User Tools
Sidebar
Bellinghamsters in Tarifa 2022
Denise Weeks 09/22/22 #32389
Yes, you might wonder why we need to go to Tarifa, Spain, when there is such good water in Bellingham, and such a dedicated crew, too. We carry the good word of our community with us as we meet new paddlers from around the world. Now we have an invite to go to Australia—and I’m sure any of you lot could tag along with us if you wanted the added adventure of cracking shore break and sharks and all that.
On this run the wind was not the biggest. In the first section I am just coming out of a great section of standing waves into long rollers. Then I am approaching land and working on keeping up speed while still cutting right. There’s also the opportunity to practice beach starts and landings. So far there haven’t been any challenges in that department except remembering to take the leash off before jumping out of the boat.
Bigger wind is supposed to arrive this weekend, just in time for Dennis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzJr-1E6Ss
Mas de Tarifa
Denise Weeks 09/25/22 #32402
Buenos dias, amigos.
Paul and I extended our stay in Tarifa by a few days to catch the good wind that Dennis is bringing with him. Haven't seen DMow yet, but we should get a run with him tomorrow. It'll be at least this good or better, according to the wind apps. https://youtu.be/fVH9lP9ddcA
Good luck to Julian, who's doing the World Marathon Canoe race tomorrow. Find results here: https://timetable.canoemarathonportugal.com/index.php?gmt=2&gmt2=-120
Denise
Dan Mayhew 09/25/22 #32403
How wonderful Denise. Your travels are inspiring!
David Hooper 09/25/22 #32404
Awesome, Denise! I like the clip where you turned around - gives a much better picture of the wave size, though we can tell they must have been big by the long rides you were getting.
This is on my bucket list!
Dave
Paul Reavley 09/25/22 #32405
Boyan posted this nice blog write-up of our first Gibraltar run with photos and video:
https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/flat-water-start-where-is-the-downwind
Paul Reavley 09/26/22 #32411
Installment #2 from Boyan's blog:.
https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/don-t-change-a-winning-formula
Tarifa Installment #3 D'Mow
Paul Reavley 09/29/22 #32416
https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/lost-luggage-no-paddling
Blog post #3 - Dennis has taken over for Denise and me now that we have moved on to Portugal.
The Path to Portugal Champs
Dennis Mowry 10/02/22 #32422
My lovely wife Elissa and I left Bellingham Friday 9/23. Since we used air miles to make the trip more feasible, limited our seating, and us waiting overnight to confirm the tickets until the morning, all the seats evaporated. This and a couple flight changes due to cancelations, left us with a 6 hr layout in Seattle then a red-eye coach to Austin and a 12 hr layover. We planned on getting a hotel to crash in for the day but most check-in's were after 1:00 and we would need to head back to the airport at 5:00. Not wanting to walk around town with luggage and go through security again we stayedat the airport. We, mostly me, napped on the floor or seats with metal arm rests digging into my side & very loud announcements over the speakers.
We eventually got on another red-eye to London. With a 7 hr layover, that turned in 9 hrs. Then on to Malaga, Spain, arriving at the hotel at midnight 3 days later.
We arrived without our luggage. Elissa's clothes in 1 bag and about $3000 worth of my gear in 2 bags. The plan was to take a bus to Tarifa before the World Open Ocean Race in Portugal and spend 5 days doing a workshop with Boyen. Class time in the morning then 2 downwind runs a day, typically 24 k, 2 hrs. My butt is still burning from different boats, different conditions.
After the race we would be heading south to Penice, Portugal so I also had packed surf gear.
Boyen set me up with the essentials. We paddled in a complete variety of conditions. The weather & water was still reasonably warm so I was able to dress light & go barefoot. The conditions were great. It would take a lot to describe paddling with Boyen in the Atlantic coast and the Striats of Gibraltar, between Europe & Africa. I paddled with 3 different very fun groups.
Boyen was very amazing to watch surfing, seemingly effortless. His focus is efficiency. In spite of the flight I would consider coming back and working with Boyen again. He has loaned me a long john and pfd in case my gear doesn't show up for the event in Porto.
We left this morning on a bus back to Malaga, now on to Porto. Elissa recovered her bag, mine has been located. After finding the gear, it sat in Austin 4 days and they couldn't or wouldn't say why. It is supposed to be shipped to the event site. The event is starting today. We'll see since it's been 10 days of misinformation, miscommunication and un-cooperation. We'll see, still doing our best to roll with it.
It's interesting to me to see what competitors have to do to show up “Race Ready” at a race. The time change has been interesting, going to bed at 10:00 then waking up a 2:00, 7:00 PST, wide awake for hours. Trying to get the body to adjust.
I'm not complaining, updates later, it's now off for further fun adventures,
:Dennis
D'Mow rocking downwind in Tarifa
Paul Reavley 10/03/22 #32432
John Schwandt 10/03/22 #32433
Wow. You guys were cruising! Great music too. I watched the whole thing. That is inspiring.
Way to go!
John
Casey Palmer-McGee 10/03/22 #32434
AWESOME! So good I watched it twice! Moving out there!
Casey
Reivers Dustin 10/03/22 #32435
dang. And warm water too.
Duncan Howat 10/03/22 #32436
while all that looks good, the question I have for Dennis, Denise and Paul, is, is it as good as the Gorge in July, or Maui about anytime?
Paul Reavley 10/04/22 #32437
Duncan - my take is that yes it is one of those places. It ranks very highly in windy days/year though probably not as high/strong as Maui. The water gets colder than Maui but stays a lot warmer than Bellingham - Tarifa winter water is like our summer water or maybe a tad warmer. There is a fair amount of variety in the main 40 miles or so of most accessible downwinding. There is a tide race to practice on when the wind is down and there is shore break practice and surfing. (We were told there are no sharks to worry about) The Gorge and Maui have more territory than that if you are willing to drive, but the runs in Tarifa start right at town (we could easily walk to our launch sites) and have short shuttles and if you want to drive farther or get more variety the southern coast of Spain also has a lot of good coastline downwinding available. Boyan tells us that his favorite local run is the one from Tarifa towards Gibraltar and that it is never exactly the same.
No, it is far less convenient to travel from Bellingham to Tarifa. Otherwise Denise and I would probably consider coming here regularly. I should add that Boyan is a very good teacher, he has his safety act finely tuned, and he is a great guy and entertaining character. Worth at least one visit to downwind with Boyan? - absolutely. He says that repeat customers are a major part of his business.
Paul Reavley 10/04/22 #32438
Oh, and once you get past the cost of plane tickets, the cost of accommodations, food, etc. is way less than Maui. And we could walk 50 yds from where we were staying and be in the water practicing with foils and wings if we had them. You should probably plan on 3-4 weeks at least.
Dennis Mowry 10/04/22 #32439
Here's my answer.
Tarifa is great, there was a lot of options to choose from, like Paul said. The experience is interesting, paddling by Gibraltar between Europe and Africa. If I missed the turn I feel I could of easily paddled to Morocco?
The water seemed cooler than our in summer.
If anyone gets a chance to go you wouldn't be disappointed. Boyen is super competent, knowledgeable and a great teacher. I have plenty to work on.
The food and coffee is definitely better. Plenty of bakeries. Relaxed feeling amid such history and culture.
The Gorge is definitely cool and super to have in so close to us. The warn water in summer is a plus for big wave riding.
Michael Wood definitely has a sweet setup. I would say best for year around warm open ocean paddling plus surfing.
You forgot to mention Bellingham. I would have to say it's the best place to live, because I'm there, aah, meaning since that's where I live. Beautiful, great waves, community, with easy access to the Gorge, Mt Baker, biking & coastal surf. Anywhere else would be difficult to move to permanently.
I'm not homesick yet although it's been pretty flat here in Portugal.
It looks like it will be pretty flat all week even race day whenever it is, today is weds.
Looking forward to experiencing more adventure before making it back to home sweet home.
:Dennis
Stacey Wenger 10/04/22 #32442
I’m in!!
Stacey C
Duncan Howat 10/04/22 #32444
Dennis- Paul, thanks for the great write ups on the comparison of some of the worlds great surfski downwind areas. I think we're lucky to have the areas and opportunities right here in the NW. I guess in the winter when we get desperate for warmer water it's not a bad 5 hr plane ride to Maui, or just pull on the 3-4 neoprene and ride out the local storms. Still Flexing
Boyan's write up and video of Dennis
allipp@…10/07/22 #32488
https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/a-downwind-master-at-70
David Scherrer 10/09/22 #32490
Hoboy………..
Kevin Olney 10/09/22 #32491
Just wait until he meets Duncan..
Dennis Mowry 10/09/22 #32494
Here's the man to beat,
Paul Chalupsky @ 87
:D'
Dennis Mowry 10/09/22 #32495
Correction, 85 years old
Duncan Howat 10/09/22 #32501
Ya but can he wing foil?
More Tarifa & Portugal video & photos
Paul Reavley 10/15/22 #32544
Snapshots from Spain & Portugal
