Little surprises...

Sometimes things turn out a bit different than expected. So did the little wintry kayak expedition in the German Bight.

The first surprise was on the radio on Thursday when I was driving north, heading to Horumersiel. I thought Astrid was the "Glücksfee", but the meteorologists on German radio were speaking about the "Bernhilde-high pressure zone". What's in a name? It didn't make a big difference though, the weather was perfect.

The second surprise had a bigger impact. I was invited to this kayak trip that was announced as a "challenging seakayaktrip": winter conditions, open bivouacs on remote places, night paddling, long distances. The organizer had clearly stated this trip was meant for well prepared, advanced paddlers with a good physical and mental condition. It surprised me highly that, ready for departure late Thursday-evening in the darkness, one of the participants told this was his first paddle out on sea ever. He paddled a traditional skin-on-frame low volume Greenland qayaq, in which he couldn't pack a decent winter outfit -no cooker and tent for instance... The organizer decided nevertheless to depart with the complete group: (1) the novice could use some equipment of the 3 other paddlers, (2) tide was coming in so we had to hurry to get away and (3) it was only a short distance under sheltered conditions till the first stop. We paddled two hours out, made camp as planned at midnight. Because everyone used tiny 1 person-shelters, the novice sea kayaker could only sleep under my tarp. That's better than nothing, but not comfortable in winter! We got up at half past four in the morning - time to get ready for the big crossing of over 25 nautical miles. At six in the morning, after breaking down the camp and stowing the gear in the kayaks, the organizer made the only reasonable decision: to paddle back to the harbour in order to bring the novice back. Because we had to wait some hours until tide was running in, this gave us enough time to make a walk and to explore the island in darkness. Sun came up after 8 o'clock. Back in the harbour I felt no desire anymore to paddle. Strange, that rarely happens to me! I decided the trip was over for me.

This may sound as if I am very disappointed and didn't have a good time. That's not the case. I had two wonderful days in company of good friends which formed a strong team together. The night-paddle on Thursday-evening was spectacular, I enjoyed sliding down the mud in the harbour (we left near low tide), paddling under a starry sky, a fun midnight picnic under open sky, exploring one of the hidden treasures of the German Wadden-region in the early morning and midwinter rolling exercises out at sea and many more nice moments. Of course I am a bit disappointed I didn't paddle along the promised historic lighthouses in the German Bight (the Lighthouse "Roter Sand" is a absolute highlight). But: "things happen". I'll be back soon, and I picked up some new ideas for future paddles.

Everyone had his own lessons from this experiences. The organizer realized it was a mistake to accept a new unknown paddler on a trip like this. The novice seakayaker learned that good skills and condition are not enough - good practice and equipment are also essential. (Our novice seakayaker isn't a novice in kayaking: he is an advanced white-water paddler and an expert in greenland style rolling, but new to seakayaking. He had dramatically underestimated winter-paddling and wasn't familiar the habits and (safety- and group-) procedures of of seakayaking).
Driving back to the Netherlands I had plenty of time to reflect on the reason behind my feeling the trip was over for me at the moment we returned in the harbour. Was I tired, was it the temptation of the warm comfortable car, were it all the duties waiting for me at home or... ? This may all have contributed a bit, but what affected me most was the feeling I lost control...

PS: given English is not my native language, I found it hard to put my refections on this trip into the right words: it's difficult to bring in the nuances. I sure don't intend to make anyone black! Being smart afterwards is always to easy...