Skunked in Buzios

We are having a blast here in Buzios but we have been skunked and have had no wind! We have brought our kites to a number of beaches, including Brava and Rasa, and have met other kiters, but have not had more than 10 knots of wind. We have found more wind at one beach and there was a Brazilian kiter riping it, (I can not spell the name of the beach but it started with an M) but the wind was directly onshore and not safe with lots of people and sharp houses. We are hoping to get wind tomorrow but hear that it might be Saturday before we get anything. We have to leave for Rio on Monday.

Other than the skunkage, we have been meeting many cool people and have been going to lots of cool beaches, bars and restaurants. It is very hot every day (32-36 degrees) and we all have tans or sunburns - some in places where we didnt know we had places :)

Tonight we are going to Fishbone Buzios which is a cool bar on a killer surf beach with DJs playing on the beach with a sand dance floor. They are having a pig roast tonight and all of the beautiful Brazilians seem to hang out there. John and I even ran into one of our clients there from Vancouver yesterday... bizarre. We also ran into some other Canadians we know last night at the Anexo Bar. Tomorrow night we have reservations at Privilege as it was closed on my birthday.

It has been an adventure as most people do not speak English but everybody is friendly and tries to communicate. We have been stranded at a kitesurf school where we could not get a taxi and have had 2 cars break down (one was a dune buggy with a broken gas gauge, the other a piece of shit Fiat that I think we blew the engine in).

We have lots of pictures and video which will get uploaded when we get back and hopefully we get some wind so we can kiteboard but the partying has been very good and we may just go surfing if we get skunked in Buzios again.

Buzios!!!

We arrived in Buzios last night and this place is amazing! Its super hot and sunny (around 33-35 degrees) and beautiful. The city is safe, friendly and has brick streets, amazing shopping, crazy beautiful beaches, hot women, wicked bars and nightlife and music... Who would have thought that we actually came here to kiteboard? We are trying to get in touch with Eduardo the kiteboarding instructor but it was windy today and he must still be working. Hopefully we are going tomorrow at noon, but today is my 30th birthday and we might be massively hungover tomorrow due to the partying tonight. We are going to a bar called Priviledge tonight which looked crazy when we walked by last night. I know that Sheralyn, Johnny, and Sunita have something up their sleeves and I am a little scared. I would love to post pictures but this Internet cafe doesnt have a USB so I will try again soon. Ciao!

Brazil Kiteboarding Trip

We're going on our Brazil kiteboarding trip tomorrow which has been updated since my last post on the subect (http://www.kitebytes.com/2005/09/brazil-kiteboarding-trip.html)

Originally we were going to Ibiraquera Point in Garopaba, Brazil but we have changed our trip to go to Buzios Brazil from January 21st to January 31st.

We're staying at a sweet hotel: http://www.nikkibeach.com/photogallerythum.asp?catID=131

We're taking some lessons, hopefully, from Eduardo Graf with the Buzios Kitesurf School: http://www.kitenews.com.br/buzios/kite_in_buzios.htm

More info on kiteboarding in Buzios: http://www.buziosonline.com.br/home/english/elazer-kitesurf.cfm

Our visas came back from the Brazilian Conulate today in the nick of time as we're leaving tomorrow. Hopefully I can update lots soon!

Kiteboarding? Nope we're going golf sir

16 hours until we leave for our Brazil kiteboarding trip. We picked up our NSI "Pro Golf" kite bags yesterday from Air Time. Have you seen these bags? They are uber cool. Basically, they look like golf club bags and have the words NSI Pro Golf down the side. We are supposed to pay $85 USD each way from Sao Paulo to Rio and back because we are transporting extra luggage. However, golf clubs are free (kites and boards are not) so we are pretending that our kites and boards are golf clubs.

Vancouver Kiteboarding: Getting Started

I have been kiteboarding for less than a year but I'm hooked and going to Buzios, Brazil in 3 weeks for a kiteboarding trip. I am still very much a beginner or "kook."

When the temperature improves, you can kiteboard at Spanish Banks/Jericho Beach but only until the May long weekend because the lifeguards are out and there are too many people on the beach to do it safely. In the summer you can go or to Boundary Bay, near the ferry terminal, but the best somewhat local place is Nitinat on Vancouver Island but it takes 5 hours to get there. Victoria and Squamish appear to be very good too but are more advanced and I haven't tried either location yet. This spring I plan to check out the Gorge in Oregon and I want to try snowkiting in Washington State too but who know if I can find the time.

If you are serious about trying it out the best thing to do is to go to Spanish Banks with a trainer kite which is basically a small practice kite that you can fly to get a feeling for the sport. I have one you can borrow as I don't use it much plus it has been repaired to do a mishap with a tree last year.

I would also recommend picking up an instructional DVD like the Complete Kiteboarding Guide and a couple of kiteboarding magazines. If you are still hooked then the next step would be to take a few lessons which will set you back a couple of hundred bucks. Lessons are important so that you can learn about safety and some beginner details that perhaps a buddy might forget to teach you.

At some point, you will have to invest in equipment so start saving or fill out that Visa card application. A used kite and board will cost you approximately $1000 but I think that with the changing technology I would recommend buying a new kite and a used board which would cost more like $1800. Airtime Board Sports has consignment kites and boards and Coastal BC has good online ads.You also need a wetsuit, harness, and helmet and booties too which will run you another $600. The good news is that once you have all of the equipment, the sport is inexpensive to maintain except for travel costs. That being said, you should have more than one kite in your quiver for variable wind conditions and then you might want a kite and board bag for travel etc. I'm only a year in, but I keep buying stuff.

As you can probably tell, I'm fired up about the sport and encourage anybody who's interested to try it. It can be hard to take the plunge and get started, but if you want to kiteboard this year you probably want to start preparing soon.