Aruba

12-20-11

I finally got back into the water, but this time it was on vacation in Aruba. We stayed in a guest house across the street from the Spanish Lagoon, and our hosts were nice enough to let us borrow their kayaks. The water and shoreline of this Caribbean island were completely foreign to me. The water in the lagoon and the sea beyond was at least 7 different shades of blue ranging from aqua close to the shore, to a bright gel like blue in the middle of the lagoon, to the dark. lapis color of the Caribbean Sea beyond the reef. The shore was even more alien to a Mid-Southerner. It consisted of a ten foot high wall of gray coral. Large, jagged pieces lay in the water like boulders allowing swimmer access to the lagoon. Our host had cleverly built a wooden staircase that descended to from the top of the cliff to one of the coral boulders. A detachable ladder allowed boaters to reach the water. A framework of wood was affixed to the top of the boulder and I slid the ladder into place securing it with a long, metal bolt. After lowering the boats into the water, we decided to paddle to the first of a chain of coral reef islands on the edge of the lagoon. We had the benefit of the predictable northeast trade wind pushing us to the island.  The water surrounding the reef was shallow. We tied off to a wooden dock and clambered onto the wooden platform to don our snorkeling gear. 

We entered the clear, blue water to see a reef teaming with fish that I remember from my days as a pet shop worker. Small damsels darted from their nest to defy any intruder. Yellow stripers, tangs and gobies also swam into view. I followed a school of yellow stripers while taking video, but my “waterproof” camera failed after a few minutes. We also saw sea urchins and conch shells along the bottom of the reef. We returned to the platform to lie in the sun before paddling back to shore. The wind had kicked up, but we still made good progress against the trade wind. We even landed at the same place from which we departed. 

12/22/11

We decided to paddle the Spanish Lagoon again, but this time we would skip the first island and continue down the reef. Even though the wind was lighter today, the current was actually stronger. I could feel the current pushing my kayak to the reef. We stopped at the second island and docked. We didn’t snorkel, but I followed a path through the mangroves to the Caribbean side of the reef. I saw a large wooden platform with walls on two sides and even an outhouse with a toilet. The wood had been scoured by wind and sea spray until it was as soft as tissue paper. After exploring the island, Staci decided that she was ready to head back. The wind had increased, and the blue surface of the lagoon was now studded with whitecaps. We were also down current of the ladder so it would be difficult to paddle straight back to our starting point. I decided that we should head straight across the lagoon and then move up the shoreline using the high coral cliff face to shelter us from the wind. 

The current had other plans and pushed against us. We made slow progress and Staci became tired and frustrated. We reached the middle of the lagoon when she gave out and couldn’t continue. Staci struggled to reach a buoy in the middle of the channel. She grabbed it and held on to rest. However, this wasn’t a good long term rest stop, and we were still a hundred yards from shore. I pulled along side and attached a tow line to join the boats. But first, I had to untie a string from the tow line that would have caused Staci’s boat to turn side ways. I wished that I had my knife, but I was able to untie the string. Before I could attach the towline, I lost my paddle. It was quickly floating away and I had to use Staci’s paddle to retrieve it while she continued to cling to the buoy. I paddled about twenty feet to catch my paddle and returned to finally attach the tow line. I began to slowly paddle to the yacht marina on the main island. I could feel Staci’s kayak puling me back and the strong current pushing further down the coast. To make things more difficult, the sit on top kayak I was using didn’t have a high enough back rest. My back and hip flexors were starting to tire and hurt. To relieve the pressure, I would lie down and continue to paddle. Despite everything, I was making progress. My training on the Wolf River was paying off. I was used to fighting a strong current for long periods of time. 

I didn’t feel tired as I paddled for the yacht marina. However, I made a plan “B” incase the current prevented me from crossing the lagoon. I would simply float with the current and rudder to a safe landing point some place further down current. The problem was that I would have to float passed a desalinization plant and a garbage dump to find a beach. This would also put us too far away to walk back to our rental house. Instead, I fought the current by paddling nonstop. Even when I laid down flat to rest my back, I kept paddling. Slowly, we reached the yacht marina. I didn’t see anyone on the boats and there wasn’t an easy place to land a kayak. Stopping here would have also put us on the wrong side of the bridge leaving us with a long walk. I still felt strong so I continued through the marina and across a sheltered arm of the lagoon.  The water was not choppy here and there was no contrary current. It was like being on a lake. I crossed the arm and reached the restaurant where we planned to eat that evening. I pulled up to a ladder on the restaurant dock to let Staci out. An employee came over to see what we wanted so I took the opportunity to make a reservation for 7. I also asked the employee if Staci could exit through the restaurant. Unfortunately beside the word reservation, she didn’t understand much English. Staci climbed the ladder anyway and the employee decided that Staci must be sick so she let her out the front door. The employee returned to tell me “She go bye bye”. I continued along the coast towards our ladder. I passed several swimmers and one of them asked if I lost someone. I explained that it looked bad but I had let my girl friend out so she could safely walk back. As I approached our rock, I saw Staci waiting for me .