03-13-04

Another beautiful morning in El Yaque! The wind is up, and it looks to be another good day for the wind rides! The breakfeast, totally awesome again, plenty of everything, and the supreme environment doesn’t hurt either! Watched the birds float on by, and the fuzzy view of Coche in the distance, confirming the suspicion, that it may very well be a big day!

I was stoked to get some more photos, but did not perform the ritual waterproof case preparation, and without the standard lens prep, the lens gets foggy very fast. I also forgot to set the camera to sequence mode, and shot for almost an hour in single shot mode. Bummer, as I missed the full execution of Alex’s spock 360 with the cowboy finger pointing! I only managed the mid-air snap. I also noted the full 2.5hr photo session makes the camera run warm, assisting in the fogging process. Have to keep the session shorter, and prep the lens fully. The majority of the pics were fuzzy from the fog, and I missed some really excellent subjects! Sorry folks, technical difficulties! I’ll try again, but at least a few turned out alright:

With the noon photo session complete, it was really starting to rage, and folks were switching boards and sails, down to the next smaller sizes, all afternoon! It was fully honkin by 2:30-3 and stayed up ‘till closing! I grabbed the 255 style board, and a 5.7m, and scored an excellent 1.5 hr jump session! I just can’t help going a meter overpowered, and logging the frequent flyer miles! In one jump, I felt as if the height and length were 20 and 40 feet, respectively! The flight time with the big sail is phenomenal! Such excellent downwind floaters! Ahhh life IS GOOD!

I toasted the muscles in the entire body, and had to come back in to re-hydrate. After returning the equipment, I was invited to a hacky session with the guys, and gladly accepted. Felt brilliant to stretch out the legs and get the bad juices out of the system! Feeling great now!

Happy hour began, and Lorenzo was right off the water at the beach bar, a classic photo-op, as the harness and attire was so classically Margi! It’s a wonderful life!

The happy hour of drinks, friends, conversation, beef jerky, and the windsurf pro’s rippin it up for our entertainment, was again blissful! We visited and made plans for some pizza at Mobu, and the Reggae band at Ipennema for the evening.

The Mobu tables were filled with Peter, Lisia, myself, Lorenzo, Michelle, Kevin, Bob, Cheryl, Reggie, Andy, John, Kirsten, and Ivor! What a crowd! We had a blast chatting and sharing stories, while devouring some very tasty pizza and beer! Just awesome service, food, and atmosphere!

It was time to stroll on down to the Ipenema to check out the band, and we split up to each a separate path to get ready, and then over to the chill-out. The place was filling up with the full assortment of locals and internationals, and the band was just doing sound checks as we meandered in.

The band was classic Reggae, but with the added bonus of Spanish lyrics! This was a fun mix! The open air dance floor on the top floor of the hotel makes a spectacular backdrop for the band to set up on! The stars provided the ambient lighting, and the people, bobbing heads in typical reggae styleee, bounced and danced under the stars to a thumpin’ bass line! What fantastic surroundings for a party!

Everyone seemed to have had an excellent time, and those who shredded the water for the afternoon, and wanted more for tomorrow, decided on the wise option of getting some sleep. I hung for awhile with Andy, until it was 12:30 or so, and the band ended a set after a short spurt of rain sprinkles, to clean the equipment. We took the break as the sign for the walk home. As we left several local folks started to show up! Looks like the party was just getting going! Andy and I made the walk anyway, and met up with Reggie on the way home and said our goodnights, see ya tomorrows, and off to sleep. More for tomorrow! See ya..