[Paddlewise] The Circle of Life. Trip to Louisiana.

Circle of Life. Trip to Louisiana.

Once done, whatever it is, starts moving virtual gears, pulleys and
weights in a manner that eventually returns to you. 

That is my feeling after coming back from Baton Rouge Louisiana and
Corpus Christi Texas.

My son Gustavo (13 next week), Juan from Veracruz and myself (Rafael),
went to visit our friends in the USA and to pick up some kayaks.

Ken Johnson received us in Tx, and the Gulf of Mexico circumnavigation
crew (www.lacostadelgolfo.com), Larry and Janell Koenig and Arthur
Hebert in Louisiana. Mimi Clifton from SouthCoast kayaks
(www.southcoastkayaks.com) had arranged a three day camping trip for us
in Horn Island Louisiana.

Why would a kayaking trip close the circle? It all started when in 2002
we helped Larry and Arthur with the logistics of their kayaking along
the Gulf of Mixico on half of the Mexican side. After they left we kept
e-mailing but had not seen each other.  We knew that they ended well in
Isla Mujeres and that they started again last year in Florida and
reached their starting point in Grand Isle Louisiana, completing the
Gulf of Mexico Land circumnavigation.

Keeping e-mail comm. we talked about many ways to keep contact. Time
went by and finally, last weekend we drove for two days to pick up two
boats that they got for us at terrific prices; a brand new Greenlander
Pro custom made for me and a Silhouette used by Larry for my son
Gustavo. Ken was keeping a Slipstream for Juan, so we shared costs and
off we went.

You can see great pictures of the paddles in the bayou by Lake
Pontchartrain, Corpus Christi Bay and  a trial of a new surfing kayak
made by me in Padre Island at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/johnsonkw1
http://community.webshots.com/user/cayucochief

and you can also see there some pictures of Larry and Janells beautiful
house planned and designed by them and built by Arthur. I just mention
that Arthur, besides an excellent kayaker holding the record of crossing
alone unattended the Gulf of Mexico, is an excellent craftsman and
expert house builder, as you can see in the pictures.

The highlights of the trip were:

1.- They wanted to show us great gratitude for what we did for them
during their kayaking trip along the Gulf of Mexico, and we appreciate
it a lot, specially since we were not asking for any reward. Just helped
because we felt like doing it.

2.- We never reached Horn Island. Weather conditions were 35- 40 knots
winds and higher gusts, with a Tornado warning issued at one time, and
we thought that our Mexican crew was not prepared for open seas paddling
eight miles with camping gear in new boats under those conditions. We
regretted it deeply since Mimi had done all the cooking and was ready
with a Louisiana great paddler Tom Dumas.

3.- We paddled in a Bayou that ends in Lake Porchartrain, first going up
the channel and after lunch going down towards the lake. Wind picked up
and we really got good surfing in this narrow route.  I just imagined
how it would have been in the sea. Waves were breaking on themselves and
speed was good even without paddling. Needles to say, Mimi, Larry and
Tom stood up to their credentials doing beautiful maneuvers like
sculling, resting on the water before rolling, sitting on top of the
kayak to change clothes, etc.  

4.- We had a great evening at the famous Cajun restaurant where dancing
took place with live typical Cajun trio playing traditional songs in
French, and where families from grandparents to kids were dancing to the
very sticky two steps rhythm. There is happiness and happiness and
Cajuns really now how to enjoy life, and keep families together and
joyful. This type of self respect, spontaneity, and extrovert happiness
I have only seen in Veracruz. We enjoyed the great variety and fantastic
flavor of the Cajun cooking, regretting not to be able to try it for a
week in a row to cover the minimum of alternatives.

5.- We got two fantastic boats. Gustavo has a used, well taken care of
Silhouette, designed by Nigel Foster, and I got a Greenlander Pro
designed by Nigel Dennis, all white with red seam, cockpit and strings,
and characteristic steep stern. What a nice pair of boats. British boats
are really ruling the market trends. Very fast, but very maneuverable.
Not beginner boats, they are meant to be handled with waist, but
admirable in easiness of turning when edged. I had seldom paddled
something that would convince me that was better than my Performa, but I
found two, and we are very happy to have them. With 20-30 mph winds I
never needed to use the skeg to control direction in my GP. Always did
what I wanted. They both surf well, but the Silhouette is a beauty to
let glide with slight paddle ruddering. I would say that the Silhouette
is slightly faster and surfs better, and the GP is more maneuverable and
fun to paddle in all conditions.

6.- The Corpus Christi kayakers, Tim, Mark Arnold and Ken paddled with
us in the Bay where we sieged the Lexington carrier and took the
traditional pictures. What a group of good powerful paddlers they are.
Afterwards we went to Padre Island to surf my new prototype Delfin, a
3.2 meter, sit inside surfing board type, skegless kayak. It surfs great
and I had a ball. Once on a wave you can travel at great speed changing
direction at will, keeping great control until you decide to climb on
the wave and let it pass. Needs some more buoyancy in the stern since
small  waves wont lift it enough to catch momentum, and I am working on
that. It is going to be one of my favorite toys. It stayed in Corpus,
for anybody in the area to try it and make comments for improvements.

CONCLUSION.-  Friendship moves mountains. We are so grateful with Janell
Koenig, Larry, Arthur, Mimi Clifton and Ken Johnson, for their fantastic
hospitality. Hope we can receive them some time soon in our home in
Veracruz, to maintain the joy of spending time together paddling and
sharing.

Best Regards,

Rafael   
Mexico.
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