Dear Everybody, Start Dreaming!

Dear Walt, Marge Cait and Roommate,

Well I’m starting to do my research on things to do while you are all here and of course Kayaking is on my list. As Cait knows, I own several, and it’s really not too big of a pain to throw them in the back of the truck and go to either Salt River or the South Shore. I already described my adventures on the south shore and Salt River is different, historical, interesting but not yet awestom.

The Salt River area has been occupied for thousands of years, first by the Indians and eventually Columbus, The French, Danes, Americans and Tourists. After being here about 30 years, I’m still not exactly sure which piece of real estate was coveted and occupied by who, but I should rectify that the Sunday after Thanksgiving when we take a guided historical tour for $45 apiece and we all get a one hour classroom history lesson to boot.

This outing started when we were talking with some friends about going Kayaking with us, I pointed out that I have two singles and one double so with two novice Kayakers, there was no way to safely do it. He said Ok he’d rent a double for the day. Then another couple wanted to go, and I wanted to learn more about the area so we decided to all do the guided tour thing for $45 per person and let the guide do all the work.

The young couple who run Virgin Kayak Company are idealistic enough to have learned all that eco-tourism stuff, the Indian way of life and studied the first armed conflict between Natives and Europeans. I chose them because of their knowledge even though they are impossible to find when you Google “Kayak, St. Croix, Virgin Islands”.

For Walt and Marge, it may just be easier to go to the Salt River Guest Center and find the location of all that history, then throw the Kayak in the pick-up and head for the water – ditto for Cait and roommate. That has the attraction of being free.

But Cait and Roommate, visit this site and check out the open ocean Kayaking. The 1/2 day event is deep water open ocean with a passage over one of the best dive spots in the world called “The Wall.” Within about 1/2 mile of shore, there is a deep water trench which drops to 7000 feet. On a calm day, you would think you were kayaking in a bathtub. On a rough day, they will probably cancel due to waves and currents. This is one of several traditional areas for the drowning of a couple of tourists a year even though we don’t get all that many tourists.

I don’t plan on ruining anybodies vacation by drowning but if the weather cooperates, this could be a thrill kayaking off the coast of one of the most isolated parts of our island. Besides, I sort of want to get back in the saddle with regard to open ocean kayaking.

Tags: dream, family, health, Kayaking, life, lifestyle, longevity, parenting, seniors, sports, St. Croix, travel, Virgin Islands