Cabarete - Day 10 (recap)

Day 10:

After an epic day yesterday, I am stoked for a repeat today.  Don't ask me what day of the week it is by this time in my vacation, because I have fully unplugged at this point.  Yes, I am fully immersed in relaxation during the morning and evening, with action packed wind chasing days!

Today's plan is to head into Cabarete after eating some food, then stop by Laurel Eastman's kite school to inquire about the pool party which will be tomorrow night, then get on the water for some riding.

What do Sean and I make for lunch / breakfast you might ask?  Well, we made a smoked fish, cheese & tomato sandwich...and yes, it was Oh So delicious!

smoked reef fish, cheese and tomato sandwich



You might not believe me when I tell you the sandwich kicked major arse...but look at our faces.  Mmmmm mmmmm good.

After that we head for downtown Cabarete.  Becky and I stop and get our picture in front of IKO headquarters.

IKO headquarters behind us

Then we continue on to Cabarete.

On the way we get stopped by a local vendor who has approached us to come into his shop every trip into town.  Each time he gives us a new name, but it always has "Snoop Doggy" as the beginning part of his name, then he ends it with a letter.  Today it was Snoop Doggy P.  Rather than going into his store, I do give him some attention by dropping a phatty beat for him to rap over, cause you know I got the wicked beat-box skillz!

  

By this time we are hot and thirsty so we stop for a cold Presidente.

After cooling off with a beer, we continue our journey.   We stop into a surf store that smells of sea water and board wax.  Becky gets herself a cool waterproof digital watch that she now loves and can wear kiting.  The best part of the surf store is the sign outside.

After wandering around Cabarete the wind starts to pick up so it is time to hit the beach and walk back to F10.  We also plan to stop and talk to Laurel about the party the following night.

On the beach the action has started.

When we get to Laurel's school, she just happens to be heading back out for another session...her kite buddy is none other than Sir Richard Branson (if you don;t know who this is...well, google him).  I approach him and as for a group picture which he obliges.  He is extremely down to earth for a billionaire!

After the group pic we huff it down to F10.  Within minutes I have my kite up and I am on the water.  I am fully pumped and ready to use my new upwind skills to work my way up to Laurel and Sir Branson and kite around the two. 

I get up there in about 15 minutes (1 mile upwind or so) and spend the next 45min to 1hr riding in the same vicinity with Laurel and Sir Branson.  So, now I guess I can say that I have kited with the both of them.  I even went by Sir Branson whooping and hollering...and I got a good "whoop whoop" out if him as well as he shared his stoke with me.

When they get off the water I head back to kite beach and take a break at F10.  Later on, after the crowds clear out, I return for a sunset session.  Myself and 3 other kiters ride by ourselves....flat water, 10m conditions.....no crowd.....silky smooth wind.  Oh, it doesn't get any better!!!!  Unfortunately all the pics Becky took suck because it was too dark out....well, one came out marginally good.  Oh well..a good pic will come someday.

After cleaning up, showering, and having a drink or two, we give Alex a call and make plans to head down to Sosua to party and dance it up.  We get a hold of Jr. to come get us and take us to Alex's house. 

I bring a 1/2 gallon of Rum, Brugal (my favorite in D.R.), a pack or two of cigars, and we have Jr. stop and get coke and ice on the way to pick us up.  Needless to say, after polishing off most of the 1/2 gallon, we end up deciding to just chill.  Alex and Mary offer to let us stay at their beautiful home.  Becky and I get a great room, and Sean gets his own room as well.  So, since we aren't going anywhere else, the party continues on.  We get some great pictures. 

Since we are out in the country, and sitting exposed on the outdoor porch drinking and smoking, Alex brings out some protection, of which we waste no time in using as a prop.  Enjoy!

Rum and Guns -- need I say more?

that's my girl....you can see why I married her!!!

Cabarete - Day 9 (recap)

Pushing forward.....

Day 9:



Today is stellar!  Mad wind all day.  I get out early on my 13m until I am lit out of my mind.  Kitebeach is a busy freakin place today!

After my 13m session I sit on the deck, drink a beer, and reset for a few before heading back out.

Becky is out riding, and Sean is doing his first lesson with Niko. 

I head out with Alex, who takes a few hours off to ride with me, and we upwind it from kite beach to about 2 miles upwind to the top point of Bozo beach on the other side of Cabarete.  I have never rode so far upwind in my life.  It was awesome, but a lot of work! 

It took me at least 20-30 tacks, whereas Alex did it in like 4.  He said I should be able to do the same, so I plan on making this trip several more times before I leave to really dial in my upwind skills.

Here are some pictures of F10 kite club.

You can see me packing my 10m out to the beach to get my second session of the day.

Like I said, lots of kiters out.  And Becky even takes some shots of hot female kiters to bring back to the States for our buddy, Wally aka Gator.



beauties and the beast???

Becky also gets a great panoramic picture of kite beach. You can see me with my 13m and 10m in the left hand corner.

click for larger view

One of the gals taking lessons has become our friend, Lacee Gordon, and today she earns her first kiteboarding battle wounds.

After a very tiring day of riding (I think I got 3 or 3 sessions in) we have plans to take Pedro and Wendy (Wendy is an ex-pat) for dinner.  We are told by everyone that "Bliss" is by far the nicest place in Cabarete.  So, around 7pm Wendy and Pedro arrive and we head to Bliss after giving them each a few little gifts we had brought them.

Bliss is absolutely stunning! French owned, amazing food and service, and a lovely atmosphere.

We sit, enjoy dinner, and have a great time into the evening.  Here are some picture of the food, which Sean insisted we take, since he is a chef in Seattle.

lamb ... sooo damn good!

shrimp

mahi-mahi

After heading back, I am pretty sure we drank rum and beer...but honestly I was so tired from riding, and content from the excellent meal, that I could be wrong...maybe we just went to bed.  Either way, there is no pictures of the rest of the night.

Cabarete - Day 7 - 8 (recap)

I have a very exciting event coming up...well, this weekend, and I would like to blog about it.  But to keep things organized I am going to try and get the Cabarete trip recap out of the way before continuing on.  Luckily, Becky's best friend, Sean Wood, arrived on day 7 of our trip, and as such, the next two days consisted of so much partying that we really don't have many pictures...so a mad dash in my blog to the end of the trip should be doable by or shortly after this weekend, in which I can then report on my activities for this weekend.

All I can say is that I will be DJing the AMSI Saturday night industry after party in Hood River, sponsored by Liquid Force, Monster Energy, and SBC Kiteboarder.  Stay tuned for pics after my Cabarete wrap up!

DAY 7:

So, day 7 is beautiful.  Sean should be showing up around 1pm.  It is a beautiful morning in paradise!

I am out getting a sick session when Sean arrives.  I ride most of the day.  That night we head into town to show Sean downtown Cabarete and to get some Cuba Libre (Rum and Coke) into our bloodstream.

Cooper invites us out with him.  Becky rolls with Cooper, Sean hops on back of the scooter I have borrowed from F10.  WE plan to meet up with some of Cooper's friends who are staying at a place 2 doors down from F10.  Here we are at the place we ended up for some food, Styrofoam cups full of Cubra Libre still in hand from the Blue Bar.

And here is a closeup of Becky, me, and Sean.



When in Cabarete you often see homeless animals, although it is not as heart breaking to see them when there is always a scrap or two to be tossed from a tourist, as well as a soft bed to be found.

DAY 8:

We wake up on day 8 to sunny skies, but the locals say that the wind is not going to happen.  They are predicting rain.

We head out around 9am with Alex and his wife, Mary, to go have some breakfast at their favorite French breakfast joint.  Breakfast is a mere 100 pesos...or slightly less $3.  I end up eating to plates....pork chops in gravy and potatoes.  I take this picture...so I am not in it of course.

During breakfast we start to see some kites go up...but before we are even done the wind has stopped and all kites are out of the sky.  Alex tells us that we might as well give up on riding today, and that he will give us a ride to the grocery store, which we had been bugging him to do.

We head to the grocery store...but before hand Alex makes a stop at his place. Little did we know he had some work in store for us.  We needed to help his workers get the pool table to the second floor.  I think it took 6 of us to get it up there.

Here Becky got a panoramic picture of the view off Alex's front deck, which also has a infinity pool.

 (not operational at the moment).

click for larger view

Afterwards we head to the grocery store and buy up hella stuff to prepare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while staying at F10.  In all reality though it would probably been just as cost effective to always eat out in Cabarete where prices are very reasonable.

 



When we get back to F10 the scene is quiet..a result of no wind.  Here we get a glimpse of what it is like to be employed in Cabarete.

And here is a close up of Isaac slaving away for "the man".

Isaac working hard.

 That night we finish things off with a few bottles of rum and good company.  Isaac hangs with us and we do it up Caribbean style...which is probably why there are no pictures of the festivities.

Cabarete - Day 6 (recap)

Oh, today was a slight bummer as it is the last full day in Cabarete for Daniel Stoner, Anne, Park, and Delany....we will miss them.

On the bright side Becky's best friend, Sean Wood, will be arriving tomorrow, so we are excited for that.  We will be checking out of Viva de Tangerine today and moving into a room at F10 kite club.

Before we check out and head down toF10 on kite beach  (Viva is located on Bozo beach), we decide to head into town one last time with the Stoner family. Parker wanted to get a new wooden machete.

Of course once we are in town we get hassled left and right to check different little stores.  I actually walk into one art store and I am instantly reminded of the art from the early years of one of my old friends, Burgandy Viscosi.

One of the great things about the Dominican Republic is that there is alot of emphasis on art, theater, and music.

After Parker got himself a new machete, Becky and I decided to head across the street to the German place for a beer. 

I was bummed that they were out of dark German beers...but I made due with a Presidente. 

Delany then borrowed our digital camera and took a few pictures of Becky and I hamming it up.

Popeye the sailor drunk and Olivoil pose for the camera

After cooling off with a cold one, we head back down the beach to Viva, in order to check out and get down to F10.  My goal is to get on the water...and it looks like the wind is starting to pick up.  For the most part though there are only big kites up and no one is doing much.

Becky and head in, finish packing, and check out as quick as possible.  Then Becky, Danial and I grab a motor concho and head to F10 hoping that the wind will pick up a bit more..... Unfortunately it never really does.

In fact, it backs off just slightly.  Daniel decides to give it a go, but he ends up walking back up the beach to the top of kite beach after every 10 or so tacks.

Daniel launches from the top of kite beach

Here we get a great little video of him riding in the light winds.  Wait until the end when he pulls off this awesome move!!!  It is well worth the 1 minute 31 second wait.

After shlogging around, Daniel we head back to Viva.we also tell him that we plan to hit the town up late night and do some partying.  We tell him that he needs to sneak out and come party with us since it is his last night. 

Unfortunately for Daniel the wind picks up right towards dusk about 1 hr after he left F10! 

I score an epic sunset session....but don't tell Daniel, I didn't want to rub it in!

We get a great surprise not long after I get done riding.  Our friend Carolina from Santiago and her Aunt come to F10 to party down for the night. 

Here are some of the epic picture from our evening out on the town.  Daniel was even able to sneak out and meet up.

Now tell me those picture don;t look like a fun night?

Want to know the score?

• 
  
  2 bottles of rum for pre-funk
• 
  
  1 bottle of rum and vodka each at the beach
• 
  
  4 monster and 4 red bull
• 
  
  then a bottle of tequila when everyone got back....oh, and 1 more bottle of rum!

Here I am hella...and I mean hella drunk.  I believe Becky may have turned the video on, but it could have just as easily been me, and I just forget about it.  Listen how drunk I am, so drunk that I have acquired a bad english accent spoken in pigeon spanish...or vice versa.