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. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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