Wind and Whales
Kiteboarding with Humpbacks is pretty damn cool, especially in a place that well…maybe no one has before?
Kiteboarding with Humpbacks is pretty damn cool, especially in a place that well…maybe no one has before?
The prettiest island in the Pacific? It isn’t Bora Bora. Find out here where it really lies.
We lose the wind in Moorea and the Tuamotus and are left…having a blast!
Mauricio Abreau, Josh Mulcoy, Clinton Bolton and Moehau Goold jump on board for a serious wave and wind romp through French Polynesia with John Bilderback and Jody MacDonald photography…
sharks attack in the tuamotus takes the amperage up a bit
This trip goes down as one, if not the finest expedition of my life. To qualify as an “expedition” it should have the following attributes: remote, rarely or never attempted, difficult, and requiring great planning and usually heroic effort. Having two amazing chefs and a luxury yacht probably removes ‘difficult’ from our list, but we topped the scales on remote and never attempted on this one, and if you add what our chefs went through to get food on this boat we definitely have heroic. Although swimming with dozens of sharks cannot be described as easy…
We’ve spent the last week and a half enjoying the “Enchanted Isles”, or “Islas de Colon”, or more commonly- the Galapagos. As much as I’ve heard and imagined these islands and their non-human inhabitants, the reality is still sinking in. We began with a day tour of San Cristobal, where we’re anchored and where we’ll likely stay anchored until we depart for Polynesia on April 9. As it would cost nearly $2,000 US per day to tour the Galapagos on Discovery we’ve decided to go it with the local boats, which are in abundance.
This is our last day, the whirlwind is coming to an end. Last night we had our final dinner with everyone present and in my final parting speech I said something that was absolutely true and yet I still find incredible. I said that usually at the end of one of our trips we (meaning the crew) cannot wait for it to be over so we can take a break. Those trips are usually 6 guests at most. For this one, we’ve had in the neighborhood of 20+ every day. The workload has been trebled or more. Quite a few people are sick (me included), and everyone is exhausted. But I almost collapsed into tears last night at the thought of this one ending. This trip has been amazing on so many levels. Each person has contributed to its success, and the success has had nothing to do with what we set out to do, which was kite waves. Sure, we’re hopeful today we’ll get more time on the water, and yes, we’ve had some kiting and some great waves, but what stands out is the adventure and the people who’ve shared in making it.
The weather today turns gray again, and while the mood on board seems forever positive, we’re all feeling the end. Quite a few have succumbed to the long days and short nights to head colds, myself included. Scott thought we might have some luck up near Boca Del Drago as it’s exposed totally to the north and our winds, when they come, usually manifest from this direction.