What the hell am I doing out here?? Well, that thought only crossed my mind once while we battled through our last 3 days. The Tropical depression heading south of the island was spinning back a north-easterly wind producing 4-6 foot wind waves and those occasional roaring sets up wards of 10 feet. Quartering us all the way. The truth is I’ve been feeling good. Those 2 weeks in Wales helped me to better know what I can do and what I can handle. I don’t mind the waves. I’ve been getting quite a lot of surf practice along the way. Only paddling on the downhill side and often just letting the surf carry me along. The wind however, has been the real evil. Tiano guessed force 4-5 by 11 am. Well, whatever force you want to call it you could feel the demons grabbing at the paddle trying to pull it away and toss it out into the wide sea. To deal with the wind we immediately started our mornings at sunrise and were prepared to be off the water by 11am or noon. Still the last 2 days we did manage 13 & 11 mile days. Not fast, but keeping us within my margins for the trip.

My Rockpool has been a joy in these conditions. It grabs a wave and just sails along the crest ready to grab another and jut ahead again with reckless abandon. At one point yesterday on particularly large wave broke down on top of me. I dropped into the wave on a high brace and got the ride of my life. I can’t explain the excitement of knowing I caught the wave correctly and was just flying through the open sea. With the top of the wave pouring over my head and white foam rushing across my deck I went screaming forward for some 30 yards before she let go.

The many rocky walls produced very choppy refections that you would have to ride like a bull until your mind was so lost in the joy of the ride you would forget you were no where near a good landing. Yet soon you would pass the cliffs and again the water would east into a more regular pattern as the waves were free to roam in and break on the steep sandy beaches beyond.

I will wait and let Taino tell you of his experiences over the last few days. He has struggled and been ill. Which has left him open to dehydration and that sort of “logy” feeling you get when your energy is zapped. The challenging conditions only made it worse. Yesterday he got rolled, but recovered quickly.

We are now staying at Carrie’s Shop at KayakScuba. When we arrived, the power was out & my phone was dead. So I’ve not been able to call back to Wisconsin yet. But I hope to do so later today IF I can find a signal, which up here in the mountains is not so easy to do. We need to take a bit of time here and let Taino get over his ailment, as we will need to be 100% over the next bit of the trip where cliffs and few landings will be the order of the day. Carrie and Jose have been completely spoiling us which I can’t thank them enough for. Nydia has been visiting family but joins us every couple days and if conditions are right, she still wants to join us on the water.

Our plan now is to get back out on the water on Monday if Taino is feeling better. The north coast is the “testing ground” of Puerto Rico. We can’t help but be a bit anxious to get around the corner.

*The photo above is from a feeding frenzy that I, like a moron, paddled right into the middle of. Little fish jumped all around my kayak like exploding popcorn as birds dived and flew in an amazing display, filling the sky around me in all directions. Yeah, I was asking for a shark attack. . . I just didn’t think of it until I was paddling away. . Suddenly I thought. . “OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO!???”

Related Posts:

1. Anasco – Derrick Checks in again
2. Still Breathing – CTA
3. last day – CTA
4. nose
5. nary a wave