The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Bonaire Freestyle Gods Documentary coming to New York

While on a windsurfing vacation in Aruba in 1997 I first heard about "the Bonaire kids", a collection of young (and very young) locals one island over who were windsurfing on antiquated gear, many of whom were fantastic windsurfers, and some of whom were astonishingly good tricksters.  We now know the names of some of those kids:  Kiri.  Taty. Tonky.  Etc.  Review the PWA Freestyle rankings.  THOSE Bonaire kids.

The story of windsurfing in Bonaire is an amazing tale, and a documentary about it years in the making, entitled Children of the Wind, will soon be screened in New York City on April 21.

Click here to buy tickets.   If you can't make the NYC date, consider the Newport Beach Film Festival.  It's an amazing story.

 

Sally In The Straps

Back in February we reported on Sally's new wetsuit.  One of the quotes that ended up on the cutting room floor when she got the thing was "see you in the straps" (quoting the great Dana Miller).

Well, here she is, photo courtesy Jimmy Rivera.   We're heading out to Napeague in a few weeks...this will not be in the van.  5/3, anyone?

The Water Is Like The Dance Floor

Relaxing in our Bonaire bungalow after yet another day of fine sailing, Sally was excited about windsurfing.  She has a love/not love relationship with the sport, but right then she was glowing.  "It's like going dancing," she said.  "You may think you're not sure if you want to dance or not, but once you hit the floor and start dancing, you're having a great time.  The water is like the dance floor...once you're out there windsurfing you think "I love this!   It's a whole different world."

It didn't hurt that she hit a jibe earlier that day.  But yeah who doesn't know exactly what she means?  Particularly when you haven't sailed in awhile, or its cold or whatever.   Get out there!

(Photo:  George Marr was first man on the water for this sunrise sesh.)

These are a few of my favorite Bonairian things

Here at the Puffin we get a lot of direct email asking for recommendations regarding Bonaire this and Bonaire that.  I'm hoping to refer everyone to one post based on our trip from a week ago, so here are some of my Best Bonaire Recommendations for Windsurfing Vacation (etcetera):

Gear rental:  Shout out to Jibe City.  I'm not saying Jibe City is better than Windsurf Place, but in the past I have said I thought Windsurf Place had slightly better equipment.  No more...JC has stepped up its game!  It's purely a coin flip between them now.  The beach staff from both are outstanding. btw.

Restaurants:  At Sea knocked it out of the park (I had the barracuda, and the amuse bouche were tres amuse.)  Appetite is outstanding.  Bistro de Paris moved, but it remains excellent.   And the restaurant at Sorobon was surprisingly good.  Old favorites we did not get to this year include Cappricio, Mona Lisa, and Casablanca.

Help with putting it all together:  As always, it's Ann Phelan.  Before every trip to Bonaire I get wound up about something and worry, but every trip she's got it all worked out just fine.  Folks: she's a windsurfing travel agent who doesn't cost you a penny, and knows exactly what's going on there, week by week.  Smartest move you can make...we've been using her for almost ten years now.

Beach Bar:  Hang Out.  More pirates than the other place, and perfectly situated between the two windsurfing rental centers.

Beer to order at Beach Bars:  Polar.  Like so many other things Dasher taught me.

Where to get taught things:  Hopefully you're in an ABK clinic there with Andy Brandt, Brendon and company, but otherwise work with the mighty Caesar at Jibe City, or Elvis and his team at Windsurf Place.  There is no place easier in the world to learn.

Thing to do if you want to take a break from windsurfing:  Boy was this a surprise...Sally had to twist my arm to get me to do a guided nature tour of the mangroves (by kayak and snorkeling).  We'd picked up a flyer for one tour outfit, but then someone told us "what you really want to do is go with Tina and Clear Bottom Bonaire (the kayaks have clear bottoms.) It was amazing.  The kayak tour was wonderful by itself, and I was almost ready to (I can't believe it) skip the snorkeling at the end.  As the kids say, OMG.  Simultaneously easy and breathtaking, snorkeling just under the mangroves you find yourself with a gazillion fish, sometimes packing themselves tighter than a fishmarket, other times spreading out (giving the barracuda room...yes there were barracuda, like small stainless steel missles, but they don't bother you.)  And when you leave the water at the end, there is blessed rum punch set up under a shady tree. We'll be returning for another paddle/snorkel tour with these guys next year.

Jibe City Scene: Too Windy For Caesar, Torturing Brendon. Bonaire Report #2

There's no such thing as guaranteed wind.   Doesn't matter what a meteorologist tells you...all you need to do is ask a group of windsurfers who have flown great distances to get to Sure Wind...the skunk stories come out, or at least long stretches of barely planable conditions.  I've had the experience in Aruba, Bonaire, Hatteras, even Maui.

But not last week in Bonaire.   For our seventh trip to Lac Bay could sail any time I wanted to.   One afternoon I needed a 7.0, one morning I needed a 4.5, but the rest of the time it was all 5.5-6.1.  Morning and afternoon sessions.  Wind wind wind.  

Such conditions have side effects.   One positive effect was the daily opportunity to torture ABK instructor Brendon, who could be found every morning by the Jibe City rental center. 

"Hi Brendon!  What's the sail call?"

The first few times I asked he'd make a recommendation.  About the fourth time he responded: 

Brendon:  "How long have you been windsurfing?"

Me:  "Twenty one years."

Brendon:  "So what do YOU think the sail call is?"

Me:  "Come on, Brendon...you're sitting watching everyone sail, you know the idiosycracies of Lac Bay, you have the Keen Eye!  What should I take?"

And invariably he'd make a recommendation (an excellent recommendation, btw).  This was so much fun that I continued to ask him for sail advice daily, even when I knew exactly what the wind was doing.   He'll take his vengence on me later this year at an ABK clinic, I've no doubt.

The one downside to all the wind was the lack of the Caesar Flowstyle show.  Just about anybody who has been to Bonaire has had the pleasure of watching Caesar Finies do the seemingly impossible with a dancing rig in a light breeze, right in front of Jibe City (where he works).

On the off chance that you've never seen him do his thing, here's a video I shot in 2007:

 (Photo:  Brendon at the beach bar, wondering where he has to go to get away from me.   Hey Brendon...you think a 5.5 will work?)

Can I Get a Witness? Bonaire Windsurfing Report #1

“Did you see my ____?"

“Did you see mine?”

Such was what could be heard in the air at Lac Bay in Bonaire, and not because we were staying at a former nudist colony, where everyone saw your ___ if you stayed there.   No, the Did You Sees were all about friends enjoying ideal conditions and pushing their windsurfing limits.   Sailing with our friends Lily, Wilson, Dana, and Andy, the women were closest to new frontiers.  

There was Dana, in pursuit of planing duck jibes, exploding in her attempts (more on Dana in a subsequent post).

There was Lily, who on her last day hit a jibe so near picture perfect that she declared the session over.   “Now I can go home on a positive note!  Otherwise if I try another and fail I’ll be thinking about what I did wrong the entire flight back to New York.”

There was my lovely wife Sally (Jibe Sally Jibe), who, armed with some tips from Andy Brandt, was getting closer and closer but still finding a Bonairian jibe elusive on this trip.  An inches-away-from-successful attempt late in the week caused her to ask if we could count it as a jibe.  It was a moment of weakness.   “Take one more run, then we’ll go in,” I suggested.

She did.  And she hit her jibe.   Jibe Sally Jibe!

I saw Thandi (Long Island ABK regular) who just started windsurfing a couple years ago, on a speeding beam reach clear on the other side of Lac Bay, by the mangroves.  I thought “I’ve got to step up my game!  The women are kicking ass!”

That’s because they’re tougher.  

Did I say I’d write more about Dana in a subsequent post?  The heck with that.   I was giving Dana some duck jibe tips, most of which sounded like “you don’t need to carve like a bat out of hell!” (how many people need to slow down?) when during a particular attempt the attending spectacular crash left her hanging out in the water for a bit.   I jibed and came back to smiling Dana, thinking she was just taking a moment to enjoy it all.

“I hit my side pretty hard,” she said, smiling.   Her eyes said “I think I just broke a rib” but the smile stayed.

So we hung out in the water for five minutes, until she felt up for trying to sail back to the launch, which she did.    That night over dinner she was still feeling a bit dinged, though talk of sailing the next day took place.   Smiling.

After her return to New York we got the news.  Dana’s got a great smile, but the eyes had it:  Two broken ribs.

“I hope they heal fast.  I want to go skiing in four weeks!”

For myself I had a few Did You See My’s.   Hit a good (for me) backwind jibe, and then heard a shout from Andy Brandt!   Hit another one that was fairly good, seen by several of the New York contingent on hand.    And I went for a duck jibe at full speed in which I somehow stuck the clew straight down into the sand, the subsequent explosion from which cleaned my clock, my plow, and everything in between.   This my bride Sally saw.

So the next time I tell her I exploded, she won’t think I’m big talking.

(Top:  Dana with the smile, tearing it up before le crash.   Bottom:  Sally anticipating her jibe.)

 

Sally is Ready to Shred (she has a new wetsuit)

Sally and I will be going to Bonaire in the not too distant future, to windsurf with some friends.  Amongst those friends will be Lily and Dana, Napeague shredettes whose wetsuits Sally has long admired.  A couple years ago Sally told the Peconic Puffin "if I had the sleeveless shorty that Lily and Dana have, I would sail faster and with more control, and my jibes would improve."  Thus began a two-year search for a particular Excel wetsuit in a particular size.  Of course the thing was no longer made, but on the search went.

Yesterday Sally came home from work sporting a huge grin.  It had been Found. Not only that, but when she tried it on, She Liked How She Looked.  (She looked smokin, btw.)

It was a Great Day.

Now I'm wondering what will happen in Bonaire.  I'm hoping Dana and Lily will be wearing their Excels and they all sail happily together.  I wouldn't mind if they've got newer harnesses (Sally could use a new one, but when I've proposed this there's been no interest; apparently harnesses don't rate as an accessory.)  What would be a disaster is if D&L are wearing identical NEW wetsuits, wetsuits that my darling wife liked better than her brand new one.  That would be a frickin' nightmare.

I myself will be sporting a lycra that I bought in the '90s.

By Popular Demand, More Caesar from the Vault

Dennis likes my taste in alternative music (alternative for windsurfing videos) and a lot of people apparently never saw these when they first ran (new windsurfers?) so here is more.

Caesar’s Freestyle Bedazzlement (through fresh eyes)

The flowstyle genius Caesar Finies was not putting on his daily magic shows last week in Bonaire.   When I asked around I heard he’d hurt himself recently and so was on the mend.   Our loss, but okay. 
    Then on Friday while hanging out in the Hang Out bar, I heard someone loudly ask “WHAT IS THAT?  WHAT IS HE DOING”.  I turned and saw Caesar back on the water, just 25 feet away, and he’d lost nothing during his break.

I’ve seen him a dozen times before, and while it was still jaw-droppingly amazing, it was almost as much fun to stand next to someone who had never seen Caesar ever:

“Look at that!”

“He’s dancing with the sail!”

“What is that?”

“How does the sail know where to go?”

“I’ve never seen anything like that!”

“Oh my god, look!”

“What?  What?  Oh!”

“This is unbelievable!  They’re dancing!”

It was great fun.  And good to have Caesar back!

(The video above is not from last Friday...I shot it a few years ago, but if you’re not familiar with Caesar it will give you the general idea. He's actually much better now! And hey...if you like this, please like us on Facebook.)

Windsurfing Bonaire, Pt. II

I am back, baby.   After being unable to windsurf since October I managed four 2-hour sessions in Lac Bay:  The previously reported 7.3 day, an 8.0 day (I haven’t sailed a rig that big in ten years), a 6.6, and then overpowered on a 5.9.  I couldn’t pull off anything tricky (strictly jibes, duck jibes and tacks) and my recovering arm hurt quite a bit afterwards, but 8 hours in a week beats two minutes over the last several months.  I am back, baby!

Lac Bay is wonderful.   Truly the easiest place in the world to windsurf.   Thigh deep 95 degree water, steady onshore breezes, the occasional amazing blue or yellow or green fish that swims by in crystal clear water.  Very nice indeed.   For three dimensional sailing you must do what Georges Pav and Marr did:  tack and tack and tack until you finally get to the reef that separates Lac Bay from the Caribbean, then sail through the channel into the waves.  Mr. Pav reported an excellent session out there!

Back on the flat water Sally (Jibe Sally Jibe) continued to close in on her first planing jibe (in one attempt she was still planing as the sail flipped...a perfect catch would have taken the gold ring but alas) and also is starting to take shortboard tacking seriously.   

We met some brand new members of the tribe (Liz and Alex)...Alex is seriously addicted.   He took his first windsurfing lesson, and then promptly went out and sailed for four hours, coming in only when I promised him he’d be crippled for the rest of the week if he didn’t take a break.  After an hour of conversation we realized that Liz and Alex live around the corner from us in New York City...literally on the same block!    We also met sailors from Toronto, Boston, and Lala Land.

Who we didn’t see were Bonaire’s three freestyle superstars:  Kiri, Taty and Tonky (currently #2, #4 and #6 in the world) were not on the bay last week.  George Pav reports "I sailed with Kiri 3 or 4 times...he waited for the stronger wind at the end of the week.  I heard that Taty and Tonky left last week to train in higher winds in Fuerteventura."

There is of course a fourth dazzler on the water in Bonaire...I’ll tell a story about Caesar tomorrow.

(Top: The Bonaire wind cam last Friday. Bottom: Alex, Liz, Lili, the editor, and Sally make medicinal use of caipirinhas after some quality time on the water.)

Bonaire Invaded by Long Islanders

Sitting on the beach looking out on the water and along the shoreline, I thought "there's a whole lotta Long Island windsurfers here!"   There's George Pav sailing backwinded.  Chrissy Burns just threw a sail body 360.   God knows what Mike Burns is working on.  There goes George Marr.   And Kurt, Marianne, Susan, Tomas, Jill, Jeannie, the Dana/Andy/Lili/Wilson Napeague axis, not to mention your editor and his lovely wife.  There's even Jay, an OG Puffin from the early 90's Puffin House.   Lotsa New York here.

I have two goals for this trip:   Improve Sally's jibe, and test my long ailing right arm.   So far Sally has been carving into her jibes but grinding to a halt before flipping the sail.  Then yesterday she managed to hold good speed into the carve, plant the heel of her front foot on the inside rail maintaining speed, felt the rig go light as she began the flip...and then she caught her toe on the front footstrap stepping forward and fell.   Still, it's the closest she's come to a full planing jibe ever

Me...after two days of whining about not wanting to use a larger sail, I finally grabbed a 7.3 and windsurfed for the first time since October.    So eager was I to soak in the joy of Caribbean planning that I failed to adjust the boom height or footstraps...comfortable I was not.  After all of seven seconds of planing I realized that I was about to get catapulted.   I don’t think I’ve been catapulted in a year (not in a decade in such cushy conditions.)  I thought “this can’t be happening to me”.    And then it started, a great slow motion waaaaaaaawhomp!     Textbook doofus!    I never got dialed in yesterday, but I did manage enough runs and enough jibes to see that I can sail "some".   Looking forward to more wind and another arm test, and time on the water with the Long Island Fleet, and more jibes from Sally.

Watch the festivities on the Bonaire Wind Cam.  Best forecast for this week is for Thursday and Friday.

Hail Caesar...He Is Coming

The master of jawdropping lightwind freestyle magic, Bonaire's Caesar Finies, will be competing at the second annual East Coast Windsurfing Festival at Hecksher State Park, June 6-7.   The bar has just been raised Big Time!  Of course Long Island counters with the reigning King of the East Mike Burns, along with LI expat Chachi Sassone.   Come check out the action (and compete yourself...there will be casual competition classes in both freestyle and racing for the fun-inclined)...sign up now at the East Coast Windsurfing Festival website.  

If you've never seen Caesar do his thing, check out the video below and find out what all the fuss is about.  

Windsurfing from Bonaire to Curacao for a Cause

 Bonaire’s Taty Frans (ranked 7th in the world) and former Olympian Constantin “Patun” Sargoza are going to windsurf from Bonaire to Curacao on March 8th as part of a fundraiser to help support a stricken local hero. Ann Phelan tells us more:

The event is a fundraiser for Erwin Muller.  Erwin, a dive master and former windsurf hero on Bonaire suffered a serious stroke in January. He is recuperating in Curacao and has a long rehabilitation ahead. Erwin is well known in the community for being a man who loves adventure whether it’s riding his quad or delivering a yacht across the Caribbean.  Locals and tourists are rallying to support Erwin and his family, Ellen and Jason. The March 8 race is dedicated to Erwin, one of the original founders of windsurfing on Bonaire.  

Helicopters and chase boats will accompany the two sailors across the passage. The record set back in the 80’s by Erwin is 4 hours. Donations for this fundraiser may be contributed via Paypal to Erwin2CanDive@gmail.com   To follow Erwin’s recovery please see erwinmuller.blogspot.com

We wish Erwin well, and good sailing to Taty and Patun.  

I myself have done this crossing….by plane.

(Photo of Taty borrowed from Ann's website.)

Let's Watch Caesar Spin

I haven't played with nonplaning freestyle since the East Coast Windsurfing Festival, but on Saturday I decided that I was going to flip a sail whether there was wind or not, and got out into Davis Creek, imagining myself to be the mighty Caesar Finies.   

The video above is an encore presentation of a clip I shot last November in Bonaire. 

P.S.  Number of emails I've received from Peconic Jeff since the last time we had planing conditions, identifying potential good days that have failed to appear?   Five.   It's not Jeff's fault...we're just all desperate.  

Caesar Wants To Teach You How To Freestyle Like He Does

Hail Caesar...the magician of light wind freestyle.      You've seen his jaw-dropping sail play (if you haven't, take a look above) and now he's wondering if you'd like to learn from him. Specifically, Caesar sent the following comment to the Peconic Puffin:

What do you guys think if i put a lightwind clinic teaching my tricks...would you join? Let me know... my email is cfinies@gmail.com.

This man is incredibly talented. I've never seen him teach freestyle, but I've seen him assist windsurfers on the beach at Bonaire, and he was quite friendly and personable. This could be quite the opportunity if you want to learn some mad windsurfing tricks!