A day off is always great but even better when it’ windy too.
Winds were perfect for the foil. Initially 12 or 13 knots side off meaning fairly flat water. (we had boat support if things got tricky) Saulius and I foiled upwind 4 or 5 km to Punta Mosquito but as we got closer the point the wind shifted more side shore and stronger so I decided to head back to the main spot and enjoyed being very powered on my 10 edge. It was great to get some solid practice and consistency to my foiling tacks and jibes. Our trusty gopro and homemade linemount caught some of the action.
We were lucky to be visited by travelling video maker Andreas Janthur. Andreas is currently riding his motorbike from Canada to Argentina. He called in at Isla Holbox to try his hand at kiteboarding and mastered the basics pretty quickly. In return for his lessons he captured some of the atmosphere, lessons and riding at the school and edited it into a really nice video for us.
Check our new video out here.
for more information about kiteboarding lessons on Holbox contact me jonny@whenitswindy.com or visit our website
We’ve been having some awesome sessions here since we arrived back in Holbox both on and off the foil. Foilboarding fever has definitely spread on this little island. Locals Arturo and Steffen are now foiling here along with Cathy who has just received her new Axis Maroro Foil and Axis FREE Race board. She’s learning fast now she has her own gear and what a beauty it is too. More photos soon.
We also got one of Jonny’s pictures featured in Kiteworld Magazine Reader’s Gallery and won.
We’ve been getting some amazing winds here in Sri Lanka at Kappalady lagoon and Vella Island.
Here are a couple of new tricks we’ve been working on.
Cathy’s Pop to Blind with Ole Downloop Transition and Toeside backroll
Cathy has been riding blind for a long time now but this transition out of it looks sweet. I need to get this one in the bag too.
Double Backroll to Toeside Downloop Transition
I saw Patrick doing something similar in Holbox, then saw Zac Andrews doing them here in Kappalady and figured that I needed to learn. Not perfect but getting there. Sticking a tailgrab on the invert should be nice and throwing my head and shoulders back further.
Double Back to Toeside at Kappalady Lagoon
Backroll Nose Grab
Cathy manages this nicely on the 7m Rally, I try and get some better shots or video of this soon.
Cathy grabs her nose at Vella Island
Beach Slide – Darkslide on the beach
Ok I’ve been darksliding for a while but this is the first time over the sand. Inspired by Catching trade winds video and local rider Nalin. My lovely board stood up to the abuse but really didn’t deserve it.
Jonny Smith darkslides the beach at kappalady lagoon, Sri Lanka on axis limited.
A two hour car journey from Negombo saw us passing lagoons, rivers and lakes. I was getting excited about the fishing and already.
The journey showed us quickly the true pecking order of the road. Cyclists are very clearly the lowest, followed by cars, then trucks, then tuktuk and at the top of the pile buses. Sri Lankan buses will stop for nothing except passengers. We’d considered taking a tuk tuk but the eggshell fragility of them combined with the crazy driving put us off. Great in town, long journeys no way.
We finally drew close to our destination – Kitekuda –http://srilankakiteschool.com/ near the Kapalady lagoon. Google Maps was our guide and it kindly sent us the back route down sandy paths much to the horror of our driver. A 4×4 would’ve been more useful than his brand new hybrid. A few signs to the Kitekuda camp would’ve been handy too.
Angry Louis – Get out of my way
As we arrived we were greeted by our old friend John Clark. John had been staying at Kitekuda for a while and had recommended it to us. Zak, Nils, Ola, Maufeer and Nilanka were our hosts and promptly made us welcome with an impressive lunch. The wind was up so lunch was wolfed down in a hurry, boards assembled and then a short walk showed us what we’d been waiting for. A beautiful flat lagoon, 5 kiters and about 20 knots. Happy days. Incredible first day. Good winds, good vibes and great food.
Jonh Clarke popping a nice back to toeside at Vella island.
Back at Kitekuda camp, Nilanka, and his team had rustled up a fantastic selection of curries, sides and rice all washed down with a can of special brew… which was unfortunately the only thing the local booze shop had to offer. Tramp juice and curry – yum.
Talk at the dinner table was all about a Kite safari programmed for the next day.
We hadn’t planned on going anywhere, having only just arrived but a few pictures and videos later we were signed up for a two day trip to Vella island via Dream Spot.
Leeward side of vella island Sri Lanka.
Kitekuda have a beautiful Kite boat, sporting twin Yamaha 90 engines. This rib was sure to fly.
We started the journey to Vella from Kalpitya lagoon. Kalpitya is the larger Kite lagoon in the area with more space but with gustier winds. Still looked pretty awesome but Kapalady is quieter and has a much shorter walk to the beach.
The rib absolutely flew with Nils at the helm who expertly navigated the surprisingly shallow lagoon. Twenty minutes later we arrived at dream spot.
John prepares for another pants session…
A sand bar separated our play area from the sea, giving nice flat water with enough depth for my hydrofoil. Winds were unfortunately lower than expected but perfect for foilboarding. I had done quite a bit of research about foilboarding in Sri Lanka but couldn’t find much out. Dream spot works. Foiling was easy here with winds so smooth and water so flat. I even pulled off some nice foiling tacks. The water here is deep enough to foil even with a few touchdowns. I ripped about for an hour or so until the others gave up. Their hearts were only for Vella And the wind was a bit light so off we went. Dream spot is good but we were about to find out why the others were so eager to get to vella.
Vella island is a narrow but long sand bar, occupied only by fishermen and the odd kiter. The leeward side of the island has butter flat water tight against the shoreline, mix that with 20 knot winds and you understand why we made the trip. 10m edge and darkslide paradise.
Darksliding the butter at Vella Island on the Axis Limited.
It was incredible to blast those flats with the rest of the group. Everyone was pushing hard and using the exceptional conditions for some good progression. John was really getting to grips with riding blind. Cathy was after a front to blind. Angry Louis was showing pure determination to nail his raley to blind. Omrii was getting to grips with jumping and Harry the backrolls.
Smile for the camera, john riding blind at Vella island, Sri LankaCathy performing the classic foot out at vella island, on her axis division and slingshot rally 7mLearnt to jump – Not too shabby
Mawfeer threw himself into the mix with some crazy aggressive front roll kiteloops and interesting front loops popped from the beach. Maufeer is a great local rider to watch and is non stop comedy on and off the water.
Crazy boy on and off the water.
Our digs for the night was an open sided fisherman’s hut which had space for at least 10. All of us were pretty broken and silence soon enveloped the camp. Apart from the 20 knots of wind howling all around us and the hourly visit from the local hounds.
Time to rest
The morning saw us rise with the sun and with the water all to ourselves it would’ve been rude not to have a blast before breakfast. Each of us had moments where we were the only one kiting in this paradise. It took about 90 seconds to rip from the tip of the island to the point where it bears off slightly downwind.
Jonny cruises the Vella flats at sunset all alone.
As you scream along the slicks inches from the beach the local fisherman are busy at work fixing their nets right alongside.
Cathy with nose grab at vella island, axis kiteboarding.
Tired from the kiting it was time to take the camera out.
The sun and too much kiting had obviously taken its toll on John. He was walking about in his underwear, muttering about tan lines. Next thing he was off kiting in the same attire. His riding was even better than the previous day though a couple of crashes saw some near lens shattering wardrobe malfunctions. Cathy was managing a few nice darkslides, omrii was boosting and Mawfeer was up to mischief as usual.
John styles out a nice foot out – only in his underwear
I went for a wander to watch the fisherman at work. I asked permission before every photo and always received the head waggle. My head waggle understanding was still at the same basic level as in Negombo. Waggle means yes, I hope…
Can I take your photo please, head wobble, OKLocal fishing vessels at vella island srilanka
The windward beach of the island was deserted apart from an army of nervous crabs scurrying along the shoreline.
I’ve got my eye on youOnly us, the fisherman and some menacing crabs on vella island sri lanka
An armada of kiters from another camp descended downwind onto our little paradise so it was time to leave and let them enjoy the butter too.
What a trip. Thanks to Nils and Mawfeer at Kitekuda for organising it.
If anyone wants to do a trip to vella island I would recommend getting in touch with Nils at Kitekuda – http://srilankakiteschool.com/
After several years of listening to stories about the beauty of Sri Lanka for kiteboarding and exploring we finally got on a plane and arrived.
We flew Heathrow – Delhi – Colombo with Air India who appalled us by asking 150 GBP per kite bag. We told them it was water ski equipment. It then flew for free!!!
Curry was the inflight meal and a sign of good things to come. Cathy and I could happily live on curry alone, this as it turns out is a really good thing.
Cathy had an airbnb place booked for a few days stay in Negombo after which we planned to go to Kappalady in search of wind and water for a spot of Kite surfing.
Chillies growing in the garden
We were greeted by our host Asha from Leisure Villa and we were impressed by the accommodation. Simple but perfect. Clean, cool and quiet. She had beautiful flowers and chillies growing outside.
I wasn’t expecting much from Negombo but was actually nicely surprised. The Dutch canals made for a nice walk that eventually led us to the tail end of a fish market. We caught glimpses of what could be a spectacular event.
Seeing the fish market in full swing was a must so plans were made to return at first light the following day.
Asher offered to cook dinner for us, which we of course accepted. Arranging the best time for dinner was tricky given our inability to read the head waggle properly. I decided that until further experience was gained, the head waggle would mean yes… Can I take your photo please? Head waggle – yes. I hope I’m correct.
Asher’s cooking was phenomenal. She prepared five different curry dishes to accompany the string hoppers. Lightly spiced devilled potatoes, dahl, sweet fried aubergine, coconut sambal and a fiery cinnamon chicken . String hoppers we were to find out are a kind of vermicelli rice noodles and a great alternative to rice.
This was all accompanied by gallons of tea 🙂
Tuktuk whizzes past.
6am saw a tuktuk whisking us back to the fish market.
What met us was a world apart from what we’d seen the day before. The streets were full of tuktuks, people, bikes and most of all fish stalls.
Tuna awaiting the chopping blocks.
In one area tuna were spread across the floor. Some nearly five feet long.
Nearby were the chopping blocks where several men were hacking the tuna into more manageable chunks. Machete – saw – machete achieved this in seconds.
Sashimi in bulk
Another building was for smaller fish of all shapes and sizes. Most of which I didn’t recognise except for some jacks and groupers.
Prawns were arranged in size order from tinthumbnaily sized shrimps upto tiger prawns that could nearly be classed as lobsters.
I was in camera heaven. Even if every now and then the lens needed a good wipe. Water and fish have a habit of splashing about.
The atmosphere at the market was frantic. Fish would hit the deck only to be heaved away seconds later by its new owner.
Interesting transport.
We came across one area where three women were selling their fish. Their outfits seemed to help the sales.
There were only three women selling in the whole market. Their fish were smaller but still she pulled in the punters.
Two things saddened me. One, was to see a truck of shark carcass’s missing their fins. A true waste. The other was what we suspect were three dolphin carcasses. Nearly impossible to distinguish from the other big fish than the angle of the tail fluke. All other identifiable parts had been removed. Unfortunate bi-catch I presume.
Once the excitement died down we wandered over to the smaller fish market where we saw the smaller fish being salted, dried and processed. The pace was a little slower there and more relaxed.
Sinhalese fisherman relaxing after hard work in the catamaran.
Hessian mats were covered with drying fish as far as the eye could see. Spanish mackerel, sardines, jacks and baby barracudas were all in the line up. The aroma of the drying fish is unique and intense but to me not disagreeable.
Drying fish the smell is intense.Sri Lankan lady preparing the fish for drying.
The people were very welcoming and so polite, with genuine smiles and questions about family and work. At first I was a little suspicious of these questions and the motives behind them. It became quickly apparent that I was completely wrong.
Checking the nets in Negombo
Sun-dried, such a unique aroma
What an amazing start to our trip.
Next stop Kapalady – Kitekuda for some much anticipated wind.
We’ve had a really windy season here on Holbox so far. The kite school has been busy too. So time has been short for an update. We’ve seen lots of beginners taking their first steps in kiteboarding. Intermediates learning to jump or ride surfboards and advanced riders embracing #foilfever. Gabo, Jirka and Javier have all been seen sporting the ear to ear grin that foilboarding gives.
Lagoon at holbox
Mitch has been pushing his riding on the unhooked side of things and making some nice progress. Cathy’s duck tacks are looking great on the surfboard. Pete has been seen flying high with the pelicans and Anna can usually be seen spinning like a top. I’m completely hooked on foilboarding.
New kites have been arriving and we now have some new 2016 Slingshot Wave and Rally kites in the School. Very impressed with both.
New boards too for Cathy and I from Axis kiteboarding. The limited has been updated with a fat rail and my first impressions have been very good.
Axis Limited 2016 “Fat Rail”
Also landed recently thanks to Todd from Canada is the WOO which is going to open up a new level to our kiting here. Maybe even show a competitive side to some of us.
wooohoooo
First try in some mediocre winds saw me flying to 8.3m can’t wait to get out again and push it to new heights.
Well the UK won out this summer and we’ve landed down at Calshot on the south coast. The conditions down here are fantastic for learning, with knee deep to waist deep water at low and mid tides with the added bonus that at high tide it is perfect for a spot of kite hydrofoiling.
We’re working with Paul @ Nomadic Kitesurf
August has seen us teaching nearly daily and the students have been progressing really nicely so far.
The shop 24-7 Boardsports is on site at the beach for any toys that you might need to buy after your lessons.
If you’re going to head down get in touch with Cathy or myself or through Paul’s Nomadic website.
So the summer is here and we’ve been spending it in the UK so far. We’ve just got back from a couple of weeks travelling around the West coast of Wales, check out our write up here.
“Our last morning on the Gower tucked away in a little spot where we possibly shouldn’t have been, I was awoken to a rocking van.. “Cathy is that you?” I asked… “No!” came the reply. With fear that I might find an angry landowner clamping the van we opened the curtains to find a very big black cow using the Oranguvan as a personal scratching post. Cathy’s farm experience quickly sent them packing and us too.”
Jonny has also been loving his Kite Hydrofoiland has written a little piece to explain more about this growing style of kiting. If you’re intrigued and want to know more about the magic carpet ride of hydrofoiling / foilboarding in those summer breezes find out more here.
Jonny foilboarding with #axiskiteboarding – Abrerech sands
Not quite sure about Kite Hydrofoiling but still want to rip up those flat waters in light summer breezes why not check out a freerace board. Find out more here.
