Merry Christmas to all.
Had fun here. pretty quiet. didnt open the shop. home with the family. had a few visitors and went over to Josh and Joannes for dinner. Bonfire on the beach etc. Noah had fun- far too many presents.
Busy this week which is good. Adian and Catherine visiting for some windsurfing, should have a good week.
Well, season is starting to pickup. had a few busy days with everything windsurfing, kiting and the boats. for those of you who have come and visited us before - do you remember the young lad who used to buzz around you, planing on a 100 ltr board and 2.6, while you were struggling on a 6.5 and 140- well Mikey, if you recognise him is now working at the shop and teaching beginners.
Just got a bunch of new switchblade 3 kites in for those kiters out there. great to teach and fly.
still waiting on some Stand up Paddle boards from Naish - they will be great on the light wind days - we can finally get out in the waves and surf instead of sitting on the beach.
Windsurf wise getting more Hot Sails Maui next week and some larger sails monofilm sails after Christmas.
Junior is freezing his ass off in NY city. news said there was a big NW er coming in next week so he will probably be back very soon.
Other news from the island:
we now have two new parasail boats on the island.
cobbled streets are all the way down to Royal Palms, just starting on the last section to Victoria house.
Saw the Croc by the wasa pond last week and it is huge - 14 ft and fat - must be all the chicken it is being fed.
Canibels has closed and been knocked down - a new Lounge… whatever that is going to be is supposed to open up soon.
the Two tall palms on the Holiday beach had to be cut down last week as they had the lethal yellowing disease, real shame as I think they were the tallest trees on the island.
Chocolate project is coming along - hoping to get some product out before Christmas. 70% Dark and Milk chocolate, bars and shapes handmade from organic fairtrade beans grown here in Belize.
Hurray busy again. Wind is back, lots of cold fronts but windy. nice and cool. Looking forward to the coming season, we have a new dock - the last one was pretty badly damaged in the last hurricane and lots of new equipment coming. If anyone remembers Mikey the young lad who used to rip it up on a 2.6m, well he will be teaching you this year.
The paved road has reached Banyan Bay and is looking great. was a bit worried about it initially but it is such an improvement. - Another bonus from the hurricane is the beaches are lovely and soft again. the high waves dumped lots of soft sand high up the beaches so it feel great on the feet. Other that the Island is in great shape.
see you soon
Chris
sorry folks, still havent got the weather station fixed. cant get access to the roof of the hotel. hope to have it up and running next week.
Chris
We are still here. Just
For Hurricane Dean we were still in the UK. Junior and the boys did a great job of packing everything away and boarding up my house. I really didnt think there would be anything left as I watched the Satellite image of this monster 165mph hurricane smash into the coast 40 mile north of San Pedro. But low and behold as it was moving so fast and we were on the south side those who experienced it said ” it wasnt too bad”, max 100 mph winds some trees down but very little structural damage to the island, amazing. The Corozal area didnt do so well, no electricity or water for a week or more.
Then here comes Felix. Straight at us as another Cat 5, everyone starts boarding up moving stuff off the beaches, out of the dive shops. But lucky for Belize it kept going south.
And there is 2 months of hurricane season to go.
Back in the UK for a couple of weeks to see the family. Junior is in the office running the shop. Noah is having a blast, seeing all his cousins and all the cows and sheep in the countryside. After the floods last month we have had great weather. 70 degrees or so every day and sunny skies. hope to get out kiting at Wittering over the weekend if the water isnt too cold.
got to love those tropical waves - yesteday it was a bit cloudy and rainy but today, oh man, blue skies and 20 plus all day. Edmund and the other boys were out windsurfing at 5am this morning - oh to be young again hand have that much energy. Again tomorrow fingers crossed.
Have decided to offer 50% of SailSports Belize for sale. Still love it and would like to keep doing it but 9 years here in the sun are starting to take their toll, anyone who has been down recently will have seen my face masks I wear to keep the sun off my lips whilst out on the water. Need someone to help Sailsports grow to the next level, ideally that someone should have their windsurfing or kiting instructor qualification.
Anyone interested please email me for more information.
Other that that has been a great few days for wind maxing out at 27kn yesterday afternoon. all the locals out playing, Trev and Simon have both bought H2O waterproof Ipod cases from Surf Guru so are just wired whilst out sailing.
Sailed the hobie 16 in from home this morning with Sammy in 20 kn which was a bit wild, she didnt fall of this time but she was glad to get off I think.
Noah is still growing and growing. Cant believe he is already 2 1/2 years old.
finally some breeze.
Out on 4.2’s and 4.7’s yesterday and today. Junior was out at 5.30am and was almost falling asleep at the desk by the end of the day from sailing so much. Martin was kiting on a 9m. I think Trev went to Hol Chan and back again about 5 times yesteday. Simon went out with his new H2O Water proof Ipod. I took the new 4.7 Super Freak from Hot Sails Maui out in the wave yesterday. lovely.
All in all a great week. Brought a 45ft sail boat up from Placencia on Sun /mon/tues for TMM, with Jo and Noah then lots of breeze. perfect timing.
Island is a bit busier which is also good.
a couple of crap weeks for wind. tropical storms all over the place blocking and sucking out our breeze. luckily I built the wakeboarding tower on the boat as there has been not much else to do.
looks like we may finally get some breeze the end of next. predicting up to 30kn…. will wait and see. supposed to be bringing a TMM boat up from Placencia on sunday. looking forward to a nice trip once the weather has cleared.
strange wind the last week. nothing in the mornings then picking up in the early afternoons and evening. probably to do with the Tropical depression off the coast of florida. Juniors wakeboarding is getting better, the frame we put on the back of the boat works really well.
Had the first rain here for a while last night, cooled it down but caused a power outage on the island for a few hours. Noah started a rendition of happy birthday at 1am when we lit the candles.
The Boehi’s left today. Lovely to see them again. Had good breeze the first week but not much for the last few days, not all lost as they went out sailing and snorkeling in the hobie waves everyday exploring the island.
Oh I do love May.
Nice and windy and warm - 15- 20kn for the last week. 12m bow kite and 5.8 windsurfing everyday. Not too many tourists and lower hotel prices. all the locals have been out having fun as they are quiet.
Hoping TMM will need us to do some boat deliveries to Placencia
Got the Hobie 16 up and running this week. Havent sailed one in ages - forgotten how fast they were. leaves the getaway for dust. Sammy and I have been sailing in and out everyday. took me 10 minitues to do the 3 miles home the other day, and that was with putting several gybes in. I think sammy was happy to get off the boat.
C
Last week ended on a great note. few days of 15Knots plus - Tara and Waddy from the UK enjoyed the windsurfing. Tara was last here 4 years ago, her windsurfing has improved and it was nice to finally meet her husband. Dans family are now well and truely hooked on kitesurfing, the bow kites make everything so much easier, I dont know how we used to do it on those big C’s- I think they may all come down on one of our kitesurfaris next year.
Corina from Switzerland is back staying in their favourite room at the Sunbreeze.
Its a holiday here tomorrow for Junior is working and I’m having the morning off, hurray. Teaching a couple of local kids to kite in the afternoon.
Island kayak race at the weekend. 30 miles on the first day then 16miles on the second. The first day is up through the lagoons and mangrove creeks on the western side of the island all the way to the Mexican border, then down� and across to Robles. 29 teams started. 21 teams, including all the womens teams finished the first day even though they paddled for upto 12hrs. Josh from Seaside reality finished 6th on the first day and 7th on the second day - time wise 6th overall. thanks to elito and Seduced for organising it. Hands and arms are still suffering a bit. Josh and I have decided to retire from it this year after competing for the last three years - we were the oldest to finish this year, and as the competition gets stronger we are only going to have to train harder and harder. Have already promised Elito we will help organise
Wind wise - not pretty the last week or so. teasing us with blowing at night and then dropping to 10-12kn. Forecast was for 15-22kn all this week but hasnt happened as yet except at night.
lots of kiters and windsurfers in - Dan and his family are back. managed to get them out late in the afternoons for some kiting lessons.
Noah and Sammy (the dog) are both improving their windsurfing skills. we all went out on a start and 2.6 the other day. Hot Sails Maui are sending me a 0.8m sail to get the boy started.
Cobble stones in the town are coming along nicely. At first we were worried how it would look but actually looks really good. they are already starting on the southern road. Barges have also moved from the Town square, pity the food stands were knocked down.
Had lots of good tradewind days. windsurfing wise 60-6.5 days mornings and afternoons and 7.4 in the middle of the day. kiting wise good 12 bow days. lots of kiting lessons and windsurfing lessons going on. Have ordered a few Hot Maui sails to try them out full dacron with cross-ply. sounds great.
Kite sales are going great with the lesson discount and free shipping. the 12 and 14 Switchblade II are fantastic kite and a great deal.
My parents are visiting. really enjoying Noah. its all “Nana this” and “Grandad that”. he is lapping up all the attention. Swimming, butterfly farms, bike rides.
Sammy the windsurfing mutt is calming down a bit. still gets over excited at everything.
Afraid it looks like Las Velas our condo project up north has stalled. for what we want to do the construction there at the moment is too expensive. we have the plans so just need to wait until the time is right. real shame as I think it would have been a great location and a stunning project.
Just got back from a great few days out at Turneffe Atoll. One of only 4 Atolls (islands circled by coral that reached up from the sea bed thousands of feet below) in the northern hemisphere. Belize has 3 of the 4.
Organised our first kitesurfari last week. Chris Moore from Kitty Hawk kites brought down a group of kiters last week. We put them up on the island here for the first night then did a huge 15plus mile downwinder to Caye Caulker on 8m kites in 20plus knots of breeze. Then snorkeling with sharks before off on Katkando (46ft sailing cat ) for 4 days of more great kiting in crystal clear warm water. Great food, more huge downwinders, good company. We had planned to snorkel and dive but the wind just blew and blew so had to keep on kiting. Chris is planning on bringing some more groups down next year. if anyone is interested let me know. If you have a few friends also let me know and we can put something together just for you. Chris is putting together a DVD of the trip which we can send out for anyone interested.
other news:
Jo and Bill are here from Ohio. first longboarders we have had for a while and they are having a blast. Wind has been onshore mostly so they have been just cruising up and down the coast for miles.
Teacher Susan is also here. Comes back to visit every year, she used to work at the island academy a few years ago. Jo took her out sailing today which was fun.
Sailsports has a new employee - Oscar. He is already sailing and windsurfing so Junior better watch out. Eliezer decided to stop working last week as he had a better offer from one of the local machanic shops.
The town council has started cobble stoning front street, from there the plan is to cobble the road all the way south to Victoria house. Great news for the dust and when it rains, not quite so sure about the feel for walking on front street, would have been better to just stop the traffic on front street but the decision has been made.
Sad news - Mr Luz died today, one of the old fisherman, for many years parked his boat at the holiday dock. in recent years had become progressively less well, havent seen him for a while. thoughts to his family.
Condo project is coming along - La Vela - the sail - Getting the first drafts from Dennis Depape our architect by the end of the week. cant wait.
Not much in the way of Windsurfing, Kiting or sailing in the last couple of days as the breeze has died. Chris Moore and his group from Hatteras are coming down in a little over a week for a fantastic trip. Downwinders to Caye Caulker, 3 days around the Atolls in Katkando - 46ft cat.
Weather wise - some great wind, some rain and some cloudy days - bit of everything really. best this morning 25knots plus 4.2 in the wave. hoping for more tomorrow.
Sam is back - his yearly visit, has been coming down to visit us and windsurf for the last 6 years.
Everything is coming together for the Kitesurfari later this month with Chris Moore of KittyHawk kites. Arriving here on the 17th, great schedule between downwinders to Caye Caulker and going out to the Atolls on a 45ft sailing catameran, cant wait to go and explore.
The condo project is also coming along. The Architect should have a preliminary design in the next week or so.
Noah has got a cold. has been talking and talking for the last week, repeating everything anyone says then today just flopped poor thing. Have been trying to fix our hot water in the house - never enough pressure - so bought a small pump to pressurize the hot water pipes but kicking in and out too often - too many restrictions in the expensive shower unit we bought - now have to buy a pressure tank, oh yer and a mop to mop up all the water from the joints that are not use to so much pressure. how does one small job always turn into 6 jobs?
Another great windy week. 18 plus everyday so far, but everyone has gone home. Junior and Eliezer have been out far too much. It has been pretty gusty - some rain squalls coming through so not great for kiting all the time but windsurfing has been fantastic. been out in 6-7ft waves on 4.7’s and 5.1’s.
What a great new year. Have had 17knts plus everyday so far. Fantastic windsurfing in the waves, sailing and kiting. Jeanne and Luigi are having a ball. Derrick who is here on an 8 hr windsurfing course is already in the harness. I love teaching kiting on the new bows, so much safer and easier to fly.
Eliazers windsurfing is getting good. out on the 5.1 and 145 screaming along unable to hook in. came in, dropped the sailing and flipped right over the top. came up with a huge grin.
Things are slowing down, everyone going home after the holidays. Day off tomorrow - hurray.