OF MISCONCEPTION AND COCONUTS

once friends go on a journey they enrich your life with stories from a long way away. stories you haven't experienced at first hand but stories that feel vivid because they were told rousingly with the most beautiful bright face. Ines Krutzler is one of this precious friends and storytellers. she'll take us with her to the Dominican Republic where she escaped the grey shades of Vienna this winter.

this years winter got me quite listless, or as known in medical terms 'seasonal affective disordered'. all I could think of was the sea, sand under my feet and the brightest blue sky one could imagine. I had to beat loose the grey shades of Vienna.
the plan was to find a nice spot that would offer both, great waves of surf and some good wind to fly through the sky for my scorpio brother. somehow we came across the dominican republic, which in this case, serves the perfect conditions all year long (plus bathtub-warm water).

as for me, I never linked the dominican to surfing or untouched hidden spots, but could only think of crowded beaches, occupied by the common european tourist.

therefore I was even more surprised after arriving in cabarete, which was everything I didn't expect, pure tranquility and beauty. we stayed at ali's surfcamp, hidden in the green lagoons of the village, offering caribbean peace and yummy rum. not a bit of the all-inclusive vacation package will be found up in the quite untouched northern region.

located on the north shore of the island, cabarete was once a sleepy fishing village and developed itself to the kitesurfing capital of the caribbean. only in the past few years the northern surf spots got some big attention. we spent our time mostly at encuentro beach, where reef and point breaks meet each other to create a variety of consisting waves.

as perfect conditions wouldn't haven been enough, the island revealed itself in pure kitsch. whales checking out the line-up, jumping and waving at us, rainbows surrounding the sun and beautiful reefs made it pretty easy to fall in love with this wonderful spot, which also happens to be my first timer - I got my very first green waves and felt like I'd never done anything else before. I guess from now on we'll be connected for a lifetime.

not only connected to the place, but also to the people we met throughout our stay.

amongst them was one the dominican's pro surfers and local shapers, Eduardo Lara. sometimes life is full of coincidences and it came to his attention that I was looking for a surfboard for my very own self and me, and after the second or third cuba libre we had a deal. it was amazing to see the whole process of shaping the board directly at the beach, while philosophizing with Eduardo about life and how to break out of strict systems, moving without bounds and narrowing it down to simplicity, to just be, to live, enjoy and appreciate the beauty and good things in life.

saying goodbye was a tearful one, but arrived back home, I can still see all these memories and feelings underneath the epoxy of my very own 'Lagarto' board, where they will remain forever.

words and photos by Ines Krutzler