After the mishap of Dec 25, Josi, Sergio and myself went out to practice on the 28th to a small island made of corals and shells 3 miles out in the sea, on a day where water was like a dish, transparent to more than 6 feet and at the perfect temperature. There we practiced rolls, extended and short, rescues assisted and alone, paddlefloat reentry and roll, and had a ball. I was able to perform all my rolls in both forms, and recovered my confidence. By the way the paddlefloat from the company voyageur, small, with only one air bag and a mesh on the other side, allows yo tu make easity a reentry and roll, quickly with little water in the cockpit and to paddle away from the risky zone, impossible with the Seattle sports immense bags. So on Dec 29 my son Gustavo, Josi and myself went out in the surf and decided to practice surfing but also letting ourselves turn over and roll in front of the wave, behind the wave, backwards and sideways. We have decided that surfing practice should be accompanied from now on with rolls in the surf. This time nobody capsized accidentally. Seems like being prepared fir it avoids it. Finally on Dec 30 we took 3 doubles and paddled out, a team of 6 friends of similar skills, to the farthermost island in Veracruz 21.5 kms away for lunch and back, using a gap in between two cold fronts. (about 12 nautical miles, each way). There was a strong easterly current and made us do 5.5 hours overall paddling plus one hour in the island. One of the kayakers did get a heart high pulse and took a pill and had a drop in pressure or dehydration or both, and had to be taken by a rescue boat, of friendly fishermen who were passing by because VHF, Coast Guard notification and cell phone attempt did not work. The Coast Guard is different from other countries and they dont pay much attention to kayakers, so if ever a boat came to help it was well after we were gone. Fortunately there are always fishermen boats in the area who are willing to help for a few pesos. Our friend recovered well with hydrating liquids and rest and he is very well now. Tomorrow we are having a cold front with more than 60 knots winds, so maybe we will not paddle. Happy New Year to everybody. 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jan 01 2008 - 09:32:45 PST
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