The Baja Paddle

Friday, October 15, 2010

The wind was up before I was. There was a slight breeze blowing which was not very strong, but it certainly was stronger than the forecast of 2 knots.

I had organized my gear the evening before and was quite certain that I would get everything into the kayak, with the exception of my tent and sleeping mat. It took me a long time to pack and re-pack until it finally fit and the hatches could still be closed. I tied the bag with my tent and sleeping mat onto the back, rolled the kayak to the edge of the water and then went to park the car and hand the keys back to Gloria.

By this time it was already more than a half hour past the time that I had intended to leave and I was at risk of losing the benefit of the last hour of high tide. Launching was a challenge because I needed to get 7 water bags, each with ten liters of water into the cockpit with me. I struggled to get this done and after first losing two bags which floated away while I was trying to get organized in the cockpit, and then losing my water bottle, I finally managed to fit it all in and was on my way.I was packed really tight in the cockpit and it did not take long before my legs felt very uncomfortable with the weight of the water on them and around them. The weight was such that I could not move them and after about 30 minutes my feet started to hurt and then my legs fell asleep. In the meantime, the wind had picked up considerably and was blowing from the west at at least 10 knots and it was kicking up big swells and breaking waves. The bag on my rear deck was catching a lot of wind so I was bracing much of the time to keep more or less on course. With this strong wind at my back I was moving quickly across the channel towards my intended goal for the day: Isla Coronado. However, mid channel the water was so rough that I had to put all my skills to use to stay upright. I had trouble keeping a course because of the wind the bag on my rear deck caught and I could not move my body to compensate fast enough when hit by the waves from behind or from the side because of the way I was wedged in the cockpit by the bags of water.

I had a few anxious moments and felt even more challenged than the days Martijn and I fought our way through the wind and waves and swells at Agua Verde in March of this year. I did make it finally to the lee of Isla Pata and then had less than 1.5 mile left before reaching Isla Coronado where I would be able to paddle to the lee on the east side of the island. I took a break, had some water and a snack and decided then, after less than an hour on the water, that a crossing to Isla Angel de la Guarda was out of the question. Quite frankly, the last 30 minutes of this crossing had scared me and to think that I would be trying to cross 14 miles of open water with well known big swells, strong currents and unpredictable winds was something that I could not see myself do as long as I had any sanity left. I was afraid that, even if the winds were at only 2 knots, the strong currents and swells might be taxing me to the max, if not more, and I was not ready to take that risk.

After I had gathered my wits again and managed to get a little less uncomfortable with the water bags on my legs and feet I struggled across the channel to Isla Coronado and as soon as I had reached the most southerly point I felt the first of the reduced wind and swells and could relax. The southerly point of this island is stunning; the rocks are multicolored from various shades of red and brown to gray with rock spires and rock gardens all around. I had read that there is a frigate bird rookery at the most southerly point and was looking forward to seeing this. The further east I paddled, the calmer the water became and the more I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery. I felt comfortable enough to take out my little camera and take some photographs and video and indeed, when I rounded the final point and had a view of the southerly tip, I saw the frigate birds.

I had expected them to be all black but I actually saw more birds that had white heads and bills and rather a large number with their trade mark red throats. This was a bonus that I had not expected and I took video to the extent that the water and rocks allowed me to do that without getting stuck or blown on the rocks. Surprisingly, many sat quite contentedly on their rocks while I paddled by quite close. I am used to gulls and pelicans flying off when getting to within a certain distance, but the frigate birds did not seem to mind very much. I noted a number of them, those with the red throats, sitting with their beaks open and throats trilling and seemingly very concentrated on this activity. I am not at all sure what the meaning of this was; I could not hear any vocalization and their throats also did not extend into a firy red balloon shape which they do during the breeding season.

I was now completely relaxed and happy again and paddled at an easy pace to the next point of interest; a lagoon which extends from the west of the island nearly to the end of the east side. There is only a very narrow band of shore that links the two halves, otherwise Isla Coronado would be two separate islands.

At the same time I was looking for the camp site which is supposed to be on the south-eastern side of the island.

I found the lagoon quite easily and took some time to explore the shore. The east side is where the lagoon is very shallow and I saw some sting rays and crabs shooting off in all directions as I got closer. I was careful not to step into the water so as not to run the risk of getting stung by a sting ray. I walked around the perimeter of the water; the tide was out so I walked on a mud flat which fortunately was quite firm. At one corner I noticed hundreds of tiny crabs moving about on the mud, feeding. They were only about one inch in size and scuttled in all directions when I got closer.

The camp site was probably not sign posted because I did not see anything that might indicate a designated camp site. Since I had not seen any sandy shore either, yet, I hoped that that was still going to be found. That expectation turned out to be an illusion because as I paddled further along the shore I only saw gravel and rocky shores; no sand anywhere in sight. Once I got to the north-eastern end of the island it was clear that I had missed the camp site, but it was also clear that it would be a site of gravel or pebbles, so not very comfortable.

I landed at the foot of the volcano, a pebble beach, and decided that this was the place where I was going to camp. After some searching I found a spot which had fewer rocks and pebbles than the rest of the area so I cleared a spot just big enough for my sleeping pad. This would be my first night ever of sleeping in ash, volcanic ash that is, although it felt no different than ash from a coal fire.

By this time it was mid-afternoon and I called it a day as far as exploring was concerned. I still had to get all my gear out of the boat, get the boat up high enough that it would not start floating away on the high tide and organize my stuff and prepare dinner.

Having done all the organizing and emptying two bags of water which I was not going to need anymore, I was famished and cooked a big meal of macaroni with cabbage. I had cooked far too much to eat so some of it went to feeding the fish. Anyway, it did not taste well. For some reason, the food that I liked during our long paddle six months ago, just does not taste the same today. I have not had a meal that I really enjoyed on this trip. Which means that things can only get better.