I have been up in cape hatteras for the last 3 days now and the wind has blown each day so far. Some of my friends from canada are down here testing for sbckiteboarding and i was able to meet up with the group and hang out. The testers were flying the trix and asked for my opinion on the AKPO settings. I gave my input, we tweaked the settings just a bit and the testers seemed very pleased with the kites. They were complimenting the new graphics and color schemes for the 2009 line. I have been shooting photo with the photographer, David Tran. He was stoked on my riding and wants to do some more work today. To check out some of the pictures and the testing that is going on hit up the link below:

http://sbckiteboard.com/News?news_id=829&uniqid=538

Tomorrow I will be leaving my home town of Charleston, South Carolina to drive 9 hours north up to one of the best riding destinations on the east coast. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina is know for having some of the most consistent wind in the United states, not to mention some of the flatest water too. my Friend Sam Medysky and a few other top riders will be up there training and filming. I hope to generate some good video and photo!!

I am having trouble uploading the video onto the site, so until then here is a link:

http://vimeo.com/4012971

Hope you guys enjoy it!!

Noah

If you typed flat-water kiteboarding into Google I can assure you that La Ventana would rank poorly in the results. The conditions in La Ventana are similar to the conditions found in Cabarete only slightly less tumultuous because I don't think there is anywhere in the world that can top the chaotic environment one encounters in Cabarete. After my first month down here in La Ventana I was sorely missing the buttery flat-water I have waiting for me back home in Charleston, South Carolina. The other guys I was down here with felt the same way, we were all craving that felling you get when you slice through some silky smooth water. We had heard about a pond tucked away behind the dunes about 7 miles downwind. I know that 7 miles downwind doesn't seem like much, but when you are living and riding at the last bit of civilization before a vast cactus forest 7 miles adds up quick. Anyway, we were determined to locate the pond even after we had heard basically nothing but pessimistic opinions. Like how it was full of stingrays, dead fish and sharp sticks and logs, and that the water was similar to what comes out of a septic tank. Still none of that bothered us. Me and 4 other buddies set out on our wild goose chase one afternoon with a back pack full of camera equipment, because there was no way we were going to let this experience go undocumented. After 3 attempts of running up 40 foot dunes that we thought might be the gateway to our playground we finally found it. We looked back at our start point and realized we had covered some serious ground. The houses looked like little sand castles nestled into the side of the mountainous terrain of la Ventana. We had to walk about 100 meters inland before we could actually see what we were working with. Once we had arrived we took a look around and began to understand what everyone was talking about. The pond was literally a pond, about 100 meters long by 200 meters wide. It looked like a stagnate breeding ground for bird poop bacteria, but we had gone that far and nothing was stopping us now plus the water looked like a fresh tub of margarine, absolutely butter smooth! We took turns riding 2 at a time and the rest either filming or watching. We were stoked, hooting and hollering as we pushed each other to go bigger and bigger and more and more technical. However, when you fell you paid the price as we found out that the water was actually saltier then the Red Sea and tasted like vegemite mixed with pluff mud. We continued to ride. After about 2 hours and a fading light we decided to make the journey back. The angle of the beach and the wind allowed for a typically easy return all things considered. But, about 5 minutes after we began our return the wind died an hour earlier than it should have. We had to pump and loop our kites just to make it back to the beach with an on-shore wind. We all got back to the beach and just looked at each other and basically laughed like wow did this really just happen. By the graces of god there was this little Mexican couple out there in the middle of nowhere. So my friend and I, being the only two out of the bunch that knew any Spanish, went up to the couple and asked them for a ride. They pretty much denied us right off the bat. But after about 10 minutes of haggling and loads of mispronounced words we were able to coax them into a ride for 200 pesos. Like a can of sardines we packed ourselves and all of our gear into the back of a little Mexican truck. After the 45 minute car ride through the most desolate dirt roads surrounded by cactus we made to our residence at Baja Joe's. We cracked some beers that night and laughed about our stupid luck. We certainly had an experience that we will never forget plus we got to ride flat water so we were more stoked then ever!! Here are some pictures from our journey. If you ever go down to La Ventana and are craving flat water let me know and I will send you the treasure map and the essential words to bribe a ride back ; )

I arrived in La Ventana, Mexico on January 8th. I have been here for about 2 months and have been loving every minute. This place is one of the most consistent beaches i have ever been to. I am usually out on my 7m Trix, sometimes it will be light enough for my 9m but rarely do I ever ride my 12m. The wind usually picks up around 11 am and blows until sundown. I have been training here with some very talented riders from around North America. My buddies Jon Van Malsen and Sam Medysky have helped push me to progress further and further. We have been traveling around to some of the other spots within a couple hours drive to do some photo and video shoots. I have a couple of really cool videos coming out soon, they should help visually explain how fantastic this place really is. Also, I would like to share some of the adventures my friends and I have experienced so i will be posting those soon too. Stay tuned for the update....