Oops Upside Your Head

We were awoken, later than planned, by a violent shudder of the tent. Whilst the storm had passed, the winds had not abated. Tuning in for the weather forecast did nothing to play my fears, but the rest of the group were keen to paddle to the end of the sheltered bay to see if we can hop from bay to bay, finding shelter where possible, to make progress eastwards.

At first, the paddle out of the bay was a joy as my boat cut through the breaking waves like a samurai sword through a silk scarf. Out of the shelter of the bay, we were exposed to the full power of the wind and the decision was swiftly made to return and re-establish our camp. In that brief moment, the wind caught my boat spinning me around towards the rocks on the shoreline. I heard screams of "paddle hard on the right" and obediently did so. Despite all my efforts the rocks were getting alarmingly close. Within about one meter of the rocks, my boat finally turned. I was saved.

I still could not tell you what happened next. Was it the relief of missing the rocks? Was it my inexperience as a sea paddler? Or was it simply fate?

Whatever the reason, I had ended up side-on to the waves and one of them engulfed my boat. My World then turned upside down. 

I was surprised at how calm I remained as I tugged at my spraydeck and, on the fourth attempt, rolled forward out of the boat. This may sound strange, but it was a serene and beautiful moment as I stared up at the silhouette of my sea kayak against the azure seawater surface. One that shall stay with me for the rest of my days...

Upon reaching the surface, the serenity was broken as everyone frantically paddled towards my upturned boat; two in their sea kayaks and me, doggy-style. Before I knew it, I was back in my sea kayak frantically pumping out the seawater as Dick towed us away from the fast-approaching rocks.

Back on our lovely white sandy beach, the rescue continued as I changed into dry clothes, was force-fed hot soup and ordered to the tent which an hour or so ago we were taking down! A calmness soon returned to the camp and with it I licked the salt from my wounds. Wet clothing was strewn across the place in a vain attempt at drying, damages to the boat and myself were examined and more hot beverages were consumed.

After a short hike on the tick-infested fells, the storm hit hard again, forcing us to return to our tents and wait for tomorrow.