Somewhere in January Stefan told me that he is planning another Safari Trip to Kruger National Park and I spontaneously joined, since I just extended my trip until end of February and I really wanted to see more of this great country. We stayed for 4 days in the park and explored pretty much of the park. Seeing a rhino with a baby and a big leopard were the greatest sightings. We arrived at Malelane Gate and stayed at Biyamiti Bushcamp for the first night before driving further North via Lower Sabie to Talamati Bushveld Camp, which was the base for the next days. Driving around we eye witnessed rangers searching for poacher, which immediately showed us how serious the situation for the rhinos is. There ar only 3000 left and approximately every day one rhinos is killed for his horn. So, if the poaching is not stopped, we will witness the extinction of this beuatiful animals within the next years.

After some pretty tough months, where I did not sail much and hardly enjoyed it, I and Claudius took the plane to Cape Town. Together with the "unicorn mafia" (actually, we had no unicorn for the pool, but a flamingo) we spend the xmas holidyas down South windsurfing, eating, windsurfing, snorkeling with seals, hicking, more eating, wine tasting and all the great things you regularly do, when you are in Cape Town. One special for sure was the trip to the seal island with sealsnorkling.com, where we snorkeld with seals. They even wanted to play with us, which was sometimes a little bit 'scary' when they swim towards you with their mouth open showing their small teeth. Nevertheless, that was a great experience.

Hiking Table Mountain was also somehow great, but also pretty tough (especially for the mind)...we walked up starting in Kirstenbosch Garden, which is a beautiful trail with lots of trees and flowers. However, when approaching the top, the weather shifted and we could hardly see. The seight was only 2m and it was stormy. So, we could not see the trail and had to follow our intuition and also google maps in order to not get lost. Still a great experience, when you know you can handle such a situation. The wine on Vergelegen afterwards was well deserved and compensated that hike at least a little bit.

This year, we also discovered some other windsurfing spots at the westcoast, which allowed us to surf aside from the crowds. One spot brought us through dunes to the a remote beach with great conditions. We got stucked in the sand twice, but luckily (with the help of some nice people) we manged to get out of it. So, if you ever aim to drive dirtroads behinds dunes, take a 4x4 - a rear wheel drive and flattend tires might not be sufficient.

After everybody flew back to the cold, I stayed. Since I have some more time off, I decided to extend my trip and travel a bit. First, I will join a tour to Kruger National Park.

After weeks of no real wave conditions, the last weeks treated us pretty well...finally! I was so exhausted! Sankt Peter-Ording as well as Heiligenhafen were the usual suspects for after work sessions. And Hanstholm was on fire around Midsomma! So Philipp, Steffi, Felix, Claudius and I drove up to for the weekend. 3.0 was way to big the other day, but it was great challenging myself with over mast high waves and a howling North Sea. Midsommar was great for jumping, so I forced myself to jump the backloops a little bit higher and was working on my forwards, which was fun. Since the boys were pushing hard, I was motivated to jump, too. Looking forward to going to Tenerife, I hope to have more of those weekends to work on my jumping.

This spring the weather system did not work as it should and it is becoming more and more clear that the climate is changing: the forecast shifted so often, sometimes even during the day meaning there was no real predictability. Claudius and I often drove to the Sea, the Elbe or to Meldorf by chance hoping that the thermical winds could help.

Sometimes we were happy, often not. We even drove up to Denmark for a 30 min Hanstholm session early in the morning and wobbeled around in Klitmöller, just to score some waves. So driving became the new passion. Seriously, this spring felt more like August: warm and no wind! So we spend some time at my parents home, which was nice wandering through the forest and unpacking the new boards. In order to get rid of too much energy and to do some sports, the gym became a good alternative even so I am missing the sea and the waves a lot. I desperately hope that the next weeks become windy: I need my Vitamin Sea and I need to train, if I want to compete at the PWA event in Tenerife beginning of August.

Since the last weeks have either been too cold or unwindy, I hardly went surfing on our homespots and if I went, it was just super cold with ice in the sails and in the hair. It was fun though: the water and the light is always stunning in winter times. However, slushed-iced water is only nice for about an hour. Therefore, I decided to spend some time in Southern Spain. Unluckily, the notice of race for the PWA event in Marocco just dropped in, when I already had arranged all flights to Spain. Well, could be worse ... and it went worse: I drove to the wrong airport thinking I would have to departure from Bremen. Missing my flight, I "bought an airplane" for the next day: learning by paying. In fact, that extra flight was as expensive as if I would have bought flights to the Marocco event. The time in Spain was great and it was well worth the turbulences: wind every day, nice waves, good food and some family time.   

The contrast could not have been bigger this year: leaving Cape Town with 40°C that day and landing in misty Hamburg with -1°C. Back to reality for now. Unluckily the weather did not change that much until mid/end of February: it was cold, dark and snowy. So, I only sailed once in the past month, which was more like relieving my addiction: knowing that it is stupid, but the "pain" was bigger.  But I do not want to complain too much. Last week, I found pictures of me from two years ago lying in hospital with ARF (thx facebook for reminding me...not). I think that everything always happens for a reason. And that expereince taught me to be happy with the little things: being able to do so much sports (especially water sports), travelling and simply living without any limitations - health is priceless. 

January started relaxed with a nice concert at Kirstenbosch Garden featuring Freshly Ground. The atmosphere is always so positive and full of energy with people all over the Cape Town area joining those concerts. When I am in Cape Town, a concert at Kirstenbosch is always on my list. Since I am country girl by coincidence living in Hamburg, I love to spend time in the nature: if I am not at the sea, mountains and the country side makes me happy alike. Besides windsurfing a lot, we climbed table mountain early in the morning, went to a wine tasting at Hardenberg and were happy to visit Erika and Peter at their olive farm Boerfontein, which is next to Wellington and Paarl. The farm is stunning! If you want to spend some time within olive trees in the winelands not far from Cape Town, you should book a cottage or an appartment at Boerfontein.

Windsurfing-wise, Cape Town offered pretty good wave riding conditions with good-sized waves, which allowed me to improve my waveriding. Due to so much windsurfing it was always good to strech the body during one of our yoga sessions with Anna! Oh, I will miss those sessions and am already looking forward to come back next winter! 

Looking forward to 2018, I hope that Cape Town can win the fight against the drought and the water crisis in the upcoming weeks and months. Being back in Hamburg it just makes clear in what a luxuriouness we are living in Europe: I felt so comfortable flushing the toilet and taking a shower for longer than 2 min. That might seem strange, but with one flush you use 7 - 9 l of water, which is just too much when you are not allowed to use more than 40-50 l of water. I will for sure check Cape Town`s water dashboard the next weeks, which by the way is brilliant just like the whole social media information program of the city about the water crisis. I hope that the Cape Townians start to save more water to avoid Day Zero: until now, only 40 % of all people manage to stay below the water limit per day, which will not help to make it until May/June, when the first desalination systems will be ready and the first big rain falls are likely to happen. It will be important to have a good plan securing the water supply for the are for the future, but I am confident that the town and its citizens will make it.

Straight after Christmas, Claudius and I went South to escape the rainy and foggy Hamburg winter weather. Like the last years, Cape Town was the destination of choice: a place full of sun, wind, friendly people, lekker food and no water. Yes, the drinking water level is super low and water restrictions have peaked to level 6 meaning 40l per day and person and an anticipated day 0 beginning of April. For people like us living in a pretty rainy area, such a situation is strange and new. Nevertheless, it shows you to respect our global ressources much more! Saving drinking water gets pretty easy when you are forced to and it grounds you!

One way to reuse the water is to directly collect it while showering: it can be used to rinse the wetsuite and for flushing the toilet. Besides that tremendous water problem for the region, we are still enjoying Cape Town. We were pretty lucky with the conditions in the last week of the year and days were pretty much like "sleep, eat, surf, repeat " and some yoga inbetween. When the weather was not playing balls, we drove to Brandvlei Dam, a drinking water dam next to Worcester with strong thermical winds. New Year's Eve was spend with BBQ and suddenly some drops fall and it rained. Not much, but enough for the plants to get a long for some more days. I bet for a lot of people it was a sign saying 2018 will be better bringing back the water and all the jobs being lost due to the water restrictions. What I learned and what I will take with me into 2018 and beyond is to be thankful for the things we have, even cherishing the simple fact that there are no restrictions of drinking water in Germany.

After curox, my body was exhausted. I could not walk stairs for two days and I felt hungry for a week. What an experience, I am still so stoked to have done it, that I would like to repeat it again and again. Obviously, I like pushing my limits also off the water.

On the water, we had a pretty good start in the winter season. It was cold, but windy and Denmark delivered some good waves. It was good to be up North and I am super happy with my new ION wetsuit: my hair does not even get wet after 2h of surfing and swimming. Just in time for Cape Town, I received my new "baby": a 68 l patrik WT-wave. It looks pretty versatile, comes with 5 fin boxes and suits very well to my Sailloft quads (lol). I am more than curious to test the board in Cape Town, where I will fly today. As soon as I have tested it, I will upload a more detailled description about its performance. 

Sometimes it is good to do something else. As I was super disappointed about my misfortune at the PWA in Sylt loosing my contact lenses during the double, I was immediately "on fire" when Joe told me about Curox - a newly designed fitness event taking place in Hamburg. It might have been due to the early morning hours and not being completely awake yet, but Joe (owner of hhometown fitness) and I signed up for the pro division. Completely stocked we opened the rule book and realized what "pro" means: pretty heavy stuff!

Curox means: you run 1 k and than you have to do a workout, which is repeated 8 times. In the end you finish with 8 k and 8 different workouts including: 1 k ski erg, 50 m sled push, 50 m sled pull, 80 m burpees broad jump (love them..), 1k rowing, 200 m Farmer`s carry, 100 m walking lunges and finally 100 wall balls. Depending on the division, the weights vary: e.g. women had to do 50 kg for the sled pull, men and pro women had to do 100 kg for the sled pull and pro men work it out with 150 kg.

Since, we just had 5 weeks left and the competition included a lot of work for the legs, we mainly focused our training on the legs and some cardio. Usually Joe wrote down a plan for the training, which simulated the competition. For me that was great, because I also had to do some workouts I usually do not like to do and it brought me out of my comfort zone more than once.

Actually, I pretty liked the idea of the training: a lot of cardio with strength endurance, which is also perfect for windsurfing.

I think, I never trained so hard and ate so much in five weeks ever: normally, I do only 2 to 3 full power sessions in one week and 2 relaxed ones. Now, I did like 5 or 6 full-power sessions per week and ate two hot full and two to three in-between meals every day. Before even doing the event, we were on the road to destroy us due to the lack of time. So, we decided to keep it a little bit easier 10 days before the event to not lose the main focus: having fun on the course.

Well, we both finished the pro division: Joe finished in epic 1h 23min as 3rd fastest in his age (overall: 35/170) and I exploded during the wallballs, which let me "only" finish in 1h 47min (overall: 30/44). Reagrding the amount of pro competitive athlets joining the event, we were pretty happy with our results and are already pretty motivated for the next year`s event.

This autumn started crazy: it was either super windy or not windy at all. Claudius and I chased storm Sebastian mid of September and I participated at the PWA event at Westerland/Sylt. Surfing in storms with >60 kn is always challenging and fun. I simple like those sessions full of adrenaline, where you push your limits again a little bit further. On my way to Sylt, I dropped by at Sailloft to pick up my new sails.

The PWA event started relaxed with plenty of sun and time to get prepared. In the single, I sailed pretty ok ending up in 5th position. I was pretty happy with that. Unluckily, we had to wait three days until we were send out to sail the double elimination. The wind shifter from port tack onshore to starboard tack onshore. I love starboard tack for wave riding, but I cannot jump pretty well in those conditions. I sailed against Lena Erdil for 7th place and had an very good first wave with 6.88 pts. This year misfortune is by my side in every PWA event. On the way back out, I lost my contact lense (-6 dpt) and could hardly see the waves coming. I tried for over 10 min to get back into the water and I always ended up back on the beach gotting smached by the shore break. That was one of the most frustrating things ever. Loosing is one thing, if you can fight and give your best. But not even be able to fight and being able to show your abilities is pretty disillusioning. So I ended up in 9th position knowing I could have done better. Anyway, I still had a pretty good time at Sylt. Some close friends came over and we spend some fun days on the island.

Being absolutely frustrated, new ideas and goals came up. I did register for the DBO event and thought it would be great to sign in for the curox 1.0 (crossfit) event in Hamburg happening in November. Seeing the requirements, I thought it would be a good thing to start as pro. After reading the rulebook, I knew that his was again a pretty crazy idea. 3 more weeks to go and to train my ass off.

Time is an illusion. You can measure it with watches, but you cannot slow it down or stop it. It is ticking and ticking and sometimes it is too fast for you. A day feels like a week and a week feels like a month and a year can become a decade. Sometimes people have to go through things within weeks, others will not be able to handle in years. I salute those people: there mind is stronger and they are more rooted than most of us will ever be. They still can see a glimp of light in the darkest of all days.

This August, Claudius and I spend a lot of time on the German waters and struggeled back and forth, if we go to Tenerife, where I planned to take part at the PWA event. The decision was made last minute. We had some good days at the Canaries and were happy to share our appartment with Felix and Nils, who both joinded us for the trip. The conditions for the event were awesome and I was happy to see everybody again. Unluckily, I had to sail against Justyna in my first heat of the single. I sailed pretty well, but it was clear from the beginning, who would win with two jumps to count. So, I had to fight back in the double. Unluckily, Claudius had to fly home earlier that day: I sailed great against Waka, but struggeld against Birgitt. I lost my mind inbetween phone calls and the heats. I ended up on the 13th position this year: not what I hoped for, but which was ok for me. I was happy to be surrounded my great people the last days on the island and we managed to still have a good time. Since the summer kicked back in, I am looking forward to the next weeks with promising west wind on the horizone, which will be good to recharge batteries.

Things I have learned from August: time is an illusion, spend it wisely and do not waste it on things you do not like and you cannot change.

The PWA event in El Medano is just around the corner and besides all those emotional things happening around me, I try my best to get fit and ready for the competition - got a new training schedule and focused more on my jumping.

I am now training regularly at HHometown fitness, a small and personal gym owned by Joe. He is really motivated in pushing my fitness level to increase my windsurfing level. If there is no wind, it is great to workout. It really helps to get more power, balance and springiness on the water and it frees my mind. Well, a session on the water can never be replaced by something off water, but one can easily overcome the time inbetween the next sessions. If you are in Hamburg and want to train specifically for windsurfing, you should pay Joe a visit.

As you easily can read between the lines, July was not that windy due to the inconsistent weather situation. Still, we had some good days, but it would have been great to surf more, especially as I really become nervous before competition.

Oh those weekends... sitting in the van driving up North! It is always worth it. Being out in nature windsurfing, eating, relaxing calms you down and brings you back to the important things in life. I cannot imagine living without that sport. Windsurfing challenges me every time. You overvome your fear every session and it shows you that you are free - free ...well, and than G20 is knocking on your door! Just like a visit of your troublesome friends and family, it comes in full-speed and non-inviteds giving a big demolition party in your flat drinking your beer sleeping on your floor and puking all over your bathroom.

Like a good proper party, it started ok with some nice and artistic demonstrations: "1000 Gestalten", #liebertanzichalsG20 (better dancing than G20 - techno rave), etc. Wednesday evening was fun: dancing through the streets of Hamburg listening to electronic music demonstrating against G20. Some tensions were already visible between the law enforcement and blockG20-protesters the days before G20 and on Thursday evening it escalated. I went to the demonstration "welcome to hell", which after a nice afternoon turned into the first big fight between the police and protesters. So crazy how the good vibes of Wednesday`s party rave turned into that cruelity: St. Pauli, Schanze, Altona and Eimsbüttel were scenes of riots for three days afterwards. The G20 week ended up in a cat-and-mouse-game between the police and rioting people. I do not like violence at all, but I can understand peaceful civil disobedience in certain ways and I absolutely encourage everybody to excercice its right of free speach and opinion in a peaceful manner.  And G20 .... well, two well-known fellows decided to skip the climate discussion and I was irritated that the African Union, NEPAD and South Africa, but no other african nation participated at the event even though the development of the african continent was a part of the negotiation. In the end, we also skipped the final weekend spending some time at home mountainbiking and relaxing.

June passed by so quickly....So many good windsurfing sessions in the pocket, so many good memories on and off the water. My parents visited the North and Baltic Sea for some days and we spend some days together: starting in Friedrichskoog visiting the seals via Sankt Peter-Ording and Meldorf, we went to Pelzerhaken and ended up on the island Fehmarn at Altenteil - pretty much a decent Schleswig-Holstein trip. As it was the old fellows birthday, northwesternly wind kicked in as a present and made everybody smile. June was brilliant wind-wise: always strong and wavy, which is slowly paying off on the jumping-side of windsurfing. I hope that the summer continues like that: good windy and wavy weekends in good company.

The last weeks were pretty intense. We were driving a lot every weekend to find some wind, which was worth it windsurfing-wise, but was increasing our CO2-footprint. We drove up to Hanstholm for one day and ended up at the SURF Festival on Fehmarn the next day, had some after-work sessions and were not afraid to turn in the middle of the way to Hanstholm to find ourselves back at Baltic Sea for one day before driving to the North Sea the next day. My and Claudius obsession about windsurfing is just a little bit higher then average, I guess. It was also hard to realize that one of my oldest fellow surf-friends, which I knew for more than 20 years, past away. Jens lived in his van and online, had a big passion for the sea and was a really interesting character. Protecting the sea in his own way and taking pictures and videos of water action, he will be remembered by a lot of people. I learned a lot from him and am happy to have shared so many good times in Almerimar. DEP...

After a pretty intense time down South, I immediately jumped back into the cold waters of the German Baltic Sea. Claudius picked me up and we straight drove to Weißenhaus. I was not that happy at first: it was way colder and I was tired after having only 4 hours of sleep. Well, after the first bath in the 4 °C warm Baltic Sea, I was awake! What a nice session with only 6 people on the water. Nice waves to ride and jump and a good burger afterwards. May also started fantastic! So much good wind and sun! We scored some sweet jumping sessions in South Denmark and at the Lübecker Bucht. I also feel some improvement in my jumping thanks to much water time lately and to the intensivve gym time. Gaining confidence, I might join some PWA tour stopps this year again or not? Still struggeling with this decision.

Sometimes it is necessary to recharge your batteries... so I booked a flight to South of Spain to spend Eastern with my parents. It is always good to be in Almerimar: nice surrounding, relaxed people, good coffee and awesome weather. We surfed quite a lot, ate a lot of Tapas and drank a lot of coffee. For sure, I also squeezed in a yoga or fitness session here and there.

As the last weeks were pretty unwindy, so everybody was pretty excited about the Levante being forecasted for the week after Eastern. The wind was howling like crazy with 50kn+ and I was using my 3.0 Quad pretty often. It was one of the severest storms of the last decades and a lot of cities suffered damaged beaches, houses, etc. It is always a wired feeling being on the water and having fun, when you know that somewhere around the corner people are having trouble because of mother nature. Wind or storm is always joy for someone, while it is challenging others. The weather systems are different this year. Chasing the wind whereever and whenever I can, I have the impression that the wind systems are less constant and predictable and severe storms are hitting us more often. Are those signs of the climate change? Maybe... Additionally, the amount of waste I see while surfing the most amazing places is not getting less. I do not know what some people think, while spending their time on that great planet: maybe they just see it as a by-produc: nice to live on, but not worth to protect? There are many ways to do something for our little environment: bin your waste, do not use too many plastic products, try to avoid cosmetics with plastic or clothings with polyacrylics or eating less meat. Well, I am maybe not perfect since most windsurfing gear is made out of plastic and I am travelling a lot, but only by travelling and experiencing you get to know the beauty of the planet, which we should try to protect.

March has been pretty busy for me. Unluckily not windsurfing-wise. The wind just went a long way round the North. Only one day with ok waves and sunshine in Hanstholm. So I focused on my fitness. In fact, most people who windsurf ignore this tiny little fact to train off-the-water. If you have a good endurance and core stability mixed with strength, balance and coordination, it will also help you on the water. Endurance will help you to spend more time actively on the water. Core stability helps you to have an active position on the board, protects your back and makes it easier to learn moves. For sure strength allows you to sail bigger sail and to hold on, but it is not all about the shoulders: you also need your legs way more in windsurfing than most people think. A good and powerful waveride or even a jibe are based on leg power. Windsurfing is one of the top balance and coordination sports and for sure those parameters are a key to improve on the water: not only for pros, also when you start learning your first moves: if you are as stiff as a poker, planing jibes will most likely be rare. That is why I love to spend time in the gym or running through Hamburg: it helps me on the water.

Before or after work, I try to squeeze in some sessions of functional training, crossfit, running and/or yoga. For me a good windsurf-specific training includes exercises using the one bodyweight, TRX, balance boards/bosu and crossfit elements. Oh..and rope jumps. I love to do double unders: they hurt, but are super fun.  

February vibes are always the same: it is cold, it is grey and feels just the right time to escape to the South. Well, I have just been South, so I had to stay in Hamburg. Time for indoor adventures: fitness, good food, wine and remembering the nice warm and sunny evenings in South Africa and to edit a short video of the last trip to Cape Town. Nevertheless, at the weekends we also enjoyed some cold wave and freestyle session in Meldorf and Sankt Peter-Ording. It is always nice to get on the water, no matter how cold it is. It is such a nice sport to free your mind and to reset yourself. Windsurfing calms you down and in cold conditions it is perfect to focus on the important things: there is no room for unneccessary energy wasted on small and/or unimportant things. Sometimes I wish more people would have a passion, where they find their peace and harmony. That would really help to make the world a better and nicer place.

Wow..time was flying by so fast. I am back in Hamburg already, back in the rain and cold. I could have stayed longer. The wind was treating us well this year. Only the waves were a little bit smaller than usual, but fun. Our daily routine was more or less the same every day: going out for breakfast, packing the car, going to the beach, windsurfing until dark, going out for dinner.

Every second to third day, we had a nice yoga session with Anna in the morning. That was just perfect for our stiff and sore windsurfing muscles. Meeting Flo`s aunt and uncle was also a highlight of our trip. They invited us to their olive farm, which is located next to Windmeul / Paarl. Wow...what a stunning place! They have appartments as well, which are highly recommended, if you would like to go to Paarl or Stellenbosch for some days doing wine tasting or visit the beautiful surrounding.

For sure, we also managed it to climb Table Mountain again. There is no visit to Cape Twon without running up at least once. The view is amazing and worth all the sweat and pain! Things we missed doing this time: the botanical garden at Kirstenbosch, wine tastings and windsurfing the Cape. There is just not enough time to visit and do everything and it is good to have an excuse to come back next winter.

Cape Town...once again, we decided to come here for a couple of weeks while it was cold and snowy in Germany. Travelling with turkish airlines, which despite the political situation in Turkey, is still the best option when you have too muchequipment. We arrived safely in South Africa...well, all but not my euqipment...

After tons of phone calls with the German Turkish airline call center, the turkish airline baggage claim department and the Cape Town airport, I finally could pick up my equipment 4 days after my arrival! Yes...my trip started 4 days later than expected. Lucky me, Eddie and Philipp helped me out with their gear, which allowed me to go sailing! Awesome! In the first days, we had pretty good conditions and than the wind paused for some days: time for hiking Lion`s Head and to go a little bit of sight seeing. The food market in Hout Bay is pretty worth visiting and also the pinguins in Simon`s Town: funny, little guys! Mainly, we are eating tons of good food and spend our time doing yoga and waiting for the wind to drop in. I am also pretty impressed about how the city is developing. I have the impressions that since my first visit 5 years ago, the amount of waste, which you see along the streets, decreased and people take better care about the environment. Additionally, a lot new malls and appartment blocks are under construction. An interesting fact about South Africa is, that they are handeling much more refugees than the EU. Assumption say that 3 to 7 million people asked for asylum in the last years. Most people are coming from the sub-saharian region for security or economical reasons. Nearly 90 % of the request are denied (in general, it takes years to receive a status), but during this time people are allowed to move freely and to work, which are fundamental points for a selfdetermined live and for integration. However, I am not so much familiar with the South African refugee politics and for sure there are a lot of things which are not perfect, but it makes me wonder: we should see the "refugee crisis" as a global thing and not just as an European or German problem and it also makes me believe that people back home should get more open-minded. We cannot solve these problems by building walls or by simply sending the people back. New and global solutions have to be found, since most people would prefer to live back home, if their lives are secured.

Different than last years, the December was less windy and started pretty cold. Actually, I did not mind, since I booked a yoga detox retreat with makaiyoga at the Beach Motel in Sankt Peter-Ording. Like last time, Katie joined, too and we had a great time with lots of yoga and a perfect sunny beach day. With X-Mas coming closer, the wind picked up a little bit and we scored some freestyle sessions. Oh, and I invited some of my closest friends to belately party my birthday. It was so cool to see how many people found some time to come over to Hamburg and visit such an odd fish like me..haha. Even one of my longest and best friends from home Flo and Caro, came all the way up to Hamburg for one evening and also Stefan left his little island to pay a visit. I am a lucky and privileged girl!

Just in time, I got all X-Mas presents finished and went home for some days. It was good to see everybody again. Even so, there are rumours saying that the food might have convinced me to stay a little bit longer. I am not sure about it. I guess it was more or less the little sausage dog with her exorbitant interest in good stories and food and her owners.

Claudius and I ended the year pretty spontaneous, but epic. We drove up to klitmöller on Friday 30th, stopped in Flensburg to pick up some fins and good cheese(yummy!), arrived at night, had breakfast at the beach and surfed 2-3 h. Sitting in the van and seeing the sun going down around 3:30 pm, we did not really know what to do with ourselves and decided to drive back home and enjoying New Year`s eve with good friends. The first day of 2017 was celebrated with a quick freestyle session. Puuh...I guess, that must seem a pretty intense weekend for most other people, but I cannot see anything wired in it or should I? Just do what makes you happy!

After a pretty long no-wind period, the November ended pretty nice windsurfing-wise. In the meantime, it got way colder, Trump was voted as president-elect - which made it feel much colder - and people are still not stopping to act like crazy in every part of the world. I do not know what it`s wrong in some guys head. Anyway, I do not want to get too political on my blog. That would lead way too far.

This year this Sylt flew never really left me. Really...after feeling ok again and going back to the gym, I am right back coughing the next day. I feel like the guy in "Groundhog Day" this autumn. So, I am not surfing longer than 1-2h, because I do not want to get too cold. This year, I am so much looking forward to our Cape Town trip, since it is so cold already and I am really looking forward to have a great time with my best friends over there!

Mid of October we had some epic South-East wind, which brought us some nice waves at the Baltic Sea. Kaegnes was on fire and I really enjoyed jumping this day. Then, the wind shifted to East/North-East for some weeks, which is pretty uncommon for this time of the year. Normally, we have a lot of westernly storms in Northern Europe from October to December. But the climate change seems already to influence the wind systems.

The weekend after my birthday, Claudius and I headed up North to spend the weekend with some friends. Since, the danish wave and freestyle championship was also hold that weekend, we decided to participate. It was a great event! Everybody was spreading positive vibes and it was mainly about enjoying every minute on and off the water than about competition. It was so nice to meet so many awesome and friendly girls, who are really pushing hard! As we "suffered" starboard wind, we had a pretty tough competition, since we all are not used to sail the reef with this direction! But it was so fun and the waves were really really good. Sara and I managed our way to the final and had a really good time on the water! She is not only one of the best girls in port tack conditions, her skills on starboard tack are also impressive! Wow...I did not know what exactly happened, but I won. I guess that this was due to the fact, that I just enjoyed riding the waves with the girls. I did not think so much about the things I should do during the heat, I just let it happen and just concentrated on waveriding. In the end, everybody learned so much in that days and the level went up a lot comparing the single to the double! Later that day after the doube, I joined the freestyle guys and had a pretty ok freestyle heat, which was really fun, but cold! All in all that was a great weekend with lot of laughs, wind, waves, friends, positive vibes, some glögg, some more glögg and chocolate cake.

Since than, I did not have so much water time. It is getting dark very early now, which means that windsurfing after work is not possible until March. So, it is gym time again meaning more time training off the water rather than on, but that is also fun!

Well, Sylt..again...fifth year in a row and finally some wind! It was good the organizers decided to start the event one day earlier. Therewith, we got to sail and after some years, we finally had a result in wave again! I did not have much time to prepare, lost my contact lenses 30 min before my heat and just had 5 min to get used to the current, wind and direction. I sailed pretty ok at least waveriding-wise, but did the mistake to try too long to get a better jump in. So, I lost pretty close. Since, the wind shifted to easterly directions, we could not sail a double, but enjoyed the time to the fullest...oh yeah...classic Sylt, as always! Nice to see everybody again and have one or two beers! ;)

After Sylt, I needed some freesailing on the baltic sea to free my mind. I surf because I love to windsurf. Being so close with nature fulfilles me with joy and helps me to focus on the real things in life. Real life matters! Sometimes, I got the impression that some of the aspects get lost during such events. I would love to see everybody empower each other more. As somebody who has just the oppurtunity to jump-in here and there at the tour, it is always interesting to see which things are important and which not for some fulltime-tour-participants. However, I still enjoyed it a lot and I already miss some of my people there! I hope, I see everybody again somewhere somehow in the next season! 

Wednesday, I will be off to the North again. I will take part at the danish championship at Klimöller. It will be starboard tack, which will be pretty interesting, and it will be fun! That´s something I am looking forward to: surfing with friends during my birthday-week.

September felt like the warmest and unwindiest month this year. Summer returned fully to Northern Germany and Denmark and we could spend a lot of time at the seaside or went out to restaurants in the evenings. Everybody moves outside and I really enjoy these times in Hamburg as you have the feeling that time stands still for a short time and the atmosphere is peaceful, full of joy and harmony. Could not the whole world be like that? 

Windsurfing-wise, I focused a lot of jumping since Tenerife, if we got conditions. Claudius, Felix and Stephan were never tired of motivating me on and off the water. As a result, my neck hurts a little bit since weeks, but that is a part of the game. I even had some great freestyling sessions at Meldorf, which were really fun. Finally, I got my first proper grubbys in! But the most important thing for me in September was to surf with my family and friends. My parents and my good-old friends from Kassel- Philipp and Flo- came up for a weekend. It´s always nice, if they find the time to come up to the North. Tomorrow, I will be off to Sylt. The forecast is fooling around the last days. Sometimes it looks promising, sometimes not. Well, I hope we get some conditions to play. :)

Even so I felt I could not train so much this year due to my knee and my kidneys, I decided to go back to El Medano/Tenerife, because I like this place and I wanted to see everybody again. Claudius and I went there some days before the competition, so we had some extra time to go windsurfing together and to get away from it all. It is good to leave your daily routine for a couple of days and it is a real experience to change your weekly 40h full-time job into a "semi-professional" windsurfers life! 

Haha...it is always awesome to be guided by a samba group on the main square under your national flag. Team Germany was pretty big this year: 4 girls/women, 8 men and a lot of young guns! It is super good to see so many young,talented and motivated boys and girls, which is really good for the sport! For me, the competition did not go so well. In the single, I lost against Justyna, who was on fire and then I had to face Sarah. I put together some good wavesailing, but my jumping was and is not as good as Sarahs, so I lost again. Well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Not my best competition, but I had a lot of fun and I was super happy to see Steffi on the podium! Her waveriding is just on another level and she even defeated the legendary Daida in the single elimination. Very inspiring! Additionally, the women fleet grew together more than ever before and the level increased a lot! Everybody showed good jumping skills, which motivated me to keep on pushing my forwards even though my knee was aching again. Thanks to Colin for all his advices! If you want to learn the forward, he is the man ;)     

No, I am back in rainy Hamburg and I am looking forward to some good old "Cold Hawaii" sessions and I am motivated to improve my jumping for the upcoming events. I also like to thank my family, Claudius and my friends for all the support in the last months and during the competition. It is so nice to know that some people take a break from work to watch me wobbeling around at the live stream! Lieben Dank! Thank you! Gracias!  

In times like these, you need to stick to oneself: do not hush, love every moment and be nice to one another. Time on earth is short and it can even can shorter, when lost persons decide to take you along from here. My thoughts go out to all those people being victims and families of the latest attacks in Bavaria and all over the world. It is horrible to see that people kill innocent persons being totally ingested by an idea of a religion or any other ideology. Where do we turn to? How do we wish to leave this world behind when we have to take the next level one day? I guess we cannot change the world on one day and we cannot change things by building walls. Just today, I have read that statistically the western world is more safer than ever before, but we feel unsafer than ever due to all those bad news on television and due to the fact that the social media are covered with bad and sad informations. We wrap ourself in a blanket made of tears, fear and anger instead of concentrating on the good and beautiful things of life. We need to change that in honour to all those innocent victims. We need to change ourself, our attitude, we should start to be grateful, get rid of all those negative energies. We should simply do more of those things which make us happy....and by being happy, we immediately and subconsciously start to make our surroundings happy to. 

Finally, the wind seems to return to Northern Europe. After a pretty exhausting no-wind spring, it was finally time that the pressure systems changed again and delivered some westernly wind. Claudius and I scored some good sessions up North and on our home playground. For the first time this year, I could use my smaller 2016 sailloft quad sails. They are working awesome. Especially the 3.0 is super easy to handle and makes super much fun! In two weeks, we are leaving to Tenerife, where I will join the PWA tour event. I am pretty excited and a little bit nervous. The girls were ripping in Pozo and the level stepped up once more. It is really good to see all the girls pushing the level so much! Besides my full-time job, I try to train as much as I can in and off the water.  

This year, we are having a strange spring. It is hot on one day and it rains heavily the next day. Due to El Nino, the weather system is a little bit conceptless. So, it has not been so windy and wavy the past weeks. This is sad on the one hand as we cannot windsurf so much, but it offers also the chance to visit family and friends more often, to train in the gym and to do some yoga as well as to book flights to more windier and wavier places.  

In the past weeks, we have had some nice little freestyle session on the Elbe and some wave sessions at the Baltic Sea. Luckily, last weekend the NorthWest kicked back in Denmark. We have not been there since 3 months due to the missing NorthWest, but it was worth to drive up. Enjoying a good Klitmöller session on one day, we went to Hanstholm a day later to score some good sized waves. However, my session was quick and dirty. After a couple of runs, I decided to go into the pocket of one of those beauties, but failed badly. While carving into the cutback, I realized I am too late. Since bad decisions will always be punished, the wave smashed me and I was hit by my boom. Gutted! Having the typically chain saw massacre look, I came back to the beach. Lucky me, some people and a doctor were around helping me out and fixing my cut. Thanks for this!! No, I look like the "hunchback of Notre Dame" with my swollen eye, but this too will pass pretty fast and I am looking forward to surfing the next NorthWest storm up in the North. 

A lot of things happened in the last weeks, but (unluckily) not windsurfing-wise. This spring is pretty unwindy, the forecast changes a lot as does our windsurfing-mood; happy faces at the beginning of the week seeing the stars on forecast for the weekend to total disappointment realizing few days later that the low-pressure system was only a fairy tale. 

Well, in the end it is all about having fun and  being happy with the things you can get. Instead of driving to Denmark over Ascension Day, we joined the Sailloft and Patrik-Crew at the Surf Festival and met Philipp and Flo. We had a pretty nice time chilling at the beach, partying, talking about boards and well....they convinced me to join their slalom session. It was pretty fun, but I was happy when I could go back on my freestyle board in the end: so much easier to handle... Last weekend, we finally drove up again to Hanstholm. The forecast predicted some wind for Monday and we were lucky enough to score two "wobbling-out-to-get-a-wave" starboard-tack sessions at the reef. It was pretty fun though. The waves were quite nice and Claudius, Andy and I had the whole sea for ourselves. Monday turned out to be flatter and unwindier as expected. I chosed the wrong sail size thinking that the wind will increase and when realizing that 4.6 would have been the better choice, we already had to go back to Hamburg. In the end, it was a good weekend with plenty of sun and nice waves. Fingers are crossed for more wind to come soon (hopefully). 

Already April...time is really flying this year. I have not been sailing that much lately, since the wind is pretty inconsistent and the weather is changing a lot, too. So, classic April I guess. Nevertheless, I had some nice days at the Baltic Sea. My knee felt quite ok during the sessions, so I kept on training my jumping and was finally able to sail more than 1.5 hours, which was really fun. Anyhow, my knee still feels a little bit sore the next day after windsurfing, but I see progress and still think that I can handle that without any surgery.    

Times goes by pretty fast this year. Mid of March we drove up North for a sweet wave session and to see some sun (it was raining in Hamburg most of the time). It was the first time for me back in the waves since Cape Town and my knee allowed me to surf for nearly two hours, which made me pretty happy. Just few days later, I flew to Southern Spain over Eastern to visit my parents. I was able to sail four days in Almerimar with starboard tack / Poniente. Actually, it is not my preferred wind direction, but waveriding-wise it is pretty fun, you learn a lot and it is always good to share the water with family and friends. Also sailing again at Club de Playa, the spot at Victor Fernandez Center, is always a lot of fun. The waves are a little bit steaper and faster than at the other spots. After one week with sun, good food and some windsurfing, I flew back to Hamburg. Work was calling. In the moment, it is not that windy over here, so I keep on training my knee, which does not feel so good at the moment. Hopefully, some easterly wind is kicking in next week: cannot wait to hit the waters of the Baltic Sea again.

It is still pretty cold and not that windy the last weeks, so I found the time to edit a little video from my last Cape Town trip and to check out some more footage. Additionally, I am slowly feeling better. My kidneys are working properly again and I am back in the gym regularly now. Training my fitness and my knee. Still have to figure out, which things I can do and which not. At least, it is strong enough to go windsurfing :) 

Last weekend, I have been at a surf and power yoga retreat of Makai Yoga at Sankt Peter-Ording: what a great exprerience! A weekend full of yoga and happy faces! It felt really good to be on the mat for a whole weekend. And it gives me a lot of strength and focus, which I need for windsurfing. For now, I am happy being quiet healthy and fit again! What a February!  

Coming home after al long and pretty nasty flight due to cancellation, broken air plane, system problems e.g. there was not that much time to rest and dream about this amaing trip, since daily routine came back pretty fast.

To this time, the weather was pretty cold in Germany and I just went to the gym for training. I also got the MRT done for my left knee with which I had (again) some problems since mid of December. Having played handball for years, I could categorize those problems and thought that my medial meniscus might be broken conpletely now (it was already damaged 10 years ago). Well, the MRT result said I suffered a big rupture in it and the doctor told me it might be useful to operate it. Since, I still had the MRT data from back than, I compared them and realized: the rupture was already that big 10 years ago. To that time, I had decided not to operate it and so did I this time again, for a simple reason: If my meniscus lets me do so much sport without any pain over the past 10 years without the rupture being changed, why should it not work for 10 more years to come? So, I changed my training a little bit and included some more sensomotoric excercises and went back to the water to do some freestyle.

As 2015 ended in Cape Town, it also began in this wonderful city. Until end of January, I am here to spend as much time as possible on the water and to discover the culture of South Africa. Since it is windy every day, the cultural part is mainly absolved in the restaurants. Until now, we have already eaten great things such as springbook carpaccio, pork belly, all kinds of sea food and ostrich, ostrich, ostrich. If you are not a vegetarian, the land of the "braai" offers a broad variability of grilled meat.  

As the weather is very strange this year - actually it is windy every day and way to hot - there are a lot of bush fires and fresh water is getting short. It is strange to surf on such a big ocean and the land is burned by the sun and the bush fires. 80 % of the bush fires are caused on purpose meaning people throw away their cigarettes, doing braai on dry grass or simple leave glass bottles at the beach or at the parking e.g. This is really frustrating, especially when you see how many glass bottles are next to the streets. As it is pretty windy, it often takes much more time to stop the bush fire.

Windsurfing-wise I am pretty happy with that trip as the conditions were great and I could learn a lot. I hope that the year continues as it has started. 

As the year is passing by and close to end, it is always time for heading home. Going home means looking for a nice tree in the forest, hanging out with the small barking guy, eating a lot and seeing the family again. This year it was similar, but a little bit more stressful for me, since I was flying to Cape Town on 25th of December. Xmas was nice as always. The dog fell asleep in the xmas paper and everybody ate to much..just classic... 

The flight to CT was a little bit special. During the first part of the flight to Istanbul, we had to suffer of a small narcistic child being absolutely unrespectful and crying and screeming for his dad`s ipad all the time...mmh...I was wondering, if this boy will also screem and cry and rolling on the floor, if his later boss refuses to give him more money..funny imagination though. Additionally, we took part of some sort of "turkich winter revolution" as the kitchen ran out of "Köfte". For one Turkish-German guy that was the end of the world. I am really curious to see what would happen, if the world really stops to turn. What would he do? He seemed to have so much energy, that he himself might be able to make the world turn again. Good to know that there are people out there with so much energy. 

We finally arrived in CT and went straight to the water. We have been sailing non-stop until now and it is so good to be back and seeing everybody again! New Years Eve was though for us. After so much sailing we hardly made it until 12 o'clock. The forecast is insane. On our third day, Paternoster was firing. I payed my lessons there, but had a lot of fun. Luckily, my knee is still surfable and I hope that it will stay like that for the next two weeks. 

The autumn season started pretty late this year. Normally, the first low pressure systems arrives in October. However this year was different. End of October / beginning of November it was a little bit colder than usual, but than - with the arriving and never ending low pressure system - in mid of November the temperatures went up again and we gained some sweet session at the Baltic Sea.

I really enjoy my new wave board. It is so radical and it feels just perfect...it was one of the best decisions this year for me in windsurfing. I already found myself a little bit tired of the season, of windsurfing, of pushing (myself) so much and getting so less in reward. So, it sounds a little bit pathetic, but I have fallen in love again with the waves and windsurfing..haha...just worry less, do more of what you love! 

As the time is flying by, Claudius returned from his trip to Cape Town and we have already celebrated St.Nikolaus day in really good company enjoying country life. So, I am pretty happy with autumn and I am thankful to know being surrounded by such great people. 

Wow....autumn arrived, time is flying and finally finally there is a light at the end of the tunel...the first real autumn storms are announced for the coming weels..finally...we have missed the stormy autumn days this year pretty much! Well, I do not want to complain, we had a nice session in Hanstholm lately and the weather is warmer than usual for this time of the year. Additionally, I am completely back into gym-mode and enjoy the autumn weather the fullest. I just love the colourful scenery at home and love to wander through the empty forests. When there is no possibility to go surfing after work due to the fading daylight, you usually find me in the gym training to improve my strength and fitness. It is always good to be fit and focsued to the next sessions, just because you will enjoy them much more and you will improve much more, when you have the physical abilities. Never thought until now, that I will come to the point doing 30 push ups, 100 sit-ups and another 30 push ups below 5 min and find myself thinking."..yes, let`s do it again". That`s completly crazy and I think it is the lack of good wave sessions. Luckily, those are predicted to come next week and I am really much looking forward to it.    

Wow....the summer passed by so fast... Straight after the Canaries we got some good conditions at home and in DK, but unluckily with the beginning of the PWA Sylt event the wind shifted to East, which is pretty uncommon for autumn. Until now I have not been on the water so often in the past couple of weeks. So, I worked, spend some time at home with my family, tried to get rid of a bad flu and went back to the gym. I am pretty much looking forward to next "real" autumn stroms and of course to my winter destination Cape Town. Concluding this year on the PWA tour, I am pretty happy with my performance. Currently I am in 11th position overall. Not that bad for somebody who works fulltime. I learned a lot and gained a lot of expereinces. However, there is still (and will always be) room for improvement. 

There was only little wind and waves in the last weeks at home. But if we had conditions, they have been pretty good for the baltic sea! I am happy to be sailing again in the rough conditions we can get up in the North: colder than on the Canaries, but so nice to wake up directly at the beach and have breakfast with sea view.

It is always impressing to see how the Baltic Sea can change within minutes. Last weekend we had some epic jumping and waveriding conditions due to the north westernly wind. I am starting to get more confidence in jumping higher. Really love the feeling. Besides wave sailing, we scored also some good freestyle sessions, which I really enjoyed. All in all the summer is coming to an end and the smell of autumn is in the air. Writing this, I realize that there are only 10 days left until (my) last PWA event of the year: the windsurf worldcup Sylt 2015. Let´s keep the fingers crossed that the autumn is going to be as windy and wavy as last year 

After 10 days back in Germany, Claudius and I flew back to the Canaries. This time, we went to Tenerife for the 2015 PWA event. I wanted to go back to the place, where I have hurt my back so bad last year. Kerstin and Diana travelled with us, so I had a big support team ;)

I needed some time until I could surf more confident near the rocks. I think by the end of the event I finally managed to do this. I had some bad heats and some good ones. Bad in that way, that I did not know what the judges wanted to see. I thought I was doing well in my first heat, but was told by the judges afterwards I did not. Guess they were more interested in doing one turn on a big wave than doing more on a couple of turns on smaller ones. Well, did much better in the double and ended up in 9th position, which is quite ok. I was pretty impressed by the jumping and waveriding skills of the girls. The level is getting better and better! Wow! Steffi was killing it on the waves again. I really like her waveriding-style. Lina had also pretty good jumps and waves, but was unlucky to be sick during the double. Despite that she still surfed pretty well. 

Additionally, I was happy to see Flo climbing up in the double to end up in 9th position! Respect! Well deserved, mate! 

Next to the competition, we discovered the area around El Teide and ate nearly all kind of Tapas we could get in El Medano. I think, we all had a good time and I definitively  was able to gain my confidence back ...in myself and the spot. 

Kleiner Zwischenstopp in der Heimat. War mal wieder super ein paar Runden auf dem See zu drehen mit dem 4.0. Die Wasserfarbe ist nach wie vor ungeschlagen. 

This year, I spontaneously decided to not only go to Tenerife, but also to go to Gran Canaria to participate at the 2015 PWA event in Pozo. Claudius and I came here a little bit before the event to get used to the conditions and to relax. 

Most of the time, we sailed in Vargas, since Pozo itself was pretty crowded. I really like Vargas. It's similar to El Medano and the waves are bigger than in Pozo. Competition-wise I did not expect that much, since this place is a jumping spot. The waves are not bigger than on good days on the Baltic Sea, but pretty nice for jumping. But I really enjoyed sailing my heats here even so I was a bit unlucky with my draw and with this huge amount of wind (>60kn). That was a pretty good experience and I think I learned a lot -also thanks to Pons Training. It was nice to see everybody again and to go freesailing with friends. I was also pretty impressed by Steffi`s performance, who sailed 5 heats in a row ending up in 4th position and making it into the supersession final. Wow! 

Time is flying this year. I am windsurfing, doing fitness and yoga most of my freetime. It is really crazy how one can develop into such a fitness-junkee, but I like it. If there is no wind or no waves, it is another good thing to free your mind of useless stress and nonsene. However, this year I think the meaning of weekend has to be redefined. For me it is just: waves, wind and Denmark! Packing the car on Thursday evening and driving straight up after work on Friday, meeting and surfing with friends and coming back on Sunday night. But it is all worth it. One solid wave and all the driving is forgotten. I think, I am improving constantly on the water and I am really looking forward to test this soon. There are some new adventures on the way. Let´s see, if all the training payed off!

Besides, I am also pretty happy and stoked to announce that I will be joining the Maui Ultra  Fins-Team. I already had the oppurtunity to test them on my PATRIK t-wave 72l and I immediately fell in love with them: they just give me such an extra amount of speed and manoeuvrability! 

There are quite some days of holiday in Germany during May and until now, it was windy every "long" weekend. On Ascension Day and on Pentecost, Claudius and I went up to the North to meet and surf with friends. It was so good to see everybody again! The waves and the wind were good as usual and I feel pleased to live next (4 h drive) to such an amazing playground! I really enjoyed riding the waves and I feel really fit this season. All the fitness training and yoga is paying off. It does not only help me to gain general strength and to rehab my back, it also brings mental power and self-confidence in a positive way. Things you could have never imagine to do suddenly are the easiest things in the world. It`s all about not putting to much pressure on yourself, but doing everything with fun and passion: as long as you love the things you do, you will always travel far. If not, you should choose another direction. 

Wow...this year, spring is treating us well with plenty of wind, nice weather and great times with my family and friends. I had plenty of freestyle and wave sessions. All of them were great, especially the evening sessions with that awesome sun light. 

Had an amazing weekend in Denmark with friends and 3 days of windsurfing in a row. We had a great time and great conditions, especially for jumping. The last day was really exhausting. 3.3 was quite big and I still have to get more confidence in my fitness. 

Spring arrives slowly this year. Days with more than 10°C are quite rare. Therefore, we got one of the windiest March so far. I scored some pretty nice freestyle and wave sessions in around Northern Germany. Always accompanied by good friends. Slowly, slowly, I fell comfortable on the freestyle board as well and I see some progress in wave sailing, too. That might be due to amount of fitnesss training sessions this winter or simply to the fact, that I do not put that much pressure on myself like in recent years. I just enjoy every single minute on the water. And, if there is no wind, I just keep on training in the gym.  

Seit gut einem Monat bin ich wieder zurück aus Kapstadt. Der Winter im Norden war zum Glück nicht so kalt wie sonst und er war zum Glück auch oft am Wochenende windig. Da es meist nicht genug war, dass sich eine ordentliche Welle aufbauen konnte, waren wir viel freestylen in Büsum und Meldorf. Mittlerweile macht mir auch das "Segelfuchteln" gut Spaß und ich komme auch hier Schritt für Schritt weiter. Vielleicht fahre ich dieses Jahr ja doch noch mal den ein oder anderen "German Freestyle Battle" mit, sofern es nicht irgendwo Welle hat.

Nächsten Freitag ist Frühlingsanfang, den man schon überall sieht und spürt. Zwischendurch gab es schon den ein oder anderen schönen Frühlingstage, den ich zum Joggen oder für Yoga auf der Terrasse nutzen konnte. Hoffentlich geht es temperaturtechnisch weiter so bergauf, damit die Haube und die Handschuhe wieder in den Keller können.

Cape Town...Mother City.... Coming back here for the third time was again a good choice. South Africa is one of the most amazing countries in the world. Poverty and wealth are living next door. Desert-like landscapes, green sub-tropical areas and the wineries are so close together, you may think your mind is going crazy. 

Being in South Africa calms down everybody. Live is going a little bit slower than in central Europe. In the beginning, you are shocked, when the electricity is switched off for 2 h and you realize that your mobile is running out of power. Well, since the electricity is switched off quite often (around 10 times during my 3.5 weeks stay), you are getting used to it. And for me, it did not matter that much, since I had a nearly mobile-free holiday. I only turned grumpy once, when I tried to get my daily coffee.  I think I never trained so much before in any holidays. People already wisecracked about the "training team 4 Beaches" - the lodge were we lived. Stefan and I were running nearly every morning and afterwards we did some TRX and freestyle in the garden together with Claudius, Felix and Kerstin. For me, daily yoga was also great to start the day and to avoid a sore back. Cape Town delivered great windsurfing and surfing conditions this year. Together with Claudius, Stefan, Kerstin, Felix, Fenny and Eddie, I was on the water most of the days. I trained quite concentrated on my jumping skills and was pushed to improve my wave riding. Some sessions were one of those to remember. My first session ever in Paternoster was epic. I never went out in down-the-line conditions before and I enjoyed it the fullest. Also, our early-early-early bird session in Plattboom was one of the nicest sessions ever. Good-sized waves, only Claudius, Stefan, Eddie, Davide and me on the water, perfect golden sun-light...wow.

The reason, we had to do so much sports, is quiet simple: we are all super addicted to windsurfing and we all love to eat. South Africa is not only a beautiful country, it is also one of the countries with the most versatile cuisine. You can eat around the globe as Cape Town is a melting pot of nations. The best restaurant however was "homespun by Mat" in Table View.

For sure, there was time enough for some "normal tourist stuff". We run up to Table Mountain via Kirstenbosch, which is a beautiful way to climb up the hill. For sure, we had to do this full power and made it in 2.5 h. Crazy Italian, Dutch and Germans!! ;) We went to the Cape, !khwattu, Paarl Mountains and visited some wineries. Since, my brother and I adopted a penguin chick for Christmas as a present for my Mom, we also payed a visit to SANCCOB, a non-profit organization, which tries to conserve seabirds - especially the African penguin - and other sea-life. SANCCOB does guided tours through their breeding and rehabilitation center, which is really worth to visit. 

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. I made a lot of new experiences, learned and laughed a lot and met new friends. Thanks Cape Town for the wonderful time and thanks to Claudius, Stefan, Kerstin, Felix, Fenny, Eddie, Mike and Jenny for the great time and memories!

For new years eve and the following weekend, Claudius and I drove up to Cold Hawaii to celebrate New Year with some good friends. 

The weather, wind and waves were great. I sailed twice on my 3.3 and once on my 4.0. So, pretty nice start in the new year! Additionally, the atmosphere was super nice! Denmark in winter is just beautiful. The sun never gets really up during the day. So the light is just fantastic! 

Back in Germany, we scored a pretty stormy weekend. I was on 3.3 on both days and had one of the best sessions ever at Heiligenhafen. 

Well, 2014 is coming to an end. As I am writting this, I am on my way to Northern Denmark to celebrate the New Year with friends, some wind and for sure some waves. The forecast looks brilliant. Well, it is somehow great to finish the year and start the new one with something, which means so much for me. Being in the water and close to nature calms you down and makes you feel happy.

On the wall of the yoga class room it is written: live, laugh, love..that is somehow pathetic, but sums it up in three basic words. Live..you should always make the best out of every day. That is what I realized in the past years and after my accident in Tenerife I realized that one stupid thing can really change your life completely. For me, everything went quite fine again. My back is still hurting sometimes, but the muscles are getting stronger and stronger. This year, I was more focused than ever. One year ago, I started to go to the gym 3-4 times per week and went once every week to yoga class. As it was not enough, I had a coach 1-2 times per month, who really helped me a lot. This year I laughed a lot and I deeply loved what I did. Doing everything with great patience and staying focused was my key for 2014. I ended up in 7th place at the PWA in Tenerife, eventhough I am working full-time and have to train at the weekends, after work or even before work (Yes...the gym opens early ;). Lately, I read some sentences from Taty Frans "When people walk away, let them. Your future is not about people who walk away, it's about the people who stay in it and enjoy the ride ". Well....true words. I realized, that some people would never fight as much for you as you would for them. Live changes, the point of view changes and sometimes it is better to leave a part of your live behind to start a new episode. Live is like a wave. There are ups and downs. In the end, it is just important to enjoy the ride. Thanks to my family and my friends for all your help, support and love this year. And thanks to my sponsors Sailloft, Patrik and ION, who let me enjoy my ride to the fullest. See you in 2015!

X-Mas arrived early this year.. while being in London on a business trip for some days, I received my new wetsuits and apparels from ION... I will now be sponsored by ION for the upcoming season. Pretty happy with that. :) Can`t wait to wear the bikinis in CT...Still three more weeks to wait till I go back! :) However, this winter is not that bad. We have pretty a lot of wind and quite warm weather (around 5°C). So, I already scored some really nice sessions with some good friends. Last week, I also was able to pick up my new Sailloft Quads....All in all, the December was full of presents. I guess, I was a good girl this year! haha ;) 

Autumn has arrived... After spending the first week of October at the PWA in Westerland/Sylt, the PWA season has ended for me and the "off season" has started. Sylt was fun though. We did not had enough wind to run the whole second round of the women fleet. Therefore, we could not get an official result. In the end, we ended up with SUP races, surfing and hanging out on the beach with new and old friends. That is not that bad, but to be honest, I prefer to spend my free days on windsurfing trips. Therefore, we already booked our next trip to Cape Town in January/February 2015!

Recently, we had some nice weekend trips to the North of Denmark with really good sized waves. So good to be able to surf again in these conditions! I really love the atmosphere up there: nice little breaks to breath and free your mind. I also started to train more on my jumping and to intensify my fitness training, which is starting to pay off! 

After coming home from Tenerife, I took some time out of the gym and out of the water.

2.5 weeks after my crash, we went to Denmark. I did not ment to windsurf, but I could not stay at the beach. The conditions were just perfect. So, I went out and had one of my best sessions ever. I could not surf that long and jumping was painful. In fact, it was even painful to surf on choppy water. So, we decided to surf at the fish factory, were the waves are nicely ordered. It was a great weekend seeing so many friends :)

The week after, I slowly started to go to the gym again and did a lot of yoga. Since I struggled with my back the next days, I did not go to the water until the next weekend. We had a great timing and had an awesome freestyle session at the "Priel". I nearly did my first E-Slider. To be honest, Freestyle was even worser for my back than choppy water. So, again I realized, that my mind is stronger than my body. I took it slowly, did some more yoga, went to gym and visited my home town. Since my back muscle is getting stronger every week, we went to Rügen last weekend, where we scored some nice conditions. Here, I had the best jumping session since months. I felt quite ok, so I trained on my jumping again. That was really good for my self-conficence. Next week, the PWA competition at Westerland/Sylt starts. I am looking forward to go there, but I know, that I am still not 100%ly back on track. Before, I will have another check-up. So, fingers crossed, that things are going the right way :) 

In the end, such accidents are never as bad as they might seem. Stupid things are always good for something else. Now, I feel much more connected to the ocean, to life and to the fact, that you have to love and live every sigle day. And it also shows you on which people you can count on. It might be hard to lose some, but it also opens your heart to others. 

Thanks again for all the support! I think, you know who you are :) 

On the 1st of Augsut, I went down to the Canarian Islands. The second worldcup of the season 2014 was held in Tenerife. Since I did quite ok in Tenerife in 2013, I decided to go back and give it another try. My jumping skills did not improve much during the last year, but I felt quite confident on the waves. Additionally, my fitness training during the last month had payed off. Having lost a couple of kilos and gained some confidence, I booked my tickets and appartment.

I hoped to score some nice sessions at El Cabezo prior to the event, which started on the 4th of August. Nevertheless, I just got the opportunity to struggel around with 4.8 looking for waves. Well, I also like these kind of windsurfing a lot. But I went a little bit nervous, since the forecast was so great for the event and I still needed a good wave session to get into the mood. Well, during this week, the forecast changed so much, that I ended up on 4.4 or 4.8 most of the time. On Monday, they started directly with the girls. I had to sail against Sara Sommer, who is a great waverider. I had no power at all in my 4.8 and lost a lot of height in the beginning of the heat. So, Sara was the deserved winner, since her waves were so much better than mine. The next days, I had some time to windsurf on my own and to watch and cheer for the others. The atmosphere was really nice among all surfers. On Wednesday evening, the double was started. I had a quiet good heat against Nicole Baldini with some solid waves. So, I found myself against Maeli Cherel the next day. I just enjoyed the 14min of the heat against Meali, as I thought this might be the last heat for me, since I have seen Maeli windsurfing before. Well, I won...by the closest decision ever. I was really surprised...wow.. This Thursday turned out into one of these crazy days in life time. I also won against Olya Raskina... Crazy!! 7th place!! Even though I crashed with my back on a stone in the end of this heat I went into my next heat against Alice Arutkin. There, I noticed that something must be wrong. I kept on fighting until the end of the heat, went straight to the beach knowing that I lost. When putting off my wetsuite I realized that something happened to my back. Inbetween minutes it was swollen. I was brought to hospital to clarify if i suffered a fracture of the lower back. The Xray was ok and on the next morning I was told, that the CT looked ok,too. So, they could not find anything but a big broise, which was quite painful. Steffi was there all Thursday night keeping care of me even though she had to windsurf Friday morning in the double elimination. That was just great and so nice! Thank you so much!!! On Saturday, Eva picked me up to bring me back to El Medano and on Monday, I flew back home. Thanks to Andreas, it was a quite nice trip, since he helped me a lot with my gear. 

Thanks again to Steffi Wahl, Andreas Erbe, Dani Bruch, Luis, José, Sara Sommer, Eva Oude Ophuis, Caterina Stenta, Valter Scotto and all the others who helped me, send messages, called me and were happy seeing me back in El Medano on "my own feet". 

After Tenerife, I went back home to Bad-Wildungen to get a proper check of my back at the Werner-Wicker-Klinik in Reinhardshausen: a hospital, which is specialized in vertebral column injuries. They verified, that I had no fractures. I only suffered a big trauma of the soft tissue, which will heal in the next couple of weeks. So, I might be fit again for the PWA event in Sylt. I was very happy with this diagnosis especially as it was verified by very good medical specilists. This really helped me a lot. I am very happy and thankful, that nothing severe happened. I definitively will enjoy the upcoming windsurf sessions much more than I already did. And I am happy to know that so many people care about me....puuh...makes me really emotional...haha.. :)

This summer in Northern Germany is simply amazing. We have plenty of sun, it is hot and we have wind. Well, not that much wind, but at least it is windy somehow. I scored some nice after work session lately at the Baltic Sea and In Meldorf. Some freestyle as well as some wave training.. Slowly, slowly, my jumping skills are getting better. However, the most important thing is to spend some great time with family and friends. And this summer got it all. Just perfect. :)

Dänemark am 20 - 22. Juni:

Spontanes langes Wochenende in Dänemark. Die Vorhersage war so klasse, dass Claudius und ich uns den Freitag frei nahmen um gen Norden zu  ziehen. Wir wurden nicht enttäuscht! Freitag ging es mit 3.6 in Middles aufs Wasser. Springtechnisch war es nicht ganz optimal, aber die Wellen liefen mal wieder klasse. Samstag wurde dann an der Fischfabrik gesurft. Genialer Surftag mit unglaublich guten Rampen. Im Anschluß schauten wir dann noch Deutschland gegen Ghana am Strand. Midsommer macht Laune. :) Auf dem Rückweg nach Hause hielten wir erst für eine kleine Wellenreit-Session an und dann noch einmal in Krik um etwas Freestylen zu gehen. 

Heidkate am 20.Juni:

Auf dem Weg nach Dänemark hielten wir kurz in Heidakte. Es war recht choppy, aber immerhin lief 4.4 ziemlich gut. :) 

Heiligenhafen am 13.Juni:

Der Däne lag mal wieder richtig und war der einzige, der guten Wind vorhersagte. Daher war es relativ leer auf dem Wasser. 4.4 war mal wieder das Segel der Wahl und kleine, aber steile Wellen waren perfekt zum Springen üben. 

On May 28th and 29th, we went to the Bay of Lübeck, the place I used to windsurf the most during my time at university. The forecast was great: North-easterly wind and good waves. I was on 3.3 on Tuesday and on 4.0 on Wednesday - perfect! It was great to improve my jumping and we have only been out on the water with only a few friends.   

Heute ging es nach einer Ewigkeit mal wieder nach Püttsee. Zusammen mit Claudius und meinem Vater zogen wir ein paar Runden über die Ostsee. Kabbelig und böig wie immer bei Süd, aber auch mal wieder schön hier zu surfen. :) 

Wattenmeer am 10.Mai:

Heute ging es zusammen mit Claudius, Christian, Steffi und Dominik ins Watt ein wenig Freestylen. Die Bedingungen waren perfekt für 4.0 und es machte richtig Spaß! Langsam wird auch das "Segelfuchteln" besser.

Meldorf am 9.Mai:

Nach der Arbeit ging es schnell nach Meldorf. 4.4 war perfekt, aber leider nur für eine halbe Stunde.  

From April 30th to May 4th we went to Denmark. Philipp drove up from Kassel and we met in South of Denmark to freestyle at Ringköbing Fjord. In the evening, we drove to Agger/Krik, where we met Steffi and Dominik on the following day. On Saturday, we had a great day at Hanstholm even though the current was strong and the wind gusty. After a nice surf session on Sunday morning we went back home. The light, the nature and the atmosphere in Denmark are just incredible!

Wulfen am 25. bis 27. April:

Eine relativ schwache Ostwind-Vorhersage lockte uns gen Wulfen. In der hoffnung, dass das gute Wetter für Thermik sorgen würde lagen wir goldrichtig. Wir wurden mit drei guten Freestyle-Tagen bei klasse Temperaturen belohnt. 

Ostern 2014:

Über Ostern fuhren wir einmal quer durch Schleswig-Holstein. Grün-Donnerstag und Karfreitag gab es am Abend eine schöne Freestyle-Session in Meldorf. Am Sonntag eine nette kleine Wave-Session in Kellenhusen. Bei super Wetter kann man solche Ostern häufiger haben. 

Elbe am 14. April:

Ziemlich spontan ging es abends noch schnell an die Elbe. Trotz Niedrigwasser konnten wir noch gut fahren, da der Nordwest-Wind gut Wasser hereingedrückt hatte. Interessanterweise brachte der Wind auch gut laufende, kleine Wellen mit. Mit 3.3 und 72l war ich ziemlich gut bedient. Super after-work-session. 

Klittmöller/Hanstholm an 12. bis 13. April:

Die Vorhersage passte mal wieder und so zogen wir erneut gen Norden. 2 klasse Wavetage waren die Belohnung. Samstag lief das Muschelriff ganz gut für 3.6. Am Sonntag ging es dann an die Fischfabrik, wo uns ein Monstergestank erwartete (Anmerkung: nach 2 Wochen war der Mief aus dem Auto). Die Wellen liefen richtig klasse, sodass wir die Geruchbelästigun in Kauf nahmen und ordentlich die Wellen zerlegten. Ab und an kam sogar ein Tümmler vorbei. Herrlich!

I have edited a short video of my latest trip to Almerimar.... I hope you like it... 
https://vimeo.com/92364501
#saillofthh #Patrik #Nordswell #Strumpla 

Agger und Klittmöller am 22. und 23. März:

Agger im März muss man nicht, sollte man aber machen bei so einer Vorhersage. Der Wind reichte gut fürs 4.0 und schöne Wellen belohnten uns für den Tages-Surf-Trip. Leider kam Sonntag doch weniger Wind als erhofft, sodass wir die restliche Zeit mit "sonnenbaden" und "Kaffe trinken" verbrachten.. Hat sich auf jeden Fall mega gelohnt. Bin mal gespannt wie das Jahr so wird, wo doch der März schon so super war. 

St. Peter am 23. Februar:

Heute ging es mal wieder nach St. Peter. Die Session war zwar kurz, aber recht ok. Bei den Temperaturen im Februar auf jeden Fall ein Traum. 

Dazendorf am 16. Februar:

Perfekte Vorhersage für Dazendorf! Etwas oberhalb vom Getümmel konnte man sich die ein oder andere Welle abgreifen. Mit nur ein paar Leuten auf dem Wasser war es mega entspannt. Friedl und Nico haben fleißig gefilmt und haben den Tag in bewegten Bildern festgehalten. Danke, dass ihr mich auch drauf habt!! :) 

St. Peter am 15. Februar:

Zusammen mit Dominik und Stephan ging es nach St. Peter. Sonnenschein und gut Druck fürs 4.0 machten das ganze zu einer recht spaßigen Angelegenheit. Von solchen Tagen in SPO könnte es gerne mehr geben. 

Elbe am 9. Februar:

Da es gestern auf dem Priel noch recht frisch war, zog es uns heute auf die Elbe anstatt nach Römö oder St. Peter. Ein bisschen Freestylen war angesagt und das bei schönsten Sonnenschein. Könnte schlechter sein im Februar. :) 

Priel am 8. Februar:

Der Wind sollte heute sehr südlich kommen, daher entschlossen wir uns eine kleine Wattwanderung zu unternehmen und auf den Priel surfen zu gehen. War etwas kabbeliger als erwartet und doch relativ frisch, aber ganz nett mal wieder surfen gewesen zu sein. 

Schönberger Strand am  19.1.:

Gerade frisch gelandet aus Kapstadt, erwartete uns schon der erste gescheite Ost-Sturm an der Ostsee. Bei Steffi vor der Haustür waren die Bedingungen aller Best und wir hatten mit 3.6-4.0 mächtig Spaß. So kann das Jahr weiter gehen. Ein kleiner Eindruck von den Bedingungen gibt es hier: http://www.windsurfers.de/gallery/ostsee-schoenberger-strand_g1-1427-1.html 

Meldorf am 8. Dezember:

2. Advent, der neue Freestyler ist da und es hat Wind...Zeit mal wieder aufs Flachwasser zu gehen. Zusammen mit Claudius, den Grothis, Alex, Timo und Micha wurde der Koog fleißig zerrockt. Der anschließende Glühwein und Kuchen war dann das I-Tüpfelchen eines spaßigen Freestyle-Tages.

Heiligenhafen am 7. Dezember:

Nachdem der Orkan "Xaver" durchgezogen war, gab es Samstag am Vormittag noch etwas "Reste-Verwertung" in Heiligenhafen. 4.4 und 78l waren perfekt, um die übrig gebliebenen Wellen zu zerlegen. Zum Aufwärmen ging es im Anschluß noch eine Runde auf den Lübecker Weihnachtsmarkt. Ein super Tag! :)

Glückstadt am 24. November:

Dafür, dass Ebbe war und der Wind recht böig, war es eingentlich ziemlich gut. Weniger Kabbel als erwartet und irgendwie relativ warm für Ende November.

Meldorf am 11. November:

Heute hatten wir weniger Glück. Der Wind war doch schon sehr serh knapp und reicht nur ab und an, um mit 4.8 ins Rutschen zu kommen. Egal, hauptsache draußen gewesen. :)

Heiligenhafen am 10. November:

Zwar war die Vorhersage recht wackelig, aber Claudius und ich fuhren trotzdem gen Heiligenhafen. Vor Ort ging 4.8 relativ gut, sodass sich die Anreise gelohnt hatte.

Westermakelsdorf am 3. November:

Die Vorhersage sah für die  Ostsee vielversprechend aus. Daher ging es mal wieder Richtung Fehmarn. 4.0 lief den ganzen Tag ziemlich gut und es war klasse Heike mal wieder auf dem Wasser zu sehen nach ihrer langen Verletzungspause! Es war eher ein Beachbreak-Abrutschen, aber trotzdem ziemlich schön! Das Licht und die Stimmung im Herbst sind einfach der Hammer! 

Lübecker Bucht am 11. und 12. Oktober:

Schon unter der Woche verhießen die Vorhersagekarten gut Druck aus Ost fürs Wochenende. Voller Vorfreude fuhr ich Freitag nachmittag gen Ostsee, wo ich Steffi und Dominik traf. Die beiden hatten schon ein paar Runden am ersten Spot gedreht, waren aber von der Buckelpiste nicht wirklich angetan, sodass wir schnell zusammenpackten und weiter die Küste hochfuhren. Der nächste Spot bot herrlichste Bedingungen. Die Wellen kamen in Sets hereingerollt. Sowas hatte ich an der Ostsee noch nie erlebt. Wahnsinn! Wir konnten bis in die Dunkelheit hinein diese herrlichen Wellen surfen und auch das Strafticket am Auto konnte unserer guten Laune kein Abbruch tun. Am Samstag früh kam auch Claudius noch hinzu und wir hatten eine weitere gute Vormittags-Session, wobei die Wellen allerdings kleiner als am Vortag waren. Alles in allem war dies mal wieder ein klasse Surfausflug in heimische Gewässer. :) 

Sylt PWA am am 27. September bis 6. Oktober:

Einen kurzen Bericht gibt es hier.

Meldorf am 22. September:

Irgendwie wollte der vorhergesagte Wind nicht eintreffen. Auch das Warten zahlte sich nicht aus und so war dies wohl einer der schlechtesten Tage seit langem. 15 min Gleiten waren nicht wirklich zufriedenstellend.

Meldorf am 16. September:

Langsam wird es früher dunkel und so war dies heute wohl eine der letzten Feierabend-Sessions des Jahres. 4.8 lief super und ich hatte mal wieder Spaß am Freestylen auch wenn nach einer guten Stunde das Licht aus war. 

Westermakelsdorf am 15. September:

Ziemlich früh ging es für Claudius und mich auf nach Fehmarn, da der Wind gegen Mittag stark nachlassen sollte. Leider war der Wind dann doch schwächer als gedacht und wir kamen geradeso mit dem großen Material ins Rutschen. Da das Wetter super war hatte sich das frühe Aufstehen dann doch gelohnt. 

Meschendorf am 8. September:

Das frühe Aufstehen hatte sich mal wieder gelohnt und so wurden mein Vater, Claudius und ich mit einer schönen Frühsession belohnt. Herrlich.

Selenter See am 6. September:

Kleiner, entspannter Feierabend-Surf auf dem Selenter See. Schön wars!

Hanstholm am 31. August und 1. September:

Endlich ging es mal wieder hoch in den Norden. Die Vorhersage sah vielversprechend aus und so trafen wir uns wie auch viele andere Wind- und Wellenhungrige in Hanstholm ein. Nachdem Claudius Samstag relativ schnell die Segel zusammen packen durfte, da er sich ein Platzwunde am Vormittag zuzog (wurde gut genäht ;) ), und wir einen Abstecher nach Thysted ins Krankenhaus machten, war Samstag ein eher beschaulicher Surftag. Am Abend und Sonntag konnte ich die Wellen und den Wind noch mit Freunden genießen. Claudius machte trotz Blessuren ein paar schöne Bilder. Für mich war das Wochenende surftechnisch ok, auch wenn es unschön zu sehen war, dass Claudius nicht mehr fahren konnte.