FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 21, 2012

Cabrinha Kiteboarding is pleased to announce an exciting collaboration with Offshore Odysseys.

A mutual desire to seek out the world’s most remote and dynamic kitesurfing and surfing locations, while building awareness and inspiring solutions to the environmental crisis has culminated into a five year agreement between Cabrinha and Offshore Odysseys. The expedition is called The Cabrinha Quest.

Segments of the journey are available exclusively to members of the expedition and limited memberships are still available and can be purchased through the www.offshoreodysseys.com website.

Offshore Odyssey CEO and Founder Gavin McClurg explains, “Offshore Odysseys began from a simple need to see what was beyond the horizon. Circumnavigating the Earth providing remote sailing, kitesufing, and surfing charters provides that opportunity. Exploration remains at the heart of why we continue to wander.  But over the past decade and a half of our travels, sailing every ocean and dozens of the worlds seas, it has become clear that our model is no longer sustainable.  So, we are taking a “cradle to cradle” approach with every decision in our operation.  Our goal to operate at a carbon neutral low impact mandate is just the begining of this quest.” 

“I’m very excited to be a part of this journey. Ever since my first trip aboard Gavin’s Discovery 3 years ago, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of seeking out kitesurfing and surfing locations off the beaten path. The Cabrinha Quest will now provide an attainable way to satisfy this curiosity for anyone who has a drop of adventure in their blood. The fact that this can be done in complete luxury with minimal impact to the environment is a huge bonus” says Pete Cabrinha. 

The Cabrinha Quest is a seafaring expedition to seek out the world’s most remote and dynamic kitesurfing and surfing locations. A quest to experience native cultures in their natural state. To consciously explore the Oceans of the world with passion, integrity, and sensitivity to the cultures and ecosystems we inhabit.  To build awareness, global concern, and inspire solutions to the environmental crisis.

Planning, Patience and luck went into this shot

Conditions and logistics always makes it tricky for shooting paragliding, and this trip was no exception.  Our initial plan was to spend three days in the mountains.  3 turned to 4, to 5, to 6, and finally went to 8.  We could have easily spent more, but as Jody is buried right now with putting together a coffee table style photo book of The Best Odyssey (stay tuned!), a whole host of magazine features, and getting things like the planned new website (more on this shortly) styled, we eventually had to call it.

Flying over a small village in the Atlas Mountains on the new Artik 3

Hope you enjoy…

Morocco's beautiful evening glow

Testing the new Niviuk Roamer Lightweight expandable speed Harness

Jody MacDonald capturing paragliding in the Azores for Outside Magazine

To get this shot Jody and I and a local pilot from Sao Miguel in the Azores, Joau Manuel DeBrum tried for one month every day to fly out here, where this 400 foot cliff plunged into the cold Atlantic Ocean.  The wind and conditions had to be perfect or it would be suicide.  But if the conditions were right, it was obvious the photo potential would be off the hook.  In our last 48 hours in the Azores last May, 2010 the weather finally cooperated.  Grab a copy of this months Outside Magazine (Feb, 2012) and flip to page 6. Pretty insane shot.  Check out the paragliding club on Sao Miguel- a small passionate group of pilots who were so generous with their time and helped us immeasurably.  And many thanks to Joao who flew Jody tandem on this day.  It was a hell of a risky flight that could have easily gone wrong.  http://www.asassaomiguel.com/

We also captured this scene on video in our new short movie “Magic Lands”. Check it out:

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Discovery on the hard in Ceuta, Spain

Main Salon, before the remodel

Its been just over a month since I joined her, and it that time we have achieved a lot. Gavin and Jody have worked tirelessly to get the Ocean Odyssey up and running- website, new sponsors, members and all the little pieces of this elaborate, complicated puzzle that makes a true expedition gel.  The Ocean Odyssey is something I have wanted to achieve for a very long time, and now it’s happening.

After...

Cockpit gets and upgrade

It is not in some of us; it is in us all. Some listen while others try to quiet the voice within. One foot in front of another is how you climb a mountain, and as long as I keep making my way forward everything will be all right.

Covered and prepped

¨This temporary office has basically become my permanent residence, staring long days and nights into a computer screen and going cross-eyed. I gave up my last paying job doing day work on a 48m motor yacht in Palma, before coming here. I have spent all of my savings- literally down to the last couple of euros in my pocket. I have done all I can to make this happen; I have put it all on the line and now for some reason it feels like it all hangs on a small thread, a rubber band that could easily snap.

My kite and board bag are packed, ready to go; this is all I will need to start my new life aboard the S.V Discovery, the 60ft catamaran that will be my home for the next 5 years. I can see her now, I can feel the deck moving underneath my feet as we make way, the wind on my face, the smell of salt and fresh ocean air in my lungs.

Life is about to return to what is was, I am about to go home.

Work goes on

It is a deep bond, the bond of love that man has for his place, his home, now I return to mine, a vessel on the sea.¨

Getting there...

Seon Crockford

Captain S.V Discovery

Sailing in Tonga on the Best Odyssey

For the first time in years as Christmas neared this 2011 I thought of making a few New Year’s resolutions.  In the past I’ve always avoided it as I tend to dream pretty big and I didn’t like looking at that list at the end of the year and feel bummed I hadn’t learned three languages or surfed Jaws yet.  As 2012 neared I still had nothing on paper.  Then a week in January went by…still nothing.   And then I not-so-suddenly realized that the problem I’ve always had with resolutions is that they go absolutely against what I think we really should be doing to lead joyful lives.  1)  They focus on the past or future (instead of the present) and 2)  they tend to be totally self-focused.  ”I want to…”.   Three words filled with all kinds of treachery.  If we humans could live a little more in the present, and be concerned with our surroundings and fellow man a little more than ourselves…well that’s pretty much what mystics and spiritual leaders have been saying since the dawn of time right?  Maybe they are onto something!

So I’ve come up with a short list of things that are easy to do that I think make a big difference.  I’m no spiritual leader and I’m certainly no mystic.  These are just things that seem to bring a lot of joy into my life, and I thought- why not share?   I’ve tried to break it down into four things that are pretty essential to living well:  education, health, community, and environment.   If you agree with these, let’s do them together.  And if you agree with them- let’s share this list with as many people as we can.  You just never know where it could lead…

EDUCATION:

1)  Subscribe (for free!) on iTunes or Spotify or whatever mp3 player you use and listen to TED TALKS.  Their tagline is “ideas worth spreading“, and trust me- they are wonderful, incredible ideas on every topic you can imagine by the wisest people on the planet.  Take a Ted Talk with you on your commute or on your morning jog and get addicted to filling your brain with wonderful ideas.  Subscribe here.  Follow TedTalks on Facebook.

2)  Read ODE magazine.  Their tagline is “for intelligent optimists“.  This magazine is wonderful.  It will make you laugh and make you think and it will do all kinds of little positive things to brighten the hours of your day.  Give a subscription to anyone you know who is a little too pessimistic and watch it work wonders.

3)  Watch these three terrific documentaries:  ”Bagit” http://www.bagitmovie.com/.   “The Inside Job” http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/. and “180 degrees South” http://www.180south.com/.    Now isn’t this great- you get to watch movies as part of your resolution!  Cool.

ENVIRONMENT

4)  Sometimes to be happier we have to give things up.  Here’s an easy two, that the planet will thank you for:  NO MORE BOTTLED WATER, and cut down on ONE USE PLASTICS.  It’s just tap water in that bottle.  A few little shocking facts:  17 BILLION barrels of oil are needed to create (just create- not ship) the water bottles in the US alone.  In the US, we consume 1500 bottles of water EVERY SECOND.  While you’re at it, give up the plastic bags, the To Go coffee cups (lined with plastic those Starbucks cups!), and all those little plastic containers like shampoo, soap, sunblock… (use refillable glass instead).  Take the pledge here.

5)  Join a food co-op.  It’s SUPER fun and SUPER healthy- for you and the ecosystem, and you’ll be surprised how all the side benefits will add up (ie getting to know your neighbors, building a sustainable community, feeling really good eating all that great fresh food…).    Monoculture industrial agribusiness is filthy, destructive, viciously cruel to animals, unfairly subsidized and one of the largest CO2 contributors on Earth; but if enough people eat organic and support local farms- it will end.  It takes just a few minutes to sign up:   http://www.localharvest.org/.

HEALTH

6)  Outside magazine just featured a study that showed people who spend time outdoors are happier, healthier, less stressed, and automatically become interested in wanting to do good to the Earth.  There is no doubt that spending time in nature helps raise awareness of not only of ourselves, but of our incredible surroundings.  And what it does for our kids?  Don’t get me started!  So this one is REALLY easy!   No matter where you live, make 2012 the year when you spend a little more time looking up at the sky.  Take the pledge- for you and your kids.

7)  I say forget “losing 10 pounds by my birthday” and other such silliness.  I’ve got an easier way to accomplish whatever it is you want to get done this year:  Cut your TV time in half- or better yet, cut it out totally.  A friend of mine decided for his 40th birthday to learn the piano and surf Mavericks.  You know how he did both?  He stopped watching TV.  Those minutes and hours in front of the boob tube add up.  Put those hours into something, anything that interests you (outside of TV of course!).  Need some help with this one?  Go here.

 No fast food, no drive-ins.  This one makes you feel WAY better, makes the planet feel WAY better; and makes your community feel WAY healthier because if enough of us do it- the fast food chains take a hike.

COMMUNITY

9)  Our society puts a lot of emphasis on “self” and “independence”.  But we are in fact group animals.  And strangely, the more “rich” we become it seems the more privacy and isolation we want and even demand.   But I’ve researched this a bit, and the experts seem to think this is not a wise move.   As we’ve gone from open-door communal living (the kind that still exists in most developing countries) to fences and private drives, our connection to others gets more and more stretched.  Which leads to loneliness, depression, and a myriad of other ills.  So how about this year we all join one cool group? Take your pick:  gardening, singles, biking, sewing, chess, french, cheese-making…

10)  I know of no one who knows more about community than the great anthropologist Wade Davis.  Watch this Ted Talk and give some thought to the Ethnosphere.   It will change the way you view the world, in a very good way:

11)  OPTIONAL:  Join the The Cabrinha Quest for the next 5 years!

Happy 2012 everyone.  Let’s make it a great year.

Here’s the article:

http://www.offshoreodysseys.com/articles/30degrees.pdf

Weeks before we ended the expedition, which happened on a warm still day in Ibiza, Spain on October 18^th I asked Jody to begin working on a slideshow.  I asked her to do this because I knew I wouldn’t have the words to describe, to explain, to illustrate what the expedition has meant to us, or to those who have joined along the way.  Of course photos are only a slice of the picture, a fabulous collage pieced together somewhat magically and very haphazardly as we slowly worked our way around the world.  There’s been a plentiful supply of blood, pain, laughter, disappointments, discoveries, and of course moments that are too special to ever try to represent with words.

So here it is, a slideshow that takes us back to the beginning and all the way to the end.  From the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, across the South Pacific, Micronesia, Indonesia, across the Indian Ocean to Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, Namibia, Cape Verdes, Azores, Scotland and Spain:

When I look back I see images that many of you have shared, and many that are mine alone.  I also see statistics, and some of them turn out to be figures that I find a bit shocking, and honestly…make me a wee bit proud of what we’ve achieved.  For example:

•  Total miles sailed:  54,000 (the distance of nearly two circumnavigations)
• Circumnavigation completed:  December 10^th, 2010 (near Cape Verde)
• Countries visited:  50
• Total trips operated:  90
• Days with guests on board:  986
• Documented virgin kite locations:  148
• Dinghies destroyed:  2
• Trips cancelled or delayed:  0
• Money spent on food:  $123,321.00 USD
• Approximate bottles of beer consumed:  4,320
• Cumulative Staph infections suffered by Jody and me:  23
• Pros on board:  37
• Reefs I’ve planted us on:  3
• Times hitting the reefs caused an emergency haul-out:  2
• Number of times rebuilding a toilet has caused me to swear profusely:  24 (the exact number of rebuilds I’ve done)
• Number of people I kicked off the boat:  1

We’ve gone places that I could have never dreamed even existed. We’ve gone places that are very close to being totally destroyed, if they aren’t already.  The sadness, the beauty, the mistakes, the friendships; the many things we’ve discovered, touched and seen along the way will be with us forever.  Memories of course have a way of fading and the many thrills and wonders that took place will be remembered less and less as time streams along faster and faster, rushing us all towards the one true inevitable end.  And now that it’s all over we’re trying to come to terms with what it has meant, and what it continues to mean.

No easy task.

People keep asking Jody and I what’s next?  To be honest neither of us knows.  I’m not sure I want to know, at least for the time being.  For these five years and eight years before that I have been charged with keeping a lot of people safe in some seriously tight situations at sea.  At times the stress of it was as suffocating as drowning, but to witness the smiles and hear what the expedition meant to those who joined was more payback than I could ever get from a paycheck.  Even in the very dark times I knew my office was something I should never take for granted, and hopefully I never did.  Neither Jody nor I consider ourselves planners, but somehow we planned what is certainly one of the most complex expeditions that has ever happened. If someone died, or got hurt, or got sick the show had to carry on.  No calling in sick, no taking a day off.  At times I felt like I was living inside a pressure cooker that had no relief valve.  More than once Jody and I had long, tearful, serious talks about pulling the plug.  But always these times would pass and be replaced with some of the most precious and happiest moments I’ve ever lived.  I’m humbly proud of what we’ve achieved and at the same time scared that what we’ve achieved is only human, which succumbs like everything…to history.

We owe much of our success and all of our most incredible moments to our owners and sponsors, who dedicated much of their own lives (and no small amount of their hard-earned money!) to The Best Odyssey.  Each of you took a huge gamble on us, two people you had never met before and to you we say THANK YOU.  Thank you for making this absurd, crazy, impossible dream come true.  We hope it has also been a dream realized for you.

Because it certainly was for us.

Many thanks to each and every one of you, all those thousands of people who I’ve never even met who have followed our trials and tribulations in the form of the Captain’s Logs for these past five years.  As most of you know, writing these logs is always hard for me and without your continued support I would have given it up long ago.  But again and again you have reached out to me with your own stories, sorrows, joys, hopes, and fears and blessedly- your encouragement, which always makes penning the next story possible.

I hope we’ve kept you entertained.

But now we have reached a point that five years ago I couldn’t even imagine, and I still can’t believe has come.  This is the final log of The Best Odyssey.  An era has come to an end.

But really, somehow I think it’s just the beginning.

As always, I leave you with a quote.  It’s one I’ve used before but it remains my favorite.  Someday I hope to be as cranky, profound and important as Edward Abbey, who fought his entire life to preserve wild places.  Unfortunately it’s a fight that will continue to be lost to the Corporations unless we get seriously pissed off and do something about it.  Seems like now is a pretty good time.

“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast….a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.“  — Edward Abbey

Welcome to our 10,000 for $10,000 Giveaway! It’s dead-easy to win a WHOLE LOT of awesome gear, worth more than $10,000 for just liking us and our sponsors on Facebook.

Check out the giveaway page on Facebook.  It takes a few seconds to LIKE US and our SPONSORS.  You’ll be automatically entered to win a pair of Kaenon or Zeal Optics polarized sunglasses, Hyperflex Best Odyssey kickass rashguards, A Best Kiteboarding Profanity Board or Messenger Bags, a 30″ print of your choice from Jody MacDonald Photography, a brand new GoPro HD camera, Surftech Jamie Mitchell Signature SUP board and carbon fibre SUP paddle, Shark watch, Dakine travel bag, Niviuk Paragliding gear, First Ascent Microtherm expedition jackets, Beyond Coastal natural suncare product, H2O Audio waterproof Mp3 case and headphones, Lowepro camera/lap top travel bag, DODOcase Ipad cases, and MUCH more!!!

It’s that easy.  As soon as we reach 10,000 fans all these great companies and us will get together and start drawing names from our collective fan base.  We’ll make an announcement of the winners on our prospective Facebook fan page sites and start shipping great gear!  Don’t worry- none of us gather any data on anyone.

Here’s an (almost) complete list of the prizes:

The small print:  If you win the drawing for a Best Odyssey kite by Best Kiteboarding you will be contacted the first week of December directly via Facebook (or email- whatever you want us to use).  I’ll send you a list of all the kites on board our vessel Discovery, and the condition they are in.  We have a wide range of “newish” Best Kiteboarding kites- Taboos, Bularoos, Waroos, Nemesis, and Kahoonas.  You take your pick!  The smaller print:  It will not be a new kite, but it will be in solid condition!  And it will have traveled much of the world on the Best Odyssey Expedition!  Cool!