Day 19 – Less fin, more decisions

Today was pretty unpleasant sailing and it is probably going to get worse tomorrow. I’m kiting almost directly downwind on a big board with big fins which is a bit like doing Formula 1, downhill……on ice!

My total distance today as the crow probably wasn’t all that much, but with me having to constantly tack back into the beach, I think I covered more mileage than it seemed.

The current combination of my big board and its big fins means that the board wants to drive upwind much more than I want it to.

The plan has always been to cut the fins when I got to this point, based on previous conversations with the board designers, so today was the day.

All 3 fins are now 6-8cm shorter than they were this morning and it will be interesting to see if I feel any difference tomorrow.

I stopped at Baua do Cunhau today for a look and break and it seemed like a perfect kite spot, with a combination of waves, flatwater and great wind angle.

After my break, I started to kite again, but the wind picked up to 20-25knots and I was still rigged on

the second knot (middle power setting) on my kite. I decided to come in and let it change it to the last knot (low power setting) so kited into the beach to change it.

With such strong winds, I had a few really nervous moments while trying to self land as I realized that there were powerlines just behind me and, I was trying to control a powered up kite.

During the self landing process, the clip for my leash completely bent which almost sent the kite into a loop heading straight for the powerlines!

To say I am lucky today is an understatement.

I ended up cutting the day 17km shorter that I had planned because there was a nearby surf factory that could cut and shape my fins and I was concerned about safety.

Although my legs feel OK today, even though it was slow going, I do think I would be much faster on a twin tip from now on.

My dilemma is that I started this as a one kite, one board mission, so switching out my board would invalidate this objective, however a twintip would be much safer and faster right now.

So I’m putting a question out to you, the readers, should I continue on my current board or switch to a twintip?

The decision is up to you  🙂

Days 17 & 18 – little bit of luxury.

I have been resting up in Joao Pesosoa for the last 2 days and it feels like coming out of the wilderness back to civilization.

There’s a shopping mall just down the road with all the shops you would expect back home.

My hair was  starting to look kind of crazy, adding to the consensus by local kiters that I really am crazy. So, I have taken the opportunity to get a haircut even though I had been warned that getting your haircut by the like of this little fellow could spell trouble:

I didn’t speak Brazilian and my hairdresser didn’t speak English so the only thing for it was Google translate. It seemed to do the trick and got me a reasonable haircut, so I took my internet translation skills to the massage parlor next door and managed to get some of the aches worked out of my body too.

Bessa kite club is where I have been hanging out and it’s impressive. There’s a guy employed there to pump up your kite and rig your lines, then when you are finished he washes and dries your kite then stores it until you call for your next session.

The grass is perfectly manicured, speakers blare out a selection of funky tunes  and the fantastic kiting right out front all make for a brilliant setup. It’s a world away from the fishing hut and 50km of walking with all my gear.

The funky music lured me out for a bit of freestyle riding this afternoon although it felt weird being back on a twin-tip after riding my huge directional board for so long.

I’m waiting here in Joea Pessoa for a new cushy deckpad to be fitted for my back foot. Its a crucial change to the board as the my ball of foot and back knee have been taking a hammering in the chop. Hopefully it will be ready as promised tomorrow at 10am.

Although there was no wind forecast for today it blew 17-20 knots making weather forecasting in this area somewhat of lottery. What is certain though, is that the challenges of no wind are shortly to be replaced by too much wind the further north I go.

Winds up around 30 knots are commonplace which for those living in my hometown of Wellington may not seem like much, but I have a 11m kite and big board so progress might be difficult and hard on my body. The plan is to cut my fins down by 3cm as I don’t need big fins to go upwind now.

Something many people have been finding funny here is my self imposed rule of only walking or kiting to get anywhere. They have found a new way to amuse themselves is to offer me rides in their cars to parties and to see things amazing things.  Funny for them I’m sure, but I’m not really seeing the humour.

So if you want to help me my top requests are accommodation close to where I land, good food a shower, internet to check google earth and then I’m happy. Pretty simple really.

Day 18

I’m currently sitting in waiting impatiently for my board to be delivered with a new deck pad. Normally I’m pretty chilled out but I need to make Natal by tomorrow and don’t want to have to do it in one day.

Eventually the pads turned up and it was worth the wait as they worked a treat and looked professionally finished by Hugo Monetenegro from Xtreme Board.

I no longer feel like the ball of my foot is going to get a stress fracture and owe thanks to Theodore and Rafael from Bessa kite club for getting this organised for me.

Yesterday was the first day I made a mistake with the weather and really should have sailed instead of waiting on the board modification. To finish this trip in a reasonable time I need to take all the sailing opportunities that I can now and kite whenever there is wind.

I was joined by a young kiter today called Bruno Mendes who was keen to tag along. He was all hyped up and rushing around at launch time and I had to suggest he take a moment to calm down and take it easy. I have learnt from experience that when you’re in a hurry that you can forget to check crucial set-up parameters and that’s when things go wrong.

I picked up the habit from watching paragliders setup their gear, to follow a routine and double check everything, lines, canopy pack, GPS and inner dry bag etc before I leave.  This additional 2 minute check  could save me from a 2 hour swim.

It’s nice having someone along after the kiting is finished. I need all my concentration out in the ocean and at times it is distracting having someone else along. I have been thinking a lot about my inability to focus when kiting with others and I think I do have an explanation but that will have to wait for another post.

We ended up reaching a nice spot a little bit later in the day than I wanted, but it was still OK. Now that there is more wind I’m not so keen on pushing the daylight hours unless I really have to.

The forecast is for the wind to pick up to 20-25 knots tomorrow and I’m just not sure just how far my current board and kite combination can be pushed. For now, I’m happy to have some company with Bruno and I feel refreshed after my couple of days rest.  Armed with my new haircut, massaged body and the forecast for lots of wind, who knows where I will end up tomorrow.

Day 16 – all my limbs attached :)

I broke my usual routine yesterday of getting prepared the night before and leaving early to give myself plenty of time in the day.

The late night, which was out of my control, made for a late start and to be honest I didn’t think I would be sailing today with sea urchin spines in my foot.

It ended up being a “must kite” day because if I stayed in Recifie I would be stuck there with no wind for at least 4 days according to the forecasts. So I had to suck it up, ignore the pain  in my foot and kite until the wind died.

Uri the local Neal pride distributor was adamant that sharks were not a problem providing you were up and sailing. I spoke to other kiters too who were of the same opinion.  When I pressed on of them they told me that I had tried a few years ago but were stopped by a policeman.

So my major concern today was not the sharks anymore but how not to get stopped by the policemen who are able to confiscate gear.

I quietly pumped up my kite and laid lines in the local windsurf club hoping that I would not attract any attention.

The windsurf club has the biggest selection of course racing and windsurf gear I have seen in one place, and made my “big board” look like an undersized lightweight.

I made a quick dash out to the beach connected up the lines and off I went.

For the next 2 hours I kited with great care and made it through without falling once. I saw a black floating object in the distance which caused my heart rate to increase, but as I got closer I saw that it was less shark-like and more floating rubbish-like. There were several more elevated heart pumps as I passed more and more rubbish, but I was grateful that this was the worst of my encounters.

After passing the port in Recife I saw what looked like a small 1 foot fin that disappeared quickly, and I wasn’t going to go back to see if it was actually a shark or not.  I think my aggressive looking C3 Venom fins were a great shark deterrent and scared all the sharks away, well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Once I cleared the port I was greeted with flat water  and kiting inside reef was pleasant and uneventful apart from walking a couple of sandbanks due to low tide.

The forecast was for winds to lighten as the day progressed and this ended up being true.  I body dragged into the beach, for 20 minutes to end at my new destination Joao Pesosoa with all my limbs attached.

Day 15

Today was one of the best and worst kiting days of the trip.
It was certainly the most mentally stressful day, mostly because I would be passing through “Shark Alley”, but also because of the extensive reefs that lead up to Recife.

One of the most common questions I get regarding long distance kitesurfing is “aren’t you scared of the sharks?” My answer is usually no, as the last fatal shark attack in NZ occurred back in the 60s. My lack of fear of sharks is based in a the stats which clearly show you are more likely to be hit by a bus rather than eaten by a shark.
However, there are a few places in the world where there are elevated chances of being attacked by a shark. Florida, Australia and South Afrcia all rate up there in the shark attack statistics, as does this area in Brazil:

A 20-kilometer stretch of beach that includes the most fashionable district in Northeastern Brazil, Boa Viagem, has earned a reputation as the world’s most dangerous for swimmers. Crime there is arguably no worse than in other urban beach resorts like Rio de Janeiro, but the shark attacks are unparalleled. Since mid-1992, 50 encounters involving humans and sharks –19 of them fatal – have been recorded along the short strip of coast. http://www.brazilmax.com/news.cfm/tborigem/pl_northeast/id/14

I have a love hate relationship with reefs as they provide flatwater which is great for kiting, but they are also a significant hazard.
Today I had a fantastic early morning run making the most of high tide, flat water and perfect wind angle and it was all going well until I ran aground on a sandbank at 9.30am.
I had given myself until 10am to head back into the open sea, further out from the reefs, but the sandbank hastened that decision. I attempted it several times but was unable to tack out though a nearby reef pass and eventually was forced to walk over the reef to get to clear water.
It was a really nervous moment crossing this reef and in the process I ended up dropping my kite on the reef.
Eventually I made it out to the open sea, but the relentless chop and difficult downwind angle didn’t make me any more comfortable so I opted to find the nearest habited sandy beach so I could find to check my kite and regain composure.
It took some serious effort to mentally prepare myself and head back out for an afternoon session challenging conditions, and the wind angle just wanted to pull me out to sea.
I thought the end of the day would never come and I was struggling to keep the kite in the air, as it felt like the lines had stretched again.
I was falling far too much for my liking (and for the potential number of sharks in the water) and I just wanted the day to be over.
I had been given some coordinates for a beach in Receife (which I was later to learn was named shark point!) and on landing I was greeted by fickle gutsy wind spilling off the high rises which forced me to pull my emergency IDS landing line.
I was greeted by this sign, but with some surfers in the water I was reassured that they would make better shark bait.

Feeling lucky?

I had to wait for 2.5 hours before I met up with my local contacts and then went for a late dinner, but the day wasn’t over until I had spent 45 minutes picking sea urchin spines out of my foot from the walk across the reef.
I am wondering if I will be able to kite tomorrow, but right now I am off for some rest and I’ll decide based on how I feel.

Day 14 – Marceo

Today started with an early morning swim back across the river from my accommodation.
There are some morning when it feels like I’m actually going to work and not on some fun kite adventure – this was one of those mornings.
The short run into Marceo reacquainted me with some uncomfortable chop reigniting my desire to find a better softer back pad solution.
Marceo is a milestone in terms of progress and I was keen to stay and meet the local kiters.
Andrew Soares has been a trusted contact over the last week providing valuable information and guidance on this leg of the trip. It was good to meet him and Phillipe the local Cabrinha dealer who helped out with some internet and information about the upcoming coast.
It was really hard leaving somewhere of comfort and luxury when I was feeling so worn out, but I needed to push on for an afternoon session while the wind was good.
The promise of a rear deckpad, 30km away, was all the motivation I needed to get up and riding again.
Unfortunately the deckpad didn’t materialise but a local kiter was kind enough to swap his wider softer straps which made things a little more comfortable.
The wind is good and I’m going to keep on kiting…

Day 13 – Wind!!!

Dear wind
You must have been listening to my request yesterday.
I heard your call after a fantastic French breakfast.
Your call of a light 10-12 knots breeze to get me started from Pontal du Peba was all I needed to get motivated.
I stroked away with my kite gently caressing you and willed you on for more. You responded at times with 15 knots and I was ever hopeful that you might even deliver more.
You played with me, teased and eventually gave up leaving me longing for more.
Finally I ended my day walking along one of the most beautiful pristine beaches I have ever seen.
I walked as far as I could hoping to see you again, but eventually the beach disappeared as high tide came in and I was forced to retreat back to civilization at Barra de São Miguel.

My friends at PredictWind say you might make an appearance tomorrow. I really hope you do because I am excited about getting to Marceo.

Love from your ever patient and faithful kitesurfer.

Day 12 – Dear Wind

Dear wind
You promised to turn up today so I didn’t have to do any more walking.
Unfortunately, you brought your friend the rain and spoiled what could have been a nice windy day. I have been very patient with you, so its only fair that you blow 15 knots or more, so I can sail to Marceo and drink beer with
Philipe and Andre.
It is really nice here in the fishing village of Pontal Do Peba, so I am happy for the moment, and I am prepared to walk again tomorrow, if you are still on holiday.
I have taken my brothers advice and been trying to eat lots of beans, but unfortunately this strategy has not produced any more wind than you did today.

Love from your dedicated and patient kitesurfing fan

Its day 12 and I have just been reflecting on the days since leaving Aracaju. Before I left everybody gave me dire warnings about having no support crew, a big river to cross, endless deserted beaches and they all worried about how I would communicate when I don’t speak Portuguese .
Well it all worked out just fine and it was actually quite nice not having anyone speak english.
I’m no Bear Grylls nor am I pretending to be but his teachings are that there are always resources in any environment and you should never starve if you look in the right places.
I am thankful to the people along the way who have all assisted me in some way in the last 4 days, even though I was in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.
It seems to me even on a deserted beach, there is always some random person that pops out and surprises you when you least expect it. A few people of note have been the fisherman a couple of nights ago who fed me off a
Frisbee and provided a place to put my hammock up. Carlos, Georgie and his family for having me stay and feeding me. I had heard about the generosity of the Brazilian people and now I can say for sure its true. This trip is not just about a number its also about the people along the way.
Tonight I’m staying at Chez Julie run by a group of French people. It turns out I know way more french than Portuguese and it was an interesting conversation with a bit of English, French and Portuguese.
I am told there is a Kiwi living close by so who knows if our paths will cross on my walk tomorrow.
I say walk, because I think the wind is still on holiday up in the NE of Brazil, but whatever tomorrow brings in wind, I know if will bring so much more in people.

Days 10 and 11 – walk, swim, walk

So I was awoken again at 5 am for a full day of walking.
The walk was slow going and I was really uncomfortable carrying my kite, my backpack and my huge board.

The 2 river crossings were relatively uneventful, but they did have potential for getting hooked up in the mangroves. I did look twice at the first crossing early this morning as memories of shark attack statistics were playing back in my head.
Early morning, dirty brown water and river mouths are all risk factors but in the end I just got on with it and put the thought out of my head.

Progress at the end of today was stopped dead in the tracks because of high tide and no way around the mangroves.

I did consider putting up my kite to try and kite over the mangroves, but the words of wisdom, “start early and camp early” were ringing in my head.

Some local fisherman hosted me in their basic hut on the beach, next to a river and beautiful sunset.

It was a perfect way to end the day swinging in my hammock as the fishermen roasted their freshly caught fish over an open fire.

The fishermen were suitably impressed with the Hennessy hammock I strung up next to their more basic and heavy versions.

After a good nights sleep I awoke early to finished off the journey I started yesterday and arrived at the Rio Sao Francisco river.
Today’s excitement was crossing the only way possible – by swimming.
I walked up the river a bit and parked myself next to some fishermen, contemplated my options, and for almost an hour I studied the river and its flow patterns. The outgoing flow across the 800m wide river was moving pretty quick to start with, but as the tide changed and started to come in I sensed my opportunity. The outgoing debris floating out to sea suddenly stopped moving, so I packed everything up, strapped the kite to the board and put the backpack on my back.
Thankfully breaststroke is one of my favorite swimming stokes, because for the next half hour a one arm version of it was put into action with the board out front. I’m sure swimming that river raised a few eyebrows from the locals but I got across!
The swim was timed perfectly and I landed exactly where I wanted to be.
That wasn’t the end of the adventure as I followed up the swim with a 17km walk to Pointal do Peba.
Finally thirst got the better of me and the half liter of water in Peba I had never tasted so good.
My back and shoulders ache, and my body is pretty worn down after today, but I’m glad with how much progress I made, even if none of it was kiting.

It’s windy right now and the forecast shows wind for tomorrow, so I plan to try and finish up in Marceo.

Right now however, its time to rest this tired body of mine.

Day 9 – Decision Time

The days are slipping away and so is my opportunity to complete 2000km.
The southerly winds that are predominant during the month of July are replaced by NE winds in August which means progress will eventually become impossible in a short amount of time.
Today there was wind at 11pm which intensified and spurred me into getting ready for action but by the time I reached the beach the scene was completely windless.
I have to make a decision in the next couple of days about whether I should cut the trip short and head up further up the coast north of Recefe to kite in that area.
It would be pretty gutting after all I have done to get here but the reality is that the window of opportunity is closing or may have already closed.
The official world record is still only 330km so I would be still on to easily break this, but I set myself a goal of 2000km and I really want to do it.
If the wind doesn’t arrive soon then I will have to walk 30km tomorrow to the San Francisco river.
Normally 30km would not be a problem for me with if kitted out with a decent backpack.
However, it is going to be pretty brutal with the amount of gear I have as there is no easy way to carry my board and I have additional hindrance of walking in sand.

The backpack I have with me is the 5th iteration and have made it as comfortable as possible for a kite trip on the water.

It is not the best backpack for walking with or carrying heavy loads over long distances and if not packed perfectly can cause me a lot of back pain.
So its decision time.
I need at least 3-4 good strong 15-20 knot southerly days to get out of here and head north to Recefe, I can just hope the wind comes my way.

The fine line between adventure and misadventure‏

If you were getting bored with the daily updates of waiting for wind, eating good food and drinking beer on the beach, then today’s adventure, or misadventure might just peak your interest again.
The incident today was potentially the most dangerous situation in my 3.5 years of kitesurfing.
I don’t need a reminder that there is a fine line between adventure and misadventure and fortunately today I stayed on the right side of that line.

The day started fine, at around 8am I left Aracaju with a steady 15 knots of wind and a choppy start across the Rio Sergipe River. Three of the local kiters had decided to join me to the last town for over 90km, Pirambua, and I thought the company would be nice.

As I made progress, fishermen with drag line nets and shallow water posed a constant hazard running inside the break, but I wanted to be social and try to stick with the local kiters so I chose remain inside the break against my better judgment. I paid the price on at least 3 occasions by getting snagged on the chord that’s used to connect to the fishing lines, and this just added more stress to my trip.

As I passed the last town for over 90km, I tried to assess the situation, but the wind seemed to be consistent and I wanted to make more progress. After another 10km, I could see an approaching front which was causing the wind to change direction, I had to make a decision, and decided to be conservative and kite back 10km to the last town and assess the new wind direction.
I knew the upcoming coast had limited resources to draw on if things went wrong, and I didn’t want to be stuck out there, potentially for a few days if the wind was going to be unreliable.
Having had the problems with fishing lines previously, I decided to make my way back up the coast outside the surf break.
The downwind angle was very difficult with the new NW wind direction and I ended dropping the kite ocean. I tried and tried to get control back, but I just couldn’t re-launch the kite and after fighting with the kite for what seemed like an eternity, my kite ended up in the surf zone where all 4 lines broke or were cut by my board fins about 500-800m offshore.
I had no choice, I had to swim back to shore, but I was wrapped in my kite lines and the more I swam the more tangled I got.

I felt like a floundering fish in a fishing net and when I finally got back to dry land, I was lucky that a passing local fisherman was able to help me. It took 2 of us over 1.5 hours to detangle the lines from my ankles, and although in hindsight it would have been easier to cut the lines off me legs, I was hoping they would have been repairable.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I think back to the decision I made not to carry a knife with me, as I assumed I would be able to cut lines with the sharp c3 Venom fins on my board.

I managed to pick up a new set of lines and bar thanks to Glauber and Junior, and although I am carrying a spare set of lines I wanted to keep them as spares rather than have to kite with no backup.

Thinking about the incident, I know that I didn’t bring my A game today.
Kiting with others turned out seemed like a fun thing to do, but ended up being a distracting experience.
I know that this trip requires my complete attention and focus every day and it was there for the first 3 days however, sandy beaches and kiting with others put me in a more relaxed frame of mind and perhaps gave me a little overconfidence.

I was lucky today and I hope that this experience will help keep me focused and make sure I bring my A game every day.

Day 5 or is it 6?

The days are starting to blur together and I am losing track of what day of the week it is, I seem to be spending my days either kiting, or studying the upcoming coastlines.
Right now I am lying on the beach under the shade of my kite waiting for some wind while tapping away on my Telecom Blackberry trying to get a forecast.

Waiting for the wind will be a common issue for this part of the trip as I am entering into what I call the wind dead zone. I have been studying the wind patterns in this area every day for the last 4 months so I would know what to expect and I know its not good.
There’s an area north of me that seems to miss consistently have low winds and if it does come in, the locals tell me its very random and not something I can make a plan around.
My gear consisting of the 2011 Crossbow race kite combined with my custom board is optimised for the upcoming light conditions and the kiters here are amazed that I can speed along when they are struggling to keep their kites in the air.
I can keep the kite flying at 8 knots, and make some progress at 10 to 12 knots, and at 15-20 knots I’m speeding along!
On the upside, all this waiting for wind does mean I can relax a bit, drink some beer, eat good food and learn to dance Brazilian style, all while looking like the white guy who got too much sun!

Thanks to all of you who have posted with well wishes. I do read these and appreciate them, but unfortunately can’t respond individually as any computer time I do have is spent studying the coastline and wind predictions. Looks like a pretty piece of coast coming up if I can manage get out of here.

Day 4

The wind was too light to kite today, but that doesn’t mean it was a day of relaxation.
I found that my GPS had not been logging my distances to the memory card and thus was unreliable, so it was time to get a new one.
Glauber had managed to locate one for me, but I needed to get some money to be able to pay for it, so with some helpful directions from the crew I was pointed in the right direction.

This is a kitesurfing mission and I had stated at the beginning of this trip that there would be a self imposed rule of not using any other mode of transport other than walking or kiting.
With the hot sun blazing down, I walked to the nearest bank machine several kilometers away only to be rejected by the machine in the wall. I continued walking to another bank machine and again no money could be withdrawn. With my non-existent Portuguese, this trip was quite difficult at times, but I kept trying and eventually was able to take out the cash needed at the third bank stop.
As I walked the long trek back trying to keep cool in the intense heat I remembered a quote that a friend of mine had once said:

“It is the decisions that you make on a daily basis that define an adventure like this”.

And with that thought I took my new Garmin Etrex colour GPS and made the decision to practice safe navigation by encasing it in the only rubber waterproof pouch I had handy (I’m sure this will raise a few eyebrows)!

I had hoped that the wind would pick up in the afternoon so that I could test the new footpads and straps, but again the weather was in control and I remained on the beach.
The plan for tomorrow is to get on the water as early as the wind will allow and kite with the goal of making Marceo (200km) in a day or two depending on wind. I have to do battle with the Rio Sao Francisco but other than that it will hopefully be a nice day out on the water again.

Day 3

What a perfect greeting as breakfast was delivered to me at 6.15am this morning.
With the warm temperatures, beach location and delicious food, it took a while for my brain to register that I had to go kiting today.
I managed to drag myself down to the beach and setup, wondering how so many locations in Brazil could be considered paradise.
I broke my glasses yesterday, and there is no way I can continue without a pair as the burning sun and saltwater spray make them a necessity. So I made a plan to kite to Aracaju and buy a new pair, and I wanted to get there as quickly as possible as the short amount of squinting that I been doing was already starting to hurt my eyes.
Unfortunately I was greeted at the beach by a measly 8-10 knots and I stood in the water for what seemed like an eternity hoping that it would pick up. Eventually I just decided to get going, and luckily there was an outgoing tide which meant that I was flying along to begin with, however as I exited out off the current the wind died which caused my kite to drop in the surf.
I knew the forecast on Predictwind was for more wind in the afternoon so I patiently sheltered under the shade of my kite waiting for the wind to come up. I made another attempt to get off the beach but again my kite dropped into the surf resulting in what I can only describe as a kite mauling. I made it back to the beach and took a short nap while I waited for the wind again.
I awoke to find the sky clouding over, which made it easier on my eyes, and finally the wind started picking up so that I could finally navigate out of the surfbreak and kite where the waters were a little bit more predictable.
There is a constant compromise between being caught in a breaking set of waves and kiting too far out from shore, so I tried to find a safe track while keeping a vigilant eye out for rogue breaking waves destined to devour me and my board.
I saw the mouth of the Rio Vaza Barris river approaching and mentally tried to prepare myself for the challenge ahead. Although it wasn’t as bad as yesterdays crossing, the wind dropped to 8 knots which made for some very nervous times as I tried to keep the kite in the air while navigating the difficult waters.
The rest of the kite to Aracaju was heavenly, as I was able to kite downwind inside the breaking surf in soft, non-choppy water with a consistent 12-15 knots of wind. This was the first time during this trip that the kiting was so easy and it was nice to be able to just enjoy the scenery for a while.
I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing a mirage as a whole beach full of kites greeted me at my destination. This was the first time on the journey that I was surrounded by other kiters, and it felt fantastic to be on a safe beach with brilliant white sand stretching as fas as they eye could see. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt my body relax as I knew I was safe here and looked forward to being around other kitesurfers.
I had been given a contact called Junior to meet in Aracaju but instead was greeted by his uncle Glauber. The NPX top and Neil Pride cap made it obvious that I was in the right place and had met the right person. He beamed a warm welcoming smile and said “anything you need I can help you with” as he put a brand new pair of sea specs sunglasses into my hands.
I couldn’t believe my luck, I already thought this place was perfect I and it just got better!
A local posada one block away from the beach had been arranged for me and so off I went for a much needed feed.
I finished the day off with some carb loading on beer, for endurance reasons of course! Seriously I have been trying not to loose to much weight so that I can keep my energy levels up when the going gets tough. The evening was filled with funky Brazilian tunes and even some unexpected New Zealand music which just topped off a fantastic day

Aracaju has a good vibe, fantastic community of kiters with an extremely safe beach. Glauber, Crassus and some other local kiters have been instrumental in making me feel welcome and assisting with repairing gear, providing internet, clothes, some much need new deck pads and straps. I am so pleased that I didn’t kite past this area and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone thinking of coming here.

Summary
From Pria Do Saco to Aracaju
Distance 35 nautical miles
Mental 9/10
Physical 9/10
Gear- Changed out foot pads and straps, repaired Go Pro board mount, moved back fin further forward to be more centered. GPS not updating so need to find a new one.

Day 2

It was fantastic day out on the water today and so relieving to make some good progress and finally be clear of Salvador.
The wind angle and strength of 15-20 knots were perfect for the board and kite combination that I had and my mental state was greatly improved when I saw how much distance I was covering.
There was a big 2m swell which came in cleanly at Siribinha and kept me alert as it really took some skill and good surf reading skills to stay in control of the board.
An international Capoeira competition on the beach kept me entertained as I ate my lunch, and the energy and vibe from it all inspired me to keep moving.
It took a few attempts to get off the beach again as the wind had dropped a bit and the surf was quite big and I started to wonder at 3:30pm if I should even attempt to keep going or just stay put.
I was feeling good and decided that I needed to try and push myself through to sunset, so made an attempt to get as far as I could in the remaining daylight.
The second leg of the trip was very tense and exciting as random exploding waves 2km offshore at the Mangue Seco river mouth made for a rocky ride. Eric Gramond has described these river crossings by kite like kiting in a minefield and I couldn’t agree with him better, I had to keep my wits about me as a navigated through the water, conscious of there only being 30 minutes of daylight left.
My legs fared much better than the GoPro camera mount which must have just got shaken so much that it eventually broke.
I finally landed at 5pm and the hunt was on for a place to stay and eat. Some friendly locals provided a shower, food and even accompanied me to the local Possada run by a Dutch guy mad keen on fishing (all thanks to google
translate!)
So now I am sitting here contemplating tomorrows plan as the weather is predicted to be more of the same. I’m pleased to be done with reefs for the moment, but the big river crossings tomorrow might be just as testing.

Summary:
From Garajuba to Praiado Saco
Distance-90 nautical miles in 8 hours
Mental- 9/l10- in the zone today!
Physical 8/10- some chafing around pack strap area
Broken gear- broken GoPro camera mount, broken glasses hinge. Lost nozzle
hose for drink system.
Sea state/wind -choppy and confused 15-20 knots

Day 1

So the journey has started, its officially day one.
There was no fanfare, no big crowd to wave goodbye, just me sneaking out when the wind started to blow, not really knowing how much progress I could make, but trying anyway.
I have been trying to start for the past three days, and poor Adrianno who was hosting me, must have breathed a huge sigh of relief as I finally left so that he could get back to his normal schedule rather than keep watching me wait for the wind.
It took a lot of self restraint not to attempt to kite over the last few days, as there were some fantastic rain storms which brought in lots of strong winds, however as soon as the rain left so did the wind and that inconsistency would have left me struggling out in the ocean.
Today was different, the sky was clear and there was a consistent 12-15 knots which I could trust would be there for at least a few hours.
I ended up kiting upwind for 3 hours today which was both physically and mentally challenging as I had to be aware of the reefs the whole way and keep a vigilant watch on the wind. I had a close call when I was almost trapped inside a reef just as the wind dropped, but luckily I just managed to get myself out of trouble in the nick of time.
The wind dropped this afternoon, so I body dragged into the shore and ended up on this beautiful sandy beach where I have set up my hammock and am looking forward to a night of well deserved rest.
I was hoping to be able to share my GPS tracks with you however I found that my waterproof GPS was not as waterproof as I had hoped and somehow got waterlogged during my body drag in today. I’m going to keep my spare GPS inside my dry-bag tomorrow and hope that it will help to guide me on my journey over the next few weeks.
The ability to kite upwind today and make some real progress had made a huge different to my mental state and keeping positive on this trip. Spending the last few days staring out at the calm conditions made me wonder if I was ever going to be able to leave, so finally having the conditions to kite has helped to re-ignite my passion for this adventure and feel like I could finally make some progress.
I can plan every aspect of my trip, but I can not plan for the wind and this is the hardest thing for me. Each day I must sit and wait until the conditions are right, and if they are not, I have to sit some more. Patience is usually my strong point, but I will admit that this is starting to become a struggle for me as I wanted to have made more progress that this by now.
I am hoping that the wind will pick up tomorrow, and the forecasts look strong so I plan to kite a little further out and make some more progress with my distance goals.
However I have decided that if the conditions worsen and the wind is not strong enough, I may be forced to drive north and restart my trip further along the coast.
So I sit here on the beach, watching my hammock rocking slowly with a steady 16 knots of wind, lit by the almost full moon and I realise that this is pretty much paradise.
Tomorrow is another day, but with the strong winds that are forecast, its looking promising.

Sitting Tight

After a couple of days of getting all of my gear together, I’m all ready to start the mission again.  Unfortunately as each day passed the wind got lighter and lighter, which does not look promising for an early start tomorrow.

The strength of the wind is out of my control, so all I can do is sit tight and wait for it to pick up again, keeping a good sense of humour about it all while I wait. From day one of planning this trip I knew that the first 300 to 500km were going to be the hardest. Light, fickle winds plague this area and today was no exception. At this time of the year the wind is driven by rain fronts but as soon as those clear up the wind suddenly drops below 6 knots making the kite fall out of the sky.

My plan is to try and time the start of the trip with a south to southeast front. Waiting for these could end up being tedious but necessary as the coastline here is not forgiving.  My biggest concerns right now are reefs (mostly because of the big fins I have on my board) and finding safe landing spots.

So today was just spent hanging out, waiting for the wind and surrounding myself with the local kitesurfing community.  I actually met someone here on the beach that didn’t think I was crazy, it was so refreshing compared to the usual response I get when I talk about my plan of a set of raised eyebrows and look of disbelief.  I don’t think that I am crazy, well I didn’t until my Mum (who has always graciously accepted my adventures) mentioned to me that I might be crazy.  No, I still don’t think I’m crazy, well OK, I might be questioning my sanity right now. In case you missed it the TV3 news story is making out that I am crazy as well.
TV3 Interview

Although I am doing this trip solo, I have really good network of people here who have been supporting me which is really reassuring and its fantastic to have such a great local group with their friendly nature and local knowledge.

So I’m just going to sit tight for the moment, watching the ocean and waiting for wind.  I’m not making any predictions about when I will leave, I just know I’ll go when the conditions are good, and I don’t want to tempt fate by announcing a definite start date.

The locals reckon there is no wind until Thursday, but I’ll just have to wait and see.

Keeping it real

So here you are, expecting to read about how great my first day went…right?

Well, yesterday was a challenge all unto itself and nothing felt right during the whole day.

One of my spot messengers stopped working, this is the safety device that will call for help when I really need it, and although I carry two with me, having the backup one fail on day one is not a good sign.

My board fell off, and I have already discussed my concerns about the fins on this board and how dangerous they can be. With a big pack on my back, trying to get my board back and on my feet is no trivial matter.

The kite was really unresponsive and didn’t fly like I was expecting it to, I felt like I was steering a lead weight and then to top it off one of the kite lines broke.

After being battered around in the surf, I sheepishly came back into land and headed to the winddance shop to assess my gear.

As I walked past the lifeguards on the beach, I imagined them saying “Who is this crazy Gringo?? He can’t even make it off the beach, let alone 2000km!!!”

But not all great expeditions go to plan on day one. I was reminded of Jessica Watson’s recent adventure when at just 16 she became the the youngest round the world solo sailor. But did you hear about her first attempt which ended just outside Sydney because she ran straight into a big freight container?  I guess the positive side is that I didn’t crash into anything today.

My thoughts played on the risks of attempting this trip without all of my safety gear working, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Andrew McAuley who set out to kayak 1600 km across the Tasman Sea, but never made it home to his family. I’ve watched this video hundreds of times to remind me that I need to make sure that everything I can control is under control.

Back on dry land I was able to reassess the situation and found that my kite lines had stretched which was causing my kite to be less responsive in the air. I needed to reduce the weight in my backpack, not just for my comfort, but to put less pressure on the kite, and so I had to be ruthless and take out anything which I did not need to survive or would stop me progressing due to gear damage.

I kept essential safety equipment like flare and strobe light but toiletries, food, first aid kit, local mobile, second GoPro camera and repair kit were all taken out.

My backpack, which I have spent weeks modifying and testing was modified once more and I changed the position of the back strap to a single central position to help with stability in the surf.

I hoped that replacing the batteries in the spot messenger GPS would fix the problem, but it failed to revive the device. I was not expecting this as I have been using spot messenger units for 2 years and never had one fail.

Further investigation showed the problem to be with the contacts inside the battery case and so I’m now scrambling around trying to locate another GPS device at short notice.

After several hours I returned to the sea and everything felt right again, but the weather was not going to cooperate and with only a light 12 knots in the air, I decided to call it a day and come back to shore.

So now I sit and wait for the wind, the forecast shows light wind conditions for the next few days so I think its going to be a slow first 300 km as I try to get out and upwind while navigating through the treacherous salvador reefs.

Day one complete, not quite what I was expecting, but an experience all the same.  I wonder what day two will bring?

Starting today- wind permitting

So this is it, my final post before the biggest adventure I have ever undertaken.

I always advise people planning this type of expedition that getting to the start line with the right gear, planning and support is the hardest part. Adrianno from Wind Dance (http://winddance.com.br) has been fantastic with my final preparations and hosting me. Any piece of kiting kit I have needed he has been able to provide.
Adrianno will also act as my primary contact for the southern part of the trip.

I have packed, repacked and culled my gear over and over again in the past few days. I’ve questioned what to take and what to leave behind.

The decision is final on my kite, I’m taking the 2011 11m Cabrinha Crossbow, I need the power for the start and hopefully will be able to hold it down in the stronger winds.

The board choice still plays on my mind and is causing me some stress. I desperately want to ride a twin tip for many reasons, the most significant being comfort and safety. However, after many unsuccessful attempts to get upwind yesterday using the twin tip I begrudgingly accepted that this board was not going to work. Thus the course board is coming on the journey with me. I have serious concerns about the big fins getting caught on the underlying reefs and that my legs may get really tired with the lack of give in the board, but I also know that this adventure requires me to start with a strong upwind section and this is the only board that can get me there.

I really don’t know how much distance I can cover in one day, but I hope that tomorrow will give me a good indication of what’s to come.

I’m expecting it to be slow to start, but I’m feeling strong and confident about what lies ahead.

The plan is to start at 10am today from Pedaeta beach (see spot tracks from yesterday). It’s raining here so will need to assess that decision in 2 hours. Currently sitting in the famous Salvador traffic so the start time may be pushed out.

Weather

I am looking at the Predictwind ( http://forecast.predictwind.com/ ) forecast for Salvador and north. The map below map shows potentially what I am in for, lots of upwind!

The weather looks like SE 15-18 knots from the 21-24th July. Question is, can I trust this forecast? I would really like feedback from anyone living in the area from Salvador to Natal. Possible start date tomorrow or the following day if the wind forecast stacks up. Ideally I was hoping to start more on a southerly direction but at least there looks like wind.

Preparation

The key to the success of this expedition is preparation.  What most people haven’t seen is all of the ground work, planning, and attention to the tiniest details that have gone on in the months preceding this adventure.  Equipment modification, contingency plans, and physical training in New Zealand have all led up to this week where I got to test the gear and experience the conditions right here in Brazil.

The past few days have been spent familiarising myself with the local community, topography and conditions as well as pushing my gear to its limits to ensure I can anticipate as many possible scenarios as I can.

Due to the extreme length of this trip, I have to be able to trust all of my equipment with my life, and that means making some decisions now which will hopefully help me on the journey when the conditions may not be ideal.  One thing that people involved in this project have commented on is how fanatical I am about my gear and there have been many variations of each prior to what I have with me now.  Most of the equipment I am taking has been modified to tailor the nature of this specific expedition, and I have been involved in all aspects from the big projects such as new custom board designs to the smallest detail of the stitching in my waterproof backpack.

The decision as to which board to take is still playing on my mind as I will have to make some compromises which ever board I decide to take. The board needs to cope with a huge variation in conditions through my journey.  The initial portion will be light wind conditions and thus the board needs to carve upwind easily.  However, the second part of my trip is downwind and involves potentially large swells and choppy water.  Add to this the comfort factor as I will be spending hundreds of hours on this board, and the figures calculate that I need to take two very different boards.

Unfortunately this is not an option, and so my compromise is that I will have to pick the board which will accommodate the upwind section in light wind conditions, as this will at least allow me to start the challenge.

I did have a custom board made by Mark Nelson and designed by Ian Pointing  for this trip, but it was only delivered from Hawaii yesterday, and it had suffered some damage during shipping. Mark has done a great job getting this board to me at relatively short notice. I managed to fix it up and make it watertight again, but I am concerned that I do not have enough experience using this board to predict how it will respond under a variety of conditions (particularly high winds), and thus I am reluctant to use equipment that I am not 100% familiar with.  A big twintip is looking like plan C and may potentially be more comfortable and safer in the long run.

I also need to finalise the decision on which size of my Cabrinha 2011 Crossbow kites to take. I am comfortable on the 11m and it can be pushed pretty hard over a wide wind range, however it may be too big for the 30 knot wind days with a big board, but probably perfect for the 10-20 knot wind days. The 9m would be ideal with a big board for the latter portion of the trip, but potentially not large enough for the start. I am certainly leaning towards the 11m as it has a huge wind range and some fantastic ability to depower.

So there are still some things I need to finalise, but hopefully with some more time testing gear on the water, I will be able to make the right decision in the next day or two. There looks to be a potential weather window for a start on the 22nd July so really not much time at all to finish preparations.

Now it’s not all about adventure seeking and pushing my limits, part of this trip is also about meeting new people along the way.  I have managed to make some great contacts for the second portion of my trip, but I am still looking to find some kiters for the first portion which is a less popular kiting location. Local knowledge is going to prove invaluable to the success of this expedition and so my next challenge is to find as many people as possible who can help me to predict the upcoming conditions and give me insight into what might lie ahead.

Here is how you can help – if you live between Natal and Salvador and would like to be a critical part to this journey, then I would love to hear from you.  You can contact me directly at sciangocee (@) garrifulio.mailexpire.com and track my location online here http://yakers.co.nz/where-is-louis-map/<http://yakers.co.nz/where-is-louis-map/>

Many thanks to De Benedetti Diego from Durobeach for the pictures.