Kramer Report:Baja T/G '05

It was Thanksgiving eve and nothing was stiring..Katherine and I woke up at dark o'clock(3am) to head down to Baja. San Felipe was on the agenda but the Santa Ana had not hit yet and there was a swell hitting the west coast of Baja(according to Kite Monkey aka TT Traig). There are very few people you can call on the cell at 4:30am and get a running comentary that sounds kinda like some white rapper. We were to meet at the first toll booth across the border, and sure enough the MonkeyAir assault vehicle was there. We arrive at SS1 before noon after beating up Katherine's new Volvo wagon. The wind was light and the swell was knee high. Traig and I decided to go big with his 18Venom and my 19Boxer. I went out on my JL151 and traig upwinded me on his 5' fish. The downside of this SS(secret spot) is that you are walking across river rock ranging from egg sized to volleyball size. Great if you are collecting and bagging for a living($.50a bag) ...bad if you haven't yet learned to kite in army boots. Katherine had a pair of cool water shoes and Hedi /Traig had Dutch Clogs made of rubber.

We did some exploring of other spots but decided tomorrow was another day. I did get up and going on my 6'6' Chano surfboard...first time strapless..

The following day we all watched Traig jump off a cliff twice using what looked like a flysurfer but is called PARA SAILING.....Can you say parapeligic? I have some great photos of TT coming out of the Banos before his first flight...flight photos too if I can fiqure out how to post.

We then traveled to SS2 which REALLY beat up Katherine's Volvo(the salesman said that it could do anything that her Landrover could do..) After a particularily steep dune drop I noticed
her rubber baby buggy bumper was hangin'(it snapped back in,sort of).

This was a very remote beach that Traig had spoken about with dunes and a few inactive Volanoes.. The wind was starting to blow and the swell was jacking the surf up to well overhead.

We decided to go alittle further for smaller surf, less current for the girls... I went out on a 6boxer and had to go to my 90cm board to handle the power. Katherine went out on a 12 then put up her 9boxer and after being lifted....decided to take a break. Heidi was tearing it up on her 13Venom and new 5' strapped surfboard(doing great on toeside!!!)

Traig then had to go out at the previous spot in the now almost double overhead surf. Sand was blowing on the beach...meaning it was WINDY..maybe 18-26mph? We would only catch a glimpse of him as he'd have to launch over the incoming waves then he would vanish... We'd need a helicopter to film it.

After smacking DOH for awhile he comes in and says it's time to drive to San Felipe......("4wd road but really mellow, you should have no problem") Okay it's almost sunset and we are flying south behind TT passing trucks and slow moving cars....Katherine has white knuckles as we notice a truck coming with no headlights!!!! Finally we turn off the main road and baiscally batter my girlfriend's wagon for about 3 hours ( she only cried twice). Fortunately I have been on some of the knarliest 4WD trails in the US (ie Sledgehammer, Jackhammer, etc) of course it was in my Land Rover D90 and/a fully modified D90 that could offroad the moon. We did make it, but only after 12 Federales came out of the bushes w/ AK47's at the ready...just checking for drugs..Traig's espanol is no bueno...but the laughed and let us go.

Okay San Felipe for the first time for Katherine and I, we're thinking flat butter water and 16mph average. Wrong...we get up to pre-Katrina winds that blew my speedo off the Hotel railing at 6am...imagine that in your coffee..Katherine's bikini met with the same fate! We had a great breakfast where we met this young real estate guy that bragged that he's sold over 6 million in real estate this month(swampland in Florida anyone?) Traig showed us the sights of San Felipe, telling Heidi that the water is usually Bermuda blue(not Baja Brown). Kinda reminds me of the Rorschach tests in Baja Banos wastebaskets. After driving through a few Arches leading to nothing, we come upon Traig's favorite teaching spot that looks like an abandoned resort and very run down trailer park. You don't need a wind meter to tell you it's ,windy but TT pulls out the meter that says 27.6,26.628.9, 34.4,39.8, (CAN YOU SAY TRAINER KITE?) So we huddle in the empty swimming pool for awhile until we get 22.4,23.5,28.8,297(There are huge wind waves out there and the wind chill makes me cringe at the thouht of suiting up. Traig unfurls his smallest kite as I think about putting up my 6.8(Maui Kite). After traig launches and rips up the wind swell on the reverse tack I decided to put up a 9boxer which has me lit and launching off the mini waves(Mini after you've kited almost DOH). The next day we had perfect wind and flat buttery water at another spot and Katherine had the 9mboxer parked low and was heading waaaay upwind. This was a playground of sandbars that was always changing with the tide. So we had to tilt the Bano back up from the wind the day before.... What's not to like? Definitley D90 next drive down there.