Failure to Launch

Having all my gear stolen I would have to replace some of it immediately and the rest in time.

I found a store that sold kayaking gear about a two hour train ride north of Barcelona. By the time I got there I had to use the rest room but the people in the store said they didn't have one. “Really.” They insisted.

I asked the manager about spray skirts. He took me to the back of his store with a tape measure and began measuring the skirts to see if any of them would be appropriate for my Epic. The closest one he had was about about 225$, an obscene fee. I also bought a pump and a dry bag. The dry bag, with its Velcro seal, struck me as suspect, so I asked the owner if he was sure it would keep my stuff dry. Yes, he was sure. I asked again a few moments later and he was still sure.

After my considerable purchase it turned out that they did in fact have a rest room.
The next morning I bought some camping gear. I couldn't find a free standing tent in Barcelona so I settled for a bivi sack.
That afternoon the local chabad rabbi was able to give me a ride to the warehouse, the kayak was ready right away, though sealed away from me in a crate with no lid. I beat the crate with a crow bar until my boat was free. A policeman watched to make sure that I threw out the remains afterwards. I'm pleased the policemen work so diligently to protect the peace.
My boat was beautiful and my paddles where winged, a different style of paddle then I had remembered ordering, but a more expensive one, so I wasn't going to complain.
With my boat on top of the rabbi's car we were on our way to the put in which I had scouted out on foot, only to find that the section of the port was open exclusively to industrial traffic. I had found a back up launch point that was up a river by looking at satellite images and it was there that the rabbi dropped me off with my boat (41.321203,2.115909). He asked me what I would do now. I told him “Get my boat and gear over to the water.”
“Then what?” He asked me.

“Put in.”

“Then what?”

“Paddle to Israel.” I told him and smiled.

I carried my boat and my gear over some muddy grasses and found the river that was not visible from the road. It was a beautiful place to start my journey. The sun was low in the sky and the river, surrounded as it was by grasses, was a separate world from the industrial zone it slid through. I loaded up my boat putting my computer, cell phone, and wallet into my dry bag.

I noticed that the hatches were much easier to manage then any of the waterproof hatches I had dealt with before, and as with the dry bag, I was a little worried. But this was an Epic, and what's more is that I had been told that a new kind of seal was being employed that was supposed to be an upgrade from what had been used before, so I had faith.

And I began. My boat was in the water surrounded by grasses coming up from the bottom. I stepped through the mud and got in being careful to keep the inside of my new home as clean as possible.

After only a moment of paddling a fish leaped over the front of my boat, a blessing on my journey. The big G was wishing me luck and I new that where ever my adventures would take me, I would be better for it.

I paddled down the river seeing many more fish jump out of the watter, and at least twice inadvertently hitting fish with my paddle. I was exhilharated. I was living a dream that I had had in one form or another for as long as I could remember. I was being the person I had always wanted to be. I was kayaking from Spain to Israel.



As I made my way out to sea the sun was going down, but the moon was full and the sky mostly clear so I paddled for a while longer. My destination for the night was the location I had originally set to put in at (41.321203,2.115909). It lay in an artificial bay that would make for an easy landing by the moon light. And I would be able to sleep on the sandy earth next to the closed parking lot.

Getting out of my boat being extra careful not to scrape it against the rocks, I picked up the bow to pull it half way onto shore. Since my hatches weren't sealed, the stern went under water and filled almost completely. Not knowing that my stern was full, I tried to lift up the boat and bring it completely onto sure, but it was to heavy for me. I thought that maybe the day had been longer then I realized and put a colossal effort into lifting up the boat that I knew to be only 45 pounds, and probably not more then 65 with gear. All my strength had moved it only a few inches; I knew that it must have taken on a lot of water.  Hatch seals?

My sleeping back was soaked, my bivi sack was full of water, and my dry bag had utterly failed in its task leaving my computer and cell phone ruined.

I tried to make camp but could not sleep in my wet bivi sack. Some time in the middle of the night I got together my expensive things and hid my kayak. Remember, I was professionally trained to hide myself and my gear in the field. I had to leave my boat behind because I could not paddle it with the unsealed hatches and I could not resolve the problem without a connection to the world.

I searched the area for foot prints but found only dog prints. I thought maybe somebody had been walking there dog here and they might find my boat, but I then remembered that there was a pack of wild dogs in the area that I had seen on my last visit. My boat in its out of the way hiding spot would be secure for a time and was completely invisible to the casual observer.

The walk back to the hostel would be a long one, especially with wet socks and my stuff in shopping bags and not a proper pack. I walked for a time and found a grassy spot near a bus stop. I decided I would try to sleep there any take a bus in the morning.

A diligent security guard however was soon able to put a stop to my dangerous behavior and sent me on my way. I tried to hitch hike, but not surprisingly nobody picked me up. I certainly wouldn't have. Eventually I found a bus stop that had buses every hour throughout the night, I was relived. After a wait a bus took me to spot about a 30 minute walk from the hostel I had been staying at. I missed my stop, but not by a lot. Walking the last leg at the odd hour was a strange thing. Night people where about, not the sort of people I was used to seeing.

Back in the hostel they were surprised to see me, but thankfully had a bed. I slept.

The next day I saw a doctor, I was running a high fever and, as it turned out, had strep throat.

Delay

My kayak is missing its hatch seals.  I´m waiting for them to arrive in the mail.  More on this later.

Beit Chabad

I'm getting help with launching from the chabad rabbi.  If any one is looking for a good Jewish charity to give some money to (besides me),  I'm sure the chabad house in Barcelona would be happy to help.

Sodom, Gemorrah, and Barcelona

Most of my gear was stolen on Friday. Here's the gist of what I wrote in my notebook Thursday night.
I walked this morning to the friendly logistical offices that were willing to take my money in return for my kayak. They told me that my kayak was in a warehouse in Barcelona and I could pick it up just after a third party had finished up some paperwork, which would be around four in the afternoon.
I paid more than half the price of the boat, and received the address of the warehouse storing my boat as well as some forms I would need to retrieve it. The warehouse was about four kilometers from the water, which presented me with a problem. It would be extremely difficult to carry both the kayak and my 80 pound duffel bag at the same time, so I would need a friend to help me so that I wouldn't  have to leave either my gear or my kayak unattended.
Fortunately, at the friendly hostel I'm staying at, it took me only a moment to find a volunteer. Before setting out to the port with my friend to begin my expedition I sent an email to my editor telling him that if I didn't write to him in the next 12 hours he should post that I had launched my expedition. I also invited a couple of my friends from the day before to see me off at a pleasant beach a couple miles north of the actual launch sight. They would wait for me at eight in the evening.
My assistant and I were soon near the warehouse. We had actually walked a ways past it by accident and were closer to the put in. Once we realized our mistake we decided to leave him with the gear and I would go get the boat. Then I would come back with the boat and between the two of us we would get everything to the water.
I walked back to the warehouse to get my boat. It was there and it was beautiful; unfortunately the necessary paperwork had not been completed by four. Nor had it been completed by six, closing time. The fellow who was supposed to take care of it was in the hospital looking after his mother.
I walked back to my friend who had nodded off next to my bags of gear. I woke him, apologized and sent him home.
I found some bushes and put my gear under the bushes. I then covered it up with dry leaves so that it would not be visible from the busy street not far away.
I went to scope out the launch point. It was an old desolate parking lot between dunes with a small rocky and littered beach at the edge of it. While there were a number of fences that had been locked for years to keep people out, most of them had been pushed over or cut through making beach access fairly easy, even for someone carrying a kayak or 80 pounds of gear. Their was a pack of small dogs in the area, climbing the dunes and barking at my uninvited presence.
The beach was inside an artificial bay that would let me get the feel of my new boat without having to deal with waves.
I walked back to my stuff and made camp. It's currently raining and I'm comfortable in my tent. The warehouse should be open tomorrow at 8:00 and I hope the paperwork is done by then so that I can retrieve my boat. I feel bad for the two girls waiting for me to launch from the beach north of here.
The next day I was out early. Shortly after I had packed up my gear it had begun pouring rain. I couldn't leave my gear in the same place I had the day before because my dry bags where not yet in use and I couldn't allow my computer and other stuff to get wet. I found a location not far away that was mostly void of pedestrians, if closer to a busy road, that I thought I could leave my things at. I put on my rain gear and made my way to the warehouse arriving at about ten to eight. After waiting in line for an hour for my boat I was told to come back in half an hour.
I went back to my gear to make breakfast for myself, except my gear was gone.
The police added insult to injury by not believing my story. There was a translator there, at the Barcelona central police station who was unable to understand my English. She explained to me that she only understood British English.
My expedition is still underway, it will just take me a little bit longer to get started.

Quick Update

All my gear was stolen from the launch site.  The full story will be posted tomorrow or the day after.

Time in Barcelona

"So I'm really stressed out. So I went shopping all day and just, like, shopped and shopped until my credit card maxed out and I was, like, so embarrassed."

Said to me a young lady I was talking with. I'm a little stressed out too since I'm still in Barcelona and have just been told that getting my kayak from the port will cost me an arm and a leg (I need both to paddle).

I'm meeting interesting people here in the hostel though. This morning I went jogging with a girl training for a marathon. She explained to me that 9-11 was a conspiracy caused by the US government.

While I wouldn't have put it beneath the former administration, I don't think the US government is competent enough to do that sort of thing.

Waiting

I've spent most of my time here in Barcelona dealing with last minute stuff before my launch.  But today, as my preparations and assaults on corporate bureaucracy drew to a close, I went out into the city with two fellow travelers.  I worked hard to convince them to come with me on my trip, but to no avail.[gallery]