First Kayak Trip

It's well past midnight. There is a male mosquito singing in my ear. Frances is coughing. The raccoons who live on the cliffs below, are particularly active on our balconies this evening, taking advantage of the bright moonlight. I've just read my email and there is unhappy news from a couple of different folks at home. I can't seem to sleep, so I'm blogging instead.

I took a kayak out of the Marina Terra Beach today. I was out on the water for a little over an hour. The water was calm. The sun was warm. I placed the life jacket comfortably under my legs. Oh! Was I supposed to actually wear that bulky, ill fitting thing? I know how to swim and I promise not to suit the Mexican Government, the Sea of Cortez or the Pacific Ocean if I drown. Whenever I travel abroad I am almost instantly struck by how much more freedom you have when it comes to making decisions about self responsibility. It was not mandated that I wear the life jacket. The hotel did not care what time I brought the kayak back. In fact, they didn't even ask my name or make me pay for the rental until I returned.

It was a wonderful excursion out on the water this morning. Within the first 30 seconds of being on the water I was out at Saguaro rock. The first sight was a pair of black cormorants sitting on a rock facing each other. As a kid, I bought Mom a Christmas present one year from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. It is a small black statue of two cormorants facing each other. I think it is still on one of the shelves or the mantle. I thought of it immediately when I saw the birds.

All of the other birds that I saw on the eco-cruise tour a few days ago made themselves known in short order, this time up close and personal as I paddled close by. The pelicans, seagulls, blue herons, the noisy orange billed oyster catchers and the bubis - brown and bluefooted - showed up for roll call. I think at the moment the heron is my favorite, although I love the pelicans too. I saw a long line of pelicans glide by. The lead pelican flaps it's wings and then one by one - each pelican in the line begins to flap it's wings in sequence. They never go out of order, so I've learned.

I paddled through a couple of holes in the rocks, into some shady alcoves when the sun got hot, and over to the cliff below our house. Finally I could see just how much rocky cliff is below us. I estimate it's about 20 feet of cliff, pretty much straight down, once the desert terrain ends below the house. I was surprised. I would have guessed only 3-4 feet. The view is deceptive from our balconies.

I'm ready now to give Betsy a kayak ride in one of the two-person boats. I wanted to re-acquaint myself with my technique and confidence before taking a nonswimmer into the sea. It's like riding a bike. You don't really forgot how. About 45 minutes into my morning ride I realized I was getting a hint queasy. I'd forgotten both my seabands and my ginger. But I was having such a good time I decided to tough it out. I remembered how I had to help Frances get over her car sickness when she was a puppy by just making her go on continually longer rides. I arived on shore 30 minutes later feelng just fine. I will, nonetheless, make a better effort to use my preventative meds next time out.

I think next time I may take my camera with me. I felt pretty comfortable on the water. Plus I used a small yellow zipper lunch bag that we found in Mom's closet when we were cleaning it out - as a dry bag. It worked well on this trip. Betsy took a couple of photos of me in the kayak from the balconies, but I'm just a tiny speck in the photos so, no pix today.

I practiced all of my musical instruments yesterday - mandolin, fiddle and recorders - as well as some of my folk dance stuff with the balancing sword. I may temporarily eliminate the violin from my Mexico routine. I was surprised to see that between a third and half of the strings on the bow had come off. And I seem to have forgotten to bring rosin. I have a an ancient rosin blob in the violin case. I'll see. I will have to get the bow repaired when I return home.

I taught Betsy how to play Scrabble this evening. We played two "unofficial" games. That is, we did not keep score as she learned the rules. She likes it though. She continued playing alone after our two games.