Saturday Feb 24th

GOOD MORNING EL YAQUE!

Another great day in store here on the island of Margarita!! We have the wind already at the 6.0M sail range at the 10AM reading, and it is looking like another windy day for the folks here at the Yaque! We have some departing and others arriving, and the usual hustle and bustle as people find there rooms for the next week or two. Plenty of returning friends, (you know who you are) and new ones to be made as well.

Weather today will be sunny, highs in the 90’s, steady easterly winds all after noon into the 20-30MPH range. The haze is back, and that means the thermal engine is running again, this will create our local low pressure center between Margarita and the mainland, and this will generate some nice wind today! Forecast looks great again for the lucky few that get to sail! Glad you could make it, and let’s go sail!!

I made a giant breakfast at my apartment, (Love the El Yaque Club!) and devoured it down to get ready for what promises to be a pretty big day! I just had to throw in a photo of my ‘Eggs Timoteo’, about the only thing I can cook! The coffee and juice finished it off nicely, as I grabbed a pear on the way down to the center.

After some visiting with the boyz, and getting suited up, I got out for some truly phenomenal photos!! The wind was hooking everyone up with plenty of power, and this yielded some stellar tricks pulled out by everyone! Douglas has some magazine cover action shots that so blew me away when he was doing the moves, and then all over again as I watched the sequences back on the 24” screen at the office!! See photos here. So many tricks, and so much action, I only had to stand out for less than an hour to fill the memory with 500+ pics! Brilliant photo session!

This got me stoked to get out and try some fun for myself! I took the words of Viento Master Bernie as gospel, and went with a 5.2M and the 93Lt JP. Oh great master, you are so wise, my sail, perfect, my board, perfect! With all those years watching and constantly answering the ‘What should I take’ question, he is now the wise one to whom we ask for advice! Thanks Bernie!!

I was just ripping back and forth, and having such fun with my equipment selection! There was a lot of washing machine action out on the water, and the ride was enhanced by the challenge, once away from the messy inside, I found the waves and ride afuera to be just fantastic! Such a great time riding the waves, jumping some, and slashing off others, I lost track of time, and it was soon wrinkled skin on hands time! Gotta go rinse and dry to keep the hands in shape for more later. It’s off to the showers, then on to happy hour.

We share a few beers all around, and I meet up with Rodger, Fredrick, Alex, Lynn, Deanna, Bernie, to mention a few for some laughs and sharing after work. A fun chat session, before Bernie had to go, and we soon made some plans for chicken at Fureza Six. Marla from the internet café, that had ‘The Chillout’ bar a few years back, has reopened in Los Piratas! She stopped by and handed us a flyer for same. Looks like the ‘Chillout’ is back! We decided to check that out tonight as well.

We met for dinner and got there early to get a table and plenty of chicken for supper. We were five hungry men and the chicken was ready and in the oven waiting for us, and we had food in under 1/3 of a beer in time. Amazing good food and fast!! Love that!

The feast was all one could ask for, and my ½ chicken met its match in short order. High ratings all around the table, as we sat back for our apertivo. The Anis was tasty, and warm going down, perfect end to a great meal! We finished our food and emptied the table for the folks waiting to get in, and then split up, and Rodger, Fredrick, and myself walked down to the new Chillout, at Los Piratas.

We were early, and had the place to ourselves for the first half-hour or so, and chatted up the bar gals, and then shot some pool. Soon we saw the new hammock and chillin beanbags, all in a nicely decorated new looking Piratas patio. We each tried the hammock, and then settled on the patio in beanbags and stools. Relaxing and being served cold beer is just so nice! We soon had chilled enough and then hit the dance-floor for some fun with local girlfriends Belkis, Mari, and many more. Such a great time dancing with plenty of laughter and great music thumping out of the usual Piratas sound system! We even got to get into some of the local tambor dancing! Such a blast!

Soon we had tired ourselves out, and made way back to our respective homes away from home. Fredrick was hungry, and we weren’t quite done with the day, so I invited Rodger and Fredrick up to the pad for some sandwiches, and beer. We watched videos from the iPod, and had our fill of food and beer, before calling it a night. A great finish to another great day of fun! Luego!

Timoteo