Heidi
February 19, 2007, 1:44 pm, Secret Spot, BCS

Here is a video made by Mark last week. He has a great new waterproof digital camera that mounts on the kite. They kite right past Aquarius. Looks like FUN!

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Kent, continuing week of Feb 12th
February 17, 2007, 7:58 pm, Sea of Cortez

Monday evening we had Sashimi Yellow Tail fish appetizer, then BBQ Yellow Tail with rice and corn. For dessert we had freshly made tortilla's with Nutella. Tuesday morning we woke up to a steady 12-14kts breeze out of the North. Everyone was really excited about Kiting. Unfortunately, the wind died and Kiting was not in the cards.

Wednesday we were anticipating the arrival of a big El Norte... We anchored at Isla San Jose in a perfect location only to have only very light southerlies almost all day. Around 4:30 pm it finally switched to the North. It was very gusty, blowing 12 - 22kts. Mark, Gabor and John headed into shore to attempt some Kiting. Mark and Gabor got out, but found it to be ok, but not great. That evening we were all very excited about the prospects for Thursday. We all went to sleep dreaming about a 9m day.

Thursday morning we woke to 15-25kt breezes. After a hurried breakfast we pulled up the anchor and motored to what we thought would be the perfect launch beach. Mark, Gabor and Kent went to the beach and rigged our 9m kites. It was a great day for Mark, but Kent and Gabor had an unpleasant experience. Gabor kited for quite some time before inverting his kite. Getting back to shore proved to be an unpleasant adventure for him. Fortunately, Kent was already on the beach and went running after Gabor's kite to catch it before it blew up onto the cactus's. Just prior to that Kent had to crash his kite on the beach and just barely got it under control before it tried to relaunch itself. It turned out to not be a day for beginners!

Friday was our most awesome day. Steady 20-22kt breeze, sunny with small chop. We anchored Aquarius in 10' of water in the south end of the bay at Isla San Jose. Everyone enjoyed the day to it's fullest. Mark rigged a small camera on his kite to get a Kite's perspective of him kiting. After our awesome day of Kiting we continued with an awesome sail to Isla La Partida. We ran with 1/2 the Genoa and made 5-6kts in following seas. Wind was 20-25kts. We arrived about 9:30pm after a close call with a shrimp boat that was working with no running lights.

Saturday we awoke early to motor to La Paz. A few miles south of La Paz Mark and John hooked two Skipjacks. For a small fish they put up quite a fight.

BTW, photos have been added to the Gallery! More to come, video as well.

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Kent, week of Feb 11th
February 17, 2007, 7:57 pm, Sea of Cortez

The Trigger fish turned out to be good... though filleting them was not possible. So we cooked them whole and picked them apart.

Sunday was another windless day for the most part. John, Mark, and Gabor went on a hike while Kent stayed behind and did a little engine work. By the time the crew returned, the wind had picked up to 12kts. Mark and Gabor hurriedly collected their kites(14m and 16m) and we took them ashore to launch. They both got about 1 hour of kiting in before the wind backed off. Sunday night in celebration of the first day of Kiting, we made grilled steak and shrimp.

Monday am we left for San Evaristo on the Baja about 10 miles from Isla San Francisco to get some supplies before the expected big blow. We found a small market in town with some supplies. We also found a local woman that agreed to make fresh tortillas for us. We also picked up a freshly caught Yellow Tail. Mark and John went off in the dinghy to fish and returned with a small Cabria. So.... we are having fresh fish for dinner. At 15:30 we left for the southern tip of Isla San Jose where we expect to be Kiting for the next few days as an El Norte builds in.

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Kent, starting Feb7th
February 17, 2007, 2:38 pm, Sea of Cortez

Mark, Kent and Gabor arrived in La Paz Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning, John Lozowski ventured up from La Ventana to join us for our trip.

We departed La Paz Thursday afternoon bound for Isla La Partida... hoping for a kite session either late that afternoon or early the next day. We sailed for about 3 hours starting with a 13kt breeze... which gradually tapered off. We kept adding more canvas. Main, Genoa, Mizzen and finally the spinnaker. Gabor enjoyed the trip on his back(picture). John tried his had at fishing, but had no luck. It finally died about an hour out from Isla La Partida so we motored. We arrived just at dusk with very local 20-25kt breezes just in the harbor.

Friday we headed out fairly early for Ensenada Grande, just around the corner, hoping to get whatever southerlies might pop up in the afternoon for Kiting. After arriving, we spent the morning scrambling up a very sketchy trail on the beach. It quickly turned into a rocky scramble with some wonderful views. The wind died around 1pm so we headed to Sea Lion rocks to play with the Sea Lions. It must have been too late in the day as none wanted to play with us. As Mark, Kent and John swam back to the boat Gabor was yelling that the wind had picked up and he wanted to go Kiteboarding. We hurriedly pulled up the anchor and motored at top speed back to Ensenada Grande. By the time we got there, the wind had backed off to marginal kiting levels

Saturday we motored to Isla San Francisco. We arrived about 10:30am and went on an awesome hike. Mark and Gabor found a cactus plant and attempted to eat it. There is Aquarius just right of center in the bay. Mark tried to Kiteboard with his 16m kite, but could barely keep in in the air. After several crashes and relaunches, he finally gave up. We then went snorkeling and Mark and John caught 5 Trigger fish for dinner with the hand spear.

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