![]() They explain that the wind forced them to turn back after only a half-mile. ![]() We return to the campground to find the less-experienced paddlers, Suzanne, Lisa, Sam, and Whitney, already there. We decide to turn back early, making today’s 8-mile paddle a 3-mile one. “Everything’s going to work out.” I’m not sure if she’s saying this because she believes it or because I specifically told her before leaving for the trip that I would need ongoing emotional support to avoid intentionally drowning myself at sea over my self-hate about planning a kayaking trip that would leave its participants emotionally damaged. ![]() ![]() “Relax,” Renske yells as I get hit in the face with another wave. “There’s no way we’re all going to make it to Prisoner’s Harbor.” “If the current is this bad tomorrow,” I yell to Renske. In fog, hikers walk on the trail to Del Norte Campground on Santa Cruz Island, California. “And, look, Lisa and Natalie seem to have recovered enough that they wanted more.” Privately, though, I wondered whether I’m only capable of planning outdoor adventure trips that scar people for life.īut, now, sitting with Renske in the ocean on our first kayaking day, surrounded by strong winds and whitecaps, it’s not even clear that “at least we have each other.” Though newly-Crossfit-trained Rich and Wendy are battling the waves furiously nearby, the rest of the group has already turned back to the beach. I planned this trip to be much easier than either of those,” I said, trying to keep everyone relaxed. Hearing this, less experienced kayakers Sam and Whitney seemed like they were ready to, literally, jump ship. “The Catalina kayaking trip I did with Hank a few years ago was also the hardest thing I’ve done in my life,” Natalie added, also sounding like it took her years of therapy to move past the incident. “And the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” She sounded emotionally scarred. “It was the best hike I’ve ever done,” she said. On the boat to Santa Cruz Island, the nine of us discussed our past outdoors trips, and Lisa reminisced about the Mount Whitney summit trip she completed with me, Rich, and Wendy. Hikers walk the trail to Del Norte Campground on Santa Cruz Island, California. But, when I called the Channel Islands Kayak Center three days before our departure to reconfirm the kayak rental reservation I had made months before, an employee blindsided me by telling me (for the first time) that the company discourages renters from taking kayaks more than a half-mile away from Scorpion Anchorage and that their kayaks don’t have hull storage space for camping gear. My plan outlined three days of kayaking around Santa Cruz Island: the first day, an 8-mile loop from Scorpion Anchorage beach the second day, a one-way, 9-mile coastal paddle from Scorpion Anchorage to Prisoner’s Harbor ending with a July 4, Rich-planned mystery dinner and the third day, a 6-mile loop from Prisoner’s Harbor. ![]() I took extra care to make sure the adventure’s logistics were carefully planned and our itinerary allowed the four less experienced kayakers to shirk some paddling miles and still complete the trip. But, when nine friends - married, Texan, long-time friends Rich and Wendy less experienced, married paddlers Sam and Whitney eternally cheerful, San Francisco-based couple Natalie and Norberto Minnesotan Lisa whom I’ve hiked with before, long-time college friend Suzanne, and Dutch Renske - took me up on the offer (with four flying in from out of town), I immediately felt a big responsibility to ensure that our trip wasn’t a disaster. I invited my friends on this three-day, 24-mile, July 4 kayak-camping trip six months in advance, knowing that it would be easier to get campsites and people to commit well before the trip. The nightmare that I’ve been worrying about for days is materializing before my eyes. Suddenly, a strong gust smashes an aggressive wave over our boat, soaking us both completely. If it weren’t for the white noise of the relentless wind, we’d be able to hear the barking of the California sea lions that we see nearby and the call of falcons flying overhead. AUGMy Dutch friend Renske and I are sitting in a kayak, paddling as hard as we can, against a strong current around a rocky outcrop of Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands off the coast of California. ![]()
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