Just in case any wayward kiteboarders happen upon this blog and are curious what kit I put together to travel with, here’s the list:
Kite – 2014 Blade Trigger – 9m
Kite – 2015 Blade Trigger – 12m
Bar – Blade Unibar 3rd gen – 50cm
Board – Nobile NHL futurism splitboard – 138cm
Harness – Dakine C-1
Leashes – 1 full length and 1 short, both Blade
Kite bag – 1 Blade kite bag (I used one for both kites)
Patch kit – I just brought what came with both kites.
Pump – 1 pump and hose
Wetsuit – HyperFlex Cyclone 2 – 4/3mm – full length
Luggage – Penguin 32in rolling duffle
My goal was to get a complete kit in a standard checked bag – to avoid the kiteboard specific sports equipment fees that many airlines are starting to charge. So far so good, all told the final weight was 48 lbs. That’s two whole pounds to spare! The Nobile splitboard fits nicely in the bottom of the rolling duffle with very little room to spare. Obviously, this kit isn’t perfect for all conditions, but I’m not entirely sure where all I’ll end up before heading home, so I’m trying to give myself the biggest range possible and stay within the checked luggage requirements of 50 lbs. and 62 linear inches, which is the standard at the time I’m writing this. I’ll write more updates about how it works out and any adjustments I have to or would like to make. Stay tuned.
This trip is starting out as so many do, sitting in an airport drinking an overpriced beer and eating overpriced food – the Black Raven IPA was a nice find, but the potstickers, if I’m being polite, were nothing special. The last couple of days have been a weird combination of tedious chores and saying my last few goodbyes. There’s a lot of good people I’m going to miss, but I’ve been restless being in one part of the world for so long and it was getting time – honestly, maybe even past due – to see somewhere new.
So where is somewhere new? Well, Playa Copal, Costa Rica to start with. It’s a beach on the southern side of Salinas Bay, which is in the northwest corner of Costa Rica, just south of the Nicaraguan border. My wife and I are staying at a kiteboarding resort just a few minutes’ walk from the beach. The view from our room is awesome, and it’s not like we sprung for the honeymoon suit or anything. Our room is in a row of little studios, all of which have a porch on the back (and a hammock, of course!) with a view of the bay. Here’s a picture my wife took from our room – the little blue, yellow and black blob is my kite.
A picture my wife took from our porch while I was kiteboarding
So, the first thing about this place is it’s windy like ALL. THE. DAMN. TIME! Being here for two days doesn’t make me an expert, but I’ve been talking with the staff and other guests, and it sounds like it doesn’t stop. And it’s not a gentle tropical breeze – my best guess for the last 2 days is 20 – 40+ kts (for the uninitiated, that’s 23 – 46 mph). It’s great for kiting, almost too great (more on that later), and considering I’m used to Pacific Northwest Winter temperatures, a stiff breeze makes temps in 80s a bit more pleasant.
On the beach my first day at Playa Capal
On our first day, we didn’t do too much. The flight in was an overnighter and we only managed to sleep for a couple of hours, so after a checking in to the resort, it was time for a much needed shower and nap. I didn’t have the gumption to go kiting even after my nap, and really the winds were too high for my smallest kite (I brought a 9m2, and looked like 6s and 7s were the go to that day). Instead, my wife and I took a stroll around. There are a fair number of interesting birds and lizards: I’m including a picture of a lizard because they are much easier to photograph than the birds.
A fancy little lizard! Taken by my wife
The next day (today actually), it was time to kite. Condition were gusty, to put it mildly. On a number of occasions, I went from underpowered to overpowered within a minute. But it was a great change of pace from back home to be able to go out kiting in a tee shirt and swimsuit instead of a full length wetsuit. And as an added bonus I saw an eagle ray as I was kiting – we definitely don’t get those back home either. After I got back to the room, I met up with my wife (who’d spent the afternoon working from the back porch – she is, I must say, quite a bit more diligent than I am). Next, we went swimming in the pool just below our room, then went out to get some groceries and dinner. It was dark by this point, and I was glad to have a little head-lamp with me to let motorist know we were there, turns out they’re not big on sidewalks in rural Costa Rica. Also, it turns out that spiders’ eyes glow brilliant white in the LED beam of my head-lamp, giving the effect of hundreds of tiny little jewels being strewn about in the grass by the road side. The restaurant we stopped at was quite good and the fried red snapper I had was quite satisfying, but I have to admit the high point was a parrot (presumably someone’s pet) flying over to the people at the table next to us and staring at one of them until he gave in and fed it a pizza crust.
I’ll write more before too much longer. We’re staying here for two weeks, so expect more stories of wildlife and kiting from Playa Capal.
So what’s next for my wife and me? Well, roaming the globe of course. My wife is fortunate enough to have turned her love of language into a profession she can practice anywhere in the world -translation. I’m fortunate enough to have a wife willing to put up with me not working while we travel. I think I may be the luckier of the two of us, really.
First of all, we’re off to Costa Rica. We don’t have all of our locations planed out yet, and don’t plan on mapping everything out before we set off. We are going to be there from January 25th to the 2nd of April, and the first stop is Salinas Bay, just south of the Nicaraguan border. This is one of the primo spots for kiteboarding in Costa Rica. We’re still planning where to go after that. On the 2nd of April , we’re going to fly to Malaga, Spain, and after a few days there, we’ll head to Tarifa, Spain for 5 weeks. Tarifa is one of the best places in the world for kiteboarding, and I’m still a little surprised how easy it was to get my wife to agree to such a long trip there – I suppose beautiful beaches, great food, and day trips to the African coast made it an easy sell. After that, we’re heading to Lisbon, Portugal. While we’re there, I’ll be taking off to an inn in the countryside for a classical fencing seminar. We have somewhat amorphous plans to spend a couple weeks in Germany next. At that point, we’ll be pretty close to our 90 visa-free traveler limit for Europe. Leaving Europe fairly soon after Germany is about as precise as our plans are right now. After spending so long in one place, I’m pretty excited to have no clue what country or even what continent I’ll be living in by July this year. I’ll write more as plans develop, but for now, that’s all I got.
I left my job in the middle of August, and since then, I’ve mostly been taking it easy. Well, as easy as studying two martial arts, downsizing, moving, fixing up a trailer, kiteboarding, snowboarding, traveling to the Washington coast, camping in the Oregon high desert, and planning my upcoming multi-national trip is. Not to mention sleeping about 10 hours (sometimes more) a day – I’m still surprised I haven’t gone back to 8-9 a night, but oh well. It all sounds like a lot when I write it out, but I have definitely been living a much more relaxed lifestyle than when I was working full time. I’m not going to lie, it’s been pretty great, and I feel really fortunate to be able to take so much time to myself. But I am starting to get a little restless and really excited about the upcoming change of scenery, which brings me to my next post…The plan (or lack thereof)
