Santa Maria Vs Poundta

5/08/2010

Went to Santa Maria bay whilst Mat went to Poundta, as ever the bay had less wind than further south so I was out fully powered on the 9.4m/128L in bumpy conditions and Mat was on 6.2m/103L in Flat conditions so it just shows you the variance that can occur between the 2 locations with the funnelling effect you get between Paros and Antiparos at Poundta.

John - This is for you, here as the photos of Santa Maria for you sorry for the delay.

6/08/2010

Went to Poundta on 6/6.2 + 110/103L trying the duck gybes again, one of the crashes involved me coming off the back of the board and going into the back of the fin with the rear of my thigh.  When I returned to the beach later after us both successfully completing the duck gybe I asked Mat if he could see a bruise, he pointed out that I had ripped a 12 inch hole in my shorts and sliced my thigh - another scar to add to the list then!

27th August on

27/08/2010

A great day out at new golden we both set sail with 4.4m then opted for 5/5.3m sails and got some jumps out the back and both saw a lone sea turtle popping it’s head out of the water (approximately 1m in length)

1/08/2010

Headed to Poundta beach out on 6/6.2m + 110/103L with our Greek friend Zanetos.  Mat and I were trying duck gybes all day with each getting some spectacular crashes but no success on completing the move.

Zenetos and I

3/08/2010

Not much wind today but headed to Poundta and rigged 7.5m / 128L, the wind died even more so the 9.4m  came out again (Thanks again Mike) and was going along nicely powered up.  In the end I was managing to stay dry on every carve gybe so I started to try ducking this beast ( you can guess that I had no success – good fun trying though).

Mat must have been really bored this day as he took the photos below plus many more of Parikia and a very impressive sail boat that was gigantic.

The Accident

25/08/2010 – Poundta Beach on 110L + 6m then 128L

On the way back to the apartment that evening I came across a road accident on the road from Parikia to Naousa with many people around as it must have happened a few minutes prior.  I could see a motorcyclist in the distance laying facing down in the middle of the road with a helmet on. I tried to help and shortly after the Abulance arrived.

I started to write alot more detail of what happened but in the end did not think it was appropriate due to the outcome of the incident.

Reflecting back on the situation, although it was a difficult situation with not possibility of helping it anymore, I now have read about accident scene management afterwards and feel I may have been able to help the situation better had I read the suggested guidance notes found on this website http://www.molenda.com/accident.html

I would suggest that anyone who has completed a first aid course read the notes for guidance or as a refresher should the situation ever happen to them.

26/08/2010

I woke up in the morning and spoke to Maria (our apartment owner) she told me that Unfortunately the young man died, it is not known who’s was at fault as a vehicle may have been turning whilst the motorbike was passing at a reasonable speed.  I saw the large motorbike on the floor about 30metres from the motorcyclist and a car with the side caved in when passing the previous day.

Due to hearing the bad news the rest of the day did not seem to go well, went to Toukalia on the East side of Paros, the beach here has a windsurf club and generally gets better waves but not always so much wind as it points further south of the Island.  When I arrived I tried to rig my 400cm mast on my 4.4m NP Core, whilst rigging I had to pull the mast up through the luff from top end.  Consequently the mast became everso slightly detached unknowingly, so when I went to put on the downhaul what was 4m weather – you guessed it, I broke my 60% carbon power X mast L.  I then went onto rigging the 4m sail, by the time this had all happened the conditions dropped to flukey 5.7m weather L

There only appeared to be a short window of opportunity at this location for the day around 1 hour, I must admit, it would have been nice to get out on the wave there as they looked more testing than all the other locations we have sailed at on the Island.

We headed to New golden beach and bought a used Ka sails mast from the centre there 75% carbon for 150 euros which I thought was very reasonable considering my 60% was £220 new in the UK this year.  I went on to rig the 4.4m then 6m on the 91 Litre and head out and made the best out of the rest of the day.

The Wind Arrived with force, Paros

20/08/2010 - New Golden Beach, Rigged my 6m then 4.4m +91L, was getting into jumping the new board on the sharp ramps making themselves apparent.  Saw another sea turtle out at sea and managed to lose the Glasses I wore to protect my eyes by launching myself in a huge catapult.  They serve a great 1/2 litre of beer in a frozen glass for 4euros at the Saint George Hotel bar - just what's needed after a great day in the water.  Then we went to a nice restuarant called the Blue Dolphin at new golden beach and had nicely grilled Calamari.

Me coming into the gusty bay of New Golden for a gybe. 

21/08/2010 - Went to Poundta and had one of the best days windsurfing of my life, I finally got to use all my new kit, 4m Neil Pryde (With  the downhaul fully cranked on)  + 91m and even this felt to big to even me on this day.  The wind was great and I was really getting into Jump practise starting to see some real air time.
As ever a great day on the water was followed by another later night in town 7am.

My New kit (fully downhauled to cope with the conditions)

Sand blasting conditions at Poundta

Mat holding down the 4.4m - Fair play, I could only handle one run on it.

22/8/2010 - Went to Poundta another 4m day but started to go down but still OK, Mat made the right choice and headed out on the 4.4m +85L RRD.

Mat with his usual pose

Mat and his Glory photo

Limbo

Me taking off

Freestyling.... yeah right!

Landing downwind

Potentially taking kite surfers out (not really Xavier)

25/8/2010 -

Paros Island

6/08/10 - Arriving on Paros we headed down to Punda Beach Club on the basis that there was no wind and from the advise from our Greek friend Yanis.  Many skantilly clad young ladies  later we decided to head off to find our place to stay for the night for some reason.  We headed to the North of the Island at a camp site at Santa Maria Beach.  The site has many younger people and many people playing bat and ball on the beach, they seem to love it over here.  The beach has a windsurf hire centre but as there was no wind only a few beginners were out practising.

Camp at Santa Maria 

7/08/10 - Headed over to Poundta on the SW of the island.  Met up with 2 French fellow windsurfers Damien & Sebastian.  I rigged the 7.5m +110L and sailed over to Antiparos just a short distance away.

Mat with French guys

Later headed into Naousa on the North of the island and discovered that this was the main place to party here, finally heading back at 5am we had had enough for the night as it started to drain on the resources at 8euros a beer in a small club called Leonardos.

8/08/10 - Yet another no wind day, Mat arranged to give a lift to some school teachers we met all from a school in Essex.  Not missing an opportunity to see how many school teachers can be fit into the back of Mat's van I took the below photo.

9/08/10 - Checked out of campsite Poundta 6m +110L patchy conditions,  BBQ with French guys and friend from Athens.  Here's some photos of the generally views at Poundta.  There are many Kite surfers here that tend to get in the way a bit admittedly.

Poundta Beach

Mat At Poundta Beach

Antiparos in distance

Sebastian

Mat, Me, Natassa, Sebastian & Dino cooking on 'Son of Hibatchi'

Wild Camping for the night at Poundta

10/08/10 - Woke feeling a bit flu like the next morning maybe due the salt air or the start of an illness.
Finally got to rig the 91Litre +6m.  I really liked the board and was surprised to find it comfortably took the 6m along with my weight, the conditions were strong enough to cater for this combination but later dropped off so changed to the comfort factor of the 110L being able to plane through the lulls in the channel.  Went to Naousa for the night going for our usual Gyros Pita's in the lanes from our newly found Albanian waiter 'Nikoli'  as we became such regulars here we would often be given free 'Alpha' beers here.

Mat and I at Poundta with me trying to get planing on new board

Wild camped at a beach between Naousa and Santa maria.

11/08/10 - Due to us both feeling ill we decided to check into a hotel - Windmill for a night (80euros)  I must admit a nice luxury.

no wind

12/08/10 - Checked into another hotel up the road 'Zefi'  and was welcomed by the manager 'Dimitris' and used the pool etc here for the next few days.

13/08/2010 - Headed to Parikia to take the ferry to Naxos to pick up my repaired board due to making a promise to teach someone some windsurfing.  Although this is not the ideal board to learn on I found if they were light enough and you could often get them up-hauling and on there way in no time.

15/08/10 - Headed to New Golden beach on East of the Island.  Finally, a decent piece of wind had arrived 30knots, so I managed to fully test out the 91L with a 5.3m North Ice sail with a few piece of small chop and even saw a Sea turtle swimming alongside - what a great day.  Later we headed into Naousa for a friend's 'Name Day' this is day in which the Greek's celebrate the saint from which their name comes from and tend's to have higher regard than their actual birthday.

New Golden Beach

Mat at New Golden

16/08/10 - Went on tour of island to find the best wind.  Golden beach did not appear to work so headed to the other side of the islanda Poundta and rigged 91L+5.3m.  Went into Parikia and saw our friend off leaving for Athens.

17/08/10-Found a serviced apartment for a reasonable price due to it going into the low season called Mitsi Studios just a short walk from Naousa town centre ran by a lovely lady called Maria and her family (check the link below for bookings), so checked in there and check out of Zefi.  Out to Santa Maria beach party that evening.

www.mitsiparos.com