Episode 7/8: Castaway
Solo SUP-venture Around 365 Islands of Exuma Cay Chain (450km)
It has happened to me many times during my extreme adventures that the storyline would write itself as if a novelist had come up with the plot. On the 8th day of my paddling trip, I was very excited because my dream to scale the whole Exuma Cay Chain on my inflatable SUP was within my reach. For the whole week, I had battled rough conditions and had serious doubts that I would ever reach Ship Channel Cay, Bluff Cay, and a few remaining rocks at the very end of the chain.
Being almost there, just a few hours away, was incredibly satisfying and exhilarating. When I finally reached Bluff Cay and saw that there was nowhere else to paddle, I exploded with excitement. I did it! I really reached the end of the horizon!
I felt like I was at the end of the world with only a few inhospitable rocks around. There were no beaches, the waves were crashing on the sharp lava shores, no signs of civilization in sight. The overall vibe of the place felt rather unfriendly, incredibly remote, wild, and intimidating. In spite of my better judgement and, quite frankly fear, I decided that I had to put my foot on the island, take some pictures, and claim it as my personal victory. This idea proved to be catastrophic. In the process of my trying to get to the shore hammered by messy waves, I got swept off the board, my fully loaded SUP flipped upside down, the ring attachments holding my cargo were ripped off, and most of my stuff started to float away including my emergency satellite tracker.
To make the situation even worse, my SUP, now quite light without the cargo, dashed onto the sharp lava rocks. Within a matter of a few seconds, I found myself in a situation where everything went so wrong that I could have ended up completely stranded on the very last and the most inhospitable rock of the chain without water, any means of communication, and an exploded SUP! A fiction writer would not be able to come up with such a fiasco! “This book is about a castaway who paddled for weeks to find himself dead at the most forsaken place in the Bahamas.” It actually reminds me of Chris McCandless who walked into an Alaskan wilderness and later, after a series of mistakes, died alone stranded in an old bus. (Into The Wild by John Krakauer)
Previous episode: Halls Pond Cay and Czech scumbag Victor Kožený Next (last) episode: You can determine your path!
