[Paddlewise] Trip report to Arrecife El Cabezo

One more step forward. Why? Because we went out for the first time to a 
distance that would put us out of sight of anything, except for  a very 
fine line due to high mountains very far away on our back (which we 
couldn´t see anyway). Had to use either compass or GPS and decided to 
ignore electronics for navigation and used it only for statistics.

What did we conquer? For one thing, we are putting markers on all the 
Islands around Veracruz, that nobody has done kayaking, as far as we know, 
but that is not that big a thing. We made an internal conquest. We went out 
with just a little concern, but confident, knowing that we depended only on 
our abilities, resistance to heat and time, chosen resources like  compass, 
water, PFD, paddlefloat, extra paddle, mirror or whatever.

We had a trip plan, advised our relatives, set up an ultimate arrival time 
before people would start looking for  free kayaks, etc., and off we went. 
Had VHF radio, cell phone on dry bags, lunch, stools, energy bars, 1.5 
gallons of water and two liters of Gatorade.

If you really want to read the report or parts of it I am separating it in 
sections. If you want to see the trip you can check the pictures at 
http://community.webshots.com/user/cayucochief

I am writing in the following order: team, navigation, rescues, time and 
speed, flaws, lessons learned.

TEAM.- Juan Luis (24), Rafael (56). Juan Luis had a home made paddle that 
broke on the first strokes and an EPIC carbon fiber  as spare. He wanted to 
test the new light paddle and see if it would take the beating. He was 
paddling a new design boat (16.2 ft). I used a slightly stronger paddle 
made at our shop also (28.2 oz) and a kayak just like the one we took to 
California in 2002 (16.2 ft).

NAVIGATION.
After checking compass angle on the first Island (Isla de Enmedio visible 
from Land), I determined from the GPS that the next Light house or light 
pole or light whatever was 110º from North in CW direction. Nothing could 
be seen in the horizon except for water, sky and light clouds. As we 
started moving a strong current and light North wind pushed us to almost 
120º. I tried to correct angle all the time by paddling towards 100º, but 
with little distraction we were going again 120º.
It was easier to drift down with rear waves than to paddle with side waves. 
Sea was choppy with a choppiness you only see in the Gulf of Mexico. Waves 
were not too big but would come every now and then in any direction, with 
predominant South West. Sun was rising at roughly 77º, left of our supposed 
objective.

After a long paddle, Juan Luis saw a small, vertical, grey line close to 
the horizon. That seemed to be our target since there was no closer object 
in the neighborhood of that light. The light marked the North End of a big 
reef called El Cabezo, that is about 1.5 nm wide and 3 nm long. As we moved 
towards the light our compass marked 80º most of the time.

I had considered the bearing for the South light (110º) instead of the 
North light (90º). Therefore, and since we got there, I give myself a C+. 
We´ll do better next time.
Just to finish this section let me tell you that the light had no land 
around. It was hard to put out at its base, because waves were hitting and 
splashing. We did a little bit of rock patioing (small to be called rock 
gardening). We saw some rocks far away and decided to paddle and look for 
sand to have lunch but there were only rocks and waves hitting on them, so 
....we decided to go  back looking for the next LIGHT (El Rizo Reef) 
wishing that it would have a place to stand up.

We did better with our navigation this time.

RESCUES.- Starting back from El Cabezo, and considering what was going to 
be a long paddle, I felt the need to look for a bathroom. I knew I would 
not have to worry a lot if I could not distinguish the male door from the 
female door. I had no bottle for the purpose, so I decided to go for a 
swim. There was a nice shallow section of about 7 feet deep, whose bottom 
looked so close, but really wasn`t. Anyway it was beautiful. Juan Luis did 
a couple of rolls, and practiced leaning back on the very low back coaming 
of the new boat. It looked great. Then I turned over, wet exited and 
established my negotiation with nature. The mild temperature water felt so 
good. The day was hot with announced extreme UV radiation and we were tired.

I reentered and rolled and once up I noticed that it is very difficult to 
pump water out without using a paddle float as an outrigger.
Juan Luis came by, and held the boat.

Next time, if I have to wet exit (which should not be needed, if p bottle 
and all), I`ll reenter and roll with the paddlefloat, and after I pump out, 
I`ll store it and continue to go. With the paddlefloat, placing the free 
blade end under the thigh brace, you can keep the balance by moving your 
waist, like circus wire men do with their long balance rod. If waves turn 
you to your left side, the paddle and float weight will compensate, if they 
push you to your right, the paddle will float and you can support yourself 
on the shaft. That way you have both hands free to pump out, even with semi 
rough waters.

TIME AND SPEED.- Started our trip by 7:30 AM. Our first stop was at 7:32, 
when Juan Luis broke the paddle and we had to get the spare paddle and 
store the pieces. Ended  by 2:30 PM. Spent about 15 minutes in Isla de 
Enmedio and about 70 minutes having lunch at the light tower El Rizo.

Distance was 17.2 nautical miles. Moving time 5 :24:18, Moving average 3.2 
knots (This includes rolls, water drinking, picture taking, since drifting 
was strong and is considered as speed for GPS average terms). Overall 
average 3.0 knots (lunch not included). Max speed 5.7 knots.

FLAWS.- I relied on reading the GPS to determine the next objective angle. 
Once there, the cover was wet, and I did not have my glasses, so I wasted 
time interpreting the data. Need a big drawing with times, distances and 
coordinates, usually called map.

Juan Luis brought a Jalapeño pepper can and when we opened it there were 
refried beans. Turned out OK because we needed proteins.
We forgot mayonaisse for our Tuna fish, and were wondering who was going 
back to get it.

LESSONS LEARNED.-
1.- Bring enough water. We used all we brought, and wondered what would 
have happened if the trip lasted one or two more hours.
2.- Don´t forget the spare paddle. Good we had four sets.
3.- Make a good map and give each paddler a copy.
4.- When compass navigating consider carefully drifting currents.
5.- Trimming your boat is important. Changed weight from front to back 
compartment and recovered good tracking in side waves.
---------------------------
OTHER ASPECTS
6.- When averaging your speed with the GPS, if you have to go slowly 
against current, turn the GPS off and turn it on when you have    following 
seas, and don´t tell anybody, specially if your are going to be evaluated 
for the Outer Islands Channel Crossing.
7.- When an object looks far away it is far away, but when an object looks 
close it is far away.

Best Regards,

Rafael
el cayucochief
www.mayanseas.com 
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