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Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

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gilana
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Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:34 am
Kiting since: 2014
Weight: 70KG
Local Beach: We live on our sailing yacht and at the moment we are in the San Blas Islands of Panama, and we sometimes have visiting guests to come spend a week of wind with us...

Laura and Mike
Favorite Beaches: Chameys in San Andres Isla Colombia
Yansaladup in Kuna Yala Panama
Style: Old School
Gear: Ozone Edge 9m V8
Ozone Edge 9m V9
Ozone Edge 10m V9
Caution Santa Cruz Redline 132 TT
Epic Droid V2 135x41 TT
Chemical 132 TT
North Directional
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Location: San Blas Panama
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Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

Postby gilana » Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:09 am

This "El Nino" year has buggered the winds in the San Blas islands of Panama.
We leave in 2 days for San Andres Colombia, 250 Nm to the north of here in our sailboat.
We want to go out for a week or 10 days at a time to the uninhabited islands and cays called Cayo Bolivar, and Cayo Albequerque.
Will keep you posted as to how it goes, but we are expecting good things.
IF you want to share the fun, give us a shout, we have space on board for 2 peeps.

Windguru is consistently showing better winds up there.

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Toby
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Re: Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

Postby Toby » Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:25 pm

let us know how it went...normally in San Andres is less wind than forecasted

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gilana
Medium Poster
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:34 am
Kiting since: 2014
Weight: 70KG
Local Beach: We live on our sailing yacht and at the moment we are in the San Blas Islands of Panama, and we sometimes have visiting guests to come spend a week of wind with us...

Laura and Mike
Favorite Beaches: Chameys in San Andres Isla Colombia
Yansaladup in Kuna Yala Panama
Style: Old School
Gear: Ozone Edge 9m V8
Ozone Edge 9m V9
Ozone Edge 10m V9
Caution Santa Cruz Redline 132 TT
Epic Droid V2 135x41 TT
Chemical 132 TT
North Directional
Brand Affiliation: None, I wish.
Location: San Blas Panama
Has thanked: 3 times
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Contact:

Re: Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

Postby gilana » Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:17 pm

Well, we arrived 48 hours after departure. Murphy's law again.
Windguru says that San Blas will have more wind than here, and we came here because there was more wind here than there. Ugh!
Yesterday we saw one kiter on a foilboard with what looked like an Ozone Chrono...I have never seen anything that fast....
Looking forward to our first session.

User avatar
gilana
Medium Poster
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:34 am
Kiting since: 2014
Weight: 70KG
Local Beach: We live on our sailing yacht and at the moment we are in the San Blas Islands of Panama, and we sometimes have visiting guests to come spend a week of wind with us...

Laura and Mike
Favorite Beaches: Chameys in San Andres Isla Colombia
Yansaladup in Kuna Yala Panama
Style: Old School
Gear: Ozone Edge 9m V8
Ozone Edge 9m V9
Ozone Edge 10m V9
Caution Santa Cruz Redline 132 TT
Epic Droid V2 135x41 TT
Chemical 132 TT
North Directional
Brand Affiliation: None, I wish.
Location: San Blas Panama
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

Postby gilana » Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:41 am

Had 2 sessions on Saturday. First on near cotton cay was not that good, lots of chop and little wind to power through it.
Later went down to Chamey's area, and had slightly stronger winds around 15 only, but flat calm waters in between the mangroves, that is where we are going to spend our kiting time on this island, if the wind ever picks up. Some foil racing guys practising for a race somewhere, damn, they are fast.

User avatar
gilana
Medium Poster
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:34 am
Kiting since: 2014
Weight: 70KG
Local Beach: We live on our sailing yacht and at the moment we are in the San Blas Islands of Panama, and we sometimes have visiting guests to come spend a week of wind with us...

Laura and Mike
Favorite Beaches: Chameys in San Andres Isla Colombia
Yansaladup in Kuna Yala Panama
Style: Old School
Gear: Ozone Edge 9m V8
Ozone Edge 9m V9
Ozone Edge 10m V9
Caution Santa Cruz Redline 132 TT
Epic Droid V2 135x41 TT
Chemical 132 TT
North Directional
Brand Affiliation: None, I wish.
Location: San Blas Panama
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

Postby gilana » Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:13 pm

Well, we have been here for 5 months now, and our visa expires end of September '16. We have had INSANE sessions here. 48 sessions in all, and the next week looks better. Have invented some new hooked trix always by accident first, then perfect them later. Windguru has been relatively reliable, over predicting by 3 - 4 knots 80% of the time, and under predicting about 5%, the rest was spot-on!

This is a very nice kite spot, with everything from flat calm, downwinders, and even some wave action. The accommodation (If you dont live on a boat like we do) is plentiful and caters to all tastes. The babes are gorgeous, even my wife says so, meals are cheap, people are friendly, and everything is a short walk away. There is nothing here not to like. There is good kiting support, with excellent instructors at Chamey Nautica, and also a kite repair service with fast turnaround. There are two sports stores selling kiting gear, and the Cabrinha shop's prices are excellent as this is a duty free island. You can also watch Ricci Leccesse practising on his foils as he lives here.

We will be back next year, but in the meantime, we are going back down to the San Blas islands of Panama, where we offer a private twin cabin for rent to kiters only.
We are a retired couple and we both kite, so this could appeal to lady kiters who need to feel safe and concentrate on the kiting. All meals, drinks, everything you need except we do not rent out gear. The San Blas islands are a paradise and the kiting is absolutely wonderful. There are tons of pictures on our web page in the 2015 section, please look at www.gilana.org if you are interested. Ideally a couple, or two friends, a week to ten days, and you will have an unforgettable experience with us.

User avatar
gilana
Medium Poster
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:34 am
Kiting since: 2014
Weight: 70KG
Local Beach: We live on our sailing yacht and at the moment we are in the San Blas Islands of Panama, and we sometimes have visiting guests to come spend a week of wind with us...

Laura and Mike
Favorite Beaches: Chameys in San Andres Isla Colombia
Yansaladup in Kuna Yala Panama
Style: Old School
Gear: Ozone Edge 9m V8
Ozone Edge 9m V9
Ozone Edge 10m V9
Caution Santa Cruz Redline 132 TT
Epic Droid V2 135x41 TT
Chemical 132 TT
North Directional
Brand Affiliation: None, I wish.
Location: San Blas Panama
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Leaving San Blas for San Andres Colombia

Postby gilana » Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:45 pm

Just an update...

We love it so much here and there, that we spent six months in in both places, 2016,17,18 and 19. The original post is still valid.
We would love to share with more senior kiters. Both locations are wonderful. San Andres has lots of accommodation options, San Blas, not so much.


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