From one mission 2 the next, YEW, don’t wanna complain

… and a couple of plane rides later, I’m finding myself in Indonesia, the country of smiles, sweet !

Internet connection is almost non-existent but I was lucky just then and found one, so decided to blog this short update.

Stay tuned 4 more!

Carpe diem folks & have fun,
Gabi

It’s time to “Rock’n'Roll” 

Yeah, Kitegabi is off to new adventures, new insane sessions, new experiences !

All my toys are packed, the greatest gear in the whole wide world, my North kites and boards as well as my Fanatic SUP- and surfboard and I can’t wait to explore new terrains with’em .

Stay tuned and keep checking my blog 4 updates & news my dears!
….oh yeah, and in case that internet-access proves difficult, please don’t curse me for a bit of an online abscence, I will make up for it, biiig promise.

Have fun & Carpe Diem guys !
Gxx

And Y E S, finally the day has come:  My brandnew FANATIC FLY WAVE 9’6 SUP and I enjoyed the first sessions together in the Indian Ocean!

This first joyride ride wasn’t just any ordinary session… nope I went on a boattrip to the most exposed reef off the coast of Western Australia: The Abrolhos Islands.

The Abrolhos islands  are an island group consisting of 122 islands, approximately 60kms off Geraldton. Wow, rockin’ crazy outer reef swells, way out the Indian Ocean… in the water:  lots of big fish, yep, white pointers apparently everywhere, one really doesn’t want to get in trouble out here, the Abrolhos are truly in the middle of nowhere….

The boattrip was meant to be a “wind- & kitesurfing-trip” and the boat was full with wind-hungry folks…
It had been scheduled for these dates for a long, long time…  therefore, although, the forecast for the weekend looked rather sad, there was no way I wouldn’t wanna be on that boat…  The “Island Leader” is an incredibly cool, old commercial fishing boat that looks a bit like a military ship. I knew the boat already as I had already been on an epic trip on it early in 2010, back then we scored absolutely epic kitesurfing conditions.

So yeah, for the ‘pure’ wind- and kitesurfers the trip might have been a bit boooring as the wind-gods were not really on our side.  For me, it was pure JOY JOY JOOOOOOOOOOOOOY, thanks to FANATIC and the amazing Fly Wave !

I went on ‘exploration-cruizes’ to tiny little islands and on the last day, we also found some small, though, oh-so-beautifully sweet, little waves in the clearest, most amazing water,  s t o k e d.

The 9’6” drives off the tail and winds up speed with a racy tri-fin set-up. It’s super easy to handle too and although the boards specs were certainly a bit on the ‘short side’ for small waves like on that boat-trip, it was super easy for me to paddle myself into them !  The fishtail shape certainly is very supportive in both acceleration and wave-catching lift. The CAD-engineered volume flow and flat deck, really help big time with regards to stability and balance.  Well and with regards to the truly amazing Wood Sandwich Light Construction and super stylish looks of it, there’s no other words than:  F U L L Y  S I C K   !

I’m more than stoked.  Still had to borrow a paddle of a friend of mine for this trip, though, my FANATIC paddle should be arriving this week…, can’t wait 4 more joy sessions on this absolutely ingenious masterpiece of a SUP.

Guys, if u haven’t done so already:  it’s high time that also YOU give SUP’ing a go, trust me, you won’t regret it, it’s sooooooooooo much fun (no matter whether on flat water, lakes, ocean, waves, racing, etc… with a SUP there’s soooo many options!) and get yourself a board, delevolped by the masterminds of the very best brand out there:  FANATIC!

Soon more,
…always there for your comments, questions, and feedback guys
Gxx

A ‘Top Secret’-mission, that might make communication, internet, emails, blogs a bit tricky at times but I will try my best…

The header-shot of this blog has been taken during my last mission, a beautiful photo through the fisheye lens of my dear mate and mind-blowingly amazing photographer Mark Thorpe, check him out on facebook folks!

Stay tuned 4 more…
catch ya soon & wish me good luck
Gxx

I can’t really tell you too much about it as yet, though, it soon will all be revealed in kitemagazines worldwide, thus please be patient!

All I can say for the time being is that I have been privileged to work together on this trip with an incredible person and absolutely awesome photographer: Mark Thorpe, check him out on facebook!

Mark has been in underwater-photography and filming for most of his life. In his career he’s been filming  (amongst loads of other highly interesting stuff under d’water)  white + tiger sharks for National Geographic in South Africa and even has won the Cannes-Prize for a movie a few years back. I would like to take this opprotunity to shout out a  ‘HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE THANX’ to him for all his hard work, incredible passion & motivation. Mark u truly  ROCK man and it’s been an absolute pleasure having been on this mission with U    Thanx dude !

Stay tuned guys…
Gxx

But I’m on a mission in Indo…  unfortunately, can’t tell u much more about it 4 the time being and also only have a few minutes on the net right now…

Patience please, it all gonna be revealed soon in magazines worldwide

All I can say for the moment is: I’m working together with an absolutely great guy Mark Thorpe, who’s a truly amaaaazing photographer!!! Check him out on facebook. He’s been working in underwater-photography and filming for decades and even has won the Cannes-Prize for a movie a few years back. It’s an absolute pleasure to be on a mission with him + soon u guys will be presented the results!

Also a huuuuuuge help and BIG THANX goes to ‘Jankie’ from the Bali Kitesurfing Organisation. A crazy Italian who drives around with us here and who I’m super stoked to be sharing with once-in-a-lifetime fun + session !!!

Last but certainly not least: T H A N X  to the team of the Bali Kitecentre, soon a dedicated North Kiteboarding School. The guys are fantastic and helped me out big time with a 14m2 Rebel for one of my missions as the wind’s rather light here and my biggest kite is a 10m2 Evo.

Ok, internet time’s up… plus, the swell is pumping. Will jump on my scooter now + go 4 a surf!

Catch u soon guys & have fun,
Gabi

I had a quick chance on the way from the aiport to take this shot in front of The Burj Al Arab, a landmark in the city -  one of the most photographed structures in the world, and consistenly voted the worlds most luxurious hotel – and only have a few moments to write this, cause I’m on my way to meet up with a local kite crew for a trip into the desert, organized by my long-term friend of SHAMAL KITESURFING, check it out! Although it’s not a North Kiteboarding School, I really support Astrid, the really lovely and competent girl who runs it, an Austrian friend of mine, very good kitesurfer and great chick!

Ok, that’s it… can’t tell u anymore about the trip, just that there will be of course a great photographer be coming along. Stay tuned, it’s all a bit of a secret still at the moment but soon to be revealed in all leading kitemags around the globe !

I doubt that I will be finding any internet connection in the desert… so that might be the only blog for the next 10 days…

Have fun for now & keep checking kitegabi.com for updates & news
Carpe Diem, Gxx

Yeah, first day at the Nyali International Beach Hotel greeted me with no wind, though, I have to admit, this place is soooooo beautiful and pretty drained of my 35 hours travel from Australia anyway, I actually didn’t mind a little time to chill!  … and chilling out, relaxing, unwinding here is easy, the hotel is absolutely stunning: 2 pools, an insanely white, huge sand beach, great food, at the Aqua Beach Bar there’s THE most comfortable ‘chill out’ beds with cosy cushions, beathtaking palmtrees, huge frangipani trees… monkeys in the garden, camels on the beach -  JOY, too cool, I  l o v e   this place

Also the ‘Prosurf Extreme’ Watersports Centre, a dedicated North Kiteboarding school, boasting the latest gear of the best brand in the world, is amazing. The General Manager, Bram Dierick, a really awesome dude and passionate kitesurfer himself, is always concerned about delivering THE very best for the guests.  The Prosurf staff is so incredibly friendly, helpful and competent, I had a small hole in the leading edge of my Evo 10m2, they found & fixed it in an instant, stoked

The slider for the competition has been built with great enthusiasm under the instructions of Chris Burke, Liquid Force Team Rider from the UK who’s working as instructor at the school, and already been put in the water. Unfortunately up to know I haven’t had a chance to give it a go due to a lack of wind…

Today is the ‘North Demo Day’, where all the brandnew 2010 sick-o kites & boards will be presented and be available for testing to the public.  Thus, I’m needed today and should better make my way down to the beach now to give the guys a hand with the set-up and stuff.

Let’s hold fingers crossed for some wind later!!

Stay tuned, Gabi

This trip only has just come up last week and in a ‘travel-agent-race’ over several time zones, I got my ticket confirmed saturday night to travel 24 hours later…

Perth – Nairobi – Moombasa, a journey that’s taken longer than going from Austria to Australia, though, after approximately 30 hours, I’ve finally arrived in Mombasa, the final destination.

I loved that sign in the baggage claim hall of the airport:  SMILE, you’re in Kenya and YES, for sure, I have all reasons to smile

I’ve never been here, so this is all very exciting, I  l o v e  going to ‘new’ places, and if they are hot & tropical like Kenya, I love it even more

So what is Gabi actually doing here?

I’m super stoked to represent North at the Prosurf Extreme Kitesurf Charity Event, that’s happening at the Nyali Beach Hotel in Mombasa from 11.02.-15.02

Organized by Prosurf Extreme Watersports, a dedicated North Kitecentre, the event’s schedule is action packed and will be boasting a downwind race, beach volley tournament, a North demo day with all the insane new 2010 products, boardies & bikini party, slider & big air, fire jumping… JOY, can’t wait !!

Stay tuned 4 more, I’m planning on bloging the event daily (if internet connection availability + time permits),

Yours Gabi

Yep, I’ve only just gotten hold of the photos, thus a slightly delayed post about this insane experience.

The Abrolhos islands  are an island group consisting of 122 islands, approximately 60kms off Geraldton on the Western Australian coast. Though the wave-hungry lot on the boat, didn’t decide to go for the incredible scenery, the snorkelling or really good fishing…  Nope the trip that was scheduled around the ‘Blue Moon’ -   which is the second full moon in one month, only happening very rarely  -   that should bring sick wave-conditions as the Abrolhos islands boast THE most exposed reefs on the whole of the west coast !!

Wow, rockin’ crazy outer reef swells, way out the Indian Ocean… in the water:  lots of big fish, yep, white pointers apparently everywhere, one really doesn’t want to get in trouble out here, the Abrolhos are truly in the middle of nowhere….

The boattrip was mainly for windsurfers, though, there was me and 3 more kiters on the boat. The ship we went on was so incredibly cool, a commercial fishing boat, looked a bit like a military ship, the trip could not have been any rougher  -  hihihihi, yep, pretty much everyone on the boat got seasick… not me, though, thankfully I’m immune to seasickness no matter how heavy the sea is rockin’    -  the sea was going crazy, yep, my personal ‘Full Moon Theory’ perfectly hit once again   You can read up on it in a previous post if u want here!

Launching and landing was an absolute nightmare, absolutely no space on the boat to put out lines or stuff… I had to walk the lines out in between all the windsurf gear, around the BBQ area, through the sleeping cabins…. then attach correctly to my kite, throw it in the water, jump after it, hoping that no white pointer would consider me as bait and waterlaunching it as quickly as possible, which was a true challenge given the strong current and swell. Yep, have to admit, this was the first time ever that I’ve actually been a bit jealous of the windsurfers, they had it way easier: just 2 throw in their gear and jump after it.

Thank God my brandnew North FUSE 5m2 is simply the greatest kite ever and the launch a piece-a-pi$$    …heheheehehehe, mind u,  at one point I got fairly scared, as I got caught in a current on launching just after having gotten quite a deep cut in my leg (slipping on the boat against some steel corner), i.e. I was bleeding and had to drag around for nearly 20 minutes before I could get hold of my Kontact waveboard again that was drifting around way upwind of me, having gotten caught in a current going the other way !?  aaaaaarg, scary stuff… though I survived and the white pointers decided to leave me alone !

The conditions we found out there on the Abrolhos that very Blue Moon Weekend were truly  e p i c …  an absolute dream that will stay in my heart forever !