'Tis the season to be jolly ...... WIND AND WAVES SEASON.

We are finally this week getting the winter goods. I have finally gone to sleep and awoken with howling trades blasting through the rigging, couple of mornings ago i awoke to crashing waves from the first decent north swell. The forecast mental for the coming week, 20 to 25 knots with 3m+ swell out east and starting tomorrow another N to NW groundswell headed our way.

Oh how i love this time of year in the Eastern Caribbean. Our trip last week was totally windless, lucky the guys were just as happy hiking, exploring the different islands. The fishing was also excellent so we sure did dine well last week on delicious fresh fish.

Our windless day in Tobago Cays was a highlight, with the full moon and good currents there were plenty of fish out on the dropoff (even a few harmless sharks to be seen). Also to my great surprise i found a large piece of russian space debris that must have crashed into the sea close to petite tabac!

Stay tuned for more .......... should be an active week before xmas down here ......

Better YET COME JOIN US!!!  WE STILL HAVE SPACE IN FEB/MARCH AND THE TRADES ARE STILL USUALLY IN FULL FORCE !!!! contact me on +17587133046 or @ islandstylen@gmail.com. Mention this Blog page and I'll give you a discount!! 

BEN

Back to the Caribbean @ Bogles Round House

Been a while since september when i was last on here, took off on a last minute mission to bring a 100' ship to the Caribbean from the UK, an interesting trip via canaries and cape verde islands, i will be back to cape verde for sure! Had some amazing fishing mid-atlantic once we were out of reach of the commercial fishing fleets that plague cape verde! check out some pics below of the trip.

Little Blue Marlin 

Early morning mid atlantic Dorado

Portugal sunrise, Cascais 

Atlantic waterspout

Not bad for 5 minutes work!

The one time of the crossing i was glad not to be on a sailboat!

Underway from Guernsey, UK

Our last week before heading back to carla we spent in the lovely RoundHouse http://www.boglesroundhouse.com/ cottages and restaurant in Carriacou, a stunning spot, on a small hillside right on the waters edge on the north coast of Carriacou. (food here is amazing too, a definate one to check out if you find yourself in Carriacou)

We all had a great time, especially victoria who had too of the most patient dogs in the world to play with for 5 days. It should also be noted that the Roundhouse is a fairly short drive from some amazing and unknown (expect by me and few others that know) kitespots, including a wave that cranks around a point with cross to cross off winds!

Its now December 4 and I am off to the Grenadines tonight on the first trip of season, wind isnt looking so good but looks like a nice swell due mid week with glassy conditions so expect some shots from the GOPRO (this will be the first time i have had it down island)  Stay tuned for next week!

South wind sucks!

T.S. Maria and her associated weather seems to have passed us, its a beautiful morning out in Rodney Bay today.
We got some good beach break surf on saturday at a very remote beach on the east coast, totally glassy and big solid east swell doing its thing... pretty sweet vibe at 6 in the morning,  4 wheel driving off road for 1/2hr  through the jungle (stopping off only to collect guava and avocados) to arrive on a totally deserted beach with the only sound the roar of spitting barrels, gotta love the unspoilt Southern Caribbean! ... Well, some people are trying to spoil it, local builders down the beach this morning mining sand!! check the "lake" in one of the pics on the beachfront, a result of people removing the beaches bit by bit for personal gain, i sure wouldnt want my house built with beach sand (unwashed) imagine how little time your reinforcing has being packing in salty sand concrete!!

Got a few pics from over the weekend, forgot my board attachment unfortunately for the morning surf sesh and the light wasnt to good either.

We could see waves barreling and spitting from wayy up here! ... I think its solid today

Sand mining consequences .... where's the beach ??

Time to paddle out

freaky trees 

Unfortunately by the afternoon the SSE wind had picked up and ruined it all for us, we still had sweet afternoon limin' on the east coast with a few rum and cokes and BBQ chicken.
Looks like some wind forecast for later on this, hopefully we can finally get out on the kites again!

Here comes T.S. Maria ...

TROPICAL STORM MARIA @ CROWNWEATHER.COM
The atlantic seems to be a mass of cloud right now, a large wave is over the northern leewards and T.S. Maria not far behind and moving west @ 20 KNOTS!!! at the moment, with a turn to the WNW later that is predicted to put her over barbuda, hope for the sake of barbuda it doesnt strengthen any more.
Looks like we will get some more sick waves and a bit of rain from tomorrow into saturday, lookin like another nice swell with cranking southerly to south easterly offshores on saturday morning ..... WAHOOO!

SWELL WIND FORECAST @ WINDGURU

Good to see beth from KITESURFING ST LUCIA back on the island after being away in Europe and UK training for her olympic campaign in 2012. One day back and she was already out on the laser.

It seems she has also brought the wind, my trusty KISS wind generator has been cranking away since last night with around 15 knots, i wint be running the engine today!

Stay tuned for monday .... should have some more pics of our latest wave session, who knows ... might even get a kite out in the waves somewhere with 18knt southerlies.

BEN

Victoria getting ready for T.S. Maria

Up the mizzen with GOPRO camera

Katia visits ... Maria not far away!

As predicted we got some nice waves here in the south caribbean from hurricane KATIA, although it seems the best of the swell passed friday night we still got some solid glassy waves friday, saturday and sunday. once again i had GOPRO out!! So nice to share perfect waves with a few of ya mates!

Jonny cranks off the bottom

into a roundhouse

We are now looking into the atlantic and TS MARIA is looming on the horizon, gathering her strength to send us some more sick waves for the weekend. check the STORMPULSE LINK to keep up to date on her movements. Stay tuned for more ....

August 2011 ...

Well into the midst of hurricane season now in and it looks like its hotting up, IRENE has blazed north of us here and we got a nice day of overhead waves on a left point out east. But today i see KATIA heating up in the Atlantic and this weekend should be one to remember, 3m swells forecast with a 15 second period and light offshore winds !!! My 6'7 is off the shelf and waxed ready roll, with new GOPRO fcs mount resined into the nose area.

Sunday we took the boat for a run down the coast to a seldom visited (by yachts) bay for a BBQ with friends and a bit of cliff jumping, the GOPRO keeps on amazing with the cool angles this it will shoot, 

Check these out ......

Local boy shows us how its done

All alone in a beautiful bay

STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK FOR SOME HURRICANE SWELL ACTION SHOTS AND UPDATE ...............

KITESURF GRENADINES

kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines   kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines  kitesurf grenadines kitesurf grenadines
Dont forget to come join us this season in the beautiful windy grenadines !!!!!!!

Storms and Camera's.......

STORMS..

Waking up this morning i see the tropical wave we have been keeping on eye on for the last several days is now showing a very high chance of becoming a tropical depression/name storm in the next day or so and seems like it will pass very close to us here in st lucia .... our storm plan begins NOW. check this out.

NOAA HURRICANE WATCH

Looks like we will also get some nice wind and waves too ..... wahoooooooo!

On a brighter note, CAMERA'S...

We will very soon be stocking  GOPRO HD CAMERAS , first due to arrive very soon, lookin forward to that. anyone joining us on our trips from now on will be able to "try before you buy". These are amazing tiny cameras that are fully waterproof, can mount almost anywhere and take full 1080 HD video and 5megapixel stills !!!

Small enough?

GoPro with surfboard Mount

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ..........

2011 /2012 Season ...

We are now taking bookings for 2011/2012 season.

We have 2 great trips planned in December where single cabins are available ... great for couples or single travellers, good prices and 15% discount if you book before october 1.
DATES ... 1st week December 3rd - 10th
                  2nd week December 10th - 17th

The Boat is also still available over the New Year period, anywhere in the Caribbean you wish ......
BVI? Antigua/Barbuda? St Martin? Guadeloupe? Grenadines? Get a group together and let know where you wanna go !!!!!!!

We also are offering 8 days for the price of 7 for all trips booked before october 1.
Gotta love a free day of kiting in the islands !!!

contact us on +758-713-3046 or via email at caribbeankitesurfari@mac.com

Anyone looking for new gear this season should be checking what LIQUID FORCE is putting out for 2012 season! Sickest harness i seen out in a while, some nice surfboards in the lineup, will be adding one or 2 of this to the quiver this year, kites are looking nice with some big changes to the HIFI (including a new name) and the introduction of new light wind machine.  We plan to have some demo kit onboard this year for guests to try out. Boards and Kites. just ordered me a couple of new 2012 Envys' .. sweeet

Spent a bit of time updating a few things on our site today too,  check it,

http://www.caribbeankitesurfaris.com/Site_2/Welcome.html


                 

And the wind keeps blowing !!!

After several days of light winds, the breeze is back and blowing, we have 17 to 22 knots in the forecast for the next week, ribs are feeling better so i am out there .... hopefully get some shots to post too, straight east winds and super low tides are perfect for perfect flat water sessions at Cas en Bas Beach in north of St Lucia.

oh yeeeeaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

http://liquidforcekites.com/lf-2012/

oh yeeeeaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

http://liquidforcekites.com/lf-2012/

WINDY JUNE !!! / NEW WEB ADDRESS

What a windy month it has been this june here in St Lucia, Cas bas beach (@ kitesurfbeaches.com) has been ON!!

Now into week 4 of wind speeds varying from 18 to 25 knots forecast for the days aheads. Wahoo!!!! Best june that remember for years .... 

Grenadines has been showing more wind than here too, my friends down island are lovin it.

I have had slow last week after landing hard on my ribs from a kiteloop gone wrong last wednesday, gunna try and hit the water tomorrow for another sesh on the 9m.

Been keeping occupied with boat chores and keeping in shape with some interval training 3 days a week with Blood Sweat n Tears fitness  (in the worlds best gym ... Pidgeon Point Beach in St Lucia) and plenty of swimming ... hopefully our first solid hurricane swell of the year will not be too far away, gotta be ready for that !

On the website front .... i have got my new website domain up and running, we can now be found @ 

www.caribbeankitesurfaris.com , Stay tuned for a major webpage upgrade very soon with some interesting new content. 

HURRICANE SEASON IS HERE

We are now well through june and the hurricane season is upon us! .... So is the rain!! Spending this afternoon making a new rain-catcher to keep our tanks full of water.
For the past few weeks we have been getting some nice winds here in the north of St Lucia, but marred by an abundance of rainstorms. I have managed to get in a few sessions at our local Cas En Bas beach, hope to get out for some waves sessions this week at a newly discovered spot on the east coast.

We are going to have a change from our usual yearly routine of heading to South America during "hurricane season" and will be staying put in the Eastern Caribbean, keep a very close eye on the weather in the Atlantic! Hopefully all hurricanes this year will stay out in the atlantic ocean and just bring us grunty big swells to surf. ....

Anyone interested in some last mintue "hurricane swell surfaris" at excellent prices let us know via email to be informed of conditions and when to jump on plane and get down to the islands for some sick waves.

We will also be offering charters this summer around the grenadines .... come explore the islands with us .... wind isnt as great as winter time but still plenty to see and do, with up to 50% off our normal rates!!!!

If anyone is actually reading this .... stay tuned.

DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO

http://web.mac.com/caribbeankitesurfari/Site_2/Welcome.html

Kiting the Grenadines Video

Kiting Grenadines on CARLA

An awesome vid of kiting and adventure island style, from one of our trips in march.
Thanks Trey for all the hard work putting this together.

Surfing .....

My wife, Betty, got some footage of us surfing the other day, Enjoy .........

Another fine week in the Grenadines .......

The Beach @ 2 ELEMENTS

Our last week down island was a great one, after kiting in the south of st lucia for 2 days (one day at THE REEF and the second day 2 Elements Kite Center at coconut bay resort) waiting for the guys to arrive on 2 different days we headed out into 20 plus knots of Easterly winds for the over night sail to Union Island.
While i am plugging peoples websites ..... dont forget mine .... CaribbeanKitesurfaris

Two Elements Kite Center, Sick flat water spot.

Over the next few days me, betty, victoria and a great crew from the U.S. proceeded to score some epic conditions at the best spots the grenadines has to offer. We got perfectly from flat Clifton Harbour to, headhigh, down the line  cross-shore waves at a new secret spot.

Trey putting the new Best Taboo through the paces by HAPPY ISLAND

Unfortunately one of the girls hurt her neck quite badly the first morning and next day i got her and her boyfriend organised to fly out of union to st lucia for an MRI, luckily xray showed nothing major and they we back the next day, with tales of great generosity from the locals in Vieux Fort, St lucia after struggling to find a hotel to stay in.

2 Highlights for me were, 1, a super-slick day at a certain butter pond jumping rocks and trees FULLY powered on my 12m Envy, then taking my 2 and 1/2 year daughter out for the first time with her holding onto my back and seeing her stoked as, yelling and screaming with excitement while throwing shaka's at the camera man and 2, Betty getting back out on a kite with some lessons with her good friend Linn in clifton harbour and having a blast.

Just one day of 7 we were unable to kite, I got a couple of guys off diving with Grenadines Dive, based in union island, while me and my mate Jeremy who is living in union island at the moment, hit the waves with surfboards and got few waves right in front of clifton harbour, watch this space for interesting developments to be happening in Union Island!!!!!!! should be awesome things over the next year or so for shorebased stuff.

Last day was looking like crap wind so we headed over to the Tobago Cays for some snorkeling with the turtles, victoria on her run of firsts' even donned a mask and snorkel and keep it on for 15 mins chasing turtles around the little bay.
The boys thought they would give kiting a go even with the mediocre wind and almost as soon as they kites were pumped the wind speed steadily picked until it was blowing a good 18 knots, enough for all to have a nice final session before the overnight sail to return to St Lucia......

So here i am now sitting in Martinique after a week of rain, and NO wind thinking of my 30 mile motor to st lucia tomorrow and praying to the wind goods for good wind for the 26th onwards for the next group of kiters.

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THIS OUT ......... Good friend Olly from KiteSurfBeaches.com has just finished a little video edit of a trip up north in march .... check it out, plenty of other quality video on this site as well as info on the best kite spots worldwide  TODD'S LAW. NO WIND TOUR VIDEO HERE