The Outrigger Canoe Trip
Costa
Rico
Spring
2011
When
I was in the midst of my manic floatation vessel acquisition period (2004-05),
I had the opportunity to bid on a 40’ teak outrigger canoe that once belonged
to a DuPont. It was given to him as a
wedding present from some king in some Polynesian country. And now, 40 years later, the family of this
now deceased DuPonter was unloading it at an auction and I put a bid on it for
$200. Needless to say. I didn’t get it. And thank god for that because it would have
cost 10 times that just to move it to my house.
But it was gorgeous and I loved it and I did have a moment of regret for
not throwing caution to the wind and bidding like crazy. And there are days
when I continue to obsess on this misfortune.
Anyone,
its five years after this missed opportunity and I still want to ride in an
outrigger canoe. So the trip I picked for Costa Rico is the outrigger canoe and
snorkeling trip. Perfect.
It’s
a beautiful sunny day. And everyone is in shorts. And I am in my long kayaking pants and long
sleeve shirt and big ass floppy hat. And
when asked why I am not in shorts also, I have to give everyone my usual
statement “The sun is not my friend.”
Everyone agrees with me. But no
one covers up and some of those bodies should have been covered up.
We
drive over an hour to a beach and are greeted by young men who are beach bums
and they have the perfect jobs for them.
We are treated to mango juice and the sounds of macaws screech at us
from the top of the trees. Something
spooks them and they emerge from the canopy and cover the sky and their
presence stops us in our own tracks. We watch and point until every last one of
them is now completely out of our view.
We
head to the shoreline and find two beaten up canoes. Our SAS information told us that these canoes
were USA safety certified. One look at
these canoes and I think to myself “these certifications have expired.”
But
no matter. We are given quick instructions in paddling and then we are assigned
the task of pushing the canoe in the water. We all grab on to the side of the
vessel and begin to push with gusto. Of course, no one is waddling at my slow
pace. So I am almost run over by the
outrigger.
We
all hop in and I find that the paddling is quite relaxing. We were instructed to paddle on the opposite
side of the person in front of us. And
at various intervals, the guide in the back would shout out “Olt” and in
unison, we raised our paddles straight up in the air. And then he would shout “Ot” and we lowered
our paddles and begin to paddle on the opposite side.
And
at just the right time, he would shout out, “Ok, we take a break now.” And we would rest our paddles on our laps and
just drift a little bit as we quickly took photos of the beautiful scenery that
surrounded us.
We
landed on the beach and got out and I wondered how the boats were going to get
back to our starting point. I was
expecting to be picked up by our van at this point. I was tired.
That’s when I found out that we would hop back in later on and we would
paddle back, against the current.
We
traversed over some rocky terrain for a short while and we came to another
beach area. We all took a dip in the
cool water that wasn’t too strong in current. And I brought my camera in with
me as I wanted to see how waterproof the camera really was.
Then
we prepared to go snorkeling in this area.
Now, of course, I brought all of my snorkeling equipment with me. But I left it on the van which I thought
would be meeting us at this point. So now it sits on the van and I am once
again using shity, gross, overused equipment.
Our guide has smeared toothpaste on the goggles as an anti-fogging
technique. So the first thing we have to
do is clean off all the excess toothpaste.
We are not even given flippers because the water is so calm. And so we walk out together beyond the surf
and submerge ever so slightly in the cool water.
The
snorkeling is easy and we see lots of fish but not lots of variety. But that is ok with me because I am very
pre-occupied with my waterproof camera.
And not only was I taking still shots at this point, But I’ve decided to
try my hand at making movies under water as well. I feel like Jacque Costuea. I am bringing a whole new world to life in my
camera and it is thrilling.
At
one point, I pop up and look around and the group is way ahead of me. So I make an attempt to catch up to
them. I go back to my photography and I
check up on my situation again. Now I am
farther out than everyone else. I have
to head back. I am out beyond my comfort
and nagging thoughts of drowning are plaguing me.
Once
I am back on the shore, I rejoin those who did not snorkel. And they are
sitting in the shade, enjoying freshly cut pineapple and watermelon. And we sit and eat and laugh at our good
fortune and enjoy each other’s company.
We are all grateful for the moment.
But
now, it’s time to paddle back. And as we
re-board the canoes, the skies get a little darker and we all hope we make it
back before the afternoon showers. We paddle back with fewer breaks and less
energy. And as we are approaching the
shores, there is a clap of lightning.
And our paddle energy picks up dramatically. We reach the shore and quickly get out of the
canoes. We made it just in time. The skies open up and a slight rain falls on
us. And the warm rain feels nice on my
cold, wet body.
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