Tue 28/10-2014 Day 672

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-beCNlJiZi3I/VGSjJ4yB2pI/AAAAAAAAins/154mmpL_JuE/s144-c-o/IMG_0521.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToRecife#6081164787113384594″ caption=”Windmills, surf, dunes, endless.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0521.JPG” ]

 

Highlights: Good speed
Lowlights: Capsized in fricking surf
Launch: Could have been better through low surf
Landing: Ok through moderate surf
Pos: here
Loc: behind Barra de Camaratuba
Acc: tent
Dist: 39,7 km
Start: 5:00 End: 12:45

I slept moderately, always on the watch for the locals – one woman passing close by  with whom I shook hands, she was friendly and shouted surprised:”Una amiga!” Other guys stayed seated close by for too long a while, arguing noisily between each other… your fantasies can go wild…

I launched early in 18-20 knots wind, with the state of the sea to match. Don’t tell me this is a pleasure to paddle with the wind closing up to 20 knots – though following. I am always feeling like paddling through a mine field, watching constantly to the right for unexpected breakers piling up. If they topple only, no problem, but if they decide to really crash you’re lost. Fortunately with this speed I can at least easier avoid them once I see one piling up- start and stop system works surely much better if I do not have to battle against it as I have done so often.

I was aiming quickly for a river reef entrance I had marked on my map which promised some shelter – counting down the miles in yearning expectation. The sea state didn’t get better, the surf looked more and more awful. I assumed the reef entrance may be hard to spot in these 2 m wind waves, starting quite close to the beach, and dared to get a bit closer in to have a better look. Well, I should better have stayed out…FULLY out. Not daring to catch the, easily seen on satellite images, reef entrance at all in those conditions. It was also 1/2 hour before high tide, and the sea state and surf at it’s worse.

What needed to happen at some point, one of those mine field breakers caught me in a bad position, threw me, and despite my “bomb proof roll” and two well timed cold blooded attempts I couldn’t get up once caught in the wide surf belt. Well, then let’s have a nice swim…it took a while until my kayak and I were washed ashore, fortunately just sand before sandy cliffs. I was still tethered to my kayak, which probably saved me some swimming efforts for myself as the heavy waves washed my boat quicker to shore and dragged me behind. Still: salt water doesn’t taste great… But I’d rather unhook myself and paddle on a surf landing on purpose, as body and boat will be quite likely washed to shore anyway like I have experienced already so many times, and the stress on the leashes connecting me and my paddle may be too tough. But remember it did save already my ass and kayak being separated at night in the Pororoca in the Amazon…thank goodness.

I didn’t lose anything, although once more my paddle leash got lose. I need to tie a proper fix knot and not think the knot behind the plastic loop of the hook would be holding ..

Once I calmed down again, I took stock of the situation, nothing broken, nothing lost, and I had breakfast. I just no way could get here and now back out again…the surf belt was wide due to the shallow sandy ground of the close by river outflow, and due to the strong wind the surf was horrible. I was one kilometer aways from the entry I marked as a way point of my GPS, could actually see from the top of a dune the reef breaking. But it took a while until the surf calmed down on the shore due to the shelter on high tide. I decided to walk those may be 1,5 km, and opted for dragging the fully loaded kayak in the shallow wash behind me until the shore break got less inside the reef.

If you think this is an easy walk and drag, just do it… the last breaker washes ashore high with a good back surge, and you need to catch those few seconds where there is enough water to get your kayak afloat and drag it quickly along on my bow line attached to the toggle in a loop, stumbling backwards in the shallow moving water, watching always the kayak was not hitting your legs in the back surge as there it shoots forward faster than you can walk. I had to jump over my heavy cannon ball a couple of times, or it may break my legs. Also the kayak did capsize up the beach a couple of times, though I could prevent this a bit with my double attached bow line. Surely I had the cockpit cover on with all my stuff and paddles safely inside. It was quite an effort and stress on legs and hands, and at some point – too early for sure, I decided to give it a try again to launch. I caught a couple of times a cockpit full of water, before I managed to get out, fully flooded, and the rudder stuck as I forgot to attach my rudder launching line.

Ok, once more jump in the water, still quite rough here, but already behind the reef. Getting in again into a flooded cockpit was a bit tricky, I opted for the normal climb and no elegant re-entry and roll. The fucking PFD is in the way…I am not used to wearing one! But I had my head enough under water today… then it was pumping and sponging time. God bless the electrical pump I had in the other kayaks… but the water is warm here, and it is an interesting experience to use a manual pump. In cold water, there would be no way without an electrical pump for me…but since the end of Peru I didn’t have one any more and the sponge did his job. Now I at least took this manual pump and got it first time to work…

Eventually, the cockpit was empty, my neo-socks washed off sand, everything was back in position, and I could relax a bit paddling for a while inside the river reef. But was there also a way out at the end, which I thought I spotted on the satellite image?

I saw some people walking on the end of the reef on low tide and thought there is no way out…but some 100m before were some gaps. Back out there into the bumpy 2 m sea…a little less scary this time as the wind was a bit down now and not many breakers.I had to paddle around the end of the reef marked with a white lighthouse, and gradually headed to my sheltered corner about 25 km away. I made again good speed, actually this was a pleasure to paddle.

If the wind would only have stayed around those 12-15 knots…  it did not. It decided to become a dark sky, some rain squall coming up, and soon I found myself back in the same conditions I had started…my sheltered corner I was aiming for still 15 km away. I could try to sit it out, keep on paddling and avoiding the breakers, but how long??? or go in before it got too bad…I opted for the latter. I was worn from the morning’s effort in the surf, and maybe a bit scared things get bad again. I paddled into the beach after a wide field of wind mills through some moderate surf, and was exhausted standing there watching the sea getting rougher and rougher. Once enough it is enough, despite it was till too early to stop.

I put up my tent on a higher dune as the sea washes up to the low dune cliffs on high tide, fully in 20 knots blowing wind and flying sand. The other option would have been to put up tent in a lower section behind the first dune top, which I didn’t like as I like to watch the sea state and wind from my tent. And surely around 3 pm it calmed down again…the surf relatively friendly despite the tide coming up. But I was happy in my tent and done for today!

I also learned it may be hard to keep up the average distance of 50 km which I was hoping for…once winds are nearing 20 knots, the sea state and surf is ugly, and sheltered landings are rare. But they are there, I just have to stop in time…

 

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Ali

Happy that you are ok. This is a valuable lesson for all of us. Even you may miss an eskimo roll. Very informative and helpful for us also to read your decision making process in different conditions.

Paddle on maestra!

Richard Mason

This day that you describe here sounds like it was a very difficult and trying ordeal. I think you did very well to accomplish 40 kilometers.

Frances Price

Sounds like a full-body workout! Glad you were able to land safely. Hope your early stop allows you to rest well.

Randall Lackey

I recently just delt with much the same conditions along the Florida coast but fortunately for me it didn’t last so long and the sea not quiet as big but quiet tiresome just the same.It really makes you appreciate the calm days.REST well.Safe PaddlingR.

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