the first north shore annual expedition -part I

(Our t-shirt logo)

The Pola, the first challenge. There is a small passage between the main land and the Pola, but it was way to wavy even to see it clearly...

“Oh do not worry, we are very prepared, we have all the gear we need”. These were the words that I told last saturday to the very worried old lady, owner of the land where we parked our cars in Vatia. The plan was to paddle from Vatia to Fagasa, enjoying the beautiful coast of the National Park over the weekend. The participants: John and Erika, with who I usually paddle, and James Bond.

The sea did look slightly wavy from the beach but the calm waters in the (protected) bay mellowed our “alarm –it may be a bad idea” neurons in our brain. So we took off. John in a fancy plastic ocean kayak, James Bond on a plastic seat-on-top recreational kayak and Erika and I on a double plastic seat-on-top floating device.

As soon as we left the bay, the started being literally slapped in our face from waves coming from different directions. John soon disappeared behind many waves, followed by James Bond. Erika and I’s neurons instead started working after the second time we slipped in the water. “May this be a bad idea in such weather?”.

Last view of John...

It was very hard for us to keep the floatation device from flipping and it was a bit scaring for me seeing the waves hitting the share cliffs of the Polas on our left. I did not even get seasick, I guess the constant input of adrenaline helped me out. All I wanted to be was out of there, on the other side of the Polas, where a promise sea protected from the adverse winds and currents was waiting us.

Erika was very cool instead, and we both very proud on how well we tied the staff on the floating device. Then, suddenly I heard Erika saying “SHIT!”. As we did not slipped at that moment I wonder what it could have been, hoping that was something like “I broke my nail”. Instead, she said: “I lost a blade”. “So much for having all the gear we need” I thought. We could see the blade slowly (we thought) sinking not far away from us, a white shadow broken by the waves. I jumped in the water and tried to reach it with my feet, but nothing, it was deeper. I had to dive. So I gave my life jacket to Erika, and my sunglasses, and without thinking too much (or without even getting a big breath) I dove down. One frog kick, 2 frog kick, 3 frog kick… the blade was still somewhere further down. I could not see much, just undefined colors… but it felt so peaceful down there, with no waves, no white caps, no winds… 4 frog kick… “It is so blue down there, it seems like there is a light”… 5 frog kick… “uhmm… I think I am running out of air, I should not go further down, but…I like it down here…” 6 frog kick… “Oh, the blade! I reached it! Let’s go up!”. I looked around, where was up? I guess it was because of the light scattering the waves were doing, but it was honestly hard to decide where up was. And it was truly peaceful down there. I though of realizing a bubble of air from my mouth and follow it, but I did not feel like I had any air in my lungs. So I just decide to go back on the way I came from and started kicking my legs… I gasped for air when I surfaced. Erika was looking at me with a pale expression as to say “Where have you been” and “Please tell me you got the blade!”. Suddenly I returned to that hell of a sea and I realized I did not have my life jacket on. I jumped on the floating device; Erika sat on the loose blade and we started paddling moving away from the cliff.

James Bond, who has extended experience with white water kayaking, was waiting and playing with the waves at the end of the Polas, where the waves became much bigger but also less chubby and therefore much more manageable. A group of spinning dolphins was doing a show for us and, all of a sudden, made the whole experience worth it.

Pass the pola, there was a quite calmer sea, and a strong current flowing east to west carrying us to the cove we designed for the lunch break.

JB and John on the other side of the Pola... nice sea here... From this point of view, the Pola looks like a pink dog or a pig... both very samoan anyway...

But now I am going to bed… more to be told tomorrow…