[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yOEx_LYoyhk/UuES_1wl8JI/AAAAAAAAZMU/PLVB7exr7vQ/s144-c-o/P1110017.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage17GuyanaSurinameFrGuianeGeorgetownToCayenne#5972075468841939090″ caption=”Grounded on the shallows, here amazingly sandy” type=”image” alt=”P1110017.JPG” ]

First mud fight on landing

Pos: here
Loc: mud and sand beach
Acc: tent
Dist: 46,7 km
Start: 6:00 End: 15:20

About one hour after darkness I was eventually alone. No more flashing cameras through the darkness, constant calls:”Inside?” despite me not putting any light on and and they really should assume I would be sleeping (which I would loved to have done). This was the most intense continuous local visit spot on my whole trip. I can really understand everyone wants my story, but sorry, I cannot be a visiting theater show performing from afternoon to way after darkness. I really can feel now how an animal in a zoo must feel… I will never visit a zoo again. Was not ever my favourite place anyway.

Launching was easy from this solid sandy beach even at low tide. Some friendly locals came to watch and say good buy, a bit guilty asking how I had been sleeping…I told them how I felt. They also told me again the next section will be rough… what means rough here? Some friendly soft rolling breakers like I had here on many places? Well, they were friendly rolling in on a wide solidly sandy foreshore, as long I was there around low tide, I could paddle just inshore and just got every ten seconds or so a wet low side wash. I just had to watch I was neither dragged nor washed up on one of those fishing stakes. Once I underestimated the retracting water after a wave, and hit a pole. But all ok.

The water came closer and close to the shore, I was thinking now it should be rolling less? No way, it just got more violent and higher. At some point I had to side broach in so heavily that I was almost washed up to the lurking broken trees, and I decided now I needed to get behind the breaker zone! I had a quick stop on a sandy spot, checked the water from a higher spot, and decided this is ok to go out. And the next river mouth would be in only 6 km, with hopefully calm water. I just need to punch though a wide surf belt, then the water would be breaking less .

I fought my way out, a lot of wetness, but not too violent breaking water on top of me. When I was out, the sea was quite bouncy from the wind waves on top of the sandy ground, and occasionally still breaking here and there which by all means I had to avoid. Not really relaxing paddle yet…I could manage to NOT catch one of the loners offshore, as they are quite big, and was hoping coming closer to the next river mouth the breakers zone would disappear. 6 km only…and my calculation was right! Eventually across the river mouth it was dead calm again, and I could relax. 20 km before and behind a wide surf zone!

The next section was muddy and there fore dead calm, only on sand the sea is breaking. Soon some small rollers came in again, and the beach had many nice sandy landing spots for me. But it all was too early in the day to land! I was mourning a very pretty one, but had another 5 km on my GPS where I had marked another beach. Not sure what I saw on Google Earth, as that “beach” was unfortunately covered with mud and unaccessible an hour after high tide. Should I go back to the last pretty sandy spot? There I would be able to launch also on lower tide, I guessed. But going back I really do only in an emergency, and I guessed I will find another landing possibility…

But the coast turned muddy again, with a high mud bank before deeper water. At least I was not stuck very soon… I spotted three old big sluice gates offshore in about 500 m distance each without a ditch behind! What happened here to the land? It must be flooded at some point, and whatever wall was there as protection was washed away, leaving the three concrete sluice gates standing uselessly in the open sea. But not really inviting places to climb on top and to spend the night… there will be another option!

I had marked another active sluice gate, but with not much hope it would be possible to land near it. Fortunately there was out of nowhere a sandy beach! It was already two hours after high tide, and hight time to find a landing spot! This looked all right…just maybe ten meters of easy looking mud…correct. Easy looking mud it was, which means about 20 to 30 cm mud on top of solid sand I eventually could walk on. But after three steps one of my sandals slipped off and stuck in the mud! Shit! You may think this must be easy to retrieve? Well, I was poking around in 10 cm of water, 20-30 cm of mud for about 15 min, clever enough now barefoot even without neoprene socks and surely without the other sandal…embarrassing, as I was watched by two local fishermen who eventually decided to have a look when I just was successful finding my sandal. Thank goodness!

They helped me to drag the kayak on dry solid sandy ground, I unloaded, and walked up what looked like solid sandy ground also. Ok, three or four steps I was sinking in again with my heavy gear bags on my shoulders, but not too bad. Just that my feet, pants and somehow also the shirt were muddy as hell. How to wash it off? Fortunately I had lot of water in the cockpit and used my sponge and could save my fresh water for most of the yucky stuff. I also changed first before I put up my tent, not to make everything else also muddy, bitten by many mosquitoes…I could have saved all this action by turning around and landing on the last inviting sandy and somewhat steepish beach!!!

And surely I really decided for good reasons I will launch only on high tide from here, which is at 1.30 am. Some punishment for not turning back! At least in this way I will be in Nickerie in Surinam not in 5 or 6 days as planned, but in another two days, means 4 days overall. Also ok…