And so my friends, having just spent two months on Maui and a month in Barbados I decided it was time to trundle on home and catch some green Irish waves. It had been too long. Arriving back and flying over the lush, emerald fields and crisp blue sea, I looked out the window and smiled, I was home. The anticipation of seeing all my friends and family paired with the expectation of empty, clean, peeling waves had me frothing at the mouth. January was going to be a great month to be in Ireland, just magical. And as I stepped off the plane and took my first gasp of fresh Irish air a thought struck me…… what the bloody hell am I doing?! It’s FREEZING!!! Hail, snow, rain, clouds, minus wind chill factor and muggins here standing at the arrivals terminal in my shorts and flip flops…. clearly we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!! Nope, Ireland in January equals hypothermia, frost-bite and an over-riding desire to find a warm, dark hole  to sneak into and hibernate.

And that warm, dark hole came in the shape of the southern most city in the continent of Africa. Cape Town baby! All hail Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin empire, a few clicks of the computer and a quick sprint back to the airport and I was on my way to hot, sunny, windy South Africa for three weeks of windsurfing joy. Splendid. It was so great to get away from the sub zero temps of home but to give Ireland her dues, I did miss out on some fairly epic conditions while I was gone. Not only did the biggest swell of the winter hit just after I left, it played host to some of this year’s Billabong XXL nominees as surfers from Hawaii, Europe and Ireland charged at the famous Northern break of Mullaghmore. And then to top it off, the Red Bull Storm Chase graced our shores and saw the biggest names in windsurfing tackle the might of the Atlantic super storm which we christened, Hurricane Mikey. Gutted as I was to have missed that unbelievable forecast I had to remind myself, you can’t get a tan in Ireland in January… priorities, priorities.

So, back to bronzing. Yes, I was in Cape Town, surrounded by a who’s who of UK and European windsurfers and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to assimilate some kind of water skills after three weeks of hanging with this crew….. or at least a decent appreciation of eurotrash dance music, speedo wearing and wetsuit booties. Oh I was very excited! Cape Town is up there with Maui, West Oz and the Canaries as a “must-do” for all roving windsurfing enthusiasts. Famed for it’s port tack jumping and riding and a little hill shaped like a desk , Cape Town has become the annual winter pilgrimage for scores of up and coming names in the sport. Luckily, from all my travels, I’ve bumped into the majority of guys and girls before which tends to take all the guess work out of coming to a new country and makes fitting in that bit easier. Need a gaff?….. Sam Neal sorted me out. Need a car?……Mike Archer had it covered. Need a lift from the airport…..Muzza to the rescue. Easy peasy!

And yet despite the guesswork being taken out of so much of my trip, Cape Town still remained a bit of an enigma to me. As with so many of my windsurfing adventures I found myself slipping into the usual routine of eat, sleep, beach, sail, surf and party. I think we are so lucky to have a sport that takes us to so many diverse, beautiful corners of the World, but sometimes I feel, what it offers us in terms of travel opportunities, it takes from us in terms of a tunnel vision view of where we are.

Despite the fact that I was in one of the most culturally rich, diverse, volatile and historically important nations in the world, all I seemed to do was drive from beach to beach with the odd glimpse of Table Mountain in between and a very blinkered sense of where I was. I had to remind myself that the purpose of my trip there was to improve my sailing and push my fairly average port tack jumping skills, but there was always this niggling sense in the background that this time, more than any of my trips before, I was missing out on the bigger picture. Cape Town, in a purely non windsurfing sense, is famed for its aesthetic beauty, its cultural diversity, its role in ending apartheid and to some extent, its violence. If you had asked me what was it I knew about South Africa before going there I would have said; Table Mountain, Robin Island, Nelson Mandela, apartheid, townships, great white sharks, rugby and crime. And of course, windsurfing and surfing. Clearly a shockingly ignorant summary of a country that is so multi-dimensional and culturally conflicted.

But did I broaden my knowledge or change my impression in the 3 weeks I spent there? Probably, but not to any particularly larger extent. On its most simplistic level, I suppose my biggest concerns while I was there were crime and sharks, both of which, having been victim to hearsay and the media, I was genuinely worried about. So what of the crime? Luckily the closest encounter for me was a cheeky little lady trying to slide my iphone out of my pocket on a night out….. not exactly life threatening stuff, and I got the phone back… so pretty much just like any other standard night out anywhere really. To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure whether it was luck or whether it was a refelction of where I was staying and who I was staying with, but my danger level guage never simmered up to amber or red. That may have been the crux of the issue, as I was staying in the relatively wealthier neighbourhood of Sunset Beach and my social circle was dominated by my UK and European friends. However, though my circumstances dictated a more rose-tinted glass impression of the place, it’s fair to say I had found myself a safety blanket away from the real Cape Town.

My very good friend from home was working as an Anaesthetist in the biggest trauma hospital in the city and she was exposed to treating the highest number of stab wounds in South Africa. This, paired with the shocking statistics that emerged in relation to the exponential rise of home robberies, violent attacks and the rising culture of “self-protection” following the Oscar Pistorious saga, made my little bubble experience of Cape Town seem even less relevant.

And what of the sharks? Well, I refused to take my surfboard so as to avoid dangling my legs into the sea as tasty bait and my falling in to waterstarting reaction time was lightening fast. Michael Phelps had nothing on me when it came to sprinting after my gear in the white water! And so I came away unscathed and with a speedy Gonzalez approach to getting back up on my board, which in my head was saving me from limb loss but in reality was probably just teaching me to faff around less in the water and maximise my sailing time!

And so as usual, post non-windsurfing rant, I guess I should start talking about what I’m here to really write about…. the food and drink! Hahaha….. ok and some windsurfing too! The sailing was great, but not epic. I suppose everyone has their different impression of what awesome sailing is, and for me, I’ve always loved more wave riding in cross/cross-off conditions. Cape Town delivered lots of wind, but very little swell while I was there. So even though my idea of heaven is not hanging on for dear life to my 3.0m in cross-on port tack jumping, it was still a great training experience to try to push myself in and also to watch the guys and girls shredding and jumping to incredibly high standards. We mostly sailed up and down the coast in the usual trail of Sunset Beach, to Melkbos, back down to Hakgaat and then an evening session in Big Bay. The spots were always fairly packed but there was never any tension or agro and the atmosphere was generally one of everyone pushing each other and stoke for when a new move was landed. One of the highlights of my trip without a doubt was the session I had at Hakgaat when the waves picked up to just over logo high, the wind co-operated, and I got the chance to ride my new Hot Sails! I was inaugurated onto the Hot Sails Maui International Team while I was there and I got the chance to try the Firelights and sail with my other new team members, Katrien and Jonas. I absolutely adore the sails and I am so honored to be on the team!

The wind played ball for about 5 out of 7 days a week which left just enough time to dabble in some other non-wind activities with the UK crew. The craic was unbelievable! I was introduced to the South African tradition that is the classic Braai (BBQ for the rest of us) and the local beer Castle. So after a long day on the water, whether windsurfing or SUP, we’d all congregate at Bubble, Max Rowe and Muzza’s gaff and cook up a storm on the grill. Happy days. I also got the chance to climb Table Mountain, as led by the Afghan goat herder Chris Muzza Murray. I literally put my life in his hands as he led a group of eight of us to practically SCALE the mountain on all fours and try to avoid certain death with one misplaced foot and a sheer vertical drop down. Thanks for that buddy, a real highlight…! I also ventured down south to the Cape of Good Hope to sail with my room mate and general legend, Mike Archer. He earned the nickname Simple Jack from me within about 24 hours of being exposed to his absolute lack of organisational/key finding skills. But what he lacked in common sense he made up for in great laughs and mad skills behind the camera lense and the wheel of our no-power steering tin can of a car. Cheers Mike! The rest of our time was filled with venturing to rugby matches in the city’s stadium and recounting our day’s adventures in Doodles bar, nursing an ice cold beer and watching the sun set over Table Mountain. Not a bad trip, not a bad trip at all.

I’d just like to finish this diary with a small tribute to my friend Mikey Clancy. Ar dheis De go raibh do hanam dilis. Rest in Peace my dear friend.

Photos by: Jimmie Hepp

Last time Boardseeker caught up with the flying doctor she was enjoying the long waves of south america, but where is she now?

Aloooooooooha from the beautiful land of Mahi Mahi, Mai Tais and bomby shallow reef breaks! Yes compadres, I’ve ventured across the Americas to the depths of the pacific to the wee paradise isle of Maui, Hawaii. To be honest, having been here many times already the sense of adventure was slightly lessened compared to my last two trips to Peru and Mexico. The 50th state of America is almost like a second home at this stage and knowing what’s in store for me here comes almost as a relief in comparisson to the daunting unknown of my escapades in Central and South America. Maui is a unique place. As hospitable and welcoming as it can be, it can also come with equal measures of hostility and difficulty. It is after all an island, and island cultures and people tend to be extemely unique and slightly insular……. I should know, after all I come from one.

Cultural pride and heritage mean everything to island people and there are few if any other places I have ever been to where the people take as much pride in where they come from as they do here. Hawaiians are a proud people and rightfully so. They come from a tropical paradise, which is as rich environmentally as it is culturally and being here reminds me of how similarly, I take such pride in being from Ireland and being Irish. The more often I come here the more clarity and insight I gain on this place. Living on Maui’s Norh Shore as I have done for every visit I’ve made, I begin to appreciate more and more of what it has to offer considering it is such a diverse melting pot of cultures and societies. People come here from every corner of the world, from every possible demographic and every mix of backgrounds all in search of the same thing……. waves. Glorious, clean, heavy, punishing, beautiful, challenging, jaw-dropping waves. It honestly never gets old taking a look at the mottly crew who make up a line up. Whether surfing, windsurfing, SUPping or kiting, the stories you hear and the faces you meet rarely tell the same story. Everyone came here in their own way, from their own background and in their own time but all for the one common cause. The sea. Nature’s playground.

And so I suppose I have my own story to tell and reasons for being here…….. naturally working on my pasty Irish freckly tan is one……. eating my bodyweight in fresh Ahi Poki doused in wasabi and soy is another…….. of course my life-long dream of donning a coconut bra and grass skirt and taking to life as a professional hula girl is up there too…… but mostly so I can find someone who’s willing to take me for dinner to Mama’s Fishouse already!! What I wouldn’t do for a $50 plate of Mahi and a $20 cocktail….. hahahahaha!!! Oh yeah, and I suppose I wouldn’t be too averse to the idea of doing a bit of windsurfing here and there…… if I have to…….

The sailing here has been epic, as always! There really is no need for me to go into the ins and outs of sailing Ho’okipa, you’ve heard it and seen it all before, so naturally you all know how incredible it can be. I first sailed Ho’okipa four years ago and coming back, having been limited since then to the waves of Ireland and Europe I was interested to see how all my ‘training’ would pay off here…… hahahaha holy crap Ho’okipa can beat me up! It’s all about going for it here, the wave can often times be a one or two hit wonder and unless you’re willing to ‘send it’ and boost a big aerial you can come away after a day’s sailing there with your tail between your legs , a rosy colour to your cheeks and some rock-mangled gear that looks like it spent some time in the ring with Tyson.

Ho’okipa sailing is Ho’okipa sailing. It’s a unique wave that takes years to fully tune in to and can be as punishing as it can be rewarding. A month into my stay here and I’m starting to tune into it…..I think…..and now at least I know what I want for Christmas….. “Dear Santa, I would greatly appreciate the magic skill of boosting a big aerial off the lip just like Mr.Polakow or Mr.Siver thank you please……… And if not, I suppose a voucher for Mama’s Fishouse wouldn’t go astray instead, ta very much”. Hahaha stop thinking about food Katie, focus on sailing.

So mixed into my personal battles with Ho’okipa (currently pretty good odds on Katie vs the Point with the wave coming in victor at about 200:1 ) hahaha!, I have been competing on the awesome American Windsurfing Tour. The Maui Makani Classic was the last stop on the six event tour for 2012 and was without a doubt, the best sailing I have seen in person in my life (and I’ve seen Koester in 50 knots Cabezo). I also feel it’s probably the best I have sailed on the tour too. I took the unique angle at this event of being media director which involved everything from writing daily press-releases to making videos and interviewing the competitors and dealing with the local press. Super fun considering my love of “the chat”, oh how I love “the chat”! Ha! But slightly challenging considering my only skills for the job on my CV include, 1) Loving the chat 2) Talking a lot 3) Loving the chat……. and 4) Being a doctor?! Hmmmmmm…. not quite media mogul credentials, pretty sure CNN won’t be banging down my door any time soon, but I did gain mad skills in using more than two fingers at a time to type and trying to sound a little less leprachaun and a little more uncle Sam…… got a real nice American twang going on right now, really helps break down the Paddy communication barriers over here!

The event was an insane success. 120 competitors from 24 countries (including two from Ireland, yours truly and 3rd place amateur fleet Neil Turpin from Dublin!) and a who’s who in the line up of the pro fleet. Watching heats with Stone vs Goya vs Siver vs Polakow vs Pritchard vs Katchadourian et al was mind blowing. I have written thousands of words about the heats on the AWT website so I won’t bore you with them now but all I can say is mix those names in with double mast high Ho’okipa and the recipe delivers probably the most memorable and successful event in recent times. From the ladies point of view we had a mackin’ fleet. Names like Junko Nagoshi, Anne-Marie Reichmann, Shawna Cropas, Tatiana Howard, Angela Cochran, Ingrid Larouche and so many more were all battling it out. I felt honoured and so unbelievably priviliged to be sailing both with and against those girls. Having 20 minutes of mast high Ho’okipa to yourself and three other women is absolutely priceless and I’ll never forget it. So proud to be representing Ireland at these events and really, really chuffed to have made it through to come 7th against 20 women for this event and 5th overall for the AWT year. My first heat was a toughy but I pulled through only to be pitted against last year’s winner and superstar Junko Nagoshi and last year’s runner-up Anne-Marie in my quarter finals. But I went into the heat with the only expectation of doing myself proud and having fun….. which I did! And caught some nice big bomby sets along the way and only narrowly lost on a 2:1 judges decision to Anne-Marie. Happy days! The win in the mens was taken by super nice, intelligent and talented 16 year old Bernd Roediger

And so from there it’s been a mix of sailing, SUPing, surfing, eating, partying and hanging out with some of the coolest people I know who I now consider very dear friends. I love the complete dichotomy in my life between Ireland and being a doctor and travelling and being a windsurfer. I’m so lucky to have the family and friends at home and away who all enrich my life so much regardless of what capacity it is in. Whether it’s my Mum, Dad, siblings and friends at home or my windsurfing family here on Maui and my sponsors in the Simmer team and Moo Custom team, I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such kindness, openess, happiness and support. Mahalo to you all!!

Previous adventures with katie and link to maui travel feature:

• Maui travel feature
• Katie in Peru
• Tenerife to South America

A few weeks ago Katie McAnena shared the story of his first adventure, from Tenerife to South America. Now, Katie follows up with more tales from the road, heading further into South America and discovering more unbelievable waves.

And so from the land of Tacos and Cervezas and long, long rights I headed off on my merry little Irish way to the land of Ceviche and Piscos and long, long lefts.

Yes amigos the time had come for me to hop from the dusty Mexican badlands down to the heart of the South American western coast and set up camp in the Peruvian paradise of Pacasmayo…… with only a few minor detours along the way. And by minor I mean quite substantially major, for as you all know I apparently have a predeliction for very awkward, roundabout ways of reaching my next windsurfing destinations. All in the name of affordable travel, naturally, and of course racking up as many airmiles as possible, I managed to ensure no 24 hour journey would be any less than 72 hours of pure road trip joy……. or at least that’s what I tried to reassure myself of as I backtracked from Baja, to Ensenada, to San Diego, to Houston Texas, to Lima and finally Pacasmayo, Peru. Splendid really.

I may not yet have mastered a pimping backloop or a monster aerial or even a nice laydown bottom-turn on my adventures so far, but I have managed to conquer all forms of motion sickness and attained an uncanny ability to sleep whenever, wherever and on whatever mode of transport or hard airport floor surface I happen to find myself in. So, if all else fails from this year of windsurfing training and competing, and I don’t manage to win contests or push my level on the water, I can at least sleep soundly in the knowledge that I am a darn good traveller. Move over career as a doctor or professional windsurfer, I have found my vocation in surviving life on the road!

So, having reached Lima, the capital of Peru (about a week later than intended), I found myself yet again in a country where I couldn’t speak the language, (I’ll conquer you one day Spanish, one day!) and was, as usual, travelling muchos solo. Thankfully I had been in touch with the beautiful Carolina Butrich (see Carolina Boardseeker Babe ), a Lima local and ripper windsurfer who had organised all accommodation and transfers for the competitors and had booked me onto my over night bus from the capital to Pacasmayo. The bus was a pretty unique experience to be honest. Twelve hours on a completely full double-decker packed with all native Peruvians and not a single tourist in sight…….well except for yours truly, the journey involved a blaring DVD Spanish version of the Three Stouges, a meal of fried pollo and rice, sub zero temperatures and the loudest snoring man I’ve ever met sat beside me called Pepe. Loved that guy.

We finally pulled into Pacasmayo station at 8am, having survived the trip by keeping myself warm with my Mexican Poncho wrapped around me and keeping myself sane by jamming some industrial ear plugs in my ears. I was welcomed by the local sounds and smells, and bundled onto my taxi to take me to El Faro resort. Now by taxi I don’t mean one of the four-wheeled, four-doored, engine equipped variety of taxi, no no, I mean a Moto-Taxi. Ah the old Moto-Taxi. HAHAHA! 3 wheels, no doors and 150cc’s of pure mechanical magic, these bad boys will make you feel like Evil Kenevil on steroids….not for the faint hearted! Not to mention my double board bag was strapped to the canvas roof of the thing with a less than trustworthy surfing leash….. all I could do was embrace the madness and pray to the big massive Jesus statue that overlooks the entire town from his perch on a hill nearby and hope I made it to El Faro in one piece.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I arrived at the resort. Literally, and I mean no exaggerating, I looked as far left as I could to the point and followed the most incredible wave I have ever seen in my life as it peeled the entire way across the bay until it reached the pier in the centre of town…… genuinely well over a kilometer of a long, smooth, peely, glorious, heavenly left. I nearly keeled over when I saw it…… although in hindsight the mototaxi trip may have had something to do with that!

The event was another stop on the American Windsurfing Tour (AWT) for 2012 and was organised in conjunction with the Pacasmayo Classic which is a long-standing event consisting of Kitesurf, SUP, Longboard and Windsurfing competitions. Sam Bittner, el head honcho at the AWT had partnered up with the local Peruvian windsurfers who were super keen to bring an AWT event to their home spot and show off the wave that Kauli Seadi made infamous in a video he made from there a while back. There was an incredible deal offered to the female competitors from the El Faro resort owners Jamie and his wife which included free accommodation and free meals for the entire extent of the contest. It was so incredibly generous of them and meant that way more women entered than probably would have had it not been for their support. A massive Gracias to El Faro resort and all the sponsors of the event for making that all possible!

I arrived a week before the contest started and the place was fairly deserted for the first few days with just myself, Fabrice Beaux, Miho Tanaka, Camille Juban and his father Jean Paul and brother Tom Juban there. Those first few days were magical, with epic SUP sessions in the morning on glassy, perfect lefts follwed by the best windsurfing sessions of my life to date in the afternoons. Tom Juban showed us his GoPro footage from one of his waves during the day and no word of a lie, he was on it for 3 and a half minutes…… honestly and genuinely 3 and a half minutes. Insanity! I can’t even describe how incredible it is to sail there, again like Baja, the wave can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. There are sections for big aerials and takas and goiters, that the likes of Camille were making, but similarly there were plenty of mellower sections to the wave that the likes of me could sail and would leave you feeling like a total hero. I’ll never forget my first day there and my 3rd wave of the session I caught one that took me from the point by the lighthouse all the way to the middle of the bay and after 12 turns on the one wave I had to jump off because I physically couldn’t sail any longer……… absolutely epic, but note to self; eat less tacos, drink less cerveza and work on being just a wee bit fitter, hahaha! Gym membership for one please.

After a couple of days spent slogging on my 4.8m for twenty minutes a time to bob to the point to catch a wave (float and ride is awesome but after two weeks there comes a point when you just want to plane again!), the AWT crew landed. And that’s when the real fun started! Sam Bittner, Kevin Pritchard, Tatiana Howard and Francisco Goya all made the trek from Maui, with the rest of the entry list contingent being made up of sailors from Chile, Peru, Colombia, Guadalupe, Brazil, Japan, Argentina and most importantly Ireland, yew!! There were ten days to run the event, so while the Pacasmayo Classic squeezed in heats for lonboard and SUP in the mornings, the windsurfers and kitesurfers fought for the water time in the evenings as the wind filled in. It was incredible to see competitors from all over the world entering multiple disciplines and showing what it is to maximise your water time by dabbling in all surf/wind sports. I entered both the SUP and winsurf but for sure the real outstanding water woman of the event was the stunning Tatiana Howard who entered SUP, Kite, Longboard and Windsurf and came away with wins in three divisions and a third place in kite. I’m pretty sure we all came away with huge respect (and for the boys a big crush) on a girl who can rip on any water modality she choses, kudos to Tati!!

And sure what would any trip with a bunch of girls be without the usual banter, craic and funtimes off the water thrown in too. Every day the girls, Sam, Miho, Tatiana, Carolina, Alexandra, Fernanda, Margarita, Claudia and I would turn the banter up to 11. Dancing and hanging by the pool and making crazy MotoTaxi trips into town to hussle the market stalls all fuelled by healthy portions of ceviche and Pisco Sours. Agh the food and booze, never too far from my mind! And this time I dabbled in the Peruvian delicacies of fresh, raw fish marinated in lime juice (Ceviche) and distilled grape brandy with a dash of lemon cordial (Pisco Sours)……. hoowee those things were tasty! Naturally I also partook in my fair share of local Peruvian Cervezas too, just for research purposes naturally, and I can say from personal taste that Pilsen is far superior to Cusquena, unless of course you’re drinking Cusquena Negra which is the Peruvian cousin of Guinness and a welcome taste of home when you’re so far away……. aghh but I digress…… where was I?! Oh yes, the windsurfing……

But before I get back to that a quick word about the Pacasmayo Plague, aka the Gut Rot, aka the Peru Pain in-the-you-know-what. Everyone had warned me about the inevitable “illness” I would succumbe to when going to Peru but I ignored them, until one night…… well lets just say no-one should ever get that well aquainted with the ceramic of a loo. And after a night spent on the tiles of a bathroom floor, as luck would have it, the wind filled in and Francisco called for the ladies’ fleet to rig up and sail a heat. I cried. I cried before, during and after my heat having not eaten or drunk anything in 24 hours and having to try sail a heat with the energy levels of a sloth on hunger strike. I was gutted (literally haha!), because I’d come early to train and really felt like I knew the spot well and was hoping to sail strongly. But that’s just how it goes and I managed to hold a 3rd place from the heat and then collapse into bed to shiver and sweat out the fever for another few hours. And in typical fashion the bug spread like wildfire throughout the resort and struck down the lovely Sam Bittner and a few others in it’s path……. missing a few others too though however….. like the ultimate germaphobe Kevin Pritchard who through a policy of Wikipedia research and a no breathing, no touching anything within a 2 mile radius of us afflicted with the plague, he managed to completly avoid getting ill. He may never look at me again but honestly Kevin I got it from Camille, who got it from Miho…… so basically it all came from Japan……!! Only kidding Miho.

And with that the event came to an end. The men’s fleet ran a single elimination with Camille Juban winning, Fabrix Beaux 2nd and young awesome ripper and one to watch for the future Tom Juban stealing 3rd place. The men’s double didn’t quite finish but ended up with Camille 1st, Fabrixe 2nd and young super smiley, shredder Alex Vargas taking 3rd from Chile. In the women’s it was Tatiana in 1st, Miho Tanaka 2nd and me in 3rd, with Sam Bittner 4th and Carolina Butrich 5th. I also managed to come in 2nd place for the ladies’ SUP behind Tatiana in 1st and Margarita from Chile came 3rd.

As usual an absolutely huge thank you to everyone who made the event/trip possible and to all the new South American amigos I have made. Special thanks to the AWT, Sam Bittner, Head Judge Fransisco Giya, Jaimie and all the El Faro Resort Crew, Carolina and all the Peru crew who made the event possible! And thanks to my sponsors Moo Custom Boards, Simmer Sails, Huku Balance Boards.