April 2008

We’ve discovered Kiteboarding. Our plans included learning how to windsurf, probably in Venezuela. But Aruba is home to a large Kiteboarding/Windsurfing training center. Five years ago when I lived in the San Francisco area, I had heard that there were some kamikazes wakeboarding with kites in the bay. Everybody said it was very dangerous and people were getting killed. That’s all the information I needed to dissuade me from finding out more. I owned a wakeboard boat and was having a blast in the Sacramento river and Delta area.

But then, while we were anchored near the airport in Aruba, some seventy year old fart goes speeding by Freeboards kiteboarding. What the hell? It looked fun. And if he could do it, so could we.
So the three of us enrolled in a 3 day course( http://dare2fly.com/Aruba/). The first day we spent flying trainer kites on land. The second class we were attached to “real” kites in the water. The goal was to launch the kite from the water, then practice having it drag you around the ocean and out to sea. “Don’t pull down when the kite’s in the power zone,” was the main warning. If you do, the kite will lift you (up to 30 feet) out of the water. (Talk about FreeBirds.) This is one the reasons for the crash helmet. The final class was spent trying to get up on a board that was leashed to you. The helmet also was to protect your head from the board when you fell.

It’s not really that dangerous, though. This is a 6-7 year old sport. In the beginning, the kites had no way to release tension when a gust of wind came along. This has led to some spectacular accidents and amazing videos on YouTube. And, there were no training facilities. Just a few brave “nut cases” willing to try something new and exciting. Think astronauts. Anyway, now that kiteboarding has become a true sport, lots of research and development have gone into this new industry. The kites have double safety releases, adjustable tension bars, safer designs, along with professional training centers. Now, whether you are 10 or 80, there is a kiteboarding experience waiting for you. Like all sports there are dangers, however, now they are manageable by you, not the elements.

I had a pretty bad accident as well. But before I show it to you (it was caught on video), let me show you a beautiful video of some incredible kiteboarding in northern California. This is what it’s supposed to look like.

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Okay, back to my accident. Please don’t let this keep you from trying kiteboarding. This accident of mine, though horrible, is quite rare.

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Maybe we should stick to kiteboarding in lakes.

So, before we could stand up on our boards, thanks to Geert van den Berg of Aruba Boardwalk, http://www.arubaboardwalk.com/, we were the proud parents of three Cabrina, Switchblade kites of various sizes. Anytime the wind is over 12 mph, we will be ready. All we have to do is learn how to ride our boards. And not pull down when the kite is in the power zone..... Yet.

We motor sailed 74 miles from Aruba to Curacao. Curacao is a separate country, but under the same Dutch protectorate. The main city of Willemstad is like having a little bit of Holland in the Caribbean. Colorful buildings, and the world’s largest sideways opening bridge, are just a few of the attractions. We “planned” on sailing all the way to Willemstad, but only got as far as the little bay, Santa Cruz, before nightfall. It was so beautiful that we spent a month, rather than the three days we had planned. We were the only boat in the bay, except for a few days. Ocean behind us, twenty-foot high rock cliffs on both sides, and a beautiful white sandy beach in front of us. It only rained once for a few minutes, which explains the cactus and sagebrush terrain. Reminds me of Arizona.

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Santa Cruz, Curacao

The only hints of civilization are the palm-leaf covered picnic tables and “Captain Good Life’s (CGL) house/restaurant/boat taxi/bar/dive center/day care/kennel and fishing facility. Rod, a cross between a biker and fishing guide, is a wonderful cook. CGL and Rod took us snorkeling for lobsters under a full moon. Then Rod worked his magic on the 17 lobsters that we gathered in two hours. They looked like baby lobsters to me, but in fact were full grown for this species. Marty went snorkeling in a different location a few nights later and grabbed a monster of a bigger breed. “The way to catch them,” Marty explained, “is to grab them behind there forward facing spines on the head, and there rear facing spines on the tail.” If you crab them in just the right place, you can do it without gloves. If you grab them in the wrong place, you’re in for a world of hurt.

Marty has been a surfer and skateboarder, but has never wake boarded. He is definitely the best, first-time wake boarder I’ve ever seen. He got up on the board the first time, then rode like he had been doing it all his life. He’s definitely a great athlete. And so is, Petra. She also got up the first time, and love’s to push herself and learn new sports. Her gymnastic training in the Czech Republic definitely shows. She now snorkels every day for over an hour making tours of the local caves and corralled coastline where she has started taking pictures of all the local fish. She has started a Fish Album on our website with pictures and names of all the fish and underwater scenes she sees on her daily adventures. We’re very excited to get our new underwater camera in a few days. It’s much better than the “camera in a case” that she is currently using.

One morning, Petra and I, were sitting in our cockpit (the back, covered portion of our boat), when she spotted a large pod of dolphins 200 yards away. (Marty was still asleep after one of his late nights at Captain Good Life’s.) We jumped in the tender and raced over to them. For one and a half hours, we motored among these wonderful creatures and played together. They loved to swim in our tenders bow wake. (We call our tender “The Mercedes” where as the smaller dingy we call “The Porsche.”) Petra was thrilled when she was actually able to lean over and touch one of them. We also took turns jumping in the water with a mask and snorkel. They were curious but cautious, never letting us get too close before they would dive down and disappear into the 1000 foot-deep blue water.

We got back to FreeBirds and Marty was awake. (We now call him “Captain Smarty” because every now and then, we have to admit, he has a great idea that is better than ours.) We went back out to the dolphins, this time with me on my wakeboard. We made a small movie, our first, with the footage for you to share. (We are learning to make videos so that our readers can share some of these unique experiences with us.) Captain Smarty is quite the video photographer, so get ready for lots more home-made movie clips.

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One thing that we love about living on a boat, is that when we are twelve miles from a countries shoreline, we are in international waters. This means that we are not subject to any particular countries rules and regulations. We are, in effect, our own country. With this in mind, we have decided to act like a country. We now have a national anthem, “FreeBirds” by Lynnard Skinner. We are in the process of writing a constitution and declaration of independence. In the meantime, we are creating our own version of the Ten Commandments. We don’t like the word, “Command ments,” however. So, FreeBirds will have “The Ten Suggestions.” We would like your suggestions. Right now, we have the first Six Suggestions.

1. Follow positive energy, and sail away from negative energy.

2. Tell the truth (except sometimes when dealing with government officials).

3. When FreeBirds, the National Anthem is played, you don’t need to stand, or even salute, but we would “suggest” remaining quite, and maybe even playing some air guitar.

4. Everyday aboard Freebirds, from here forward, will be known as Sunday. Hence, if asked what day it is, you will hear the reply, “Sunday.”

5. Don’t intentionally hurt other people or living things.

6. If one must choose between a fun/play activity, or a work project, the fun/play activity will always be chosen (except for Marty. He may choose to do the work, or play activity).

We would like the help of you, our readers, regarding the additional four suggestions. Just list your suggestions in our comments section: “Suggestions”

Thank you again for joining us for another adventure of FreeBirds. If you have been referred by a friend, and would like to receive a monthly email notification of when our next issue is published, please fill in your contact info here. Your contact info is private, and will not be given to others. And we would like it if you shared our newsletter with others, so that we may reach a larger audience every month.

Brad, Petra, and Captain Smarty

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