First Day Kayaking

By: Chris Friday

November 9, 2017

Our first day kayaking began painfully early with a 5am wakeup. The stars were still out and I don’t think I could have survived without a monster to assist me in waking up. When we got onto the water, I almost immediately had issues as my right Rutter peddle broke off. Ashley and I had to go back to shore to have Jeff and Francisco repair it for me. They got it back on rather quickly and off we went. We unfortunately didn’t get far however, as the same peddle broke off yet again for me about two minutes later. I guess I’m too rough on the peddles according to Francisco.  This time, Francisco got a whole new peddle to attach on and this time we really were off and on our way. Just barely into our journey and we got our first taste of ocean wildlife as an unknown shark made an appearance next to the boat of Sean and Emily. As we kayaked down the bay here in Bahia De Los Angelas, I couldn’t help make comparisons to canoeing in Canada. They are two vastly different landscapes, but match each other in how beautiful they can be. We approached a no wake zone where we encountered a Whale Shark. This is hands down one of the coolest things I have seen thus far on this trip. The massive creature passed right through our convoy of kayaks and we all stopped in awe until Francisco told us to keep paddling. The shore of our destination was in sight, but it never really seemed to get any closer no matter how much we paddled. Finally, we arrived at a nice little beach with the S.S. Minnow to greet us. We all devoured our lunch of PB&J tortilla wraps like we haven’t eaten in days. After a few lessons, most of decided to go snorkeling around some rocks by our beach. Kara taught us all the ins and outs of how to snorkel properly. We saw some fish and starfish, but nothing to spectacular. When cooking dinner, Emily so how managed to break a spoon while cooking spaghetti, something only Emily is capable of doing. Our spaghetti was a tad lumpy due to noodles sticking together. Right before we got together for dinner, Kara and Tracy returned from some nearby rocks where we learned Kara had hurt her foot, yet again. Her feet have really been in a bad way this trip. Luckily she has Tracy and her corn rows to help her move around. Tomorrow we begin our second day of our kayak trip, which I’m sure has some more interesting things in store for it. Our camp is currently being surrounded by coyotes as they plot to make their assault on our camp. I hope all of stuff is still here in the morning.