When in Doubt – Bail

By Marisa Umsawasdi

One afternoon, out on Long Caye in Glover’s Reef, we had a surf kayaking orientation. Our group sat in our surf kayaks on shore, as Elmo and Victor, our guides, gave us lessons on how to steer and surf the waves in. During orientation, Victor told us to bail (jump ship) if someone was coming at us. And that was the most important lesson I learned that day.

We paddled out past a reefy patch, to an area in between Northeast Caye and Long Caye, facing the kitchen on Long Caye. We waited for waves, taking turns riding the surf in. Paddle. Paddle. Paddle. We all caught excellent waves. I rode them in, and flipped over so many times. One guy flipped over into the coral area, and came out with a bloody leg.

After one of my runs, I was at the end of a surf break, starting to head back. I started to paddle, and then Sean, my boyfriend, caught a good wave. My jaw dropped and my eyes almost popped out of my head as I saw he was headed straight for me! I saw my kayak in awe for a fraction of a second. Then my brain kicked in…BAIL! Still holding my paddle, I had enough time to stoop on my kayak, and jump overboard. I stayed under for a while, then I heard the scraping above my head as Sean’s boat scraped right over mine and felt the leash tug on my leg. A direct hit. Oh, that could have been really ugly. I popped out from under the water after the scraping was over, a bit freaked out at the whole experience.

Well, that was a close one! But it didn’t stop me from going again, and again, and again.