Kiteboarding Vacation en La Ventana

Our life in Baja... and on the boat.

Here's to another addition of...
 
Clif's Notes:

It's been awhile since most of you have heard from me, but then again, I've never been known as much of a writer. First of all... La Ventana is AWESOME!!! We have traveled hard for the last 3 months and aside from a few days or a couple of weeks here and there, our life has been on the run... running from yet another fall in Juneau. Once we arrived in La Paz (with tons of help from family and friends), both of us were a bit lost as to where we would go and what we should do. We had finally made it to the Mexican cruising grounds... now what?! I was a little stressed with where to go, busy working on our broken fridge, and too many other boat projects to list, when Giselle pulled me out of the bilge and told me to open a Tecate con limon. The surprise was that she had already booked, planned and paid for was a week at "Baja Joe's" in La Ventana, with kiting lessons included. We have talked about going to La Ventanat for a couple of years, and with all that is required of the cruising life, I forgot that the whole point of this trip was to be on vacation. As some of you know, Gordon and I started the DYC (Douglas Yacht Club) and got more and more into windsurfing and kiting. I took a few "lessons" while in Juneau but never really got hooked. Ever since Giselle and I met we have talked about taking a vacation to La Ventana to go kiting. After a couple of days there, in perfect 25knt winds, I can honestly say that I'm a kiter! The instruction was great. After 3 days Giselle was getting up and riding on her board. My instructors were encouraging, and after a couple of days convinced me that I was ready to go out on my own. Mind you, that attaching yourself to a truck sized kite is intimidating, even more so when they tell you to do it by yourself, with tons of other learners whizzing around in all directions. After another couple of days...and some epic crashes... I became more comfortable. I started having fun, instead of fighting with a kite, which could kick my ass every time... if I let it. Needless to say, we are both sore and ready for a break from our "vacation," which is perfect, because we are now siting in the airport on our way to Seattle for Christmas.

The best part of the trip to La Ventana, was hearing from other people that Giselle was progressing quickly and seeing her excited about each day that she was out learning. Not only do I have a best buddy to go sailing with, but she was even looking into buying a kiting set up for herself, so that we can go out together once we get a little more comfortable. I had a blast, she had a blast, and we are already talking about our next trip to go kiting more! In fact, our friend Connie has already booked a ticket to come see us. We already booked a few nights in La Ventana while she is down visiting. Giselle and I are looking for any excuse to spend another week in paradise, be it kiting, scuba diving or spearfishing...it's only a few miles away from our home, Sound Discovery, we are just waiting for friends to come enjoy Mexico with us!

Clif

Beach (La Playa) in La Ventana.

Setting up kites on la playa en La Ventana.

A kiteboarding bar in on la playa en La Ventana.