beliebtepatagonia: Kayaking in Puerto Madryn, Day III (and last day)

The wind beating the tent down on us from all sides left us exhausted come morning, I don't remember the last time I slept so badly. At this point we regretted not bringing our two little, one-person tents as we had the previous year, they deal much better with the wind, but took longer to set up, of course. And we were badly disorganized, as we'd haphazardly thrown everything together the previous evening, more concerned with making sure it did not fly away than with storing it properly or in the right spot, so getting ready took a long time of just looking for things.

Which was cool anyway. It was still cold, and although the wind had died down, it had created very impressive waves. I stared at them. We were going to have to go into that! I felt both exhilarated and nervous.

We took our time, knowing that once we got going, it would be a lot of work. Our clothes from the evening before hadn't had a chance to dry, so we laid them out. Putting on damp, cold clothing is such a miserable experience.

Once ready, we had another strategic meeting. I say strategic, but Julio is the one with experience here, so he instructs and I nod and try to make sure I don't forget any part of the instructions. The waves came in sequences, with 4 huge ones followed by a short respite, and this was the window of opportunity that he would use to launch me into the sea. It was only long enough for the launch, however; the waves were breaking pretty deep in, and for sure I was going to have to crash right through some of them, so I had to paddle like the dickens until I got to where they no longer broke, and here I would have to wait for him, which could take some time. He had no one to launch him into the sea.

I got in, a bit nervous, fully concentrated, focused on the waves, counting them. Julio held on to the front of the kayak, preventing me from being thrown sideways. We counted once, then another series, and at a yell from him he launched me in and I started paddling for all I was worth, I had to build momentum to avoid being thrown sideways and being washed ashore (which, by the way, for those who do not kayak, is not dangerous, it's just a big pain, a time-consuming one at that). The first wave of the next series hit me full force right in the face, and I spluttered through the next few, still paddling like hell. I was wearing no hat or glasses for this bit, as there was too high a chance that I would lose them, so I had no protection. The sea water stung my eyes, irritated the inside of my nose, I could feel it in my teeth and the back of my throat.

I had to go in further than I would have liked. The waves were still huge, but the slow, rolling ones that make you feel like you are on a roller coaster. I lay back a little, going deeper into the kayak, to bring my weight closer to the water and avoid tipping. I wiped my face and pulled on the rudder string to bring the rudder down and allow me to steer. And pulled and pulled. I turned, careful to do it with the natural movement of the kayak, and there's the sight no one likes to see: the rudder stuck to the back of the kayak by the elasticised string that prevents it from flying all over the place when the kayaks are out of the water. What an exasperating, moronic, clueless beginner´s mistake! It is every kayaker´s responsibility to make sure their rudder is not tied down when they head out into the sea, particularly when steering is as important as it is on a day such as today, and here I was, unable to! From the seat in the kayak, it's impossible to reach it, so I would have to wait for Julio to do it. So I settled back and waited for him while using the paddle to make sure I wasn't being sent anywhere I didn't want to go, and to position myself properly for any oncoming wave. The occasional one still broke here. I invented all sorts of insults for myself, and after a few minutes, this made me laugh and put me back in a good mood.

The waves were so high, it was a lot of fun to go up and down like that, people would pay for that at La Ronde! When I was between two, I would entirely lose sight of Julio, who was being washed ashore again and again trying to get himself out. He must have worked for about 20 minutes before he managed it. I waited for him to approach, knowing his kayak would be full of water (he wouldn't have had the time to put on the skirt that prevents the water from going in) and so we'd have to empty it.

All of this necessitated quite a bit of maneuvering. I had to remove my own skirt to get the container to remove the water, we had to hold on to one another's kayaks while trying to prevent their bumping one another, and somewhere in between Julio getting in the water and our getting this done, I realised his rudder had broken clean off the back of the kayak, hanging on only by the string. I did not like that! We maneuvered again so that I could place it in a way that would ensure we wouldn't lose it, and by this time was thoroughly sea sick, although I didn't realise it then (thought you couldn't get sea sick when it was you doing the driving!). Had I been the one to break my rudder, I am not sure what we would have done, likely Julio would have tied my kayak to the back of his and he would have steered for the both of us, but my own steering is not nearly as precise as his. In fact, rudderless he can steer better than I can with. So we started off.

I felt horrible. The wind was not too strong, but enough so to make it annoying, the waves were huge, some still broke and wet us thoroughly, my eyes were stinging. But still, it was part of the fun, why did I feel horrible?

It was only when I started burping, which made me feel better, that I realised that I really was sea sick. Thinking it was impossible, I hadn't even considered it. By that time we'd been paddling about an hour, with Julio having to slow down for me. I was paddling erratically, not managing a straight line, felt weak and had stomach aches. And of course, I was thoroughly embarrassed. Sea sick! While kayaking! Honestly!!

We decided, under the circumstances of the broken rudder and my undignified state, to head for the first vehicle-accessible beach, and there call Tincho, one of Julio's close friends, colleague and neighbour, to have him pick us up, which he was only expecting to have to do later in the day. So another half hour or so brought us to a beach with quite a few vehicles, even motor homes, tents and everything. Landing wasn't as difficult as we'd feared, and as soon as we stopped, I felt better. We lay down on the warm rocks while waiting for Tincho. He arrived within a half hour, saying he'd expected us to call the very day we left, because of the horrible wind storm we'd waited out, and that he'd been waiting every since. A very good friend, Tincho, one who can be counted on. Much like Julio.