Clinton Bolton, The Traveling Gnome: KPWT Turkey: Lost luggage and a broken board

Posted Monday August 6th

22nd July

I flew into the Aturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. I try not to fly with Iberia as they have a habit of losing luggage, but for this trip they were the cheapest and had the best times, but yet again, no surprise in this trip: my luggage never arrived. Great. Tomorrow the competition starts and I have none of my gear, I just hope there will be no wind. So while waiting at the lost and found I saw Sander, who had the same problem but on another airline so it wasn't just Iberia, and it wasn't just me without luggage. After the whole hassle, I was glad to see the taxi drive and some of the other riders waiting to take the shuttle to the hotel. Arriving at the hotel, it was kind of lonesome ... nothing around except for this one hotel on the beach. Good thing about it is that it's near the event site at Burc Beach ... and it's on the beach and I have a sea-view. Not bad. I just hope my bags arrive tonight and catch the 7 AM shuttle from the airport.

After dinner, I called the office to see whether my bags had got on the later flight to Istanbul, but things had gotten worse: they didn't know where my bags were. DRAT, this is all I need, and arguing with the lady for an hour wasn't helping so I left it and hope for the best. I'll try again tomorrow.

23rd July

"Tomorrow" they STILL didn't know where my bag was, but they were going to try and locate it, so I was told to call later in the afternoon. Luckily, there was no wind, so everyone either chilled at the beach or in the hotel. There's not much to do, and not much going on, so I don't have much to say. We'll see tomorrow.

24th July

So. Still no wind but they had finally found my bag. It was coming on the evening flight from Madrid. With no wind and nothing to do where we were staying, they organized a trip to Istanbul to check out the blue mosque and do some site seeing, then afterwards go to a party organized by Jim Beam.

It was an awesome trip ... some really insane stuff they have in the towns. The mosques are unreal. Just being inside them, you feel so small. It was a really great experience.

The party was a bit chill. It was a private club on the rooftop of a building overlooking Istanbul. It's just unreal, being 13 stories high overlooking everything at night. It's really something to be in a club at this height, and I wondered whether anyone had every been wasted and fell off the side of the railing, or if someone ever dropped a beer bottle and what would happen if it someone on the sidewalk below. There wasn't really much protection from falling off the side, or even from dropping something ... you could look right down to the street. Anyways, everyone was tired. It was a long day, and tomorrow, there might be wind.

25th July

Again we woke up to no wind, so it was going to be another chill day. People started getting so bored that they were playing pranks on others. I'm not naming names or pointing fingers at anyone but it wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it, REALLY!! (Comment from the Peanut Gallery: Clinton, you're no fun. Name names and point fingers, for crying out loud. No one cares that there's no wind or that there is wind. Everyone just wants the DIRT.) It might get interesting in Morocco so check back for that.

After lunch, the wind started picking up and everyone was getting excited, fighting and walking around not knowing whether to pump up or not. (Question from the Peanut Gallery: Clinton, FIGHTING? They were so excited they were FIGHTING??) The head judge decided to try a speed crossing starting from the hotel and racing downwind to the event site (about 1 km). I didn't do it as it didn't look like it was going to get any stronger and anyways I had to wait for my gear to arrive. Anyways, speed crossing is boring. So while they tried to do the race, my gear eventually arrived. Stoked and relieved, I could now relax and prepare for the competition in the next couple of days. Tomorrow we head to the Bosphure channel for a special appearance for people that can't make it to Burc Beach, as it is an hour drive to the event from Istanbul.

26th July

This morning was an early start. We got up at 6:30, loaded the bus with our gear, and headed to the Bosphure channel. It was windy but gusty, due to the mountains around it, and the launch was sketchy. We had to launch from the road and then jump off the side of the harbor wall to get in the water.

It was too dangerous to do the freestyle event so instead they did an expression session and then later in the day the wind picked up enough to do the hang time. One by one, we did our 7 minute heats. I went out on my 13 yarga lit, and got some sick jumps but it wasn't enough to get a good placing so I ended up 13th with 4.25 seconds. Once we finished doing the hangtime, everyone wanted to leave and head to the spa which Jim Beam had organized and then afterwards go to the party.

The spa was great ... super relaxing. Ater 2 hours being in the spa, we got dressed and went for dinner which was unreal. The food was 5-star and the party was even better, but it was an early night as tomorrow they predict wind at Burc Beach, so hope we can start the freestyle event.

27th July

Finally, we woke up to some wind. It was 9m weather. After breakfast, some of us couldn't wait. We rigged up at the hotel and kited from the hotel to the event site. The Skippers' meeting was at 11 and the word was that we were going to get it going, so we had 15 minutes to get prepared before the first heat went out.

I made it through the first heat against a local rider, which was an easy heat, but riding the board that I'd broken yesterday at the Bosphure channel, it was proving to be a challenge. Luckily, I made it through. The second heat I lost ... the board completely snapped in half so it was the end for me in the single elimination. It sucks ... I'll have to borrow someone's board for the double elimination.

28th July

The wind stayed. It was blowing this morning but was a little bit lighter. They finished the singles yesterday with Sebastian Garat winning it. The skipper's meeting was at 10 AM, so I got everything ready. I was in the first heat, which again should have been an easy heat, but I'm not sure how it would go with using someone else's board. I wasn't landing much in my heat riding another board – it sucks and it feels so weird and again, I was sitting on the beach nervous, knowing that it was an easy heat yet knowing it could be the end of the competition for me. Fortunately, I advanced just so I'm super lucky.

I made it through the 3rd round with another easy heat. The wind got lighter so I went out on my 15 Waroo was great - super powered. The heat started and I was going strong, landing everything until I crashed my kite and it just went mental, tangling with the bridles, and I spent the duration of the heat trying to get it untangled, but the heat ended and the kite was still in a knot. So that was it for me. I waited on the beach, hoping I'd done enough at the beginning to convince the judges, but unfortunately it wasn't. So I ended up 13th place, which sucks, but I've got to move on and prepare myself for the next competition and concentrate on that.

They finished the double, so tomorrow - the final day – they'll do some speed racing and then do the prize giving

29th July

Wind was a lot lighter today. They set the speed crossing course and had the men go first and do 2 laps of the course and then have the women go 10 minutes after and do 1 lap of the course. The men and women were riding on 15's as the wind was slowly dropping. They did 2 speed crossings with Mickael winning them both. Later in the afternoon, they did the prize-giving and afterwards everyone headed back to the hotel to pack everything and head to Morocco, as we only have 2 days to get there. I hope they don't loose my luggage again or anyone else's. Next stop is in Essaouira, Morocco. Wind is super strong, riding the whole time on 7s so it should be good.

- Clinton

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