| Kitesurf Panama |
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Chasing the Bull
Kiting island breaks
Captaining the ship is 36-year-old Gavin McClurg, a slight-framed boatman who has spent the past decade ocean-hopping. He purchased Discovery in Italy on December 22, 2006, and less than 12 hours later sailed her 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. “No tools, no bedding, no spares, no nothing,” he says. When we set sail earlier in the day from a sleepy marina in Panama to commence a weeklong expedition through the Bocas del Toro archipelago, McClurg had only a crude itinerary and just one goal: to find good wind. McClurg, along with his two dozen passengers, hopes to become the first to kitesurf in these remote islands. At the moment, however, McClurg is darting from his vantage point on the starboard stern to Discovery’s saloon, where he checks a map on his laptop. His girlfriend and first mate, Jody MacDonald, 33, is standing on the boom, watching for hazards from her 14-foot perch. “Reeeeeeeeeeeef!” she screams. MacDonald unwinds by BASE- jumping, so her panic is alarming. “What does the chart say?” “Nothing—it’s uncharted,” McClurg bellows. We’re boxed in and treacherously close to the mangroves. The cicadas are wailing. “How do you know you can get through?” she asks. “One of the locals said it was possible,” McClurg shouts back. Chris Wyman, the couple’s good friend from California, is at the helm. He wrenches the throttle into reverse to slow us down. We could ride here—and it would be righteous—if only there were wind. For the moment, we’ll have to wait. |
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