Kayaking!!!

Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Yesterday we rented sea kayaks and had ourselves an adventure. We had scheduled the day before with Kenner and Reinaldo, two brothers who run a surf school and rent boards and kayaks right on the beach. At approximately the appointed time (we had to wait a bit for the winds to die down somewhat, except they didn't really), we were outfitted with life jackets, a large water proof bag for us to stuff with all our belongings, paddles and three kayaks which Reinaldo dragged out into the water for us, held steady while we climbed in and then shoved us off with instructions to paddle "left, right, left, right" while he definitely was demonstrating right, left, right, left. Liam and I shared one kayak, Kris and Fionn another and Ronan got a single. Fionnula was attempting this with some pretty serious reservations. We were to head out beyond where a dozen or so boats sat floating and then turn left towards a small offshore island where we could land, explore briefly and then return the same way we had gone. Liam and I were definitely a little rough on the way out and once had to use our paddles to shove off from a moored fishing boat so we wouldn't collide, but I thought we were getting the hang of it as we approached the island. Then we realized that what we thought was a pretty smooth shore was quite rocky and we would be better to try a landing closer to where Fionn and Kris were heading. This realization was too late though, and we decided that rather than fight the waves we would be better to just let them bring us in on the rocks and make it work. We basically achieved a soft crash landing.The island was amazing. One side all black volcanic rock and tide pools, the other piled high with over sized shells of mysterious, and long dead, sea creatures. Fionn stuffed her bag with shells. As it approached time to leave I wondered how we would pull this off without the help we had had leaving the mainland. Especially given the rocky shoreline, the wind, and persistent waves. I thought of how Reinaldo had told us that on the way back we would have to "paddle really, really fast," and thought that didn't seem so funny now.

Liam and I, turning around together, just after our successful, if not graceful, launch, to see if Kris and Fionn had got off the island,  capsized our own boat. We were not far off shore and could both still stand in the water so we got ourselves righted, climbed back in and started over. Ronan, who managed his kayak extremely capably from the beginning, threw himself into the water next to us in solidarity I guess. Then we followed instructions and paddled really, really fast to get away from the island's drag on us. We were making good progress when we realized that Fionn and Kris were both floating in the water beside an upside down kayak and Ronan was racing towards them. Liam's immediate response was "we have to go to them,"  but it turned out that we lost control of our own boat long enough that all we could do was keep an eye on their drama as we spun back and forth ourselves and headed most of the way back to the island we had just escaped. Liam and I got our boat under control in time to see Ronan lift Fionn back into her seat and then hold everything steady while Kris climbed on board too. We were amazed to see that Kris still wore his baseball cap and sunglasses. Even Fionn's flip flops had remained on her feet and the bag that held all our water bottles, Fionn's shells, and Kris's phone had floated on the water at least long enough to be thrown back on the kayak. Kris discovered later that it had also filled with water, but his phone stored inside layers of ziploc bags had survived the dunking just fine. We made the rest of our way back through the moored boats with no excitement other than a large flock of birds perched on an empty fishing boat that took flight over our heads. Ronan stayed behind us the rest of the way keeping watch on us all, I am sure, and tacking back and forth to get some extra mileage in for himself.

Back safely on shore, we sat and watched the sunset, and then some fire jugglers and then walked home to our beds.