A Swell Time

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Bruised, Burned, Blistered and Bleeding – and I’m not talking about my ego, here. My back is scraped thoroughly from all the pivoting in my seat trying to keep my kayak right-side-up in five-feet swells just south-east of John Lawrence Island…ohhhhh and the wall of rocks they end on – not a pleasant sight. Still rolling and pitching from the rough seas while kayaking this past week, I haven’t felt this alive in a lonnnnng time.

But all in all it was a bloody good week at sea. I actually enjoyed the fight. A mini-storm (something you get a lot of at this time of the year in the andamans) hit me just as I was through playboating the swells a couple or so days ago, and turned to start my 4 km ride back. The angry sky first darkened behind Havelock, then above Havelock then in front of Havelock and within a minute above me.

Well, I learned one thing for sure: There’s only one rule to surviving a storm – Never Obey It. Attack it head-on. Two reasons: one is you’ll get to the other side of it faster, if you’ve got strong lungs, and the second is as long as she’s only got you by the bow, she’s got the least control over you – as opposed to 14 feet of your beam, or even your light and difficult to control tail (stern).

It just kept shoving me time and again onto my beam pushing me around inching closer and closer to John Lawrence. If it were headed out to sea it would be a different story, the thing was pushing me straight toward the lashing waves breaking against that rock-wall I mentioned earlier? Man, I was like “No, I’m headed the other way!” but it just wouldn’t get the message.

Anyway, so after an hour in the same spot (so it seemed), the rain let up and I could finally stop squinting so much. The winds also gradually began to die out and after 1.5 km of swells I was back into safe water.

Two hours later I headed out for a 24 km tour toward these beautiful mangroves which canopy on top of you and rise up from just an arm’s length away. A couple of worried fishermen warned me about crocodiles and I backed out from one of the narrower creeks; Just stuck to the broad creeks from then on. They told me that they hadn’t been sighted that particular day but they were found in abundance around these parts. I would not want to be caught on a sit-on-top in either of my rides that day. Good thing was in my traditional sit-in sea kayak. Even then, I would pick a storm over a crocodile any day. I haven’t a clue of what I first rule of encountering a croc would be.

So the next day, with aching muscles (aching to ride), I mounted my Sexy Red Contour 480 and headed back for the swells. It took me half an hour to get there (4km), about twenty minutes of toying around in 1.5 km of swells, rested comfortably off a calm stretch of beach where I relaxed, refilled on fuel (cookies and coconut water) and started back out. Took me another half hour to get back. Then I rested in my tent for a couple of hours, got up feeling restless and unexploited and kayaked across the coast for 5km to another gorgeous corridor of mangroves almost 4.5 km in length. And then returned.

So the next day, when a lovely French lady wanted to do some kayaking in my sea-kayaks I took her down there. Safe, calm, no crocs.

Ahh, P.S. : The only place on Havelock that offers sea kayaks and sea kayak excursions is Vinnie’s Dive India. They also have sit-on-tops but mainly offer sea kayaks and day tours. And although tours range from one-hour fun-yaking, 2.5-hour short brush up on sea kayaking skills, half day (4 hours) sea kayak tours and full day (8 hours with 2.5 hours’ rest) sea kayak tours, beach games like kayak polo and tug of war are also quite popular. You also have the option of just renting the kayak, gear and buying a sea map to discover the place on your own.

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Comments

[n.murali]

love yr kayaking story
Hi, i spend some time in the andamans as we have a property at wandoor. I lost 2 of my sit on top kayaks there 2 years ago. i think i ll bring another inflatable one there next time. i dive too. cheers