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old fart round the world tour

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Hugh2
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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Hugh2 » Sun May 13, 2018 1:17 am

We sort of did this as a family in 2005, sadly before I was an surf-competent kiter. As part of a sabbatical in Cape Town, bought RTW tickets for four (at $21k, largest purchase of my life after my house, and that was a mortgage). Must be a lot more expensive now. Same rules though, so we had time in Europe, then South Africa, then Australia, finally Hawaii and California on way home to Illinois.

I would say the most important thing would be to get better at kiting, especially to the point of being comfortable in the surf. While foiling would be great, dragging a foil with you would be a pain. If you can't do that before the trip, why not start off in late summer in south Texas and cape hatteras to achieve both those goals. Then perhaps Cabarete and northeast Brazil if you can afford a four-continent trip. Then Cape Town for 3 months. Yes, I am biased, but the kiting is so good in Table Bay from December through February there is a reason all the worlds best kiters go there. You will want a car for exploring beyond kiting and various beaches. Yes the water is cold, so you will need to buy a wetsuit, plenty second hand, but the air is warm so it does not feel bad. But it is not a place for beginners. Then if you can afford it, Mauritius and/or Madagascar, and on to Australia, skip NZ, maybe a pacific island, then Hawaii for the summer months, and home late summer.

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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Eduardo » Sun May 13, 2018 3:35 am

I agree with Hugh2. I think places to develop will be impactful. RadDrDuke suggested foiling - also a great idea. skill goals would help. You could easily get in 300 days of kiting which is 5 to 10 years worth for people who live in not so great places and have day jobs!

SPI is great to progress - in the lagoon, waist deep water that is super flat. cross to the gulf when you are feeling brave. there are lots of very nice Caribbean islands with long seasons. Aruba is super consistent other than fall. If a long trip, you don't need wind every day so almost any island can work (most are windy at least 2/3 of days in season). Greece in summer is fun with consistent wind. I don't see a need for Mauritius unless you're into waves. So here's my suggestion for an intermediate:

Fall: Brazil or Maui
Winter: Caribbean or South Africa
Spring: SPI or Caribbean
Summer: Greece (Rhodes or Paros) or Canary Islands or Maui

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Grizwald
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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Grizwald » Sun May 20, 2018 7:30 pm

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and encouragement.

Eduardo: I know SPI relatively well. I spent years perfecting how not to learn. Finally went to SPI and just threw money at the problem. As you say, great place to improve. I had been planning on being there now but life got in the way. I will be in Maui in a week. Maui is a great place to get rid of all that extra money you have lying around. I have heard the ABC's are great for wind but it is pretty much all offshore, but this is just hearsay. Do you have any local knowledge or specific suggestions re the Caribbean islands?

Hugh2: When you say " if you can afford it, Mauritius and/or Madagascar, and on to Australia" are you saying these places are particularly expensive or expensive to get to? When you suggest a Pacific island do you have an island(s) in mind? While foiling is my ultimate goal and one of the big reasons I got into kiting, I agree, dragging a foil around the world would be a giant pain. I am having a hard enough time getting my small board to Hawaii. Say it with me "I hate United Airlines" Cape town has always been on the bucket list. Do you have any insights on safety? I know it is better than Jo berg but I've heard reports that it is getting kidda nasty there as well.

Rakky: With regards "Prasonisi, Rhodes, Greece - Small beach separates waves and on-shore wind, from flat off-shore wind." Could you elaborate on this? Does this mean a thin spit of land sort of like SPI? Off shore makes me nervous as I have, on a couple of occasions, been playing around only to come in and discover all the people who would have "rescued" me if everything went to hell had decided to go for an early beer.
"Gokova, Turkey - Thermal winds, cool location. Great food" I have wanted to go to Turkey for ever but the political situation seems to be just getting worse and worse. I am not keen on being arrested just because my passport indicates I live in the Great Satan. Do you or anyone in the area have any insights?

JustaGirl: Did you / would you go to any one specific spot in the Cook Islands? I am impressed that you have British Armada as your gear. Is that the whole armada or just the north Atlantic arm? Your idea for following Magellan's route is intriguing I will have to investigate it further. Toby seems to be the go to person for all things Brazil. I will have to send him a PM.

TomW: Have you been to Dahkla recently? It looks epic for kiting but it also looks like it is in the back of beyond. What is accommodation / food / social life of some sort like there? I completely agree with you regarding avoiding the euro crowds although my experience from last year indicates the rush starts in mid June. We biked from northern France to the Algrave. It was so crowded that we had to walk the bike through several towns. I will not be doing that again. By the way I went to Portugal looking for great kiting. Biked the entire coast and was pretty unimpressed. Loved the place but the winds were inconsistent at best and the water nasty ass cold. The kite schools I talked to uniformly agreed that it was a marginal area and for real kiting they went to Cape Verde.

RadDrDuke: Definitely going to pursue foiling but I am thinking that dragging a foil around the world would be problematic in the extreme. I am getting a split board for this trip because dealing with the airlines is such an immense pain.

I have heard that Fuerteventura is very gusty same goes for Iberia in Costa Rica. Does anyone have local knowledge who can comment.

Thanks again. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your input. A single comment from someone who has been there trumps any number of google searches.

Griz

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Greenturtle
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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Greenturtle » Sun May 20, 2018 8:54 pm

I can recommend the eastern Bahamas in winter months, specifically the out islands of Abaco. You will have the beaches to yourself. Any of these tiny cays are wonderful because no matter what the wind direction is you can be in the best spot in a couple minutes either on foot or by golf cart. Boat rentals are also reasonably priced there.
Fly into TCB or MHH. Ferry service provides acces to the cays. Plenty of houses for rent on them.

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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Grizwald » Sun May 20, 2018 9:44 pm

Greenturtle: windfinder shows no info for Abaco. Spanish Wells is the closest I can find with data. It suggests winter is about 25% chance of wind with March the best month at around 34%. Do you have local information to suggest otherwise. I don't really trust the windfinder. There are just far too many inconsistencies. Additionally do you know anything about longer term rentals one to two months. A quick perusal of VRBO looks like $100 a night is standard. Makes for a chunk of change for a couple months.

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Greenturtle
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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Greenturtle » Mon May 21, 2018 2:10 am

Wind on Abaco cays in dec jan feb mar you can generally expect at least a few days a week, and many weeks with solid wind every day.
There are many windfinder forcast locations in the area so not sure why its not coming up for you.
Try looking at the Green Turtle Cay / Abaco windfinder forecast for this week, that is pretty typical of the winter times that Ive been there.
The wind there is generally very clean and steady without gusts, unless its stormy.
Its not one of those destinations where it blows like clockwork every day. Its variable in both speed and direction depending on the day.

As far as house rentals, many will give a reduced rate for monthly, but you have to ask/offer. But yeah if you are looking for really economical accommodations its not in that category.

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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Flyboy » Mon May 21, 2018 3:01 am

Some general thoughts:

1) I can't imagine traveling the world & only being focused on kiting. I'd choose places that were interesting as well as being good for kiting - there are plenty of them.

2) You ought to improve quickly enough that kiting in waves will become a major attraction. As an older gentleman you will eventually want to be on a surfboard - more elegant, less wind , smaller kite, more fun if you're not megalooping or freestyling.

3) Taking a foilboard/foil would be a pain in the ass, unless you are ONLY going to foil.

4) Carrying/wearing a 3/2 wetsuit is no big deal & does open up some more varied cold(ish) water destinations.

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juandesooka
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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby juandesooka » Mon May 21, 2018 6:54 am

Flyboy wrote:
Mon May 21, 2018 3:01 am
Some general thoughts:

1) I can't imagine traveling the world & only being focused on kiting. I'd choose places that were interesting as well as being good for kiting - there are plenty of them.

2) You ought to improve quickly enough that kiting in waves will become a major attraction. As an older gentleman you will eventually want to be on a surfboard - more elegant, less wind , smaller kite, more fun if you're not megalooping or freestyling.

3) Taking a foilboard/foil would be a pain in the ass, unless you are ONLY going to foil.

4) Carrying/wearing a 3/2 wetsuit is no big deal & does open up some more varied cold(ish) water destinations.
agree. After week or so of flat water kiting....then what? :-) but I came to this surfing first.

I've been foiling mostly now when there's no surf. I added foil holes to a kite surf board for a single board travel solution. Last trip to maui I had foil in the bag with 2 kites and gear....just under 50 lbs. Would be 3 kites if foil was carbon. So if it was me that's what I'd do. Foil open up a lot of fun days.

Hugh2
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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby Hugh2 » Mon May 21, 2018 7:04 pm

My experience of Mauritius was not too expensive and you can rent a car and see the whole island. But I was there is 2004 and had my first lesson there. I imagine kiting in the bay at One Eye would be good, but the surf kiting there is experts only.

Madagascar I visited earlier, and it was frightfully expensive for such a poor country, but perhaps if you just went to a kiting location in the NE it would be okay, but there is so much more to see, if you are biologically curious.

I loved Australia, but again, was sadly there before surf competent, west coast by RV was a blast, same for Cairns to Brisbane.

But I spend 2-3 months in Cape Town each year, am even here now, but this is not the season. You just have to be prudent, don't walk around at night, don't flaunt wealth, don't walk alone on trails. The beaches are fine safety-wise. Thousands of kiters come here from all over the world each southern summer, and most have a blast. If you are going around the world it would be a shame to miss southern Africa, and there is so much to do and see on the few windless days. But you must be comfortable in the surf or it will be wasted.

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Re: old fart round the world tour

Postby TomW » Tue May 22, 2018 10:08 pm

Griz,
was in Dahkla 3 years ago, many friends been there this year. No change.
Yes it is most isolated place on planet, but that's the attraction. 1 week is enough. Kite 100% nothing else except desert.
Easy kiting there.


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