Drowning in Diu
It’s day 10 on a 83 day mission to kayak solo from Dwarka, Gujarat to Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of mainland India. 10 brutal days of learning a new type of kayaking.
From my previous trip of kayaking from Bombay to Goa, my daily routine was to head out a km perpendicular to land and maintain that distance as I made a beeline for the finish. As the land mass curves, I’d find myself a couple of kms out at the most. But Gujarat has been vastly different. For one, the winds. Large land breeze would propel the massive windmills all pointed inwards. And push me far out to sea. One minute I’m next to shore, the next minute the coast and the 100 metre high windmills are a blurred line and I’m 4 kms from land. Coming into land, the waves crash 2 metres high, enough to topple me and do my kayak some real damage. I’ve crash landed more times than I’ve had smooth dismounts so far, and launching every morning has seen me wetter than a bombay monsoon.
Mul Dwarka has been kind, but with just one rest day so far, it’s been a rough 10 days. I slip into the water easily enough. A calm morning to get out on the water. I’m enjoying the blue green water that’s been a highlight of kayaking in Gujarat, when my mind switches to calculations. It often does. Divisions of distance with rough quantities of time. What is my average? How far am I from today’s destination? When can I reach there? The sun is taking it’s sweet time heating up today, and I’m perfectly fine with it. But something is off. It’s not the wind though. It’s a decently still morning now that we are rounding the southern tip of Gujarat. And I’m picking up speed.
Have I chosen to pick up speed? No. Have I been paddling quicker without knowing? When you’re a human powered vessel on a 3 month expedition, you keep a steady pace. So, what now?
Then I notice them. Waves. Kicked up by a headwind. And I’m being pushed into them. Or pulled. It’s the tidal effect of the Gulf of Khambhat. Surely it can’t be that strong? But there I am. Now going 20% faster despite smashing into waves. This is going to be fun. And I just have 32 kms of it to do. I brace myself. The wind picks up and without the sun, doing this speed, I’m reminded of the first time I took a kayak out with my best friend, almost 10 years ago, when two guys on a kayak battled wind, waves and rock with little knowledge of the elements of the sea. Only back then I didn’t know better. What did it have in common? It was still great fun.
4 hours of twisting and turning and being sprayed with water left and right and I glance at my watch that says Diu straight ahead. I can make out the stream that cuts off Diu from the mainland. The small island Union territory, cut off from the rest of Gujarat, is 500 metres away when I spot the fishing trawlers. 2 story high vessels coloured in yellow and red and blue and green flags making for the sea. Only they aren’t coming straight at me. They’re plying dangerously close to the shore till they round a small lighthouse and then heading out to sea. What’s making these mammoths risk running aground? As I sit there, with the waves lashing over the back of my kayak, I figure it out. A long line of reef. Hard cut, barnacled rock. Rock that will slice my kayak’s bottom straight off. And I’m headed straight for it.
I kick into gear and make a beeline for the lighthouse. Waves, wind, tide and time against me. As I burst through it all, I arrive at the turning point to realise — I’m now bang in the middle of the boats leaving and returning. Cut here, stroke there as I navigate between three big vessels, their crew calling out for me to stay clear. Good advice given that any of them could run me over. As I make it past them, my kayak starts turning oddly. My tail is not moving and with these big boats around and the coast so close, this is not a good thing. I put in twice the effort to chart out a safe path, finally entering the stream and relative safety. As I put my feet on land after my 5 hour ordeal, I drag my kayak up the white beach to realise — it weighs a ton. All that wave slapping found a way through the back hatch. And I’m carrying about 10 litres of water in the back. A little longer and I might not have evaded the reef or the fishing vessels.
But I’m done. it’s day 10 and we’ve covered half of the first state. Just 5.5 states and 73 days to go.
I write about kayaking, adventure sports & associated ecosystems in India.
If you like what you read, why not follow me on Medium? If you liked the visuals, find more stunning photos on Instagram.
Have a stellar day!
Written for and published by the Deccan Chronicle.
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/travel/110619/dangerous-waves-of-diu.html
