Round the World Trip - May to July 2013

My partner & I have recently returned from a 9 week round the world trip, visiting Italy, Morocco, the US, & Indonesia. Gear taken included Slingshot Rally (12, 10 & 8m) & two TT's - 131 & 145cm, carried in two Dakine 'Club Wagon' bags.


Places I managed to kite included Porto Pollo, Sardinia; Essaouira, Morocco, Waddell Creek, near Santa Cruz, northern California, & Lhok'nga, Aceh, Indonesia. I'll continue the 'Lhoknga - Banda Aceh' thread rather than make this post too long....
We were also lucky enough to go SUP'ing on Lago di Como, (Lake Como), in Italy... go here for details - www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/SUPing-on-Lago-di-Como-Italy/


Porto Pollo, Sardinia: (mid May 2013)
We had been in Italy for about two weeks prior to arriving in Sardinia so we had a hire car, and caught the overnight ferry from mainland Italy. We arranged accommodation through Freshtraxx Holidays (www.ftxholidays.com) and hired a two bed apartment, a ten minute drive from one of the main kite/wind surfing location in northern Sardinia, and about 15 minutes from Palau - the closest 'big' town. This was our place for four nights & five days. We had the upstairs apartment - self contained with all necessary appliances etc.
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And this was the view out towards Porto Pollo itself.




Porto Pollo gets good wind - the first day we got there on 12th May, it was a "mild" 35-40 knots. I managed to get out the next day, initially on the 12m, but within a couple of hours had dropped back to the 10m. The wind built up to 25 - 30+knots, and if it wasn't for the fact that I was getting too cold (despite wearing a steamer) I would have dropped a kite size once again, and been out on the 8m for several more hours.


Combined with an unseasonally long & harsh European winter, and the fact that we were at the start of the Sardinian season, the water was bitterly cold (I cannot emphasise how cold) - everyone on the water was wearing a steamer. Apparently if we'd been a month later in our arrival, it would have been boardies & rashie weather/water temperature.


Porto Pollo has a sand bar that splits the bay area in two; kiters on the left, poleys to the right. The spot is realistically a flat water location (the poleys have the flatter water downwind) but with the wind coming across the bay, the kite area tends to get wind wave/choppy. There is a dedicated launch/landing area downwind of where a couple of schools operate from, but there is heaps of space for kiters. There are wave spots about an hour down the coast but we didn't get to see them.





FTX Holidays runs a bar/cafe/kite school @ Porto Pollo known as the Wind Bar. A great spot for pre or post session coffee/pizza/beers (especially Ichnusa, the local beer) & to get out of the wind. The local FTX rep in Porto Pollo is a West Aussie guy Jason Hands - great guy with heaps of local knowledge about spots & conditions. Unfortunately, the wind died after the one day, but obviously had heaps of other things to do/visit.


The northern part of Sardinia that we saw had a very laid back vibe & atmosphere to it, (much like Rottnest), but with the scenery reminiscent of the granite rocks & cliffs of Yallingup etc. There is a heap of accommodation to be found in & around Porto Pollo itself, and there's accommodation also in Palau.


Essaouira, Morocco (late May 2013)
Essaouira, (pronounced "Swerra" by the locals) is one of the big kite spots in Morocco. We had a circuitous route to get there (via Marrakesh) but once there it was great. We stayed in a Moroccan "riad" - a hotel/guest house that was a 2 minute walk to the beach (Riad Zahra - www.riadzahra.com), and about 15 minutes from the medina and town centre - a reasonably comfortable walk.




Our view from the bedroom window allowed me to watch the beach as wind picked up & as newbs got blown around flying stunt kites.

The wind @ Essaouira was from the north/north-east so side shore/slightly cross off, but when it's windy in Essaouira, I mean, windy - of the 3 days I kited, it was ball park 30 knots, 2 of the 3 days. Once again, I was caught short on the water temperature factor, and my first session was terminated after only 40 minutes - Dakine Nitrous shorts & a wetsuit 't-shirt' simply weren't enough to keep me warm so I had to hire a steamer (EU$5/day). Despite hitting Morocco's desert shores, the North Atlantic water was frightfully cold.


Essaouira itself is again, a flat water spot, but depending on which part of the bay one was in, wind generated swells (up to 2 foot) hit up different parts of the shore line. Talking to locals, there is a shore break nearby that gets a 3m wave (can't vouch for this as I stayed at the main beach/flat water area) but the locals I got to know also indicated that Essaouira regularly got 40 - 45 knot winds.


Numerous kite schools operate at Essaouira, with some absolutely outrageous practices going on (not teaching self rescue; not teaching upwind body dragging; teaching 65kg newbies water starts in 25+knots on 12m kites - when we were on 8m & 9m kites at the time.) Some of the interesting features of Essaouira included dodging the local camels & horses on the beach. Despite the dodgy instruction, camels & horses, there is a huge expanse of water to be kited in, and according to the locals, they wear steamers all year round.





The food throughout Morocco was sensational, and Essaouira has a large fish market ensuring locally caught fish were always available.

Waddell Creek, Santa Cruz, California (mid June 2013)
By the time we got to Waddell Creek, it was week 7 of the trip. By now, you'd think I'd learnt about cold water....despite a borrowed steamer (thickness of which I can't remember) this turned out to be yet one more cold water experience. Great spot just north of Santa Cruz, but when everyone is wearing 5/4 steamers, boots & hood, & I'm not, I realised I was in for another short session.



Waddell Creek is a wave riding location, and an overwhelming number of "Caution" kites represented on the waves (given they are made in Santa Cruz, it wasn't a surprise really). According to my friends in SC, many of the local kiters at Waddell are old school surfers &/or poleys who've taken up kiting and their board skills were some of the finest I've ever seen.
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Cold, cold, cold water plus 25 - 30 knots = 30 minute session for Juddy. I'm never going to complain about WA winter conditions again.

Stay tuned for a wrap up of kiting in Aceh....

Enjoyed that man cheers. Looks awesome except the cold makes me shiver just thinking about it. My wife wants to do an exchange to Canada I'm hoping it goes away like some of her ideas! Thanks again. In Bali at the moment kiting sanur, cold is not a problem. Lol.

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