Kiteboarding Magazines Turks and Caicos Feature

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112 113 An eco-minded expatriate pioneers adventure tours in the Turks and Caicos, leading kiteboarding expeditions to dozens of pristine beaches that still await their first riders. going blue by aaron sales photos by bill doster

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Kiteboarding Magazine Feature in the 2010 March issue showcasing the unique beauty and possibilities kiteboarding has to offer in the Turks and Caicos.

Transcript of Kiteboarding Magazines Turks and Caicos Feature

Page 1: Kiteboarding Magazines Turks and Caicos Feature

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An eco-minded expatriate pioneers adventure tours in the Turks and Caicos, leading

kiteboarding expeditions to dozens of pristine beaches that still await their first riders.

going blueby aaron sales

photos by bill doster

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20 miles south of Providenciales — the third-largest island in the Turks and Caicos — 35-year-old Philip Shearer tells our kiteboard-ing crew: “Here, you need to be flexible; be ready for anything. This ocean is active with more life below than you can imagine.” Shearer, who was born in Eng-land, is the owner of Big Blue Unlimited, a charter boat com-pany he founded in 1997 to offer the first scuba diving ex-peditions to many of the outer reefs and cays in Turks and Caicos, where shark and hump-back whale sightings are com-monplace. Shearer is true to his word. I’m standing on the stern of his boat, Live and Direct,

when he suddenly shouts, “Up ahead, dolphins at 11 o’clock.”Four adult bottlenose dolphins and a calf seem to be engaged

in a game of pass-the-seaweed. Our 40-foot, twin-engine dive boat slows to 5 knots and begins circling. This creates a bow wake

for the dolphins to surf. Shearer, a divemaster and experienced waterman, spent much of his life exploring the Turks and Caicos. Shearer rushes to the stern and grabs his snorkel gear. He gives me a nodding smile that implies we are in for a treat and then plunges into the sea, less than 20 feet from the pod. Next in is Sam Light, a 19-year-old British kiteboarding champion. I follow. Then goes Big Blue’s kiteboard-ing instructor and guide Wes Matweyew, Florida-based pho-tographer Bill Doster and finally my wife, Brigette, who until now had reservations about swim-ming in the open ocean, fearful of sea creatures larger and less friendly than she.

When Shearer invited me to the Turks and Caicos, all I knew about this 200-square-mile archipelago south of the Bahamas was it has amazing blue water, phenomenal scuba diving and a prolific conch population, a staple of the local diet. We talked for several hours by phone and Shearer pitched what sounded like an adventure of a lifetime. He offered four boats fast enough to reach all of the country’s 45 islands and cays. He tempted us with virgin surf breaks, stand-up paddling through the man-groves and scuba diving over thriving reefs in crystal-clear water. His knowledge of the islands was immense. But what sold me was his contagious stoke for kiteboarding and his willingness to take me to the most remote beaches in the country, white sandy gems that had never been ridden. I bought my ticket the next day, assembled a crew and, in late November, the beginning of the windy season, I arrived in Turks and Caicos expecting undis-covered bliss. It didn’t disappoint.

Swimming with dolphins is perhaps one of the most memo-rable experiences of my life. The water is transparent at the surface. Looking down, past my dive fins, the water darkens as light dissipates from warm aqua blue into black. I feel small and defenseless, like a slow, floating target for the tiger sharks or schools of hammerheads that roam these waters. Shearer’s mantra, “be ready for anything,” echoes through my brain. Then

On a calm breathless afternoon,

Left insets: Drew Endy and the author. Below: Class begins as Ki’topia instructor Donny Parker prepares his students for their two days of advanced kiteboarding camp.

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a dolphin darts past. Our eyes meet, and my dread vanishes, replaced with a powerful rush of adrenaline, like what you feel after dropping in on a big wave or pulling the trigger while lit on an 8-meter. My brain fires at a heightened level, and I can’t think of

anything but the dolphins.The mother and calf swim toward us. They seem to enjoy the

encounter as much as our crew. We’re close enough to pet them when one of the male dolphins cuts us off and herds the mother and calf away. His mouth is agape, a sign to keep our distance. After 15 minutes, the dolphins depart. Shearer advises us to stay together and, instead of chas-ing them, do something to gar-ner their attention under the water, like flip or spin. I duck be-low the surface and commence a ridiculous dance, waving my arms, kicking my legs and gy-rating my hips — anything to get the pod to return. It works. They approach again for a few moments before vanishing into the blue. Later, as we’re head-ing back to Providenciales (or Provo, as the locals call it), I’m still tingling with exhilaration.

In search of paradIseLike most kiteboarding vacations, each day is determined by the wind. Checking wind reports on windguru.com while eating three-egg omelets next to the Royal West Indies Resort’s poolside cafe became a morning ritual. After we were fueled with half a day’s protein, we headed over to Big Blue. There Shearer, Matweyew and 16-year-old local kite phenom Hope Le Vin, whom Big Blue sponsors for kiting, would greet us at the boat, which was packed with our kite gear, cameras and a cooler full of tropical juices and a few ice-cold Coronas.

Before heading out, Shearer would get a feel for the amount of adventure we were seeking for the day by asking us whether we would prefer flat water or surf, or would we rather find seclud-

ed beaches by boat or explore new sections of coastline on long-distance downwinders? He even offered us a boat and land tour by car to get the best overall feel of the islands. More than 30 years ago, Shearer’s parents bought a second home on Provo and soon after Shear-er formed a bond with the ocean. Then, after graduating from college in England, Shear-er moved to Turks and Caicos full time. He saw the opportu-nity to start Big Blue Unlimited,

Fly into: Providenciales Interna-tional Airport (PLS), Turks and CaicosWhere to stay: Royal West Indies Resort; royal westindies.com, 800-332-4203Custom kite adventures, boat charters and scuba diving: Big Blue Unlimited; bigblueunlimited.comBring the family: Yes. The beaches

are perfect for kids, and Turks and Caicos caters to families.Eat: Mango Reef’s Thai tuna salad and cracked conch; mangoreef.comDrink: The Conch Shack’s rum punch at sunsetBest months for wind, waves and humpback whales: December through MayDon’t miss: Moonlight kiting

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allowing him to dive nearly every day since then. Now that kite-boarding has evolved into his latest passion, adding kiteboarding adventure tours to the lineup is just another way to keep Shearer on the water doing what he loves. As Shearer shoves off, he yells to his staff, “I hope to be back by dark,” then presses forward on

the throttle and we head east down the coastline, away from civilization and closer to paradise each and every second.

Shearer takes us on a high-speed ride, dodging random coral heads as we buzz just a few hundred feet from the shoreline. Meanwhile, we pass beach after beach lined with clean, white,

Turks & CaiCos

Left insets: Drew Endy and the author. Below: Class begins as Ki’topia instructor Donny Parker prepares his students for their two days of advanced kiteboarding camp.

Provodenciales

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sifted sand, mini palm trees and wild iguanas. I repeatedly say, “This one looks perfect, let’s just kite here.” But Shearer reminds me, “Just wait, it gets better.” We pull into a boatless marina where two cars are waiting. I ask why we’re transferring to the cars and he explains

that we need to meet a few of his local friends and that the inte-rior of these remote islands can be just as beautiful as the coast, yet few ever see it.

We come to a tiny town with just a few small homes where the chickens run wild and the locals shout hello to Shearer as we drive by. It seems he is a bit of a celebrity. Some think it’s because he plays on the Turks and Caicos national soccer team and oth-ers credit it to the fact that every time he brings his eco tours to these off-the-beaten-path islands, the financial impact is felt tremendously.

Our cars pull into the driveway of a small pink house and Shearer announces, “It’s lunchtime; go in, go in.” We are met by Susan Butterfield, a 70-year-old native from Turks and Caicos who prepares a fresh lunch of baked chicken, coleslaw and rice and beans with some of her special spices that has kept Big Blue employees coming back for over a decade.

Butterfield gets to know each one of us as she asks us per-sonal questions only a grandmother could ask and tells us stories in her deep Caribbean accent. We get to know her and come to appreciate the simple island lifestyle she lives. She loves to cook for people, and Big Blue gives her that opportunity. As we say our goodbyes, Butterfield reminds Shearer to bring large bags of flour and rice on his next visit, then we hop back in the cars as the locals bid us safe travels.

Our trek takes us through the heart of the island, passing white egrets standing 3 feet tall in the mangroves and the occa-sional pink flamingo balancing motionless on one foot. Eventually we come to a washed-out (courtesy of Hurricane Ike) but driv-able causeway that connects North Caicos to the even more se-cluded Middle Caicos, where we are hoping the planets will align for wind, waves and seclusion.

Left insets: Drew Endy and the author. Below: Class begins as Ki’topia instructor Donny Parker prepares his students for their two days of advanced kiteboarding

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I never could have imagined what made it so memorable.As I get up to speed and begin to plane, I look below and al-

though the reef is 8 feet down, it seems just inches below be-cause of the water’s clarity. An outside wave catches my at-tention and I race toward it and prepare to jibe. This being my first wave of the day, my foot fumbles off the side of the board. I miss the jibe, the wave passes and I fall into the water. Not half a second later, I feel a sharp punch to my upper right ribcage and suddenly time begins to pass in slow motion. “What the hell was that?” I think to myself. Did I fall on my board? No, my board is in front of me. Of course, “shark” becomes my immediate concern. Just as that thought passes through my head, I feel the strong wiggle of a hard fin move across my belly. Although I didn’t see what was invading my comfort zone since my attention was fo-cused purely on getting my board on my feet and getting back to shore, I knew exactly what it was.

Judging from the size and power of the impact, I’d guess it was a 4- to 5-foot shark that heard and saw my foreign 6-foot surf-board and decided to investigate. When I fell, the shark was right on my tail. Rather than bite me, it simply bumped into me for a close sniff and decided I wasn’t a part of its usual diet and moved on. That’s my theory, anyway.

Heading back to the beach, I saw Le Vin, Shearer, Matweyew and Light’s kites in the air, ready to hit the water, and Doster preparing to shoot. Just before shouting, “Shark! There’s a freak-ing shark in the water,” I thought to myself, “Why ruin a perfectly good session for my friends?” It was obvious this shark was unin-terested in eating kiteboarders, and hopefully he would just move on. Fortunately, during our two-hour session at Mudjin Harbor there were no further sightings of the shark, just wave after wave in our newfound paradise.

With three hours of daylight left, Shearer gave us the option to head home then, when we could make the boat ride back safely before sunset, or to continue to the far end of Middle Caicos to a beach he described as “the best flat water on the planet.” But in that case we would have to make the boat ride back trust-ing Shearer could navigate the shallow reef and waves in the dark. We took our chances, and after a quick stop at Daniels, a beachside cafe that offered soda, beer, ice cream and a chance to meet with the locals of the island, we headed down 20 more miles of barren road until it came to an end.

A lightly traveled trail 100 yards long led us through the trees to a half-moon bay five miles across lined with pale sand from end to end and absolutely no trace of mankind. There were no buildings, no boats — only us, the wind and the shallow, smooth water. The sand was soft and creamy. It felt like walking though 4

inches of powder snow, and the water was as flat and buttery as Shearer had promised. The deepest section of the bay was no more that 3 feet deep. Never in my life had I ridden in condi-tions with the wind so steady, the water so flat and inviting for simply exploring and throwing

some occasional freestyle moves.As the sun dipped into the water, our day was complete and,

thankfully, Shearer’s experience navigating those waters at night over the years got us home safely. This was truly one of the most memorable days of my life, yet my wife and I continued to say this day after day.

Each adventure was unique, from boat launching in the middle of a labyrinth of mangroves in areas where dropping your kite was not an option to scuba diving with manta rays and sea turtles on the edge of a sea shelf that dropped 6,000 feet into the abyss. In nine days, Big Blue Unlimited transported us to the perfect loca-tion each and every day with the best conditions possible, con-firming my belief that when you travel somewhere new, hook up with the locals to introduce you to their world. And if you decide to visit Turks and Caicos, Big Blue Unlimited just may be able to show you a slice of paradise where the dolphins are playful and even the sharks are friendly.

Shearer pulls onto a dirt driveway and parks next to a path where we can hear the pounding of the ocean waves but the wild plants obstruct our view. We take a three-minute walk through a narrow rocky trail that leads us to a viewpoint atop a 70-foot cliff. There we get our first glimpse of Mudjin Harbor. Looking down, I have never seen water so vibrant. Its color varies from nearly transparent over the shallow white sand to shades of electric blue that darken as the depth increases. Perfect head-high waves peel down the coastline, lined with lonely beaches

that are separated by limestone cliffs. I wonder if some of these beaches have ever felt the footprint of a human before.

Shearer assures us this beach has never been kited before. Usually, I am in a frantic rush to rig up and get on the water, but this shoreline had so much to soak in, all I could do was stare while thinking, “Oh my God.” It was finally time to ride since it was afternoon and it had already taken us more than three hours to get here. I launched my 13-meter, grabbed my surfboard, pow-ered the kite up and I knew I was in for a session of a lifetime. But

Left insets: Drew Endy and the au-thor. Below: Class begins as Ki’topia instructor Donny Parker prepares his students for their two days of advanced kiteboarding camp.