IWT Baja 2017 Fun!

Saturday Aug 19 - Baja Arrival

I woke up in San Diego and met fellow Baja travelers Sandra and ‎Georgia who were heading to Solosports to cheer on their son/brother Alex. We caught our small plane at Brown field and started our flight to San Carlos.

Landing on the dirt runway at Solosports

Right when I arrived at camp and I was asked to be a judge. ‎Quite an honour and more than a bit stressful judging KP, Boujmaa, surprise rider Francisco Goya and many more outstanding windsurfers. We got through a number of heats completed down at the point before calling it a night.

One of KP's nice moves that got great marks from me and the other judges!

Sunday Aug 20 - Judgment Day

At breakfast I met Dutch windsurfer Arriane Aukes who knows my niece Vanessa from Bonaire. Not such a small world really.

The event format

Started with judging more pro and women's heats. Surreal moment giving windsurfing legend Francisco Goya a 3rd in his heat. After a few heats were called due to low wind/wave conditions, we headed back up to camp.

‎Mellow afternoon waiting for our Amateur heats to start. I even got in a quick first session for myself during a break in the judging to get the cobwebs out. But then the action got going with the finals for the women and men.

After the crowning of the winners, there was a real party atmosphere in camp. I fell asleep listening to the international group of windsurfers ‎singing songs at the bar.

The group shot!

‎Monday Aug 21 - Eclipse

‎Egg burritos for breakfast and everyone was talking about the upcoming eclipse. I created a small viewing piece by using a hole cutter in a piece of paper, but the grommet holes in the roof tarps provided an even better way to see the roughly 1/4 coverage of the sun by the moon.

The crescent of the eclipse as seen through a piece of paper
with a hole in it on the round logo of the IWT.

I was excited when Sam gave me the fleece vest I'd last seen in Morocco. I had forgotten where I'd lost track of it.

A full schedule of heats were planned for the day and started right at 10:40. I wasn't judging, I now had at least 4 heats to compete in, 2 in amateurs and 2 in masters.

I found some really good waves in my first two heats and felt great about my turns and control on them. I had one run out where I saw a great wave coming at me. I tacked just in time on the crest and rode down the breaking wave and got some great turns. That felt really good!

But I still came in 3/4 and 3/3 heats. Then in my 3rd heat I didn't find any waves ‎and came 3/4 as one sailor didn't show up. So I finished 5/9 masters. Suddenly I was having a solid nap in my tent and woke up just in time to rig for another heat.

My last heat of the day was an amateur hear vs. Simeon. The previous heat had been cancelled as there weren't any waves. It was just us two, ‎we headed out and both found waves. I had two good rides and was smiling when I came in. The old RRD freewave 108 I've used for the last few years and the Elite 5.7 were very comfortable. My result was in 2/2 in that heat and thus my competition was done but got a lot of comments in camp about how my wave sailing has improved.

While I don't have Internet access for the week, rumour has it that a photo of me made it in the press release!  (And here's what they said: Carl Speiss managed to click with the sets and showed tons of progression in his riding, connecting multiple waves from the Bombora all the way through the bay.)

Carl gets a wave from the IWT Press Release

Tuesday Aug 22 - Party waves

Huevoes Rancheros for breakfast and then I lead the Japanese contingent and Russ and Arianne for a 9km mountain bike tour up to the badlands. We even bicycled through the famous hole in the rock. We got back in time ‎to see the finals of the masters which had Simeon crowned masters champ and my ranking came in at 5th our of 6.

My Master's ranking 5/6

Then after lunch and watching the amateur semi finals most of the camp including many of the pros headed out to windsurf. It turned into an insane expression session.

I was on a nice wave and Boujmaa dropped in on it too. He did a bottom turn around me and then signaled me to ‎go next. We linked a half dozen turns, whooping and hollering. Then we shared the next party wave again in amazing sync.

I didn't find many more waves, but did get 2 out of my 3 carve 360 attempts.

Another huge highlight of the session was heading out to the Bombora ‎and seeing 4 of the 5 windsurfers ahead of me all do loops! I was the 6th sailor over the wave and did a decent jump, but no loop! Brazilian pro Edjvan thrilled the crowd with his boosted back loops and freestyle.

I was on a 5m Ezzy Elite and quickly got used to the 102 Goya thruster board I'd selected. I normally only like single fin boards. I covered 32 km in 90 minutes and felt great heading back to shore.

We then watched the amateur final with Olivier from Paris, JP from Guernsey and the two Toms from Canada. JP's three waves through the Bombora stole the amateur final quite clearly. ‎

The Canadian Toms doing very well in the Amateurs

My ranking was 9/14.

Amateur results tied for 9/14

The mood in camp for dinner was quite boisterous, with many Baja fogs being consumed. I enjoyed some nice conversations with both pros and amateurs. Boujmaa and I recounted his wave sharing with Soufian and Festa in the Land/Atlantic movie. I headed to bed just before the drinking games got out of hand.

Wednesday Aug 23 ‎- Hike

I had another 10 hour sleep which included vivid crazy dreams that I could almost remember after waking up - something rare for me. Breakfast turned into a lazy morning of French vanilla flavoured coffee and reading.

Before noon I headed out and did a 45 minute 4.3 km hike up 'downhill' and along the 'top of the world' ridge. I was definitely missing my wife, recalling the great hikes we did together last year.

After lunch and a quick nap we had the IWT Baja premier of Girl on Wave. It was great to see Sarah beaming as the windsurfing crowd applauded at the end of the movie.

Movie Matinee and the Pro/Am announcement!

Sarah Houser and me at the screening of her movie Girl on Wave

I got in a quick one hour / 22 km session wearing just my short wetsuit. Max speed was 42.7 km/h on the RRD 104 board and Taka 5.3 sail. ‎I never felt quite comfortable and after seeing what looked like a fin in the water out past the Bombora my mind (and tweaked finger and cold body) said enough.

Thursday Aug 24 - ProAm

Right after breakfast I headed out for ride on a sweet Santa Cruz 'tall boy' carbon ‎fibre mountain bike. I made it all the way up 'downhill' without stopping pedalling (but did take one small break near the top) After a 7.5 loop down I came to camp, got some water and headed out again to 'ridge of dads' and then '311' and 'downhill'.

My morning mountain bike ride.

Overall 13.3 km in 90 minutes with a top speed of 34 km/h.

The sweet Santa Cruz mountain bike that is available for riding on the trails

After lunch the Pro-Am format was announced. I was paired with last year's winner Casey Houser for the 4 lap slalom race. The pro and amateur got to choose who would take the first 2 laps. I headed out and made all 3 of my jibes but was caught in a lull and dropped from 7 to 9th. Casey couldn't make up the ground I'd lost but it was fun anyway then watching the 4 pair final. I then had the water to myself for an hour.

The start of the pro-am race!

I did 30 km in 70 minutes with a top speed of 49.4 km/m! I was unusually comfortable on the TRD Freeware 100 and Ezzy‎ Elite 5.7.  I was doing duck jibes, trying monkey jibes, attempted a few vulcans and generally having a great time out by myself.

As I was getting ready to head in, there were suddenly a bunch of riders on the water. Unbeknownst to me the slalom cross had started. I did one lap with the pros before figuring out they were actually racing and quickly abandoned the course.

I was out in the middle of the pro expression session - oops.

Clearly, despite the geeky helmet I was having fun!

Friday Aug 25 - Closing Time

After breakfast I headed out to Stand Up Paddle with Boujmaa and JP. Others quickly joined us at the Bombora. I caught two waves out there and ‎one coming in. I'm slowly getting better at the SUPing and really enjoyed my nice long wave ride back in to camp. 2.6 km in 40 minutes. Boujmaa was inspiring, he didn't even get his hair wet during the 100 or so rides he got!

GPS Capture of my SUP session. Just two waves at the point,
then one long one on the way back in.

Then I got another 7km bike ride in. Almost peddled the whole way up 'downhill'‎, then over to 'Dammit Jim' and back also in 40 minutes. Top speed 27 km/h on the way back to camp.

Bike ride with 27 km/h top speed.

At 4pm I  headed out for a SUP windsurfing session. 4.5m Taka sail worked well for heli tacks and other freestyle moves. I did 9km of slow, fun wave rides in 70 minutes. Was my top speed really 26 km/h?

SUP sailing session - lots of fun catching 20+ waves!

The closing party started with Baja fogs of course. ‎I was called up with the winners of the fun race, mainly because I seemed to be the happiest person on the water all week. I got a special award just for having the most fun?

Winning an award for being the happiest IWT camper!

The video of the week also had a nice shot of me in it at 5:20. I look forward to adding the bit of drone footage Joey got to Vimeo as well.

The van and trailer got packed with ‎everyone's extra gear so the planes can take all the people heading home tomorrow.

Saturday August 26 - Packing it in and up

The camp started clearing out right at breakfast and  some of the tents started coming down. I went out for a last SUP and had 13 great wave rides, possibly a record for me?  ‎I certainly felt more comfortable than the day before; stable most of the time on my 10 foot, 31 inch wide RRD 'WASSUP' board.

Then I headed for a bike ride on a different Santa Cruz mountain bike, this one had 12 gears at the back and I was able to make it up 'downhill' without a single stop. I was pretty spent and enjoyed the view from the top one I got there. ‎I had a super fun run down 'Stans' and back to camp.

Just to push it, I rigged up a 5.7 elite and took out the RRD 12 to make it a 3 sport morning. I only planed once, caught 3 ‎waves but made almost all my tacks and jibes.

Almost everyone was packed up and the excitement built as the first of 3 planes landed. ‎The flight home in the Centurion II was at a higher altitude than normal, 6500 feet which made for some nice views. I had a quiet evening in San Diego with a nice dinner at Spike Africa's and got ready for my Sunday morning flight home.

As usual, I'm already thinking about my next trip to Baja - maybe with a wave camp again next summer?

Get the MF snake off my MF sail !

Ok, I wasn't really angry. But I've never had a snake on my sail!

Short story: I was swimming back to shore as the thunderstorm got close, and I encountered a small water snake swimming toward me. I swam around it but as the sail went by it decided to hitch a ride on my sail. I swam with it as a passenger for a while, then shook it off the sail and we swam in opposite directions. I'd seen a snake years ago while windsurfing, and a fish and a bear too. This was the first time I had a snake as a passenger.

Long story: After finishing a full day of emails and calls, I headed out into what was supposed to be a late afternoon nicely building SW wind. And it did seem windy when I headed out. I rigged the 6.2 Duke and was hoping for some nice long runs on the 116 Freewave.

I started slogging upwind but could never get on a plane, even after shortening the boom 2cm to add more draft. So I stashed the board and sail and got the 7.0 NP V6 and Fanatic Ray 122 slalom board. But that didn't really get planing either in the 8-14 knot winds that my wife measured for me.

The track, 6.2 Duke and Freewave 116. Then 7.0 V6 and Ray 122.
The 5.4 and Techno foil worked the best at the end.

So I sailed that back to the shed and got out the Techno foil board and optimistically put the 5.4 Duke on it. The wind did seem to have finally picked up. And I got a bunch of nice runs in on the foil. Foiling with the 5.4 was the easiest and most in control I've been. That was my 14th time on the foil.

Speed details!

But now the thunderstorm that had been on the horizon was very close at hand. I could see the lightning so I sailed the foil back to the shed. I went to the point and got the 6.2 / Freewave and thought I'd get one more planing run in, but there really wasn't much wind, the 5.4 + foil was just that efficient. I slogged downwind, and then decided to swim the last bit as the lighting and thunder sounded close. Then I saw the snake... I should have had my GoPro!  The thunderstorm rolled through shortly after.

Just not enough wind.

Heading back on the 7.0 and Ray 122

The thunderstorm rolled through!

The storm from a distance

Rainbow after the storm

Beginners in the gale!

I headed out after a nice breakfast with our departing visitors and had a quick session on the Skate 108 and Duke 6.2. I tried one Vulcan and felt good about it, but then I didn't ever try another attempt. It seemed warmer than the 12.8 degrees that Garmin's website says on my GPS log.

Before lunch session, 6.2 Duke on Skate 108
Max speed 40 km/h, one Vulcan attempt
5.5 km in 37 minutes

The wind seemed to be dropping so I headed back for lunch with the new visitors who had just arrived! After lunch a bunch of us headed out into the bay looking for adventure.

Matt went out on the 3.5 youth sail on my old YPSI, and John was on the 4.7 Duke on my sister's old BIC Veloce 328. The wind was howling. I was having a great time on my 6.2 Duke sail and 108 Skate windsurf board.

Katie helped bring Matt upwind occasionally using the Seadoo. This was the first time the Seadoo was put into service that way and it worked exactly like I'd hoped. Matt had a successful time in the most challenging wind he's ever seen. Matt then headed back to the cottage with Katie so they could pick up my son at the marina leaving me to have more time in the wind!

Matt after a great first high wind session!

John rocking the Bic Veloce 328 in 25 knots after a 10 year windsurfing hiatus.

John was still out and the wind kept building. At one point, based on how my 6.2 was twisted and the fact that my two bolt universal came loose, I think there was a 30 knot wind blowing!

John getting back to shore after staying upwind all through the gale!

John got back though and was all smiles - the first time he'd sailed in a decade. Likely 20 years since he'd windsurfed on a small board and sail in solid wind!

After lunch session: Same Duke 6.2 and Skate 108
My max speed 45 km/h, some planing jibes and heli tacks
13 km in 47 minutes

The next evening the wind was completely gone, and we all had a lovely fire and banana boat dessert at the same spot. My new windsurfing simulator got some use from the kids!

My home made plywood windsurfing simulator!

Banana boat dessert roasting at the windsurfing launch pad!

Looking at the wind chart for the last week - we caught the windiest day of the week, if not the month!

The wind that day

And how it compared to the rest of the week!

Foiled again!

After my emails and calls, I headed out to get a Friday afternoon session in the wind that was predicted ahead of the thunderstorms!

I used the 6.2 Duke on the Techno 148 with the 36" Slingshot 2 Hoverfoil. After slogging upwind I caught some gusts and got going nicely. I did spend more time slogging than foiling, but that was OK because I'm actually finding the time up on the foil to be quite demanding.

My port side runs were very nice and I was really feeling some control. When I would get up too high, instead of sheeting out and still overfoiling, I would twist/push downwind with the front foot, and this would help both going faster and making the foil bite back down into the water. I think it helped that I had replaced the single back footstrap with two inboard straps.

Two of my starboard side runs ended with soft catapults. Here's the GPS track of my 13th foil session.

Foiling GPS trail. Around 12-15 knots of wind.
28 km/h top speed toward the end.

The top speed of 28 km/h was reached when I was getting ready to head back before the rain and possible lightning came. The whole session was less than an hour but still felt like serious exercise. I was wearing a shorty in the 23c humid wind. The water is much clearer now than it was 2 weeks ago. I also noticed the first monarch butterfly here in many years.

First monarch in many years!

During the thunderstorm, I worked on building my dryland windsurfing simulator. I put an old fishing seat swivel in between two sheets of plywood. More on that another day. After the storm and dinner, I caught this nice photo of my Canada 150 flag and the Fanatic banner I've been flying on the island.

Canadian guy windsurfing fanatic?

Drone footage on a low wind day

We had guests out on the island and brought the drone out for the first time. I'm definitely getting more comfortable flying it. There was very little wind though, which made for a nice picnic lunch and easy beginner windsurfing.

Here are the pictures.

Matt was out first!

The picnic site

Aerial view from 120 metres above

Matt heading out again on the 3.5 this time.

Michael out again 32 years after getting his first board!

The video turned out to be harder to edit than I expected. The DJI drone was set by default to save .mov (Apple) video files. It took forever to save a few as .mp4s using Handbrake so that I could edit them together. This new technology is cool but takes a lot of time!

My first drone movie from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.


After actually doing windsurfing lesson and a work conference call I went out and did some light wind freestyle. Duck tacks are pretty easy with a 4.5m sail. Michael's Mistral board will be put into service on the simulator I plan on building.