Kiteboarding in Antigua - Part I

[ricki]

This write up was originally put together in July 2004 and but was never posted here apparently. So, here goes ...

BLOWN AWAY IN ANTIGUA ...



Antigua, Lesser Antilles in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbes ...
From: idasnet.com



Maybe we should call it 'Dre Land Mon', after its talented son, Andre Phillip riding for Cabrinha
From: http://kiteantigua.com/



Antigua and its sister island, Barbuda are situated between St. Maartin and Guadaloupe.
From: www.ziotis.co.uk



The island ... Jabberwork beach is situated to the north northwest of the airport. Jabberwock is popular LONG sand beach launch with fairly steady, side to side shore winds,



From: antiguanice.com



The launch ... Jabberwock Beach
Full size: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...gua_VR_4_s.jpg


The island is rich in history, rolling terrain and WIND. That is to say it is well situated in the tradewind belt. We had winds hovering around 15 to 20 kts. most of the time that I was there. That was on the beach too, it was even better further offshore. There were small squalls on and off one day only from a tropical wave. The riding was great later on that same day after the last squall blew through.



Antigua wind statistics courtesy of Kite Antigua


Kite Antigua is owned and run by Nik Bohachevsk, a well experienced certified kiteboarding instructor. He runs a tight beach, focusing on effective and rapid instruction. The school is also owned by Alex Portman, a personable Englishman late of the Lotus Formula One racing team in Europe. The last owner is Eli Fuller, a well known early kiteboarder and hell-on-wheels competitive windsurfer in the Caribbean. Eli runs an Eco-Adventure Tour business on the island ( more at: http://www.adventureantigua.com/ ), something to checkout while you are down island way. Just be careful of jumping the wake of his boat when it is heading upwind into about 20 kts. of wind at a forward speed of around 20 kts, you might be surprised by the sudden lift it tosses out. I was!


The Adventure Antigua boat from http://www.adventureantigua.com/

There is a wealth of island info from air connections, to wind to launches to accommodations and more on the Kite Antigua website at: http://kiteantigua.com/



Nik with a student.



Louie, an ethusiastic student, models the Kite Antigua headgear complete with two way radio communication for optimized instruction. As you can see, students are rigged out not only with radio communication but helmets and impact vests. I suspect that most schools will use helmets and impact vests in the not too distant future but Nik was one of the first to start to provide these simple aids a while back.



Kite Antigua's map of the riding ground and cautions. Watch out for those shallow reefs, which really isn't hard at all. Talk about reworking your board and pedicure, ouch!
Full size: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...each.sized.jpg



The launch rules, for full size click:
http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...Guidelines.jpg


Jabberwock Beach is an excellent sand launch with minimal reef/rocks on an island that abounds with rocky and lee shores and abundant shoaling reef areas. To keep it accessible to kiteboarding it is IMPORTANT that visiting riders abide by the house rules. Wherever you are traveling, be sure to look into local precautions via the Internet and Kitebeaches.com before you go. Please don't buy your gear and plan to figure out how to use it without any lessons before coming down. Get your lessons in before flying down or talk to Nik about his 10 hour kiteboarding immersion program for about $450. USD! For guys that are already on their game you are in for a treat! When I was there, off season admittedly but in one of the best wind months, a crowded day consisted of FOUR kites off the launch. For folks that come in season, early or late in the day when the locals like to hit the beach, KEEP well offshore (at least 40 m) to work to preserve access to this excellent launch. Access was lost some years ago in Dutch Bay adjacent to the airport, so be sure to look after this launch.



An aerial oblique shot of Jabberwock


A bit further offshore there are areas that frequently toss off swells perfect for ramping jumps. I was tempted to sign up with the AAF (Antiguan Air Force), the airtime was so fine over the five days that I was there. There are also areas where the wind speed picks up due to venturi and refraction effects, so get away from the beach and EXPLORE winds and waves of the bay.



Alex levitates over Prickly Pear Island (PPI) offshore. PPI was a personal favorite with me. How may places can you kiteboard to your own private white sand island?



So kiteboarding moms and dads, do you have trouble getting your 11 year old to take the trash out? You could threaten to ground his kite unless .... Here's Jake, just 11 seasons old and already handle passing and flying unhooked (with a kite leash)! An illustrated article just on Jake is coming. Jake is sponsored by Dereck Camacho Kiteboards and Kite Antigua. Dereck Camacho native born to Antigua but now of SE Florida ( www.dckiteboards.com ) was testing and evaluating some kiteboards while I was on the island. Serously though, I am not sure just how many 11 year old kids have the maturity, judgement and accumen to handle the demands of this sport. Looking at his focus when he rides, Jake may have that and more. By the way, Jake is in the market for a kite sponsor (hint).



Dereck Camacho checking out Jake and crew, sporting DC Kiteboard Gear on the beach in Antigua.



Island time

More about this great island in Part II at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=2232

.

[ricki]

I just added Part II to the bottom of the first installment. Also, Dre and Susi have a new video out touring Antigua that looks mighty fine. Who's up for a kiting tour of the island?






.

[ricki]

BACK TO ANTIGUA ... (Originally posted in 2004)


and the launch at Jabberwock and ALL that warm, clear water!

following Part I - Kiteboarding In Antigua ...
http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2305057


Full size: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...gua_VR_5_s.jpg
Another view of the launch at Jabberwock
NOTE: The beach in this area of the launch in fairly straight. In assembling composite photos the assembled image can appear to be "bent" when in fact it is relatively straight.


Alex goes to sea ...



The view southward from Prickly Pear Island (PPI), to the North Coast of Antigua.



Jake floats along. What were you doing at 11?! More about Jake to come in a separate article.



Looking over the white carbonate sands of PPI.



Full sized: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...gua_VR_6_s.jpg
I stayed at Sunsail Colonna situated to the west of Jabberwock Beach. http://www.sunsail.com/club/locations.html Sunsail is an all inclusive resort with a ton of windsurfers, various classes of sailboats and instructors to go with if needed. They also have a kids program.



Full size: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...gua_VR_2_s.jpg
Looking north from Sunsail

I met Jeff and Anil of Extreme Kite Shop from Worcester, England http://extremekiteshop.com/ at Sunsail. These guys are heavily involved in kiteboarding and land traction kiting. I understand that they are pulling together a traction kiting park in England.



A view to the south over the digs shoreside.


I almost stayed at the Fuller's Driftwood Cottage situated overlooking Jabberwock bay. It looks like a great spot to hang out after a day on the water. More about it at: http://www.antiguaadventures.com/accom.html#villas


The sun rises at 5:00 am this time of year. So, I got into the habit of getting up and hitting the beach for a few hours at around 6 am. Heading back for breakfast, going back to Jabberwock or some other launch until lunch the orbiting back again. Then back until around sunset, kiteboarding immersion!



I met Merrick an expatriot from England who is taking his retirement in sections, not unlike John MacDonald's "Travis McGee" wandering from one wind destination to the next. He would walk down to the launch most mornings EARLY, around 5:30 am rig up his Psycho, Guerrilla or Matrix and tool around on the water for hours. He has been to a lot of launches in Europe and elsewhere and has some interesting stories to tell.



Nik and Louie walking back upwind during a KiteAntigua class. http://www.kiteantigua.com/


I had a nice session in Half Moon Bay at the east coast of the island. It is a bit hard to find, (NO street signs!), but it is worth the effort to locate.



Full size: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...ua_VR_16_s.jpg
Driving down from the hills to Half Moon Bay.



Full size:
http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...ua_VR_10_s.jpg
Half Moon is literally a half moon shaped bay open to the tradewinds to the east. It is an incredibly scenic launch but it is a more advanced launch given the bay shape and wind direction. There are also substantial rocks to the north, south and isolated heads in the nearshore area, so have a care. There are some nice rollers near the mouth of the bay, approaching 10 feet when I was there. So, ramping jumps can be fun if the wind is on. Aside from that it is a peaceful spot to ride.



Damn gremlins are messing with the colors in Photoshop again! Riding across the bay.


Full Size (CLICK IT!): http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...ua_VR_13_s.jpg
I mentioned rocks. A view across the mouth of the bay.



Full size: http://gallery.kiteforum.com/albums/...ua_VR_14_s.jpg
They have this interesting limestone exposure along the northeast portion of the bay that is worth a closeup inspection. It is a nice spot and worth checking out.

Peter went to Antigua last year and prepared a nice trip report including quite a few good photos and info on Barbuda, an interesting island about 30 miles to the north at:

http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2298163



Sun's going down ...



That's that, see the green flash???


So bye from Antigua for now. If the wind lust comes on you and how often does that happen, think about Antigua. Lots of fun to be had down that way.

Be sure to checkout Part I about Antigua at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=10537

[kitegrab]

Great info brother! Im looking into a trip down that way within a year. How's the winds in December? Much like the chart graph you have?

Jake

[ricki]

It has been years since I was there and that was in July. Still, normally, the trades, the Christmas Winds, usually pump through well starting in December. As you may have noticed "normal weather" has lost some meaning in the world in recent years so there could be some variability. I would assume the wind chart would still be representative. I will send a message to Dre and Eli to see if they can confirm typical December conditions and will post what they tell me here.

[ricki]

Andre Phillip just got in touch and passed on the following:

"our season normally starts in january so december can be
a good month if the season starts early but it can also be
pretty quiet for wind."

[ricki]

Here is what Eli Fuller told me:

"Can be great especially closer to the holidays.
Christmas winds usually are reliable"