Day 13

 Ponta Preta is on 🔥. Huge sets and fairly flat in between makes for a relatively easy launch from the beach. High tide, 5.0m2. Victor Fernandez and like five other guys on the line-up togethee with two kiters makes it pretty much a pick and take. Extremely hard to catch the monsters though. So light, so offshore, so fast swell. The bigger sets are rather intimidting and the smaller ones are breaking right up onto the rocks.

Stoked to be out there with Fernandez smiling and doing thumbs up at you.

Got one small wave in the beginning just speeding down the line. A couple of nice turns the last wave took mo all the way in and finally thrown my gear up on the beach.

Ola Helenius showed up with his wife and his 800mm lens. A bit to late for any real action though as the wind turned even more offshore.

I got a tip from Victor to unhook and do 2 or 3 pumps and then open up the sail once you are on the wave. 

Karin orders two omelettes while I rig down and we drive north to Monte Leaõ for a final surf session of this trip.

Day 12

 I stood up early and went out to greet the rising sun and to have an early coffee at Giramondo's. Realized they have giant croissants so will bring Karin tomorrow morning.🥐

More wind today but too small at Punta Preta. Also Secret was a disappointment. Ok knee high surf at Monte Leaõ but had to wait for the tide to drop.

Now its 17:30 and we are sipping on a beer at Angulo while listening to live covers.

Day 11

 Wake up call at 06.10. Quick bowl of cereals in the first light. In the water just before 07:00. Smaller than yesterday and shorter perion (14s agaist 17s yesterday evening). Still big enough to get a ponding. Stood up twice but didnt manage to go left fast enough for a ride🫤. The rising tide rapidly made the waves break too close to the rocks but really nice morning session with only five more guys on the line up.

Back at the aprtment around 8. After breakfast and a cappuchino on the beach, we head for Monte Leaõ. Some surf school activity going on so we wait for the tid to drop and the people to leave and we have the waves all for ourselves.

When we switch boards Karin shows that she rides the Love Child as easy as anything in the waist high, long standing waves.

In the evening we try out budha Beach. A tad more expensive but ok chicke wok.

At 10 we both drop dead.

Day 10

 Arrived at Monte Leaō at 10 in the morning in hope for surfing the friendly wave there but nothing yet so we parked at the point. Karin dove into  book and I went for a hike over the ridge to get a view over Alibaba and Secret. No one out. Went on to the top of Mt Leaõ and spotted a small secluded beach some 500m from the point that looked really pristine.

When I got back after an hour hiking, the tide had gone out and small lines starting to form in the bay so we left the point and went in the turqouise water.

In the afternoon we had a nice italian icecream at Giraldos. pretty heavy shore break off the Angulo Club. After the ice cream we drove out to the point. Lots of surfers in the water and big hollow sets rolling in. No or just light offshore wind  Never seen Spoutnic point like this.

I went out to get at least 40 mins before dark. Got pounded good a couple of times but finally had THE ride of my life. So crazy stoked to speed down that hollow, fast, well overhead, super clean, almost vertical face in the last light of the day. 💣💣💣

Day 9

 A little less wind today. We stopped by Ponta Preta and it actually looked doable but no one was out (?) so we chilled for a while and had some lunch. After a while Victor F showed up with his family but he didn't go out. Instead his wife went kiting and then a second kiter - but where are the italians and the french girl? Is it too offshore? To much low tide? Before I had decided to go out both the waves and the wind had dropped to the point where it just seemed like suicede to even try.

In the afternoon Karin went out at Angulo on 4.5 and then 4.7. Much more wind here today.

Day 8

 Today was defo one for the books with a decent period swell to stir up some real action😛.

Checked out Ponta Preta on the way north. Big enough sets coming through here but as even F-181 struggled to catch the wave here I decided to check out Alibaba instead and I think that was actually the better spot today, at least for us mortals.

Got some sick rides after starting out chicken style but to catch this super fast wave  you really have to go for it and stay close the pocket. 

After an hour or so, the African Freight Train eventually got the upper hand and again decided to spit me right back up on the not so welcoming lava rocks at almost the exact same spot as last year. One small mistakes and you are punished instantly. Luckily this time the gear made it through without any major damage.

4.7 turned out to be an ok size although the 4.5 would have been better down the line. Some of the guys were on 4.0 and 4.2 but with slightly bigger boards than my 82L. As always, lots of holes in the wind here and helpful with the bigger sail to get planing and having a better chance to catch the waves on the outside.

All-in-all, super stoked with this session. True Alibaba style down the line, but still small enough (set waves around logo high) not to stay completely terrified the whole time 😬.

Day 7

 Karin decides to stay at our home beach at Angulo today while I go for another mission to explore the rocks of Little Hookipa. LOTS of wind today. The guys are rigging 4.2 and 4.5 so I go for the smallest in my quiver, the good old Hero Hybrid anno 2016. Biggest day so far with a 16sec NV groundswell coming through.

First session ended up after only 20 mins after a being washed back to shore mistiming one of the bigger sets on the way out and losing the gear. After a long, nice swim I finally recovered just to hit the reef going back out and RIPPED OUT A SECOND FINBOX😖.

Fingers crossed 🙏🏼, I changed back to quad setup and patched the centre slot with some tape and went back out. 

Some nice sets up to half mast but very choppy. Trying to avoid more mishaps I decide to play a bit safer but still end up on the shallows more than once. Low tide does not help either. Probably only had one decent ride in these, by Cape Verde standards, messy, choppy, overpowered conditions.

Returning home in the afternoon it looks like Ponta Leme has some lefts going. I rig up the 4.7 and enjoyed a couple of fun rides in the relative safety on the point until the sun set over Santa Maria.

Not the best day ever but certainly one of the more exhasting.

Swim run log:

Day 6

Rise and shine at 7:30 and a solid bran flakes and toast and eggs and fruit salad breakfast. Short stop at Ponta Preta and longer stop at Little Hookipa where the wind picked to 4.7/5.0 but the waves were smaller than expected. Fun session though alongside riders like Victor Fernandez and Marina Hunter. 

Relaxing with our house cat in the afternoon and now a tuna steak and beer at Compad.

Day 5

Yesterday morning my stomach wasn't at its very best and during the day I was feeling a little sick but luckily it faded away. Karin, however, must have eaten the same salad or something 'cause she went really sick in the evening and has walked around like a zombie all day 🤢. Now, at 5:30 in the afternoon, she is still a bit pale but on her feet and we even went for a swim earlier. No day for the books surfwise - flat and just enough wind for the foil people. Even Secret was a no-no and turned out to be a 40 minutes drive down the drain.

CV 2024 day 4

 Day 4

Less windy today - and HOT! Opening up the board confirmed what I had hoped for. No water ingress as the finbox area is heavily reinforced with glass all around and no foam exposed. Wonder if some of the lighter boards, i.e Flikka, are as soildly built. Easily fixed with some Solarez epoxi just in case and some tape on top to get a smooth flat surface. May even be fine to refit as quad!

After breakfast we take the car to the pier for a mor ing sesh in chest high surf and crystal blue water. Long between sets and rather crowded on the peak but nice in between. 

Chilling out in the shade at Angulo's in the afternoon. Crazy hot in the sun! Lots of wingfoils out. Karin is really keen to take a coarse. Maybe later. 

CV 2024 Day 3

2024 March 1-15

Day 3

So nice to be back again. Last year was mental with constant ground swell up to double mast Alibaba. Now, March 2024 and not that crazy. First two days cloudy and windy (4.0-4.5m2). Day 3 a bit more moderate (4.7 m2). Head high+ set waves and signature cross off at Secret. Perfect lines - no excuses. Suuuuper shallow on the reef so don't look down speeding down the line. Popped one thruster day 2 and a more severe rip out of main quad box this afternoon. Always wondered why they put in five boxes. Well, if you rip one out, you still got four left. Thruster set up from now on then 🤪. Ohh and yes, also got an hour at the Pier in the morning. Always nice to start the day with some surfing.