Rob made a great video of our week in Punta San Carlos/Solo Sports camp, check it out:
Punta San Carlos, Baja - August 2011 from Rob on Vimeo.
You asked for more pics. Well, sit back and enjoy. Here are a lot more, along with some commentary...
All the following windsurfing and SUP surfing shots were taken by Clark Merritt...San Carlos photog extraordinairre. Thanks Clark!...
The wavesailing was so much fun. The Saturday afternoon we arrived, there were logo high sets and it was blowing 25mph+ and we jumped right in the frying pan. The waves and wind let up for the rest of the week, but we made the best of them and wavesailed everyday but one...
Loved the SUP surfing! We SUP surfed every single morning. Earlier in the week, we had overhead waves and it must have been a south swell because we had long rides with multiple top/bottom turn opportunities. Mid week gave us waist to shoulder high waves. Late in the week, the swell angle changed, we had knee to chest high waves and we had to wait longer for the bigger sets to roll through. Most all these SUP pics were taken late in the week when the waves were smaller...
Sharing a party wave...
This is my new paddle yoga pose - I got a little too close to Rob on my cutback and lost my balance. No wonder my knee was sore when I got home...
Buh-Bye!...
Emily liked it!...
Can you see the grin on my face?...
All week long, there were a group of at least 5 seals who were checking us out while we were windsurfing and SUP surfing. They were very curious about the SUP surfing. As the week went on, they got closer and closer to us, until finally on our last morning SUP surfing, one of them would submarine right into the back of our board and nose the board's tail ever so gently, but not knock us off. Earlier in the week, one of them tugged at Kevin's leash while he was surfing The Point. Here is one of them in the foreground...
This place is becoming a serious mountain bike destination. The pros and magazines are coming and filming here...
The entrance to the Fish Camp area...
surfers set up their own camp at the Chili Bowl...
At the top of the black diamond designated trail "Snake Run", looking down...
Rob at the top, Luis coming down...
Matt was looking for another challenge, so he decided to go for a swim sans wetsuit in the 60 degree water, hoping that would get the wind to come up. Sam joined in and yes, she screamed. And the wind came up...
Matt at the Chili Bowl...
Rob, Clark, Waterturtle. Clark told us some great stories that were hilarious and had us falling out of our seats laughing so hard. I know he's thinking about it, but he definitely needs to write a book about his surfing/windsurfing exploits that should also include the history of Punta San Carlos. I would buy and read that in a second. Required reading is his article in that last issue of Windtracks Journal, the "white" issue in Summer '99. It was titled "San Carlos: The Formative Years". Get your hands on it if you can. It sits proudly in my windsurfing mag library...
Waiting for the wind and waves with some card games...
Loungin' in the world's best outdoor lounge...
A week here goes by very slow...in a good way. I never felt like the week was rushing by...
Early evening sets in...
Gorgeous!
Neil serves up the Baja Fogs...
Kevin Trejo, Matt Pritchard, Rob, Waterturtle, Sam Bittner...
The entire crew in our camp were awesome. Everyone got along great and we shared many great conversations...
It's Baja Midnight (9pm)...time to go to bed!...
The view from inside the equipment room...
All the gear you want...
One last SUP surfing sesh before heading home...
Da Plane, Da Plane!
Emily got some flying lessons on the way out and I wanted it to stop before I hurled...
Matt flew out with us...
Flew back in a Piper Cherokee 6...
From l to r: Brock, Greg, Happy Sam, and Ruben post landing in San Diego. Sam Bittner is the American Windsurfing Tour (AWT) creator and organizer. Sam is the right person at the right time for the AWT. She is creative, passionate, upbeat, positive, and always thinking about how to improve. Looking forward to she and Matt Pritchard (acting as head judge) coming to Hatteras...
Thanks again to the entire Solo Sports Crew and Staff, Matt Pritchard and Kevin McGillivary for the excellent wavesailing clinic, and to our camp mates for the great camaraderie!
4 comments:
Oh, man. I just keep looking at these photos and thinking I should bypass the AWT on Hatteras and spend my week down there.
~Alan
WOW.WOW. WOW!!
Fabulous post Mac. Hope you can make it to Hatteras?
I'll be there!
Thanks for posting a great summary of the trip! I don't think I would have figured out the SUP surfing without your and Rob's help - or anyway it wouldn't have been as much fun. :)
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