Thursday, December 2, 2010

Tropical Police

Day 26:

Today I paddled to Le Lavandou.  I had stayed last night in an almost empty port with a small captain’s office that said it would be open at 8:00.  It wasn't.  Not at 8:15 either.  I had hoped to get a weather update.  The previous day I had seen that today would have force 8 winds in the evening, but until then they would vary between four and seven, and in the right direction that would be excellent.

After only a short paddle I got to another port, slightly larger than the first.  I found the captain and while he wouldn't provide me with the standard weather printout, he told me that there would be no winds exceeding a force five.  I only had to wait about 20 minutes for him to finish his conversation on the phone.



Back on the water there was a pleasant breeze at my back for the whole day. Even when I changed directions, turning north in the afternoon, the wind and current obligingly turned with me.

In the late morning I met Sebastien Uscher, another paddler coming in the opposite direction.  The first kayaker in winter gear I had seen.  The chill demanded it.  We chatted, I couldn't convince him to join me.  His wife was waiting to pick him up.

The rest of the day went smoothly.  I saw the first school of flying fish I had seen in a long time.  I had decided I would end a little early to see if I could make plans for a place to stay for the Sabath, and get candles to light for Hanukah.  I passed a little port, similar to the one I had been in the night before.  It didn't look like it had the kind of infrastructure I would need.

The next port I got to was big.  “Hi, I paddled from Barcelona.  Can I leave my boat here for the night?”

“No.”

“Huh.  It doesn't have to be in the water.  I can leave it anywhere.”

“Not in the harbor.  Try the next one.”

So I got back in my boat and paddled to the next one, maybe a kilometer away.  The receptionist there was both much prettier and kinder then the previous one.  Asides from allowing me to leave my boat there, she gave me a code for the shower room.

Checking my email, I noticed that Sebastien had gone to my blog, and invited me to stay with him for the night.  Score!  He picked me up and took me to his home, on a military base a couple of towns over.

On the way, he told me he was a police officer and I said, “Oh that's perfect.  You enforce the law and I regularly break it.  We may one day meet in a professional capacity.”

He told me he would give me a note in French to anyone who would disturb my slumber in the name of the law, explaining that they should please leave me alone.

He and his friends who I met are police officers for the French territories and spend each new year on a different tropical island protecting the innocent, and if the video he made of his trip is a fair portrayal, having a really really good time.

Sebastien was also happy give me a couple of candles to light for Hanukah.



The only downside was that, for all the machoness I have acquired in my trip, these tropical police made me feel entirely small.



Happy Hanukah everyone!

3 comments:

  1. where there are flying fish there are often Dorado(they eat flying fish).. good eats... catch a dorado and youll have food for a week

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  2. I'm not trailing a lure at the moment. I need to buy one.
    But mark my words, the day will come, though it may be a long way off, when I will catch a fish. ... Or at least, pull up more muck from the bottom of the sea that I will, for a moment, hope is a fish.

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