Pictures courtesy of Swell Surf Camp

quick chat before…..

paddling out together

the whole family together in the water –

Yael has an easy style

Brett and Drew on the same wave

Maya

Orin

Jonathan

Orin

Jonathan

Luciano teaching Donata and Nina the correct way to jump up

Dad, Gideon

Mum, Yael

An interested spectator

V for victory!

Orin stylish

Sniffothon………

Jay….arrived as a stressed out criminal lawyer and leaves today a DUDE……

a passing weather front…….

just makes the day………

even more beautiful…….

That’s me admiring the view………

Jonathan is done for the day

Big smiles after jay’s last morning in the water for a while

Gideon and Jim

Brother and sister compare notes

Mother and Son

Jim proposed to me last week after almost 4 years together.

I never imagined that it was possible to meet the man who’s perfect for you in a tiny town in the Caribbean like this, but I did.

Since we met, we have rarely been separated; I’ve written about him before a long while back in this Blog and what an understated, intelligent, funny guy he is. He’s extremely modest despite being one of the most talented people I’ve ever met.

I am extremely happy that I’ll be his wife when we tie the knot next year, most likely in Bali.

picture courtesy Hugo

We used the conditions of earlier in the week to get some photos of Luciano Gonzalez as he prepares for the Master of the Ocean event which will take place in February (roughly 3 weeks from now).  Huge waves and good wind created a fine photo opportunity for this talented Dominican………. Luciano is looking for a Sponsor for his kite equipment by the way.

I have to remind people that Cabarete, and the whole of the Dominican Republic are completely unaffected by the earthquake that hit Haiti – we are all fine and there is NO damage at all here!!  You will see from these photos that we were enjoying a beautiful sunny day and I took all these photos from the top of a cliff – standing a metre from a 50 metre drop – no, I was not worried that an earthquake would send me reeling over the edge.

I am in half a mind not to write this as the place will rapidly become too busy and we’ll miss out perhaps, but on the other hand, having invested a ton in a great coffee machine and other stuff, she and Freddy deserve real success.  They are also running tours up to the coffee producers and doing FREE delivery on food orders in Cabarete; good job Trish (just don’t sell all those yummy bacon egg and cheese bagels i love so much).

On top of that, the surfing has been truly Epic for the last weeks; almost constant swells of 6 to 8 ft in a northerly direction – what could be better?

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.