: Nice writeup. Just FYI, we're near Puerto Rico, not Costa Rica!
: You're thinking of all that Cafe Britt coffe we drank. That was
: Costa Rican.

Yep, I knew that. Where the heck did I mention Costa Rica anyway? The coffee was delicious...too bad you didn't realize the first time you poured the stuff I made with your French press that I had made it super concentrated so that we could all have a couple of cups. You were pretty wired after that first cup. Hee! Hee!

: Folks when I first heard the forecast for 18 to 24 foot shore
: breaks I didn't believe it so that night I looked up the report
: and sure enough, 9 to 11 foot long rolling swells with 18 to 24
: foot shore breaks. I thought we would have to cancel the trip. I
: changed our route to stay south of the cays up to St John and
: then decide once I saw the north swell whether or not we would
: keep going. It was spread out enough that it wasn't that bad,
: but they had closed all the beaches on the north shore which is
: a rare thing. As long as we didn't get too close to shore it was
: long rolling swells of about 9 to 11 feet just as predicted. It
: dropped off as the day grew longer. Where Rob said I stopped at
: great thatch BVI I was deciding to cross now or go to Tortola to
: check in to customs and wait it out. We decided to cross now.
: The swell really wasn't too bad because of the long intervals,
: but good grief the current was murder. I will say Rob is a
: strong paddler and we fought it out and I was never so glad to
: see Jost. (with a J Rob, but pronounced with a Y)

The current felt just like paddling on the river so I was pretty used to it. The swells were a hoot, especially while we paddled past Johnson Reef. Had I been in my own kayak, I would have dared to have gone closer. I really enjoyed the route to Jost (with a Y sound) and the route back. All I can think about is shipping my own kayak over and doing that paddle again. I figure on coming back over to visit during 2012. That gives me enough time to build another for shipping to your place, paddling Hudson Bay, working on the book, then visiting you and the gang again. I am positive that Linda would love to come along. ;) Next time I have to travel with her via airplane again, one of us is going into the cargo bay and I don't care whom. Linda hates the planes and her moods show it. Ugh! I am only uptight when the darned things have to land. Shouldn't have watched all those sideways landings on You Tube.

: Anyway Rob don't feel too bad about the second spill. That is one
: ugly ground swell in that area and short intervals. Definately
: that was 6 to 8 feet and steep faces. I kind of took you that
: way on the way back to give you a little taste of what can
: happen on an otherwise calm day. There is a shelf along there
: that drops off sharply and there's always a bad ground swell
: there. Honestly I knew that but as flat as it was that day I
: really didn't think it would be as bad as it was especially with
: the previous days all being north swells. I figured 4 to 6. Hey,
: missed it by just two feet. I really didn't expect the close
: intervals.

I was ok with both spills, Malcolm: the water felt great and they gave me something to think about. The only times I have ever spilled here around Edmonton were on the river when I was busy being thoughtless and all I had to do was stand up and walk out of the river. having to bail on the sea only reminded me that I should practive self-rescues again...it's been a long while since I have done that. Guess I will get into it this summer. Also, now that I have a tight fitting kayak in the form of the S&G Night Heron, I will get out and see if I can roll the thing. Couldn't roll the VJ because she was too loose and the hip brace was broken (found that out after the fact). The experience was good even if it tensed my nerves. Even the river does that when a storm hits and I often deliberately go out when the wind is fierce - it's the only way to get white water on the otherwise sedate North Saskatchewan.

: The first spill... Ummm... Stick with the fish story! Just kidding.
: I busted yesterday on a reef in a two-foot wave. Happens to all
: of us at some point.

Well, the fish were very beautiful in that area but the idea of watching my sunglasses and hat (with Linda's attached camera) got my attention first. I remember when I went to R2K6, I got knocked over by a one foot wave that crashed me into the shore and pinned me there...wave period was really short. I can't remmeber who was paddling with me at the time but he started to race over to get me but I was laughing and told him not to worry about me, I was having fun.

Robert N Pruden