The Day Everyone and their Dog Fell into the Ocean
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2009
1
6
7
Trip End
Jun 20, 2009
Matura,
Saint Andrew,
Trinidad and Tobago
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Carrying Out our Cork-less Kayaks
. Rodger and our guide were in a double kayak up ahead, with Ronald and I both gunning for second place, followed by Peter and Lee who were in another double, and Richard bringing up the tail in a single. The chasm widened and between the great swells of the sea, Rodger and our guide were fading into the distance.I looked for dolphins, sure that I was bursting along at speeds great enough to entice them into my bow line. I looked for sharks. I looked for whales. And, of course, I looked for turtles. All the while totally oblivious that the pack behind us was dropping further and further back. Finally, Ronald and I were cruising along behind the sweet and wild island, a dense cluster of tropical trees standing firmly on an ancient rock. It was like Alcatraz had sprouted a broccoli head. Now the water was rough behind the island, and it was pulling our kayaks in crazy rocking, rolling directions. But I decided it was time to get some action shots of Ronald executing extraordinary paddle strokes and kayak control in the rough water. So for some time during Ronald's photo shoot, we completely lost track of the others. By the time we packed up my camera into the dry storage and looked around, all of our teammates had disappeared. We assumed that Rodger and the guide had simply looped out of our sight to the far side of the island...but where were the others? I looked back and far off in the distance, between the rise and fall of the swells and the glints of sun bouncing off the water, I made out the shapes of two kayaks
Rodger and Lee, Unaware of what's to Come
. But I didn't see any people. And the kayaks looked strange. I squinted and squinted and realized that was I was looking at was the bottom of the kayaks. Then I made out the shapes of three heads, floating above the water line next to the upended kayaks. At first it made me laugh and I yelled at Ronald, "They all capsized!" Of course I assumed that they were all fine, since, for godsakes, who would go ocean kayaking without knowing how to swim....right? And they were all wearing life vests. No worries! But it became quickly apparent, even at a distance, that Peter, Lee and Richard could not get back into their vessels. So like something out of a scene from Baywatch, Ronald and I went into action, blasting across the ocean, the gap between us and our floating teammates closing at warp speed. We arrived in time to see Lee, with the help of Richard, attempting to hoist herself back into her seat. But to no avail, the kayak danced to-and-fro, and she was flung back into the ocean. Ronald and I zoomed up on both sides, expertly grabbing the bobbing paddles and water bottles that were floating nearby. To the rescue!! Whoop!! Yeeeeeehawwwww!!!! Within minutes, Peter and Lee were once again seated in their double kayak, and Richard was perched atop his single. Ready to conquer the ocean, we turned our tips again toward the island. But something was strange. Peter and Lee looked ragged and floppy, and their technique left much to be desired
Ronald Williams Ready to Save the Day
. I hadn't noticed their technique before, but surely it must have led to the capsizing incident. Good God, what were they doing? Peter, in front, was holding his paddle as though he was mowing the lawn, the blades barely grazing the water. And Lee, what in the world was she doing? She had her paddle pushed out in front of her as though she was walking the tight rope. Ronald, Richard, and I all shouted out tips and encouragement, but it was no use. And the look on Peter's face...what was that look? At that moment, Peter and Lee appeared to be the most bumbling and un-athletic people who had ever braved the high seas in a plastic kayak.And then, as we decided to abort our mission to visit the island, disaster struck a second time. Peter and Lee got swamped by a giant swell as they floated sideways and both of them went into the drink. I happened to be close by when this happened, and it was actually the first moment I was truly worried. As Lee hit the water, she landed face down....and stayed there. It was like the movie "Weekend at Bernie's" and she was Bernie. Dressed in sandals, shorts, a lovely little red life vest, giant sunglasses, and a floppy wide-brimmed hat. The brim of the hat played around on the surface of the water, much like an octopus, but, for reasons unknown, Lee was still floating face down. I reached in to grab her vest, and at that moment, she regained her composure, became upright in the water and looked in my direction through wet sunglasses
Ronald's Big Action Shot
. This was getting weird.The rescue effort began all over again with trying to load everyone back into their seats, and with me smugly thinking to myself "what is wrong with these people?" This time, though, Richard determined that since he was a strong kayaker, he should get into the double with Lee and have Peter take his single. The team joined together, got Lee into her seat, and then loaded Richard into the rear. But what was this? As Richard took his seat, the entire back end of the kayak sank. I mean SANK below the water line. The sinking, of course, caused the kayak to tip over and dump Lee and Richard back into the water. Meanwhile, Peter was having no better luck with his single, and multitudes of paddles, water bottles, and sundry items were again set adrift into the open ocean. Being astute kayakers, Ronald, Richard, and I came to the realization that the vessel was obviously full of water and had to be emptied. (We found out later that Lee and Peter were not actually un-athletic...there was no cork in their kayak.) I'm not certain at which point it happened, but sometime during this process, Ronald also ended up in the water, leaving me as the sole individual who had not capsized. I was quite proud of myself.
Now what were we to do? Everyone but yours truly was now floating in the water holding onto upended kayaks, which were ultimately attached to me and my kayak
Lee and Peter being Rescued
. And I could no longer paddle myself since I had an armful of everyone else's paddles and water bottles and sundries that I'd saved from floating off to Venezuela. Suddenly, like another episode of Baywatch, a sleek and stylish speedboat came cruising toward us out of nowhere. It was Baptiste and his army, swooping in to save the un-athletic and water-logged! Baptiste and his crew expertly plucked the kayaks out of the water and lifted them into the boat. Ronald, Peter, and Lee were also plucked out of the water and back to safety. Whew! I offloaded my pile of paddles and other goodies and determined that I, along with Richard, would paddle myself into shore. So as the speedboat motored off, Richard and I cruised on the crests of the waves.....wahoo!!!! And as we came within 20 feet of the shore, my smug self and my smug kayak were suddenly hit out of nowhere by a rogue wave. And I capsized. Everyone else already had, and I was apparently "the dog." I skinned my knee.
We learned later at our team dinner, that Rodger and the guide had actually made it to the uninhabited island. But when the guide saw that we were in need of assistance, he took Rodger's life vest and kayak and attempted to reach us on his own. Somehow, he capsized as well, let the kayak drift away, and swam into the shore. Meanwhile, he had abandoned Rodger on the uninhabited island to fend for himself.
love,Q
