I went kayaking with four other ladies yesterday. I sure love that sport. This time we put-in (started) at the estuary. We paddled almost to Miramar near the dolphin amusement park. At this point the two younger gals headed back, leaving three of us - with me as the youngest! - who decided to continue out to an island.
En route we passed, of course, a couple of pelican rocks.
We had to kayak in a horizontal direction for awhile due to a long fishing net that blocked us from getting out to the island. The end of these nets are typically marked with a plastic floating container like an empty two litre soda pop bottle, or this red plastic jug. The net also prevented us from getting as close as I would have liked to the pelican rock. Little red balls floated on the water's surface every 6 feet or so, marking where the net was.
The wind was picking up and the waves getting choppier as we neared the island. We could see the surf breaking in all directions around the island as we approached, and chose not to go quite all the way up to it. That was my call, actually. Everyone expressed concern about going all the way to the island, but I said I was not confident in my skills, so everyone agreed to turn around.
Something I'm finding here about participating in water sports is that when in groups, not only are people respectful of each other's physical limitations, but it is actually encouraged that you speak up when you don't think you can handle a situation, or if you need help. In fact in my first scuba class, my instructor got on my case a couple of times because I had forgotten that when diving - always with the buddy system - that when you have trouble with something an accepted solution to any problem is to ask for help. By the same token, you are NEVER to offer help unsolicited, unless in a dire emergency of course. I really like that. I've always found it insulting when someone tries to "help" me with anything when I haven't asked for assistance.
So we turned around and headed back to shore. I have finally learned that the dolphins tend to appear around the estuary between 11am and noon. One of the ladies was a bit ahead of us on the way back to shore, and the dolphins played around her kayak for a bit, swimming under and around it.
About ten minutes from shore I started to fade. I could feel exhaustion setting in. The trip had been the perfect amount of time for me. I had a clean landing, and the three of us went out to lunch at yet another palapa restaurant called Arbolitos where I had chile relleno stuffed with marlin. Mmmmm
I came home and did some scuba homework. I have completed four of the five chapters. The last chapter is the shortest. I went back to the estuary with Frances so she could have her daily outing. There's not really a yard here that the dogs can play in. And that folks, was a day.
So this morning I'm rethinking the whole scuba thing. I remember when I went out on the Sea Lion snorkel, that I did not have the stamina to go into the water at the second location. To certify, I will have to go out on the boat twice this next week, having two dives on each trip. I'm going to go into the dive shop later today and talk with Gary and see what alternatives there are. It's kind of funny in a way. When I began the scuba class, it was the homework I was most worried about. I've actually enjoyed that part. It's the physical that I'm struggling with. Ah well. I tried. I am not disappointed
It's a stormy day anyway. I'm more in the mood for drinking coffee, writing, and playing the mandolin. And a beach walk in the storm would be lovely.
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