Rehab

Girmantas | Windsurfing, Travel | June 07, 2010

So here it is. The summer has come to La Ventana and the wind season is over. We are trying not to get too bored while doing some movies and developing top secret projects for Spotas. We will always remember this winter not only as a sandy and windy beach in La Ventana. We’ll never forget the hospitality in Canada, snow in Crystal, incredible Oregon coast and Hood River, cozy San Francisco, infamous Los Angeles, surfing spots that The Beach Boys were singing about and, of course, the wild Baja west!

Time to time we were letting some news out about the last part of our trip. Still it was very hard to stay up to date while traveling. Loads of photos, tens of gigabytes of video material and incredible adventures, impressions, emotions. We’ve dedicated two weeks for traveling in Baja. But from the very first day we’ve realized that we will need much more. First night of our trip in Mexico we stayed in San Quintin. Small town with a lagoon – flat water spot perfect for kiting. We were impressed with the tide current. It’s more than enough to keep a water mill working!

On the second day in Baja we have reached the best known spot Punta San Carlos. We’ve managed to extend our stay from 4 days to 6, got four days of windsurfing on a big board and 4.7, three days on 9m Religion and surf and also one day on a SUP. We have experienced almost everything. Big waves, nice waves, paddling back to the shore after the wind died and so on. Nothing special was happening and we were running out of supplies. Had to move.

Next stop was Punta Abreojos. After long nights of discussions and talks spent with experienced travelers we’ve decided not to tease our luck with our low-clearance van and trust the well known spots. Punta Abreojos have greeted us with much better conditions. Or at least – stronger winds, just enough for the small set up. Four nights camping on the dune will stay forever in our minds as a real sand disaster. Even with closed doors and windows the sand was still getting into the car. We checked the forecast and decided to skip the light days in much more civilized La Ventana.

Something was missing. I’ve already had 10 days of wavesailing (on a windsurfer and kite) but somehow it wasn’t quite there. We drove back to Punta Abreojos two more times. The first one – as planned – right away in a few days. But the second time we were already packing to leave Mexico and had to adjust our plans. And it was worth it – that was the missing link. Two days with incredibly beautiful and long mast high waves helped to finish the season with a smile!

The trip was a total success! We drove 7000 km, have seen the ENTIRE pacific coastline from Canada to the South of Baja, have met a lot of great people and so on. Still, not everything went perfect. Resumption of my old shoulder injury caught me unprepared on the very first days. The injury have adjusted my plans and expectations, but after I caught few great waves, I was happy and satisfied with the season in Baja.

So its time for the rehab… in Ecuador! Some of you already know, some don’t, but by the end of the week we will be in South America. Continuing our trip on the Pacific coast in small Santa Marianita village. Hopefully new people, adventures and emotions will help to recover from the Mexican injuries, tastes, smells and margaritas.