Turbulence is Bliss

It doesn’t really matter where you are or what you do. In my eyes, the people you are with, or choose to surround yourself by, are what shape an experience. Although it does help when you plan a trip with a dream crew in a quintessential location. The latest endeavor begins in the land of fresh fish, bottomless margaritas, the biggest cactuses you have ever seen, and a tidal puddle that makes a pretty damn near perfect kiteboarding destination.

When we set out to create Vortex, which evolved into a two-year filming endeavor, having a small crew made sense as Noè, Tom and I all shared the same vision and are all best mates, allowing us to be efficient and present exactly what we wanted with relative ease. When Turbulence began to snowball, we knew we wanted our group to grow and include some of our favorite riders and production crew.

As I was getting into kiteboarding, Craig Cunningham, Colleen Carroll and Ewan Jaspan gave me a foothold and, later, a platform to climb the ladder within the industry. Their support was monumental for me as they all brought me into their world. While I was entering kiting at ground level, the talents that joined us in Baja were already ascending to the rooftop and needed no assistance, as they all thrive off their own individual successes. The opportunity to bring others into our project who share the same interest, similar to my own experience with the top pros years ago, makes me smile, and, in a small sense, it feels like Tom, Noè and I are returning the favor and expanding our stage. Our rostrum grew to include Andy Cain, Isak Petersen, Ramiro Gallart, Matteo Dorotini and Hanna Twaróg.

While everyone on stage played a role in the first installment of Turbulence, at the center of the compass was Andy, dubbed by many as the king of Choco Lake and the sole reason for our visit to Baja. Noè: “When I think of Baja, the first thing that comes to mind is Andy Cain. He is the crux of what makes park riding so special, and getting to experience his world for a few short weeks was an absolute pleasure.” Andy is soft spoken, humble, and the unwritten gatekeeper of one of kiteboarding’s most pristine park-riding destinations, Choco Lake. Choco is an incredible flat-water oasis that sits a stone’s throw inland from the Sea of Cortez. This puddled lake lies in the middle of the desert, surrounded by Cardón, the world’s largest cactus that looms upwards of 70 feet tall. Despite being disconnected from the ocean, this expansive puddle fills from the ground up when the ocean swells, and over the years, it has become a second home for Andy and a jumping-off point for Turbulence.

When the initial idea for Turbulence was evolving, the primary goal was to capture the most progressive kiteboarding we could achieve while scoring the best possible conditions. Unanimously, however, the trip’s focal point was not so much dictated by the destination, but more so by the individual who holds the keys to kiteboarding’s desert kingdom. While Choco is unquestionably a great location for park riding, if it weren’t for Andy, this dreamland would be an abandoned swath of shallow, muddy water.

For those who don’t know Andy, let me be the first to introduce you to a person you will soon never forget. Andy Cain, or Caino, as referred to by our crew, is reverent, wise, passionate, caring, and the kind of person you strive to become. His calm, cool and collected manner on land innately morphs into his riding style on the water, which is powerful, smooth and decisive. He stands tall on his 156cm Slingshot Bearden and typically rides his 14m when most are overpowered on 11s. Andy is built like an ox and the type of person that neighbors call when they need help lifting their vintage, steel-bodied refrigerators. On most windy days, you can find Caino booted up for a solo session on a behemoth, hand-made rail, and on days when it’s not windy, he is likely building something new or adding another feature to his constantly evolving park.

Before we arrived, we had sent Caino hand-drawn diagrams of the rails we hoped to build, and instead of waiting for our assistance, he took it upon himself to source and fabricate steel features, welded to perfection. For Andy, Choco is a place of possibilities, where the park playground he has created is limited only by the extent of his imagination. Most days, he arrives at Choco in his 2003 Dodge van, which has a modest 500,000-plus miles and continues to outperform any onlooker’s perception of reliability. Andy is every kiteboarder’s favorite kiteboarder, someone we are all privileged to call a friend, the shaman of Choco Lake, and the guiding force of our trip.

Andy’s positivity and eagerness to share his literal diamond in the rough are inspiring, and he deserves every bit of credit for our crew’s success. Upon arriving in Baja, one of the first things Noè uttered to me was, “I hope everyone understands how special this is.” My initial response was “of course, I think everyone is on the same page.” While I didn’t give his assertion much initial credence, the notion of exceptionality stuck with me throughout the trip, becoming increasingly literal as the days passed. While not everything was butterflies and rainbows – some days were traumatized by long hours in hospitals dealing with a season-ending injury – to say we scored would be an understatement. Every trip and filming project I have ever been a part of has had its fair share of setbacks, but those setbacks generally coincide with anything meaningful. This particular trip to Baja was exceptional and made apparent by the new faces that joined us.

The essence of the trip was to utilize the foundation of Vortex to build upon, but not to replicate it. When I initially approached Tom about the conceptualization of Turbulence, he professed, “I hope that we can build off of the momentum from Vortex and showcase a riding and media standard that is absent from the kite industry. I think Vortex made people feel something; the riding, the music and the editing were one thing, but I think people got behind three lads doing what they love and trying to push themselves and each other to do the best they can. I’m excited to see what Turbulence will become, and hopefully it will breathe some life into the industry.” With this framework in mind, Turbulence was forged.

Instead of an entire movie, our trip to Baja represents the initial installment of a collective series showcasing the riding, the process and everything that goes on behind the scenes to get a single, usable clip. From a glance at other prominent board sports, riders will spend days trying to perfect a single clip, which might amount to only a few seemingly invaluable seconds. However, in most presentations of influential cinema, every second displayed on screen is intentional, helping to convey the story. Turbulence is no different. What might appear as a few seconds on screen has likely taken our whole crew hours to complete. Nothing about our trip to Baja was easy, but it was certainly worthwhile.

Nearly every day was spent at Choco, from scorching midday heat, up until the last outstretched shadows from the Cardón forest were eventually swallowed by nightfall. Some days we surpassed productivity ambitions, and others left us defeated, but that is both the glory and reality of an endeavor aiming to exceed the former. With Andy as our guide, we scoured the coastal expanse, exploring beaches, logging hours building park setups, enthralling our palates in local Mexican dishes, enjoying our time together in this special place, and filming the entire process.

In many cases, writing serves as a very deliberate and precise outlet for reflection and communication. Though intentionally, writing cannot do this particular effort justice, as the project’s intent was solely a digital representation. Cameras outnumbered our crew this trip, and nearly every outing or significant occurrence was documented and chronicled in the timeline. All of the hundreds of collective gigabytes of recording from this trip were orchestrated by Isak Petersen, whose extraordinary eye tactfully kept an incessant pulse on the record button.

When I asked Caino about the trip, he divulged, “I hope the project captures the style and expression that riding features with a kite makes possible and encourages others to carve their own path.” The intent of Turbulence is to showcase our group’s dynamic with the inclusion of progressive riding and a sense of cohesion in a destination we all find special. In this case, in Baja, thanks to Andy, our boy Caino, Turbulence was in fact bliss.