Kayak Sailing in Belize

Kayak Sailing in Belize
Kayak Sailing in Belize [1]
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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It is a breezy day for Kayaking in Belize [3]. The kayaks bounce and roll through the waves as we sail down to Long Caye on
an all-day excursion. That's right, I did say “sail”. These double kayaks have been specially modified to take a simple sailing
rig and now we are driving along with the wind.
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Kayak Sailing in Belize
Kayak sailing is a pretty simple matter with these rigs: you just hold onto a rope which controls the sail, lean into the wind,
and don't forget to steer. That is if you are in the back seat, where you are called “Skipper”. In the front seat, “Gilligan's” job
is to watch out for patch reefs, help with the leaning as necessary, and pull out the paddle once in a while if a little extra push
is needed to get around the hazards. Mostly it's a lazy ride across four miles of gorgeous water, in every shade of green and
blue.
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Kayak Sailing in Belize
[4]After a brief Belize sailing lesson we head off the
beach. The wind seems light and we get a feel for the sailing pretty quickly. We dodge easily around a maze of patch reefs,
and, as we get farther from the shelter of the island, the breeze quickens, the sail fills and we are pulled along briskly. The
kayak dances through a light chop, and this sailing excursion is easy and just swift enough to be exciting.
A little more than halfway across, however, the nature of the water changes a little. No longer sheltered from the big waves
by the island and reefs, the sea gets a little choppier. Even these waves are nothing like the swells rolling in the open sea, but
the bigger ones are getting to be over a foot high. They lift the boat and surge us forward. The trick is to stay facing straight
downwind, so that if a wave lifts the rudder out of the water, it won't have time to turn us sideways to the waves and dump us
in the water. We do our best, and a few times a big wave catches the boat just right, and we surf the wave at breath-taking
speed. This goes on for a while, but as the water gets shallower, the size of the waves diminishes, and we are no longer
surfing, but still sailing merrily.
Most of the kayaks make it to the beach unscathed, but we hear the story of one boat that flipped over. As they retell the
story, they both agree that they are glad we did our wet exit exercises the day we arrived. Having flipped intentionally on that
exercise, they knew what it would be like to go over, and so were much less nervous while sailing. And they also told of how
quickly the support boat was alongside, helping them out. In no time they were back in their boat, bailed out and sailing
again. This time they made it all the way to the beach without another unscheduled swim.
Now for a snorkel and some lunch before our next challenge: paddling back to Half Moon Caye on Lighthouse Reef [5].
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Kayak Sailing in Belize
[6]
Oh, here is a short video showing kayak sailing, too....
Source URL: http://www.islandexpeditions.com/belize-vacations-blog/kayak-sailing-belize
Links:
[1] http://www.islandexpeditions.com/belize-vacations-blog/kayak-sailing-belize
[2] http://www.islandexpeditions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/kayak-sailing.jpg
[3] http://www.islandexpeditions.com/ie-outadven.html
[4] http://www.islandexpeditions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/kayak-sailing3.jpg
[5] http://www.islandexpeditions.com/ie-tripdesc-lighthouse.html
[6] http://www.islandexpeditions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/kayak-sailing-group.jpg
Island Expeditions PO Box 9 Pemberton, BC V0N 2l0 | #4-138 Portage Road Pemberton, BC V0N 2L1
US & Canada toll-free: 1-800-667-1630 p: 604-894-2312 f: 604-894-2314 e: info@islandexpeditions.com w:
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