Kayaking – A Splendid Day In Paradise

Today was one of those perfect fall days in Paradise with temperatures between 82-86 degrees and winds out of the East to East Nort East at 17-21 miles per hour. It was the day we went kayaking with Brian of Virgin Kayak Company.

Now the first issue of the day is that Brian is a dedicated dealer for Hobie Foot peddle Kayaks. Boom – two protests!

Our group started as three couples who knew each other and then he had a request from a professional Tour Operator (Ay-Ay Eco Hike & Tours) to join him for the Day. The tour guide is also involved in Eco tourism only his speciality is hiking.  Seems Ras Lumumba, the hiking guide is a direct descendant of the Caribs (Half Carib and half Afro Caribbean). His speciality is endurance hiking and plants. 

When he heard I had Angles Trumpet and Black Wattle in my Voodoo Garden of Biologically active plants, we immediately bonded.  As a Carib, he knew the right way to be in a canoe was sitting upright with a paddle in your hands. Likewise I met Brian 10 years ago and told him immediately that these foot peddle ocean going machines were unnatural and against Gods will which is why he sent the angles to Sodom and Gomorrah (or something like that). 

Well today was his show and each Kayak had foot peddles and it was his way or the highway so I chose to use my feet more productively and tried the Hobie ocean going foot peddled Kayak.

Dolores was in the front seat and I in the rear.  She did not protest the foot peddles as she is just starting to get into this structured excercise thing and doesn’t have a whole lot more experience with a kayak paddle. 

The first leg was easy about 3/4 mile, mostly in the lee of the upwind hills.  The second leg was a bitch – probably about 1 mile against the nastiest 25 mile wind as it funneled through the hills while causing waves and cross currents to the surf which rolled in from accross the reef.  I knew two things as I made the crossing.  First, if I had been in my own Kayak with oars, I never would have made that passage against wind and current Second, I would have chosen an alternate path in the lee of the hills which would have gotten me almost as far with a lot less work. 

The return trip was in the lee of the hills and the trip back to our starting point was challenging but do-able in almost any kayak.

During the 3 hour trip there was  the sun, the surf, the waves and the wind.  I have to admit that the Hobie was a hell of a machine and I couldn’t have made the same trip in my own Kayak.  Perhaps the most challenging part of the whole day was the exposure to knowledge.

It seem that St. Croix is one crossroad of Amerindian History and center for historic cultural clash.  The Carib Indians came up the island chain from Venezuala in the south and the Taino Indians came across from Cancun in Mexico. The Taino carried with them their stone working ability and built a cermonial ball court like the ones in Mexaco. The Carib brought their ability to make war and their desire for woman from outside their own tribe.  By the time Colombus arrivied, he was met by Carib Wariers with their Tanio wives. He was resoundingly defeted at the Cape of Arrows and following the example of the Carib warriors, sought solace in the arms of Taino woman residing in Puerto Rico and the west.

It was a fine day walking and Kayaking in the footsteps of history while accompanied by two excellent Tour Guides of our Island.

Note: In my last post about Kayaking, I talked about open Ocean Kayaking off Cane Bay where the wall drops 7000 feet within a 1/2 mile of shore.  Actually, Brian told us the trench gets to be 14,000 feet deep just north of Cane Bay and while he might go to that area in wind and current like Sunday, he wouldn’t take anybody else in those conditions.  My buddy Ted said he wouldn’t do it and I’m simply not sure. There is Awestom, and then there is just plain stupid.

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