1450km with kitesurf

ü      Kite bivouac between Recife and Alcantara. Brazil.

September 2008-11-24

 

Kite surfing quickly caught my attention, its control being very close to that of a paraglider. Its manoeuvrability fed my dreams and I could imagine myself crossing bays and capes long before inflating my first bladder…!! I will always remember my first ride when I felt the same sensations as during my first delta flight: smiling non stop for so long that my jaw ached. I knew I was at the right place at the right time. In 2007 with Oliver Laugero we did what we call a “kite bivouac”. The plan was to follow the North-East coast of Brazil , between Natal and Lencois de Maranheness. 1100 Km without assistance. We carried all the necessary material in our backpack and slept in our hammocks or in guest houses (poussadas) when possible. These days, with a paraglider, the idea of travelling over hundreds of kilometres in complete autonomy is a common practice. The Alps, the Himalayas and the high plateaux’s of Abyssinia have been flown through from side to side by adventurers in need. The idea of travelling by kite surf seemed natural.

 

That same year ,after the kite bivouac with Oliver I realized that I had left my camera in Jericaocoara. Rather than travelling the 200Kms by bus I decided to Kite surf there. I left Paracuru at 5:30 and got to Jerico at 12:30. Being left with only 5 hours of day ligh, I decided to continue and see how much distance I could still travel. I stopped at sunset in Luis Coereira, after having covered 325km in 12 hours, 1km more than the existing world record. After this experience, it was difficult to resist coming back in 2008 to push a bit further… this time I’ll be alone to cover the 1450km necessary to travel from Recife to Alcantara and to try and set a new distance record by travelling 24 hours non stop.

The original project was to go from Maceo to Bélen, 2000km in autonomy. The insufficient wind in Maceo forced me to start my journey in Recife and the same wind kept me from going further than Alicantra, thus sailing 1450km in 13 days.

Here is the story:

 

September 18^th: Here I am at Maceo, the start of my kite bivouac journey. At my arrival this morning at 2:00 I jumped in the first poussada I found. I couldn’t wait to start navigating…. When I awoke 6 octets of alto-cumulus were obstructing the sky and bringing the wind close to inexistent. Still, I crossed town and went down to the beach with all my stuff … I couldn’t wait to try my board! I stayed there waiting for the wind to pick up all morning. What I had feared the most happened, a lack of wind on the south part of my itinerary…so I’m stuck in a little village North of Maceo where I found a little room in a villager’s house. I say to myself that tomorrow is another day and I superstitiously touch the wood of my superb DOLL board, hoping the wind will pick up…and as my mama says, there is good in all bad, if I don’t get wet at least I’ll be tanned. I can already see the looks on my sponsors face!! No Worrys, every thing is going to be O.K…….

 

September 19^th: This morning at 6:00, the same situation as yesterday. Same clouds, same wind. I still inflate my kite to chase away bad luck and take the time to prepare my back pack, unfold the lines and close carefully the water proof bags. I do all this slowly, saying to myself “it’s going to pick up, it’s going to pick up”. I probably opened and closed my bags 10 times, every time forgetting something really important (probably voluntarily). When I was finally ready, the wind had gone up 1 knot, rising from 9 to 10. Optimistic the “gramush” with his 78kl, 11m2 kite and 12kg backpack hoping to sail a bit….I didn’t even touch the water… I thought I even heard my board moan. A bit annoyed, I hitchhiked towards Recif and finished off the last 100km in a local bus. It dropped me off in the charming little city of Olinda, a bit North of Recif. Suddenly at 6:30, 15 kls of wind. It gets my hopes up for the next day. I’m feeling good, tonight I’ll have shark for dinner….

 

September 20^th : 111km. Today the wind is perfect, but I can’t take off from Olinda’s beach were surfing and kite surfing are prohibited. I haven’t even unfolded my kite when a police man asks me to move on 10km further. I finally take off from a beach 15 km north with a good 15kls of south-east wind. This time every thing is perfect, the sea is calm, sailing is easy… asking for more would be indecent!!! My G.P.S doesn’t work correctly, like last year it isn’t waterproof so I sail on sight not knowing the name of the villages I pass. First big crash after 1 hour of navigation. The back foot strap unscrewed during the bus ride and waited for me to be 2km out a sea to break… a short stop to gain the shore and fix it before I’m off again. The coast is beautiful. Sand dunes alternate with cliffs of conglomerated sand sculpted by the wind. After 3h of navigation I stop to eat a bite in a little restaurant, alone in the cliffs. The afternoon goes by smoothly except for my backpack, which is staring to fell heavy due to the repetitive shocks. I saw many turtles and my first fin. It looked like a dolphin not being sure I prepared 3 litres of oil and pick up serious speed for the next 10 minutes… I wonder why? Later when my heart pulse had gone back down to 30, I meet my first kite surfers out at sea next to Joao Passoa. I decided to rest in Ponte Lucena. My legs felt heavy and my back ached….first night in a poussada on the beach and dinner at Renato’s mother’s house. He’s a nice guy who helped me dock.

 

September 21^st : 110km. This morning I’m paying off yesterday’s effors. I think I must have new muscles growing in my legs, it hurts… Renato is waiting on the Beach and helps me unfold the kite. The kindness and hospitality of the North-Eastern Brazilians is not a myth!!! The first part of the day is nice and easy. Beach after beach, the lowering tide leaves big flat zones on wich surfing is smooth. The next part of the day is harder and my endurance is seriously tapped. The sea becomes agitated and the coast transforms into a huge reef which doesn’t allow any rest. Falls and sinus cleaning fills up the rest of the day…I thought I could reach Natal but these last Km have been hard for my legs. I literally throw myself on the first accessible and inhabited beach I find, I at 30 km north of Natal. 110 km on the meter today.

 

September 22^nd : 120km. So many turtles today… a bit more and I was riding one!! Great day: easy sea, nice waves and kilometres of lagoons to speed through. My leg aches are gone. Nice encounter with local fishermen who want to race but most of all, beautiful traverse of Natal. Tonight I am in Miguel de Gostoso, a famous Brazilian kite spot. On the meter today: 120km.

 

September 23^rd : 147km. Nice and restful day. The sea was calm and the wind constant. However it was offshore wind (blowing from earth to sea), which implies that reaching the coast in case of a problem can be troublesome. It’s best to stay close. I crossed no fishermen but loads of flying, jumping and floating (dead) fish, and a baby turtle! I stopped in Galhinos to eat a “carne del sol” and parmesan fries (try, it’s very good!). The afternoon was a delight, strong wind and a nice regular water surface. Great surfing on over 50 km…what more could I ask for!  At 4:00 a poussada is waiting for me on the beach of Ponto do Mel.

 

September 24^th : 107km.Yesterday was great but today is a pain. This time the wind has progressively gone down from 12 to 8 kts in the late afternoon. I spent all morning “rowing” like crazy in order to stay afloat. I got cornered in the village of Tibau (…) on a 10 meter deep beach lined with electrical lines. For 3 km I had the kite a few meters from the line and with my wet feet, I could imagine myself as “carne del sol” (grilled meat). To land the kite elsewhere than on the line it was “hot”. The wind was down to 8kts, so I packed up and continued by foot to kill time. I had barely walked 3 km when the wind picked up again to 12 kts. Time to unfold the kite and hop in the water. Cape Tibau is going up wind so I have to manoeuvre to pass it. The result is 1h30 of hell to cross 8km of beach. Once the cape is passed the wind goes down again slowly. I finished my day “out of breath” 5km before Canoa Quebrada.

 

September 25^th : 174km. When I take off from Majorlanda, 5km before Canoa Quebrada, it’s 8:00….yes, it’s a bit earlier than usual but it’s impossible to find something open to get a coffee or something. Today the wind is moderate (12 to 15 kts) and it will stay that way all day. I spent my day “pumping” (it’s an expression). The first 80 kilometres were nice. Since I hadn’t had breakfast I stopped in a village a bit before Moro Branco, to have 2 ouvos frito and 2 paos passado (fried eggs and grilled toast) with a pitcher of Majacuja (passion fruit)…. I know a few who will drool!!!! 45 minutes later, the wind is still low, and I’ve left with the idea of continuing non stop till Paracuru. Every thing was going for the best when the wind went down 1 or 2 kts, enough to keep me from staying on a constant axis. I have to manoeuvre to keep my board out of the water. I also have to stay at sea to cross the huge (2.6km) pier a bit before Taiba. Just when I was going to pass it, the wind died down again barely allowing me to get to the coast, I had to finish the last 100 meters swimming. The place was completely empty if not for the big pier used to pack the super tankers of Fortaleza. After 2 or 3 kilometres by foot, I stopped in an abandoned picnic area which was sheltered from the wind. Blissfully, I managed to buy rice and chicken hearts from a merchant proposing food for the truckers come to fill the boats. Calm night, rocked by the wind which is now blowing strongly again! (I probably did something strange in another life to deserve this….)

 

September 26^th :  26km. I wake up with the sound of trucks coming too fill the containers…. A quick breakfast and I’m off to finish what I should have yesterday, an easy 30 km with 18 to 20kts. I’m in Paracutru again where I give myself some rest before I take off again. I take the time to rine off my gear and repack my bag to lighten it a bit. Distance travelled untill this day: 795km.

 

September 27^th :  200km. I fell well rested. I bought a few things: strap for my fingers, chap stick and even a PUMA cap for 2 euros, it’s probably a fake… this morning I have a problem…I don’t know witch kite to pick. The choice is fairly restraint; I only have my 9m2 and my 11m2.      The problem is that I’m supposed to find strong wind until Caburé (400km noth of Paracuru) and then a low wind zone again between San Luis and Belem. I wandered around in the streets of Paracuru this morning at 6:00, wondering which surface I should use. The 11 with the risk of being over powered and unable to control the kite in strong wind o, but also having better chances to pass the north part of Sao Luis, or the 9 with the certainty of being able to control the kite on the first part of the itinerary but the doubt of being able to pass the delta of Sao Luis. Finaliy I picked the 11m2, thinking in the worst case I could shorten the lines from 25 meters to 15 meters to have more control in a strong wind. So at 7:30 I find myself inflating my kite next to the “kite doctor” of Paracuru (a very nice kite surfer, who repairs the local’s kites… a lot of work!). The kite doctor was inflating a 7m2… with a little smile when he saw my kite. Too late, I’ve decided, I’ll see what I can door if need be. At first it was easy, going good, the wind was blowing weakly. When I arrived to Flechiras it went up to 25 kts in gusts, and when I stopped to eat in Icarai it was almost at 30kts. I took the time to say hi to Alan at his kite school http:/www.pais-tropical.com, the place is beautiful, Icarai is still preserved, kite surfing friends, don’t look further, its paradise! As predicted the wind went up in the afternoon, I probably did more paragliding than surfing, especially getting close to Jericoacoara. The kite always full blown, and I wasmostly going from wave top to wave top. Useless to ask for the pictures…I never let go of the bar. So here I am in Jericoacoara, 200km on the meter.

 

September 28^th:125km. I wake up around 7:00 to get some coffee in a little café in the centre of Jericoacoara. The streets here are made of sand and you need a 4x4 to reach the village....or a kite. The area is beautiful; it is flanked by a nice cliff to the east, a little “dune du pyla” to the west and in the middle low houses with scattered coconut trees. The only problem is that there are too many tourists for me; the place has had success... On the beach a nice Canadians comes to chat a bit and helps me take off. The wind is offshore; it always feels funny to go out to sea with the wind pushing you away from the shore… It seems as if a door on the horizon opens as the one on the beach closes, a bit like leaving the refuge in bad weather! The morning goes by easily, I just have to be careful not to hit a rock of a fish trap. Beautiful moment when two long fish stay alongside for a few hundred meters. Their back was emerald green. They stayed about 50cm away from my board, as if they wanted to accompany me. The early afternoon was more “sport”, the sea opened with the strong wind and I crossed through my first “mine field”. To get an idea, it’s a zone where the waves obey to no logical rules; they come from left and right, back and front and sometimes from all four directions! It can be compared to a huge mobile bump field for a skier…horrible! To top it off, I performed the crash of the century. I’d been aiming for a flat spot without waves, one of those shallow zones where you can go fast without risking to be ejection. I was going at “Mac 12”, coming into the shallow zone, every thing was going fine, and I was almost breaking my personal speed record. At that precise moment, a wave, or should I say a tsunami, gone from the coast of ate 3 kg of sand with my nose and ears…and finished up with my shorts bunched up in my rear end and nice rashes on my arms and thighs. A least my ego stayed intact, no one was around to see. I ran by a kite competition right before getting to Luis Correira; they were flying around in every direction. I passed quietly with my big truck…

 

September 29^th: 0 km . This morning the central bladder of the kite exploded. I heard a loud bang just as I was taking off, when the lines were put in tension. At first I thought the purge cap had popped off. No no no, it was the bladder which had exploded, leaving a 20cm gash. I still don’t understand, the sand was clean and there had been no shocks… I turned around and went back towards the site of the kite competition that I had passed yesterday near Coqueiro. I ended up finding a kite doctor and some one who could stitch it up. They will give me the verdict tonight. If they can repear, I’ll be off again tomorrow or the day after. If not I’ll be taking the bus for Paracuru!!! I keep my spirits up, I’d rather pop the bladder here than far off from the coast or in a desert zone.

 

September 30^th: 123km. This morning I meet up with Barilou, the kite doc of Coquiero so he can try to fix my kite. After 2h of work, I’m back to sea, going towards Caburé with food and water. I must go along 135 km of desert coast without possibility of getting fresh supplies. I can’t allow myself to have any human or material problems. I spend most of my time looking at the stitching… the wind is irregular , going from 25 kts to 15kts or less; I’m glad to have my 11m2. The sea is gentle except for 3 or 4 “mine fields” for assault tanks. The beaches are scattered with war ruins hidden between the desert and the mangroves. When Caburé appears on the horizon, my legs are heavy and I have pins and needles in my feet. I kept the same course all day,. A good nights rest will be a necessity; maybe even a whole day… 135km of desert is morally exhausting. The rip in my kite makes me aware of my weakness in this desert zone. If I have I problem I could lose my life. I need to manage my stress so my concentration stays up. I cannot allow any mistakes during the traverse of Sao Luis . I haven’t felt like this sine my mountain solos.

 

October 1^st: 120km. I leave Caburé and head for 85kms of desert, bordering the “Lencois de Maranhenses”. This part is followed by a 22km traverse to gain the island of Santana. It’s probably more than 35°c and I’m navigating between two oceans, one of water and one of sand. In this last one I can see no traces of passage. I navigate for 3 hours without seeing a living soul, even the fish seem to have disappeared. It’s with this strange feeling that I start my traverse towards the island of Santana…22kms with a zero mistake objective. The wind is a bit offshore, making all retreat towards the shore difficult. I feel like in Jericoacoara, as if a door is opening on emptiness and another one is closing behind me. I stay concentrated on the piloting and am careful with the lines and kite. The sea becomes agitated and I have to constantly work with the surf of the board and the traction of the kite. At last I find signs of fisherman, it’s the first time I feel good about slaloming through these horrible fish traps. I fall upon the first carbet after 15kms of beach front, it’s a sort of shack built on stilts. The inhabitants offer me a bed and dinner. On the menu, fish, shrimp, rice, tapioca flower, juices and a nap in the hammock… there are two of them, they’ve been living here for 12 years with their chicken; pigs and dog. The local fishermen regularly bring fresh fish in exchange for a meal or a bed. They don’t understand where I come from and ask me why a boat dropped me off here… finally, after much gesticulating and explaining, they understand I navigate with a kite (it’s the first time they see one). They aren’t impressed by the adventure itself, they fish on boats that don’t float much better than my board…it’s the speed that impresses them, especially when I tell them that the world speed record has just been broken by a kite at 50kts!! Wide eyed they imagine putting one on their boats…During the meal they have the good idea of telling me about the sharks surrounding the island, I could have slept better that night!!

 

October 2^nd: 80km: “Capuché” and “Chris” come with me to the beach to help me set up the kite; these fishermen of Santana have never seen one. They can’t believe the simplicity of it. I take off after an embrace the size if their kindness: huge. The navigation starts immediately with a 25km traverse, I cant’t see my goal but that’s normal. The wind is excellent and the sea a little agitated. I pass one or two boats who wonder where I’m coming from and where I’m going. The water is muddy which is proof that I have entered San Luis’s delta. I still can’t see the island I’m heading for (Cajuru or something like that), after 15 kms in deep sea, I’m starting to wonder if my G.P.S is working correctly and if I set it right. I zig zag around to find new azimuths and strain my eyes to try and locate this dammed island. I’m almost ready to turn around when it finally comes into sight on the horizon; at last I have a landmark and something to follow. When I was surrounded by water I hade trouble thinking of anything else but sharks and breaking material. What a seaman!!! Behind the island I discover Raposa, a little town north of San Luis. I decide to traverse directly towards Alcantara, There are only 30kms and I can see the whole coast from here. The wind has gone up fast and I have to shorten my lines. Halfway through the traverse the swell is huge, I couldn’t say the size of the though of the waves, I would probably have a wrong estimate, but I had the impression of surfing down a ski slope and riding the chair lift back up the next second. Maybe it’s better to traverse in the morning… I say bravo to the navigators who attempt great traverses!!! My traverse was small but I felt the same pressure as my mountain solos… Alcantara has nothing to do with the car seat cloth… it’s Brazil’s aerospace launch base, and believe it or not but I just landed of their beach. In consequence, 4h of controls by all the local commandos. Everything was checked, G.P.S, last calls on my cell phone, film and photos… But they were nice and finally brought me in town. I think I’ve made a beginners mistake, I’m stuck in the delta of San Luis, and because the wind is coming in too strong I can not get out with the kite. I should have crossed further north. The solution would be to cross 50kms by bus to get out of the delta, but I feel like it would spoil every thing. I’ll think it over tonight and decide tomorrow.

 

October 4^th: 500m: Yes you have read well…500m today, what a big day!!! You probably understood that I came back to Reposa to try crossing the delta again but this time higher north to be able to cross the mouth of the delta. The wind was at 10 kts NE, I tried every thing I could but I had a hard time staying afloat. In these conditions a 50 km traverse is impossible. Le local forecast says low wind for the next 3 days.

 

October 5^th: My decision is taken, the kite bivouac ends here, the wind is weak, no use in waiting any longer. I’m going back to Paracuru to prepare the distance record over 24 hours. From Recife I’ve traveled 1450km, which is far from the original 2000, but hey, I’ m not the one who has the controls in hand…