Islas de Todos Santos - August 20, 2002 - 2

This cave, guarded by a large rock is another feature I passed up on our last trip. It is adjacent the brainalizer. Jonathan was again the first to get in. Very carefully.

A set came in and Jonathan swung around to face the surge. It was not so much the waves that were a problem, but the massive flow of water trying to pull him back into the recesses of the cave. From this shot it looks like he is loosing the battle.

Eventually he gained the advantage and made it out of the channel. The upward angle of his boat gives an idea of the strength of the water flow he is working against. Jonathan lived, so we all tried it.

Jonathan likes caves and arches, and he was routinely the first one in, the one who went the deepest, or sometimes the only one who would go at all. I think he definitely earned the nickname "Caveman" on this trip

Although not as skilled at it as the women, the men did find time to relax some. This picture is at the fish camp on Sur. First we ate, then we all just took a nap on the gravel beach

The worst crash of the trip was on the eastern (calm) side of Sur. We found a long surge channel that could be run either way, but was easier from south-to-north. We had all tried it a few times and I was lining up for my last run from the south.

Unknown to me Jonathan was lining up for a run from the north, and was intending to veer left (his left) into one of the two side channels in a neat little trick that would keep us on separate paths in complete safety. I didn't know his plan, and what he didn't anticipate, was that I would naturally turn right into the same channel to avoid collision because I didn't know he was turning.

We both ended up in that channel at the same time with only a gentle collision. Then a wave came rolling down that side channel, squirted us into the main channel and bashed us together fairly hard. Both of us flipped and rolled up, uninjured. What we should have done is paddled opposite directions as fast as we could.

What we did do is sit there assuring each other that we were ok, etc. All the while the current was moving us north and were now lined up with the other side channel, which was more violent than the first one.

Eventually I realized the foolishness of our ways and hand signaled for us to run opposite directions (In those milliseconds, words seemed too slow & inefficient), but it was too late. We almost cleared, but at the last second Jonathan's stern got lifted by a wave and the pointy part got swept right into my ribs. We both flipped again, Jonathan rolled up, but by the time I went for my roll my bow and stern had been lodged between two rocks. I did one roll attempt in which the boat did not budge at all. I knew I was pinned so I did the squirming hatch blower routine, letting go of boat and paddle and swimming away as fast as possible.

It was hard to get back up on the rocks safely to retrieve the boat. Waves kept blowing me off. Then I couldn't dislodge the boat. It was really stuck. Eventually it all worked out.

My ribs are still healing and hurting. The doctor said I either have a hairline fracture or torn muscles, or both. Either way it doesn't matter because they can't do anything about it. She said I could do whatever I wanted if I could stand the pain and to expect 6-8 weeks recovery.

Jonathan was very apologetic about creating the hazard in the first place. It would be easy to blame the whole incident on him, but that would be a gross over simplification and equally unfair. The fact is that in rock garden play boat collisions and close encounters happen with regularity. They can always be traced back to some initial action, but that is irrelevant. Ocean rock gardens always have an element of chaos and uncertainty, plus even excellent & experienced paddlers will continue to blunder occasionally. The key is to deal with these situations effectively when they arise, for whatever reason. Had we acted promptly after our first impact, it would have been a quickly forgotten bit of excitement.

I still can't hardly sleep on that side, so I get a lot of reminders that get me started thinking about what went wrong, and what could have prevented my injury:

It is clear from this picture that Margo has mastered the art or relaxation. This shot is  on the cobble beach below the bluff where our camp is.