Off to the south (from Fuerte)

Thursday, 25.02.2021

The last few days have been dominated by work, lots of time on the computer. But we didn't miss out on our lunch break with a surf session on Tuesday. I'm a bit frustrated with my surfing skills. Since 2012, I've been starting from scratch over and over again, but it feels like I'm not improving. I'm pretty good at paddling out and reading the waves, but when I'm in the right place at the right time and the wave carries me in the right spot, I freeze and can't stand up anymore. My body doesn't know how to do it. But I'm mostly successful in the white water. I've decided to take a private lesson to overcome this perceived hurdle.

In the afternoon, we move within our apartment complex, as the view from the previous apartment onto an empty terrace and a dirty wall is pretty dreary. The new apartment is almost the same inside, only the bed and bedroom are smaller. The terrace is open to the inner courtyard, with palm trees and other plants. It makes it much cozier. It's still on the north side, so no sun, but better than nothing. We really miss our first apartment further outside the city center. It was so cozy and we felt at home there, here it feels more like a hotel.

In the evening, there was a DJ in the rooftop bar for the first time, playing interesting, not too wild music. After two cold drinks, we walked to the harbor and picked up our rental car for the weekend. Tomorrow morning we're heading south for a kite surf lesson in the lagoon (without boating)!

Friday, 26.02.2021

Today we're venturing into kite surfing again, this time in the shallow water. Since the lagoon is on the other end of the island, we get up at 7:00 a.m., send a few emails to our colleagues so they don't get bored, and then drive off in the rental car. After 1.5 hours, we arrive at the school and get some equipment. I'm a bit disappointed because the gear is pretty worn out and only the third harness has all the buckles on it. Complaining - check. Still motivated - check. The lagoon is 10km further north (Sotavento), and we quickly get there in the convoy. We are two instructors and eight students, so two large groups with only two kites flying at a time. Result: a lot of waiting.

When we arrive shortly before 11:00 a.m., the lagoon is still almost empty, but by the time we're dressed, carried all the equipment, and prepared the kites and bars, it's already half full. Our instructor Tim gives me and my teammate another lesson on waterstarts, and then we're off. The water is less than knee-deep, which is totally unfamiliar to me. My normal state is already out in the open sea between huge waves, without ground under my feet. The wind is particularly strong today, so we only have a 6-meter kite, and even that almost blows us away while standing. So today we need very small movements to get up. It actually works quite well, I ride a little bit, mostly to the left. But always downwind. As a result, we have to walk upwind after no more than 2-3 small rides, which is much more exhausting than riding downwind. Tim comes by regularly and tries to teach us to ride upwind, and eventually it works - at least for a brief moment. Felt pretty good. If only it would work more often, then I could ride in all directions instead of constantly walking the kite back to our spot. They call it kite SURFING, not kite WALKING.

The lagoon is now very crowded, there are at least 50 other kiters of all levels around us and passing us - the probably biggest disadvantage compared to the open sea. In the afternoon, the water level reaches its peak and starts to recede. Everyone makes a few last attempts, then we pack up the equipment pretty exhausted, wobble to the car, and peel ourselves out of the wet, salty, sandy wetsuits. After a quick chat, Ben drives us back to Corralejo, with a hungry stop at the supermarket in Puerto del Rosario. During the drive, I feed us olives, white bread, and tzatziki until there's nothing left. When we arrive at the apartment just before 6:00 p.m., I get another burst of energy and we go up to the rooftop terrace, where I do a cozy, stretching yoga session in the sunset and Ben enjoys a after-work beer. The shower afterwards is a dream, even though not only our bodies but also all wetsuits, jackets, harnesses, and float vests need to be washed.

A super long, exhausting day. Kite surfing takes more time than expected. The evening ends with the usual Friday chat with friends and online games.

Saturday, 27.02.2021

I had a completely new experience again. I got sunburned. But not on my nose or shoulders... No. I have sunburn in my eyes. Yes, IN MY EYES.

Last night, they were already slightly red and felt very tired, so I went to bed right after the video chat. At 2:00 a.m., I wake up again and my eyes burn as if I rubbed chili into them. They tear up and I rub them, and it gets worse and worse until I get up and realize in the bathroom that I can hardly see anything. From then on, panic sets in and I try to rinse my eyes, but I don't understand the world anymore and don't know what's going on. It feels as if someone is blowing sandblasting me directly into my eyes. My eyelids are made of sandpaper. I can barely read my phone, but then I find an article that fits. Diagnosis: sunburned eyes. I also wake up Ben because I feel incredibly helpless and look for things I can use to cool down. After an hour of torture, I take a painkiller that allows me to sleep again.

In the morning, it's better again, but since I don't know if it's still the effect of the medication, I cancel the kite surfing lesson for myself today. At 9:00 a.m., I get eye drops from the pharmacy and still drive with Ben to the lesson so he doesn't have to go alone. I hide my eyes behind my new sunglasses and under my cap all day. So far, I've only been on half-day kite surfing lessons, but the whole day yesterday, with the constant reflection on the water and the kite, which you also have to keep an eye on against the sun, apparently overwhelmed my eyes. I haven't worn sunglasses while kite surfing before, fearing to lose them. Today, Ben is wearing my old sunglasses. He's having fun in the lesson and doing well, while I take a few photos and lie on the beach. When we're already packing up, Monika from the lesson collides with her board and gets a cut on her shin. After thinking for a moment, I drive her to the doctor for a few stitches in her rental car, where Ben picks me up again with our car.

For sunset, we drive further south to the very tip and explore an impressive bay under steep cliffs. A beautiful end to a long, exciting day.

Sunday, 28.02.2021

My eyes are feeling fine again, and we slept in a bit before heading south for the time being. I'm wearing my sunglasses during the kite surfing lesson today as well, despite the high risk of losing them. Better to lose the glasses than to damage my eyes. I'm wearing my newly bought glasses, Ben is wearing my old ones with scratched lenses. My instructor today is the always cheerful, funny Italian Andrea, with whom I get along much better than with Tim. He pays a lot of attention to detail and is quite strict with us, but gives very good, constructive, and personalized advice that actually helps me improve. The wind is lighter and a bit stubborn today, with lots of gusts and a few changes in direction. Despite that, my waterstarts go quite well today, and I can ride to the left too. At the end, I even ride against the wind for a few meters, which feels pretty intense. Much better than yesterday. I couldn't ride to the right at all today, but Andrea praised me for my good kite control. Ben also did well again. Unfortunately, he lost his sunglasses in a fall, so after the lesson, he goes back to the nearly empty lagoon and looks for them for an hour, without success. Luckily, it was only my old ones.

With some time pressure, we drive back to Corralejo and return the rental car at 8:05 p.m., just in time for closing. Since we only had breakfast and a banana, we quickly sit down at a restaurant at the harbor and devour fish and a pizza in a hurry before going home and washing ourselves and our equipment with fresh water. We go to bed pretty early but very tired.