sea. Bea illuminated them with our searchlight while I manoeuvred the kayak. As we glided into a protected marina, a grounded Haitian refugee boat lined with blank-faced refugees greeted us. We dragged the boats up onto the beach and fell asleep on the sand. I awoke, sweating in the heat of the mid-
morning sun. There was no Haitian refugee boat, no old Spanish fort, and no wharf piles in the water, just a shared hallucination and two kayaks in need of repair.
JOHN DOWD paddled from Venezuela to Florida in 1976–77 with his wife Beatrice, Ken Beard and Richard Gillet (who replaced Stephen Benson midway). This piece is abridged from an upcoming book about his kayaking and diving adventures.
Case 2: In Cold Water—continuted from page 34 Sure enough, within minutes of mak-
ing camp, the wind picked up. It blew 30 knots all night, driving crashing surf into our cobblestone campsite. I barely slept a wink. At dawn, I found an old footpath leading to the highway and thought, prob- lem solved. I could pick up my boat later. But at some point, I changed my mind and started getting psyched about conquering the towering waves. I rushed the group through breakfast and hurriedly climbed into my drysuit. Dave Ide, a strong paddler who would
become North America’s first BCU coach, launched first. His 18-foot Nordkapp near- ly pitchpoled backwards onto the rocky beach, but he powered through the break- ers. I launched next and promptly got May- tagged and pounded back into the shore. As if this wasn’t good enough, I tried again, this time clawing my way beyond the surf. Things went well for a kilometre or two
until I was knocked over by a three-metre wave. I made a half-assed attempt to roll in the ice-cold water before wet exiting. The guys got me back into my boat and Ide clipped in with his towline. I sat help- less with a float on each paddle blade for stability. It took Dave an agonizing three hours to tow me the seven-odd kilometres to Michipicoten. The accident really shook me up. My zeal
for rough-water paddling was gone. When things really go wrong and you’re in the water, it is far worse than you can possibly imagine. Later, as I made my way through the ranks of the BCU, I had good reason to believe their mantra of placing sound judg- ment above all else.
BRUCE LASH is a firefighter and sea kayak guide living in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He began sea kayaking in the early 1980s.
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