The Baja Paddle

Abandoned fish camp- Sea of Cortez, April 4, 2010 from Baja Paddle on Vimeo.

Camp and personal hygiene.

We have tried to be good about this, really! It has not always worked out the way we wanted to but at least we have found a way which keeps us reasonably clean and keeps the food we eat in an acceptable state.

To start with ourselves; we have averaged about one shower per week, although we have gone without a shower for longer at times. We regularly wash ourselves in the sea but since this leaves one feeling somewhat sticky with the salt on one’s skin we have not gone out of our way to do this on a daily basis.

The result: we do not necessarily feel terribly clean and a hair wash with fresh water would certainly increase our comfort, but we do not smell and we have gotten used to the situation and it does not bother us. Continue reading

THIEVES AND ROBBERS

The rule of the strongest, or fastest, clearly works in the world of birds.

The shore birds have been particularly interesting to watch because they fish close to shore, very often right in front of our camp site.

One day I was watching an osprey fishing and it finally caught a fish, rather large in relation to the size of the bird, and it struggled fiercely, shaking the ospreys flight as it tried to get a good grip on it and find a spot to eat it. The fish was too strong for the bird and it had to come to the nearest shore. The bird was clearly in a predicament; it had a fish that struggled, it had to fly into a strong wind and had thieves waiting for it to drop it’s prey

Other birds, notably a pelican and some gulls had been watching this struggle and moved closer to where the osprey had to come to the shore when it became obvious that the bird was either going to lose it’s prey, or had to get a better grip on it by putting it down on the ground first giving them a chance to steal it.

The fish was not cooperating and kept up a strong fight.

As it landed, the other birds were on the spot and chased the osprey off it’s still struggling catch. The pelican and two gulls made a run for the fish with the pelican winning handily; one swipe of it’s big beak and the fish could be seen sliding down its gullet. The gulls looked rather put out by this and the pelican had a grin on its face, as if to say”whadduyethink of that”? Continue reading

I was up with the sun, feeling much better but still very stiff.

The sun warmed the soil very quickly and during the night all the wet stuff had completely dried. Some items had blown away when the wind had picked up but I was camped at the foot of the hills and everything was laying nearby. The light stuff had blown into the bushes and was caught in the branches so I had not lost anything. I ate my last hard boiled eggs, threw the last slices of bread to the gulls and pulled my kayak to she shoreline. I had to pack right next to the water since pulling a fully loaded kayak more than 100ft across pebbles was not something I wanted to do. There was only a slight wind when I put into the water and I could see Santa Rosalia clearly, about 6 miles away. I decided to take the shortest route, a direct line to the lighthouse which is at the entrance to the harbor.

The wind starting picking up strength and before I knew it I was paddling in very similar conditions as the day before; a strong southeasterly wind; quartering seas and a very confused wave pattern. I decided to paddle as close to the shore as possible and not to push myself the way I had done the day before. The paddle was coming to an end and although I had no desire to paddle again in these conditions, I also had no desire to end the paddle.

It took me about three hours to finally paddle into the marina and into calm water. I found a spot near some sailing yachts where I was helped pull my kayak out of the water and on to the jetty where I met some great people, Susan Scott and her friend from Hawaii and Mark and Vicki Reed from Oregon, all of whom showed a great deal of interest in my paddle and the tortoise shells in particular.

After 73 days, the paddle was over.

Then, I stood on the jetty and started to organize my stuff and get ready to take the bus home. What an anti climax.

I was starting to lose it; my stuff, I mean.

A few days ago I missed my sponge. I normally have it with the bucket on my rear deck; that morning it was gone. I found it back when I made my first stop for the day. It was on the rear deck, behind all the stuff I carry there, unsecured. It had been riding all along without being washed off by a wave. Yesterday I lost my bucket and my flip flops. I know exactly where they are, at least the bucket, which is against the slope of the dune where I had camped. In the rush to get started in the morning I forgot to carry this to the kayak with all the other stuff. I had noticed this at my first stop , which was twelve miles too late. I also noticed that my flip flops were missing when I packed earlier in the morning. They should be floating somewhere in the Sea of Cortez. When I had washed the day before I had taken them off at the edge of the water and left them there. I had forgotten to put them back on later and they were washed away by the high tide during the night. Finally, my sponge really got lost . It was under the strap holding the tortoise shells in place. After the heavy battering of the waves, the sponge was gone; washed away by a wave. Continue reading

I made the repairs to Samoset and was on the water by 11.00am.

In the morning, the wind was still blowing strongly but by the time I was ready to go, it had considerably diminished in strength. The water was still rather turbulent but that also calmed down fairly rapidly.

I was paddling strongly, keeping well away from any rocky outcrop and rock garden. The coast had a rough appearance; all rocks and pebbles and grey/brown in color. Not very appealing.

After a few hours I looked for a place to take a break, but there was nothing suitable in sight. I continued paddling but at a much slower pace; suddenly my energy had disappeared and snacks and water could not bring it back.

As I rounded Punta Santa Anna I noticed what looked like a sandy beach, being patrolled by a coyote, which only walked away when I was quite close. It turned out to be a grit beach, lots of grit, little stones and pebbles, but it was good enough for me. I quickly decided that the break would be the final stop for the day. I had a good lunch and drank water fortified with electrolytes but I still felt very tired. I guessed that things were simply catching up with me and that I needed some extra rest. Continue reading

After yesterday’s down day, my mood had improved somewhat today, though not because the weather is any better.

I got up before sunrise with the wind still blowing hard, though not as violent as yesterday. By the time I was ready to start paddling, the wind had died and the water was calm. This was a teaser; one hour later it was blowing again at nearly full force.

I decided to stay on the water anyway and hug the coast very closely. This meant taking the longest route from point to point but that was still immeasurably better than sitting on a beach waiting for the weather to improve.

Soon after I had left, I was overtaken by a pod of dolphins in a playful mood, judging by the way they moved through the water. It was as though they were playing catch with each other. Continue reading