| |
|
The Kiteboarder Magazine Features: When Everything Breaks...
the trip
   
|
the art of retreating
on Cozumel's Country Club Beach
Why do so many people feel separated and isolated even though they are surrounded by millions everyday? Demanding full-time jobs, families, and daily life struggles often keep our vision cloudy. And, our calendars completely overbooked. It’s no surprise we retreat.
We pull away and look for escapes to help us remove the fog and gain a piece of ourselves back. In search of chances to re-charge our internal batteries, we retreat. Retreating (see definition) is simply seeking comfort among madness. It’s found in various forms of hobbies, vacations, religions, meditations and sport.
No wonder we love kiteboarding. It removes us from daily stresses and fuels our lives with positive energy. The only problem is most retreating has a brief effect. We step away for a few moments and come straight back to the craziness. We accept short reality withdraws and then allow social stresses back in. Most humans, being creatures of habit, continue the pattern. So, why is retreating temporary? By definition, it seems that when one retreats, one must eventually return.
How do we create that lasting “high on life?” There’s a few who spend effortless hours practicing the art of retreating. They search for a common bond where content comfort remains even when craziness reappears. After various failures spent learning, trying, and testing various activities, I’ve become one of those explorers. And the Air Retreats were born.
These 7 day excursions outside reality to exotic destinations has fueled a new culture based souley on a piece of nylon with some strings attached to it. Some call it kiteboarding. Now home from hosting my third Air retreat, I call it living. Even with all the work it takes, I always leave culturally encouraged. And, hope these few pages inspire you as well.
|
the crew
|
30 from 17 to 52
seemingly meaningless numbers???
Some of this years retreaters we had never met. Some we chat with almost daily back home. Some are long time friends we've not seen since last year. And, some we thought we new, but now have a deeper respect for.
With another public invitation, the2008 Air Retreat offered a unique opportunity for riders to enhance their kiteboarding among good people in “magical windy lands.” With seven "early bird" reservations made from alumni before last year's retreat was even over, the 2008 actually sold out, and we had to get more rooms! Overbooked, we ended up with 30 amateur kiters, pros and industry people filling one beachfront mansion and three incredible condos along Cozumel’s Country Club beach.
This year, we decided to "challenge" the culture by gathering everyone daily for group breakfast and lunch prepared by our special in-house chefs. With shared morning coffee, kiting, and family style meals in the evening this group built camaraderie that spilled everywhere. What really surprised us was that even everything ended up breaking, each retreater showed incredible support, patience, and killer karma. Now, this is really impressive when you consider what went wrong: 1-Every "mini hummer" car rental broke down at least once. 2-Water heater broke, made for really cold showers 3- And then, the house water would just stop running when you were taking a shower 4-Constent electric outages 5-Retreaters getting arrested 6- Cars getting impounded by Mexican cops 7-Rescue boat breaking down 8-Backup rescue Jet Ski breaking down 9-Luggage not arriving 10-People missing flights 11- the air compressor broke. Yep, we laugh now. . .
Kiteboarding draws people in with both sport and lifestyle. The incredible thing about the Cozumel Air Retreat is how this diverse crowd treated each other with respect and pure dignity, even though they'd never met. The energy was strong....It was like a family reunion. Kiteboarding flooded the veins of every soul there!
|
the kiting
|
more extreme wind
7 kitable days, 5 were 20kts +
On this retreat, things were a bit more extreme!Last year's 2007 CZM Air Retreat averaged 15-20kts daily and had 9 days straight. Except for one day trip to the lagoons, we kited right in front of our houses. The kiting was really good, and people just worked on individual skills.
But this trip...holy whoa! As the main camera guy, I saw riders taking it to levels I thought were outside of a retreat. They were so intense, that I can personally attest to finding new confidence (or stupidity) in trying some pretty hardcore stuff. Let me explain....
The lagoons go up once, then down twice Last year, I took a reps New 14m flat kite and followed North's Nick Abbott about 4 miles upwind to the lagoons. This year, I took a reps 14m New flat kite, this time and Ocean Rodeo Rise, and decided to charge upwind by myself. I couldn't believe a year had gone by since I last did this. That was until I came across the boat. Abandoned after running ashore a sandbar, this passenger ferry was about 80' long and was rusting quickly. I circled it a few times in awe, starring at the name glistening beyond the rust. It was properly titled "catch the wave." A discovery that would be exposed the next day...
I soon landed on a sandbar in the lagoon's crystal waters. Looking back at my path, I notice a white / green kite floating above the tree line. After a short break, Scott Hyland catches arrives on the sand bar, with my personal kite! Completely stoked to get in some freestyle, we exchanged kites and had the most epic downwinder ever. This was all on Sunday morning.
Dock launches, sliding & downwind again By Monday morning, everyone, including all the lost luggage had arrived safely. After our first "hot dog 'n eggs" breakfast prepared by the house chefs, we ride all morning and get some crazy awesome video footage using the Jet Ski (before it brakes down 400 yards offshore). That afternoon, the wind picks up a bit and we decided to drive up to the lagoons. We rig in the parking lot, launch the kites, and then walk to the end of the pier where, those daring enough, jump off and ride.
Watching Davey & Noah throwing some boosted kite loop handle passes, I was inspired to kick it up a notch. So, I launched from the pier, took one tack, and then headed straight back at full speed. The goal was to "slide the dock," which actually went really well. That is until one of my fins got caught in between to boards. Luckily, I just fell back into the water. After this, we all did the 4-mile downwinder back to the house...which is when I decided to try my next new trick on the previous days discovery...
Boat, Land, & Kite Jumps I could write pages on all the crazy stuff we did. But to keep it simple...you know the "Catch the Wave" ferry I discovered the previous day, well, I climbed up and jumped off it. This was the scariest thing I've ever done kiting. It was rusty and slick with algae. I would do it again!
On day three, we headed up, by boat, to a very secluded lagoon on the island's north side. A virgin kite spot for retreaters, we had 20 - 25 kts wind, tiny chop water on one side of our camped out sand bar and butter flat on the other. We were jumping over the sandbar, the peninsula with 12' high mangrove brush, and oh yeah, people's kites! But the most memorable, is when Litewave Dave held up a beer on the sandbar as Davey Blair comes racing full speed toward it from the lagoon side. He jumps, grabs the beer from Dave's hand, and as he floats across the land, takes a huge gulp and then throws down the can before landing in the water on the other side.
Waves & Reefs This was a new experience for all of us, including the air team. One day we were taken to Punta Sur national park, on Cozumel's south side. In this secluded pristine natural reserve, we had 22-27kts of side on winds, and 4-8ft high waves rolling in from the swells. With heads poking out the surface, Adrian climbed up a reef and jumped off. Half way through the day, we had kite tear in two as it impounded the shoreline. This was a day that tested everyone's skills. With more than 5 miles of coastline to explore, we road all over. We finished the day at Coconuts, watching the sunset over a cervesa.
More More More The few things highlighted above are just a glimpse of this year's kite experience. I can tell you, by the third day, we had kited so much, most of us were so soar, we gladly took our time getting back on the water. But once we were one, the extreme just kept happening. Check out this year's movie for more, including Jet SKi rescue jumping, land crashing, and synchronized kiting!
|
|
the culture
|
the culture
new and old friends unite...
The 7 Truths Revisted, PLUS some...
Growing up, I successfully failed at just about every hobby, sport, or activity I tried. Not because I lacked skill, it came down to connection. Most things were too solo feeling and little space was shared. Group cohesiveness never set in and for me, retreating sucked. Everything lead to competition, agendas, politics or profit. That is, until I kiteboarding entered my life.
Kiting quickly consumed me and something unique crept inside. When my partner started kiting, she noticed something too. Immense excitement set in as we realized new culture possibilities emerging. During this third Air Retreat, everyone lived and kited together some great windy days. We were reminded what it means to be part of the kiteboarding culture.
For more than a year, we have fueled those culture discoveries and expected nothing lesson this trip. Well, we experienced everyone again, plus we learned something very new...
When things break and go wrong, kiters unite
Looking back we laugh. We laugh at our "mini hummers" needing 40 mile toes from Punta Sur. We laugh at Joe getting arrested for having too many people in the car. We laugh at taking cold showers. And, I now laugh when I crashed about a mile offshore, and the jet ski coming to rescue me, well, broke down.
This trip was nothing less than exceptional. As the hosts, everything something extreme happened OFF the water, we would cringe, and wonder which retreater would possibly freak out over the situation. And, when things continued to go wrong the entire week, we feared a mutiny! But what we experience, can really only best be summed up as love.
Kiters have some much positive energy. They love the sport. They love themselves...and most of all, they love the one's they are around. Even when everything breaks, the support, compassion, understanding, and patience they have is incredible. I personally saw retreaters putting themselves into danger, just to help with someone else's mistake. WOW!
People keep asking if we'll do it again...
Well, it does take a lot of work. And, it can be quite stressful...but what a silly question. Of course we're gonna do it again. It's an Air Retreat. And, I'm looking forward to living itt full time in the very near future...
|
|
|
|
|
