I was particularly moved on Tuesday evening when the wind died, to watch a young disabled man taken to the water’s edge by his helpers and then gently carried into the sea. He shouted with joy in the waves – laughing and squealing. I guess he felt weightless in his life-jacket and his legs free to move.

At the same time, my children were body boarding close by and as the sun set, Jim took photos of the glassy water and of the bay which I am posting below. As the sky turned gradually more pink in the West, the full moon was rising in the East. It was one of those moments when we are reminded how special Cabarete is and how fortunate we are to live and work in such a great place.

Our hotel has gained a strength now from it’s guests – quite hard to explain really.   With each week that goes by, the new arrivals seem to be ‘carried’ through their first ‘awkward’ feeling (if they have one at all) by the people who have been in the camp for a while, with friendly greetings and a warmth that makes everyone feel almost instantly at home.   Jim and I are enjoying the camaraderie that exists in the hotel and seems to go on and on, regardless of who arrives these days.

Below are some of the photos we have taken of our guests and my son Drew in the last days as they surfed or kite-boarded in this great town.

For those who have surfed in Costa Rica, for example and had 4 hour post ‘plane transfers to find themselves in the middle of nowhere – facing good waves, yes, but otherwise nothing more, they are blown away by the fact that Cabarete has good surf AND so much to do and see afterwards.

Nick, one of our guests exclaimed, ”I can’t believe I didn’t know about the Dominican Republic before, but at least I have found it in November, giving me a chance to return again this winter”.   The surf is good here, sometimes it is fantastic, always fun – but it’s the town that gets people again and again.  We are starting to refer to the phenomenon as the ‘first day fall’ , meaning that however good the intentions of staying sober, that first night out on the town, where the atmosphere on the beach could well be unique, is resulting in most of our guests spending their first full day sleeping off the night before.

Jim, my partner had done a great job on marketing the hotel that we have been inundated with inquiries and clients.  We have had some hairy moments and some of the best laughs I can remember in years.

What chance of your first ever paying client turning out to be someone who had to say the least, some emotional issues, turning out to have spent several times in re-hab prior to ending up in the surf camp staying with us?   This person put us through some hoops and tested our patience to the limits, but we made it through and out the other side to enjoy the company of our other guests to the degree that we laughed until we cried a few times with Brian, Sam, Nick and a few others.

There was no time to Blog or report – but looking back on the first 3 weeks, we are extremely proud of our team and the fact that very satisfied customers left us promising to return again in the near future.

Drew and I set off at 6am for Encuentro.  The ‘Left’ is a break at Encuentro.  It needs a little bit of North direction in the swell to make it good and today, it was good.

Took some photos to show how the day began.

Don’t know who this fellah is , but he hits the lip very nicely.

15 kids all ran for the water – shouting with joy as they paddled out.  What a life they have here!   The waves were fairly big and they all entered the water just as a large set came through; some of them didn’t make it out with the pack, but all persevered until they reached the line up.  I sat and watched the sun begin to rise over the glassy water.  God I love that place at that time – I took some shots and I’ll post them in a bit.

Mid-August/September is storm season; the storms form off the coast of Cape Verde and slowly cross the Atlantic towards us in the Dominican Republic. Each one normally ends up passing north or swerving south of the Island. North is good; then we get the benefit of the swell (waves) coming off the edge of the storm – south is not so good as we on the North Coast rarely receive the swell. Luckily, north is more common and we are watching the next one forming in the mid-Atlantic now. The bad news is that the storms block the normally strong trade winds we use to kite. Still, there’s always Spinning to get a bit of a workout and we’ll both be on a bike tonight at 6.30pm

The wind is blowing hard and the water is full of kites and windsurfers. Now we are to stay put and get ready for the opening of Swell

No time to spare now as the finishing of the hotel is progressing at a fast rate.