Extract from Men’s Journal: Adventure Life
April 2006
Featuring: Surf Zone’s: Rod Smith

MJ EXPEDITION Scouting the wild shores and trails of Cape Verde With its volcanic mountains, powerful winds, and white sand beaches, this rugged archipelago 285 miles off the coast of West Africa could be the next multisport paradise. By Tom Downey
Article by: Tom Downey

……………….My final stop is the up-and-coming town of Santa Maria on the island of Sal. Popular with intrepid Italian and Spanish sun-seekers, Sal also has powerful winds and heavy wave breaks that make it a premier surfing, windsurfing, and kiteboarding destination. On my first day I wander down to the beach and find Rod Smith, 39, an Arizonan who has lived here since 2002. Smith suggests we pile some sailboards into his Land Rover and take off for a remote break. He says he hasn’t been to America in 20 years. First surfing, then windsurfing, now kiteboarding all over Europe and Central America, Smith finally settled here in Sal because “it’s got the best winds and waves in the world, all year long.” Smith says the only other American to have settled in Sal is his friend Josh Angulo, a former windsurfing champion from the North Shore of Oahu who married a Cape Verdean woman and has a surf shop in town. We power through a half mile of sand on our way to Ponta Preta, Sal’s most famous break, which often tops 15 feet. It’s late afternoon when we arrive, though, and the ocean is calm. I glide back and forth around the deserted point practicing jibes with Smith and Djo Silva, the best local windsurfer on the island, acting as my wingmen. After a couple of hours we all head back toward the truck and stand looking out to sea, mesmerized by the sunset. I ask Smith if he’s explored the rest of Cape Verde. “Once I kiteboarded to Boa Vista and back,” he says. “But normally I don’t leave Sal. I’ve got everything I need right here.” On my last morning I hit the beach for an early jog. A full moon and the rising sun share the horizon. As my feet pound the sand, I weigh who has Cape Verde dialed most perfectly. Guy is likely watching this same sunrise from his hammock in Sal, Eduardo is waking up to the rocky red cliffs of remote Ponta do Sol, Rod is enjoying the lonely breaks of Ponta Preta. Each of these men has managed to snag a piece of paradise where he can live his passion on his own terms. …………………..

SAL Rent kiteboards and windsurfing gear from Rod Smith’s center in Santa Maria (www.surfcaboverde.com). It’s located on the beach at the relaxed but elegant Hotel Morabeza (from $105; hotelmorabeza.com)