Last month, while sitting in a cabin in Tahoe, I randomly received a message from Chris Rogers asking if I wanted to go on a last-minute video trip to Turks & Caicos. I took one look outside at the snow-covered trees and said, "Heck yes!." Chris apologized for the short notice and gave me a few details about the trip and said that we would be leaving in six days. I said, "I'm 100% in!" After I got off the phone with Chris, I proceeded to Google 'Turks & Caicos.' Tiny Caribbean island surrounded by crystal-clear blue water? I'm 110% in!
 
I've been a fan of Chris Rogers' work for a while, so I was super stoked that he had asked me to come along on this trip. Each member of the crew had a bit of a journey (except those lucky Floridians), but we somehow all ended up arriving on the tiny island at the same time. Not only were we really diverse in nationalities, but each member brought a unique skill set to the table. We had Tyler Soden for his phenomenal camera skills, Pierce Homesy for his wit and great hair, Massi for his wake skills and the non-stop entertainment, Candice, for her quirkiness and being the only one who could actually kiteboard and Chris was, of course, our hype man and the one responsible for bringing everything together and making it run seamlessly.
 
We were hosted by Nat and Mark, the owners of the Wake to Wake Watersports camp. Even though we were dealing with some high winds most days, the guys made sure to show us the best time. The objective for every day was to basically have as much fun as we could. Turns out that not only is that pretty easy in a place like Turks & Caicos, but we're pretty good at it too.
 
The first day there the guys took us out to the most insane shipwreck. We all donned our very fashionable jelly shoes and navigated through the rust to jump off the top of the ship. We drank some brewskis and watched the sun go down and pinched ourselves wondering if this was real life.
 
Later in the week, we were introduced to something called subwinging and it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done. We went out to search for JoJo the Dolphin (an island regular, look him up) and then proceeded to stalk him for the next three hours. When you subwing, you hold onto something that looks like mini airplane wings and you are dragged slowly behind the boat. The result is that you majestically glide through the water like a dolphin and it's very easy to forget that you are in fact a human and can't breathe under water.
 
We finished the day with some doubles wakesurfing, getting the most creative shots with all of Chris' different GoPro devices.
 
On one of the windiest days, we decided to make the most of it and head to the kitesurfing beach so Candice could show off her skills. After a rocky start and a few tangled lines, she got the hang of it again and was sticking huge back rolls in no time. Chris and Tyler were in the water with their cameras getting all the epic angles. Seeing as we didn't have the kite skills to keep up, Pierce had the brilliant idea to rent a sailboat. What ensued was nothing short of ridiculous. This was my first time on a sailboat and battling the 30 mph winds was no easy feat. Pierce let me drive and I promptly ran it into shore at top speed. Luckily, no one was hurt and it made for some awesome laughs. Once we were situated again, Chris brought the drone out and we did some epic follow shots of us in the sailboat with Candice kiting right behind us.
 
Although it wasn’t the best time of year for calm water and wakeboarding, we still managed to get out and get some fun shots. Nat and Mark showed us some footage from last summer when the bay gets completely flat and we will definitely be back for more riding! After an unforgettable week we all left tanned, salty and with a little less money thanks to many late nights at the casino.
 
Stay tuned for Chris’ awesome video dropping soon!