I WANNA BE IN PICTURES: Kayaking keeps life interesting

The sun was out, the water was calm, and today was the day Patti and MG decided to check kayaking off of their list. Wayne took us down to the rental facility, we were given the "rules" of ocean kayaking. Now those that know me, know I do better with suggestions, than rules, but I listened, and the more I heard, the more I thought I didn't want to do this. The man was scaring me! If you do this, this will happen, and so on and so forth..

Long story short, I handed over the credit card, got our paddles, shoes, and life jackets and proceeded to the water. The entry was rocks..slippery, large rocks. Not exactly the nice sandy spot I had dreamed of, but non the less, we were going to go in.

Patti climbed in the front, I gave the boat a push, and low and behold, I managed to get in the back without incident. We paddled nicely for a short while when we saw a large sea turtle. We sat quietly and just observed him for awhile, and then he turned his head as if noticing us for the first time, and dove under the water, and we paddled on.

So we paddled, laughed, ooohhh'd and awww'd, at the great weather, the coral, and just how great we were maneuvering the kayak. We went up to Lahaina, down to Mala's and felt very brave crossing the reef and venturing into deeper water. All was well. I noted the time was close to 10:30 and today was the day that Mark was flying home. I mentioned if we hurried, we could catch him at the house and say good-bye. We were approaching the end of baby beach, we had a few waves to cross, we remembered the rules of taking waves straight on....with paddles going wildly, we hit the first wave. Words that can't be published, we had the second wave hit me in the back...I mentioned something about water in orifices, that water shouldn't be, when WHAM!! A sneaker wave hit us from the side, and over we went!

I had a bungy cord attached to my paddle, which was now wrapped around my right leg, Pattie was face down in the water, my thought was, uh oh, a floater....Patti sprung up yelled to see if I was OK, I said, yes, I'm OK, a little scratched up, but fine...we scurried around trying to get the things that had fallen from the kayak, although I was still tethered to the cord. Patti eventually got in the kayak, I got out of the cording, and off we went, leaving a trail that any shark could have found easily.

By the time we reached the house, we were informed we missed Mark by one minute. Well, he missed our owies, so here they are.

Some soap and water, vigorous scrubbing, Susie came to the rescue with a MERSA ointment, and we assume all will be well..

We were told to return the kayak by 3:00. At 1:30 we'd had enough. The wind was blowing pretty hard, the white caps were getting bigger and bigger, and we didn't want to, but it was time to get back in and paddle back.

OH MY! The current was so strong, and two foot white caps had us rocking and rolling. When we approached the waves that had sent us sprawling, we were as cautious as could be. We made it! White caps had us up and down, and going was slow. We set small goals, just make it to the pier, then the boat, etc. etc. We could see Wayne waiting for us on the rocks where we were supposed to take the kayak in. We judged the waves, and made our break. YEAH!!! No capsizing for us. The shop keeper was so excited to see us, he said he was very nervous when the weather changed, and that he never rents kayaks when the conditions are what they were when we returned. He said, I'd buy you a beer if I had one, I'm so proud you made it in.

Hmmmm hear us roar! Now that's it's over, we will be laughing and talking about this for many years to come...crazy? Brave? Stupid? You decide. It's over.

We went up the road to Mala's for drinks and pupus. Everyone was very happy with this restaurant. Lovely view, ocean breeze, and delicious food.