Monday we had enough wind out of the South for a few of us to get out on the water over at Pilar Condominiums. Then on Wednesday the wind switched to the northwest and we had a great day out at the kite shack. Jorge, Ken, Chip and Jeff all had great sessions, except that Jeff had to be carried of the beach after crashing while attempting an overpowered kite loop. OOps. The forecast calls for a few more days, off and on, of northwest wind so we are all looking forward to getting in some rare summertime kiting.
Chuburná, Yucatan
The town of Progreso is a mix of fishing port, industrial port, and tourist destination with a population of about 45,000. The people are friendly and there is no area where you don't feel safe to walk any time day or night. There are more schools than bars and more recreation fields and playgrounds than I have seen in all of Sonora. I saw activities going on for kids every evening, especially in the central park, or zócalo.
The local band of kiters were the best I've ever met. Most were university students in Merida and could only get to the beach a couple of times a week. They weren't shy about trying out new moves as some had the hope of getting a sponsorship from a kite company. They were also the friendliest and most helpful group I've ever met. They truly treated me as a brother. I hope some of them can make it to San Carlos sometime; I have a spare bedroom for any of them to use.
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.
Click here to go to next blog entry.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
