BARBADOS - ACTION ISLAND

Barbados in windsurfing’s heyday was a destination of choice, hosting professional competitions and a popular training ground for pros and amateurs. It has fallen a little off-radar of late and for no good reason. For a balanced view on why it still offers excellent all-round conditions for every level, John Carter explores the island from a freeride and family holiday point of view while Klaas Voget provides the professional’s perspective.

Words John Carter and Klaas Voget

// Photos John Carter and Daniell Bohnhof

ACTION ISLAND

Words Klaas Voget //

Photos Daniell Bohnhof

There are destinations that became more and more popular over the years. Forecasts and frequent posts of action shots drive people to these constantly delivering places for wave action. Some other places fall off the map a little. When I started windsurfing, there were pictures of Barbados all over the place. Team Germany was a frequent visitor in the nineties and the professional world tour even had a stop at Silver Sands beach. The mag’s got swamped with shots – great shots! Easy wave sailing with moderate winds, no wetsuit needed. It’s been a dream destination during my north German winters. Over the years though, the focus shifted to the windier places – or places with bigger waves, where the pros spent their winters – Maui, South Africa, West Oz. or the Canary Islands – and so did the focus in the magazines.

Having visited many different countries on this planet, Barbados is one of the most relaxed places I’ve been to. When the people from Chiemsee told me that Action Man and Barbados representative, Brian Talma, invited us to run the 2017 Chiemsee shoot in his home, my immediate response was “Action!”

The shoot was scheduled for one week in June and the goal was to shoot the whole catalogue of fashion and lifestyle plus kite, surf and windsurf action – ideally in perfect turquoise waves and in the pro-model shorts and bikinis. Not many places are suitable for all this, but Barbados works! The Caribbean Island is more known for the months between December and March, but according to Brian, June is one of the windiest months. You can sail just in shorts no matter the time of the day and some of the beaches could make it into the top 10 in the world. When Barbados came up as an option, we searched the Internet for flights. A bit over 500€ per person, relatively cheap for long haul to the Caribbean as high season was over, bargain! It didn’t take long until 8 tickets were booked and Brian’s beachfront house right at the Silver Sands beach was reserved for us.

The shooting crew was a very mixed group of people from Germany, Austria, Spain, the UK and Guadeloupe. Chiemsee uses their team riders for photo shoots, so I met UK Kiteboarder Hannah Whiteley, as well as Max Mattissek, the innovative freestyler from Austria, plus the photo and video crew at Frankfurt Airport to prepare for the best part of travelling – the check-in. “Yes that bag is around 30 kgs. – no need to weigh it… oh you really have to? Uups 48 kgs. ? Something must be wrong with my scales…” In the end we got it all on the plane somehow and landed around 10 hours later on the Action Island.

RELAX
If you’ve never been in the Caribbean this time of year, the climate change once you step out of the airplane is quite impressive. The rainy season is about to start and with the humidity close to 100%, the 28°C. takes some getting used to. But you don’t have to walk for long until a sign with the inscription ‘Relax – You’re in Barbados!’ calms you straight down after that thermal shock. Apparently the dudes unloading the plane live and work by the same slogan, a bit over two hours later we left the building. Brian was waiting outside the terminal with Sunshine, Rainbow, Ocean and Lion – 4 of his kids and two cars, ready to go.

For the first two days the wind and waves forecast was pretty good, followed by lighter days during the middle of the week. The coffee was dripping through the machine at 6am next morning, at 7 we were already on the way to Surfers Point making our way through those little roads around the area. Wind is anything between 5.0 and 6.2 in Barbados. Days on 4.5 or 4.7 are rare – at least in June. Max and I are both pretty light, so we only packed 5.0 and 5.2 as our biggest and even that was just not enough on day one. That left us having to watch Hannah pump her kite. Life could be worse, but the next day got better for us. The wind picked up and it was our turn. Three hours of sailing at Surfers Point was enough to leave some signs of hard work on our hands and fingers. The warm water makes the skin more sensitive to the pumping of the sail. That’s the only downside of these temperatures; otherwise sailing in such a warm environment is pretty hard to beat. All you need to wear is your harness and some sunscreen or a Lycra top against the sun.

At the end of the session we even had enough wind for a couple of jumps. The wind usually comes and goes throughout the day with some cloud and rain squalls. If you just hang out on the beach and follow the island rhythm, you’ll get your moments of good winds. The conditions are generally pretty easy in this part of the island. The spots are spread out on a stretch of a few hundred metres, with generally a sandy beach on the inside, bump and jump conditions between beach and the reef, while some nice waves break on the outside. I can’t imagine much better places to go with a family. Some days the wind is strongest early in the morning, so you can sail out at 6am for a nice two hours pre-breakfast session and still have the whole day for anything your loved ones are up to.
The following day we picked up Mae from the Airport – a windsurfing beauty we met on Guadeloupe the year before – and then shot the 2017 summer collection at some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. Bottom Bay and Foul Bay are definitions of the Caribbean dream. We discovered the island in the next few days and took a pretty fun surf session in the world famous surfing break ‘soup bowl’ in Bathsheba. Even Kelly Slater comes over from time to time to ride this perfect right hand tube in a good swell. With the normal trade winds, it’s slightly onshore there, but it was still a good wall to ride with just a handful of relaxed locals. Driving from A to B generally doesn’t take long on Barbados. The island is about 34km long and 23km wide. In a week you can see the best places on the island and still catch plenty of time on the water.

BAJAN STYLE
On Friday evening our shooting day ended in Oistins on the Fish Market, where Brian gave us a good insight into the Bajan Nightlife. A bottle of Mount Gay Rum kick-started that night and pretty soon our ladies were lost on the dance floor. Within a short period of time we got to know the Ganja-Man, the Candy-Man, the Rasta-Man and back at our beach apartments at Silver Sands, even the Coconut-Man came by. We just wanted to go to bed and didn’t want to buy his Coconut, but Coconut-Man had other plans. In the end only a couple of Barbados Dollars made him move on.
For the last two days of our trip the forecast predicted some more wind again, so we got to sail right in front of our ‘deAction’ Beach House at Silver Sands and had a pretty fun surf at South Point just before we got back onto the plane. All in all it was a trip full of great experiences, great people and good surf and windsurf sessions. We almost didn’t realize that we were there to shoot a catalogue and I’ll definitely come back, this place has something special. To sum it up with Brian Talma’s words: “The brain smiles – Action! Action! and more Action!”

DE ACTION MAN MEETS DOWNWIND DAVE

Fuelled on by his coverage from St Lucia, Antigua and more recently his exploits in Club Vass, JC’s infamous mate, ‘Downwind Dave’, headed out to Barbados for yet another windsurfing mission disguised as a family holiday. For this trip, Dave was determined to rub shoulders with ‘Action Man’ Brian Talma for first hand tips from one of the best in the business on how to increase his windsurfing skills and up his exposure!

Words & Photos John Carter

At time of writing, since the England rugby team recruited Eddie Jones as coach, the team are headed for a record winning streak and growing from strength to strength. Looking back at the career of David Beckham, much of his success can be attributed to having Sir Alex Ferguson as a mentor on and off the pitch. Windsurfing trainer Scott Sanchez helped Francisco Goya, Micah Buzianis and Daida Moreno all win world titles and we even heard that Dave White once turned to Peter Hart for advice, but never listened. A good coach can make all the difference in sport; the big question for us on our holiday was could Brian Talma turn things around for Downwind Dave?

We left behind a bleak winter’s day in the UK and eight hours later exchanged it for a 28°C. balmy sunny Barbados afternoon. This year, rather than try to sneak off to the spot whilst on ‘hols’, we had somehow convinced our wives to stay at Brian’s deAction apartments at Silver Rock, the best beach on the island for windsurfing. It is a mere ten minutes from the airport to Silver Rock and there is no mistaking when you arrive at the Talma deAction centre, with everything in proximity covered in his unique art, words and bright Caribbean colours. At the back of the car park Brian has his two apartments, a small café and his wind, SUP, surf and kite centre all looking over the stunning turquoise water and white sand beach out front. The two colourful beachfront apartments were ideal for our two families and were set to be our home for the next seven days! With mostly light winds on the menu and a well-known rip that flows downwind, Dave was keen to find out the local tricks of the trade to stayupwind, so immediately put the question to Brian for his tactics.

STAYING UPWIND
Brian Talma – “My first tip is to always bend the knees and absorb the chop. When you are on the edge of planing, I reckon it is best to slide downwind a little bit and once your feet are in the straps, then slowly creep back upwind. Once you are planing my biggest tip of all is to look over your shoulder at where you wish to go. So if he looks downwind, ‘Downwind Dave’ will go downwind! What I normally do is look upwind, I put my chin on my shoulder and look to where I want to go, not where I don’t want to go. Look upwind! At Silver Sands there is a lot of chop and current, it’s a tough place to stay upwind when the wind is marginal. You have to be aggressive when you are passing through the shorebreak and the reef. It’s ‘pedal to the metal’ all the way out, even when it’s light wind. You can’t afford to hesitate, sheet in and push through the waves, because if Downwind Dave hits some waves, then he is going to drift! If you start floundering in the waves, then you can drift fast and end up right down the bay”

EARLY BREEZE
Just as the ’de-doctor’ ordered, the wind was up the next morning, nothing too strong but plenty for a 7m and 130 litre freeride board. Brian was first on the water, demonstrating to Dave the local tactics to manoeuvre upwind and how to use the swells to help whip the board up onto the plane. Brian is a master in these conditions and was soon working the board up on to the plane and flying in and out over the azure waters of Silver Rock. With me in position in the water, Brain knew all the tricks of the trade when it comes to scoring interesting photographs and racked up plenty of shots in a matter of minutes. After half an hour or so of efficiently blasting in and out, the rig was handed to Dave for his opening gambit. Brian had been making it look pretty easy out there, but once Dave was on board it was a slightly less action packed session. Yep, those balmy Barbados trades were perfect to keep the wives cool while sunning themselves on the beach, but as for all 95 kgs of Downwind Dave on Brian’s rig, it looked like he was going to live up to his name as he drifted out towards the reef. I waited patiently out on the water for Dave to reappear from the reef and a good twenty minutes later was shocked to see him flying towards me, looking over his shoulder back upwind, just like Brian had advised. It took another hour for Dave to manoeuvre two more passes in front of the camera and by this time I was just about ready for my lunchtime bottle of ice cold beer from the bar.

With the first session under our belts we spent the rest of the day back with our families enjoying the beautiful Caribbean beach and playing around in the waves. Come the evening it was time to address the next issue; if Downwind Dave wanted to start competing with Brian for the all-important magazine coverage, then there was certainly plenty of work to do to. So it was back to the bar and more bottles of cold Banks beer for Dave’s second lesson, this time in the art of exposure!

IMAGE
Brian Talma – “First of all I am most impressed that Dave has a name. ‘Downwind Dave’ is catchy and I like the fact that he has a sense of humour. Do you remember ‘Eddie the Eagle’? Dave is a bit like the ‘Eagle’; when you hear ‘Downwind’, it is something you will remember. You have to work on something unique. That is what I did. You need a name and a look. I am not sure what we can do with Dave for a look but maybe we can dress him up a bit. Maybe we get him some funny glasses or a hat, he needs a look, that is for sure. That is what I did, I looked at what I had going for me. I was lucky to have the Caribbean look and the bleached blonde hair. Downwind Dave has to build his image of where he is from and keep working on his sense of humour.

Maybe there are unique aspects of his culture or his family he can adapt into his image. When he was working with JC in the water he was too slow. If the photographer gets bored while Dave is floundering on the reef then he might head into the beach or start shooting somebody else. So he needs to speed up and keep upwind. We then did a photo shoot in front of my fishing boat and I definitely sensed Dave has some talent! He worked the camera and did not take himself too seriously! This trip we really need to focus on keeping Downwind Dave more upwind because time is money and JC can’t afford to be swimming around getting sunburned while Dave is drifting down the coast. I am the ‘Irie Man’ or ‘De Action’ man and now the magazines might start hearing about this ‘Downwind Dave’ guy. Let’s see how he develops over the rest of the week!” For the next days, Barbados delivered splendid weather and more balmy breezes, perfect for Dave to master the art of staying upwind in the tricky conditions. Brian of course was keeping a watchful eye on Dave’s every move, both on and off the water.

AROUND THE ISLAND
Silver Rock is an awesome place to stay in Barbados and living in such close proximity to the water was amazing. Just to hear the sound of the ocean at night and to sit on the balcony with an icy cold at sunset was bliss. Under Brain’s instructions we set out to explore the island both to the east and west of Silver Rock, which is pretty much at the southernmost point on the island. As the coast wraps around towards Oistins, the winds swing offshore making for some world class turquoise and flat water beaches, ideal for the family and cruising around on Stand Up Paddle boards. We spent quite a few days at Enterprise beach and were able to take inflatable SUPs with us, which were great fun for all the family. Down by the jetty at the fish market, the water was rife with turtles and we scored some beautiful snorkelling in the crystal clear water, which the kids loved. We caught the local buses into Oistins for a mere $2 a head, and if you don’t mind packing in with as many locals as the driver can cram in, the bus rides were quite amusing to say the least.

As for grinds around the area there are plenty of awesome local options. The Oistins fish market is a must and you can fill your plate with fresh fish, salad and potatoes for around £10 a head. Personally, I think the fish market is best avoided on a Friday when all the tourist buses roll in and swarm the place. Closer to Silver Sands is Chicken Ritas, a local shack that has become quite an attraction for its simple menu of chicken, chips, beer and local rum! If you have not booked here then expect at least an hour or so wait while they muster up your order, but that is not a problem when you are sitting out on a balmy evening with a few beers to pass away the time. Brian’s deAction centre is great for lunch and also caters for evening meals if you let them know in advance. West of Silver Sands the road leads to some of the best beaches in the Caribbean and we hired a car for a day and cruised to Bottom Bay, Crane Beach and then onto the famous surf spot Bathsheba to check out the waves.