After arrival in Fortaleza Airport, we had a warm welcome of our support team. A small ride to Cumbuco brought us to Cumbuco, being the starting point of Ride Strong 2019 Downwind.
The next day, after an early wake up (small jetlag ;-) ), all gear was prepared.
When all gear was ready, it was time for the briefing. Say YES to Safety,
Part of the safety measures for this trip is as well the precence of a jetski. Which was on day one already proven to be not a luxury.
Today 90 KM was planned. If you manage to do this distance 12 days in a row it is called "ïron Macho extreme". Meanless to say it wasn't supposed to be a slow start.
After the briefing we drove to the staring point of the Downwind. With 2 4x4, one towing the jetski and a dune buggy.
Here an impression of our drive to the start location
No Road? than we go off road!
Soon after the start we arrived at Port of Pecem. Van Oord would be ready to construct the next phase of this harbour. Gusty wind, back wash but some good pictures were made at this location (Pictures will follow soon!)
Leaving the harbour of Pecem behind the wind started to be a bit more constant and significant km's could be made. Some gear changes were needed but the goal was clear.
Because of the delayed start in the morning, the time pressure was on to be able to arrive before sunset. Therefore only a short lunch with 'fish bitterballs' in Paracuru was allowed and we continued quickly with our trip.
Passing some turtles, fishes, rock reefs and fishing nets we were heading at our final destination for today. However, at 5pm we arrived at Lagoinaas and decided it was not safe to continue (for the last 10km), since the sun started to set.
Conclusion of day 1: challenging starting day with a 75km trip; extremely impressive to downwind along the Brazilian coastline with 6 amazing Van Oord kites; beautiful beaches, lagunas and sand dunes; more fun and challenge to come!