between Hermosillo and Nogales is getting to be in bad condition.


There were plenty of people out enjoying the beach on the weekend including these three girls from Hermosillo. Margot, Marcela, and Belinda are all interested in learning to kiteboard. I hope so, it would be great to see them get into the sport.

This is March?

Normally March is a very windy month - but not this year. This week we only got a couple of days of decent wind and one day it was only in the morning. Other than a lack of wind, the weather has been beautiful. Good for kayaking, hiking, and just hanging out at the beach. Sunday night I am driving up to Tucson to get ready for a trip to South Padre, Texas so it will probably start to blow as soon as I leave.

What is up with this weather?

The wind barely picked up enough on Thursday and Friday that we could get in a couple of hours each day but in general there has been almost no wind. None today. It is warmer than usual and the water has started to warm up already. The water is still a bit below 70 but that is warm for this time of the year. Wish I had more to report. The forecast still calls for nothing but light southerlies for a while.

Still Nothing

We have had very little wind for a while now. And there is nothing in the forecast. Once in a while we get a little late in the day but it is hardly worth pumping up the kites, even the big ones. Daytime temperatures are near 90 degrees. The forecast makes no guess on how long this will continue, there is no end in sight. Good thing there are other things to do here. Plans have been made to go to South Padre Island with Stuart, Glenn, Jean-Francois, and I don't know who else. We will be there from the 29th of March until the 8th of April. Should be a blast with lots of wind. Yeeaa.

Where Did the Wind Go?

Saturday was one of those nasty 15 - 35 knot days that was not very inviting, especially since the forecast looked good for the following days. Well, the following days haven't lived up to the predictions. There has been some wind but rather light and only for part of the afternoon. Monday I got out the 30M monster kite and had a great session on it. The pull is incredibly steady and the jumps are not high but very floaty. Plenty of time to do your trick and spot your landing.

Yesterday the wind came up and I put up my 19.5 Cabinha Contra. I bought it because it was supposed to be an exceptional light wind kite. It is a good kite and I had a nice time on it but it really isn't anything special. While I was on my 19.5 Roberto was on his 10M kite and a skimboard. Gerald was on a 15M kite and had his best day ever, getting some nice rides in both directions.

Scott made it out too, just in time to set up his gear and watch the wind completely die. Today is supposed to be light as well and then should pick up again Thursday. Weather has been warm with the drop in the wind but the water is still cold, colder than last month. It is back down to near 60 degrees. Brrrr.

Still Blowing

The wind has been strong a lot lately. Gusts up to 30 knots, often times even higher. It is good once you are out on the water but it is real nasty on the beach. Sand is sometimes blowing head high.


Here is a screen shot of the forecast for four days. Bear in mind that these numbers are averages and that we usually get more wind than they predict out at the kite beach. Roberto and I launched off of San Francisco Beach near Champs today and Carlos came out a little later. Real spotty wind until you got out about a kilometer or so. We went way out, found the wind, found some waves, had fun.

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Great Wind in San Carlos

We got back on Monday and had great wind Tuesday and Wednesday. It felt good to be back on home turf with wind on my back. There aren't a lot of kiters in town right now and during the week it is mostly just Roberto and myself and Gerald. Gerald is still in the beginning stages of learning the sport and is an inspiration considering he is in is mid 70's. A lot of days this time of year are cold and gusty with winds up to 30 knots - not ideal for learning but Gerald is out almost every day. The rest of the local crew are working people so they show up when they can, weekends and after work. Sometimes the late afternoon session is the steadiest wind anyways. I've been back over a week now and although I am getting in a lot of kiting days I sure miss that warm Caribbean water.

Isla Blanca and Punta Sam

We left Jeff in Tulum and headed north, stopping first in Playa del Carmen. Really didn't care too much for Playa. Compared to Tulum the beaches there were small and crowded and the sand wasn't as clean. The water wasn't enticing to go swimming in either. Great place to go shopping and I imagine a great night life, but we weren't looking for that and since the wind wasn't blowing we continued north and got a place for the night in Puerto Morelos. Wind prediction the next morning didn't look good so we decided to go to Isla Blanca to check it out and to be ready for the Northerlies that were due the next day. We lucked out and there was wind on the ocean side of Isla Blanca (actually it isn't an island and it isn't an ocean) and we got in a good day of kiting. There was a kiting school there and they told us of a place to stay nearby. We went to Hacienda Punta Sam and got a nice room plus all meals and drinks for under $50 each. Very good food. The place was a real bargain. It was right on the water as you can see in the photo below.

The northerlies came as predicted the next day, along with a little bit of rain. We went to the beach early and there were already some kiters out tearing it up. They were also having an instructors clinic going on so there were more than a few people, all of them helpful and friendly. The beach launch was small, but you could also launch from the water as it stayed shallow for a long ways.
The wind was gusting well over 30 knots most all day and was a bit much for my 12M Rhino but later the wind dropped just enough that I could get a session in. The next day was Saturday and the wind was light. A few people got out from time to time on big kites and finally the wind picked up enough that I could get out on my 12M, the only kite that I brought on the trip.

The next day was Sunday, our last day. It started out rainy and didn't seem too windy. We drove out to the beach and it was already nuking. Another 30+ knot day. The local guys were out catching lots of air on 7, 8, and 9 meter kites and I had to wait a while before I could get out. The wait was always worth it as the whole lagoon is shallow and even when the wind is howling there is very little chop.

Next morning it was off to the airport and after a stop in Mexico City we were back in Hermosillo. The bus from there to Guaymas was only $5 each and we were back in San Carlos.

I think I got in 7 days of kiting out of the 2 weeks that we were gone but most of those days were in marginal conditions. If the wind was better, I would definitely spend most of the winter in Tulum. It really was nice there. The best wind was at Isla Blanca, which is just north of Cancun, but the drive out there was long and Cancun is expensive.

Tulum

We stayed a week in Tulum. Loved the place. Weather was great; low 80's, some clouds, some rain. The town itself is along the highway and is only several blocks long and goes a few blocks in on both sides. Lots of restaurants and shops and a few cheap hotels including a couple of hostels that are less than $10 a night. Food was excellent and cost was reasonable. Had a huge piece of yellow fin tuna that was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. The beach is down the road a mile or so and has mostly small resorts cut out of the jungle.

We stayed at the Maya Hotel which was in town right on the main drag. We had a second floor room facing the road with a large balcony that gave us a view of what was going on below. It was almost next to the Hostel which was filled with young European travellers so it was great entertainment just to sit and watch and maybe drink a beer or two. We paid about $45 a night for the three of us.
The wind was light most of the time while we were in Tulum, but we did get out kiting a couple of times.
We also had plenty of time to explore the Mayan ruins of Tulum and Cobá.
The water was warm enough that we could go snorkeling without wetsuits. One day we went out from the beach and saw a good size shark feeding on something on the reef, a small school of BIG barracuda, and a couple of sea turtles. We spent part of every day at the beach because it was beautiful. A great place to relax. It didn't hurt that there were different topless young European girls on the beach every day as well.


After a week in paradise the wind was going to switch to the north and that meant we had to go north to find a beach exposed to that direction. Jeff had found a job as a kiteboarding instructor so we left him there in Tulum. He seems to like the surroundings okay. We will miss him out on the beach back in San Carlos. Adios Jeff.

Five Days Into It

Roberto, Jeff and I are five days into our trip to the other side of Mexico. We flew into Cancun on Monday and hung out there for a day. Real good food at decent prices but everything else is expensive.

We went to Puerto Morelos the next day and got in a bit of kitesurfing. Puerto Morelos is a nice quiet town but with the emphasis on little. No wind the next day so we headed to Playa del Carmen to check out the scene there. It is a real tourist center with lots of fancy hotels and busy beaches. The center of town is automobile free for several blocks with lots of shops to explore.

Found the kite beach but still no wind so we headed south again, this time to Tulum. We visited the Mayan ruins which was pretty nice and they are overlooking the beach. When we get wind we can kite right in front of them. Speaking of wind...haven't had any since Tuesday. We have been filling in the time with checking out the beaches, driving through the jungle, hiking in to cenotes and of course eating and drinking.

Break in the Weather but Too Late, We Are Out of Here

This has been the worst stretch of non kitesurfing weather that I can remember. Finally we had some wind yesterday and today it was blowing hard. The next couple of days should be good as well before it shuts off again. It is a nice change, but three of us are heading across the country for a bigger change. Jeff, Roberto, and myself are flying over to Cancun on Monday and we will probably stay in Play del Carmen, about 45 miles south of Cancun. It is on the Caribbean coast with tropical weather and warm water. We managed to get $185 round trip tickets on Aviacsa airline.

A few days ago we had a real nice rainbow out at the kite shack.



Unfortunately, there was a bad accident on the road out to the beach yesterday. It seems like we get way too many serious car wrecks for such a small community.





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No Wind, No Wind, and Then...

We are not getting much wind. Almost nothing all week and then yesterday I had to get out the 30M to be able to get a good ride. This is what it looks like almost every day.

Roberto and I went for a mountain bike ride the other day that sounded good but turned out to be a lot tougher than I expected. Here is a photo from the trail just before it descends into the canyon below.

A Week of Other Stuff

The wind is supposed to return today but there has been very little for over a week. The weather has been cold, cloudy, and we've had rain a couple of nights, even hail. This means we have been forced to find other stuff to do. The other day Roberto, Jeff, and I hiked to the top of Illusion Rock. Nice hike, a little challenging, with lots of caves and great views. Pictures are below. We also found what appears to be airplane wreckage from when they crashed a plane during the filming of the movie Catch 22 in 1970.

The fishing has been good for yellowtail and we made up a big platter of sushi a few nights ago. Below is a shot of part of the local commercial catch. They will fill up those trucks and then they are off to Guadalajara and from there the fish go all over Mexico and beyond.

Blog Problems

Google hosts this blog and for a while now it has been slow and when I submit a post it disappears. If this message posts I will try to post again. Not much wind lately anyway.

When the Wind Dies

So what to do when the wind dies? Put up the 30 and keep on ripping.

The wind never really kicked in today but a bunch of us still got in a session on 12 meter kites. There was a television crew from GuaymasTV out at the beach for a while so it got a little crowed in front of the camera. Too bad the wind was light, they should come back when the wind is hooting.

As the afternoon progressed, the wind got less. To keep going we put up the big kite and powered up. The big monster is a lot of fun.

Dave from Canada gave it a try today as you can see in the photo below.

We had several good days but now we are in a three day lull that is forecast to end on Saturday and then nuke again on Sunday and Monday and continue for a few more days. Several kiters have been here long enough to really improve. The other day just about everybody was jumping and several were doing back rolls among other moves. It is a lot of fun because everyone wants to see how far they can go while they are here and no one wants to get left behind. It has definitely inspired me to go to the next level. Dennis and Cindy are a couple from California that were having a bit of a rough time kiting when they came and ended up really ripping in a short time. Great enthusiasm from both. They recently left but plan to return soon.
Cindy and Dennis

'Tis the Season

The wind has been good lately with only a couple of days last week that weren’t worth flying. Several of the kiters that were here for the holidays have left and others have arrived. Below is a photo of Stuart and Scott.

Both are regulars to San Carlos and were here for a while. Last year Stuart, who is from New Mexico, was still a beginner and this year he is throwing back rolls. Scott has been in the sport for a long time and has his own unique style – very smooth. He uses two line kites and a big board.
We all love it when he is here because he is always yelling encouragement to reach for the next level, and has the knowledge to explain how to achieve it. We miss him when he isn’t here. He has already returned to Oregon and will be going to New Zealand shortly.

That's me in the picture to the left, throwing one of the few tricks that I know.

Monster Kite

Yesterday the sun didn't come out and the wind was cold. Only a few kiters went out as the wind was up and down and the cold air kept most of us hiding behind shelter. We did have some entertainment however. Jeff tried out our new 30M kite. It was blowing 12 to 18 knots, not the ideal conditions for such a huge kite. We had someone hold him down when we launched, just in case. Being so powered up, it flew great and Jeff looked like he was having a blast catching good air and doing back rolls. Most of the time he was digging the edge of the board in as hard as he could, fighting the obvious power of the kite. We bought the kite as a novelty as it was on eBay, brand new with bar and lines, for about $100 and it was well worth it. It truly is impressive.