Initially, Thom didn't want to make the trip because of how rough the wind and waves get out in the middle of the channel. He also had the memories of a day where he and Brice had gone out. It was calm for them, but on their way back the wind picked up and it took them about 8 hours of constant rowing. Also, we didn't know how strong the currents were out there. We had taken a boat over last year which took a few hours to get over (though we didn't go to the closest point). On the way home, it took us four hours... with an engine. Well, Friday night, Thom must have gained new confidence as the ocean was very calm so we decided it was a great idea. We would go to bed early then meet at the school at 1:30AM. We thought it would take two or three hours to get over there and the same to get back. We thought we could be back by 6:00 or 7:00AM.
So, this morning at 1:00AM, my alarm went off. I got up and heard my phone ringing. Thom had called because he wasn't sure if we should go. It had rained and there were a lot of clouds in the sky limiting our night visibility. Also, it wasn't quite as calm. We could hear the waves crashing up on the shore. It wasn't bad, but he didn't think it was quite as ideal as the night before. It was a downer, but we thought we should at least get in and tool around a bit since we were up. I really wanted to attempt it and didn't feel like going home without at least getting in. Also, I thought once we were in, we should be able to at least get a better feel and then have a better chance of convincing ourselves to go. We headed downstairs, drank a few Toros (Haitian energy drinks), put our live vests on, unlocked the gates and started wheeling the kayak out to the ocean.
Once we were in, we headed out to the point which takes us out of the little cove and directly toward the channel. It was very calm, it always is until you get out into the open. It only took about five minutes at the most and we were out. The water was a little more rough as we expected but very manageable. We had great visibility with the full moon and the clouds seemed to be scattering. Every once in a while, a cloud would cover up the moon and it would get darker, but it didn't matter so much because we were aiming toward a few bright lights that were on La Tortue's coast. We assumed that they were of the Princess Hotel. We felt like we were making pretty good progress and could see fairly well. It did appear at once that rain might have been coming our way, but it turns out that it was only a darker cloud and the humid air which made the mainland appear to be behind a storm.
We had been making pretty good progress to which we finally started joking that we knew we would make it across, but weren't sure if we could make it back (in the event that the weather turned on us). We thought that if it started to rain hard that we couldn't turn back since the island was closer. As we went along we could see more lights and eventually began to make out boats that were on the shore. A minute or two later, we could hear water crashing up against rocks. Fortunately for us, Thom had been to the Princess Hotel before and knew there was a beach we could land on. About ten minutes later, we were paddling between boats looking out for their anchor lines so we didn't run into them. Thom didn't think it was a great idea to get "clotheslined" by one. We finally got close enough to see a few people who were up. Most likely, they were security guards for the hotel. We pulled up to the shore, got out and stretched a bit. We didn't stay too long. It was pretty dark out, there wasn't anywhere for us to go really and we figured that at 3:00 in the morning, we would probably spook anyone who would see us on the beach. We were pretty happy to have made it in an hour and thirty-five minutes. We knew it would take a little longer on the way back, but not much more than two hours.
After a few snacks, more Toro, and a little rest, we headed back out. We passed by all the anchored boats and realized that the water had picked up a little bit, so it seemed. The wind was steady, but not too bad. It wasn't much of a concern because it was still early and we didn't anticipate morning winds for another few hours. We had talked a bit about how exciting it was to row over to the island. How it is always much more exciting on the way to the destination, but how the paddle back wasn't. We slowed down a little for a couple reasons. One, we weren't quite as enthusiastic about the return trip. Second, fatigue was beginning to set it. We weren't exhausted by any means, but not quite as excited about the trip to the island. We were talking about how quickly we had made it over and how easy the trip was considering the conditions. We don't think we could have picked a better night. We joked about it being our annual Halloween night kayak trip to La Tortue.
After about twenty minutes of rowing, Thom hollered up to me and said to look at my paddle when it entered the water. He told me that there were plankton in the water. We could see it glowing. I had heard of this before but didn't expect it. If I am not mistaken, the actual name for these are dinoflagellates. When they are disturbed in the water they illuminate. They were lighting up like blue sparks. I had seen shows where divers mentioned it. As I looked around, it first appeared as moonlight shimmering off of the surface of the water. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if Thom didn't say anything since I was in front. I didn't see too much from the front as I could only see the few that had been disturbed as the water splashed against the side of the kayak. I had to turn around and watch my paddle as it glided along the water. It wasn't immense, but then, when you realize that the moon was no longer out (it had gone down to the West) that there was nothing that could have been reflecting off the water. Thom told me to watch my paddle as it went into the water. As I watched, I could see what appeared to be blue sparks around the paddle from the moment it entered the water until I pulled it back out. Thom said he had been watching it for a while and could see it clearly since he was behind me. We stopped for a minute and would splash the water with our hands. Sometimes one of the plankton would wash up and run off your arm like a spark. It looked a little like fairy dust from Peter Pan.
Just then, I remembered the show I had seen with the divers. I remember them being afraid of making too much movement. They were worried that it would give away their location to sharks. Thom and I joked that if we saw a big flash in the water that it would most likely be a shark following us. Fortunately for us, we didn't see any big flashes; just those that we were making. It was very interesting and sure made the trip much more enjoyable on the way back!
Not but twenty or thirty minutes after the moon went down the sun began coming up and it started getting lighter. We paddled for a while and checked the time once we got back around the point. We had left La Tortue at 3:55AM and were at the point at 5:50AM. After a few more minutes we make it back. Just at two hours. We were exhausted. I came home, showered, drank some milk and went straight to bed. I don't think I slept for more than 15 minutes at a time, but it sure felt good to lay down.
Below is an image and the path we took to get over to the island.
1 comment:
That's awesome! How did you get the route mapped out? Did you have some kind of GPS tracker on your phone?
Post a Comment