Do It in a Skirt: Sea Kayaking in Thailand

I’m a farmer and a river guide. When I leave the work at the farm, I head to work on the river. But sometimes its time to get gone. For the first time, maybe ever, I went on a vacation for me. No rivers, horses, vegetables, tractors, snow, or dust…. Just me and a couple Athleta bikinis headed to Thailand.

When I stepped off the fifth and final plane, and onto the back of a motorbike, I realized that it had been over a month since I’d even driven the 30 miles to town from my farm in Oregon… but here I was on the other side of the world. Warm, heavy air on my skin, my straight hair suddenly curly, my cracked fingers finally healing.

Palms and temples flew by, everything so colorful and new, and I wondered why I had to travel to another continent for a break. It didn’t matter really, I made it. I was ready to let myself go. To taste that amazing country, coconut and lime lingering on my tongue and Pad Thai from every street vendor I could find. To let my fingers bleed on that sharp limestone coast. To let the salt of the sea accumulate on my skin. To feed every elephant at the fair. I was gone like some kind of country song.

I spent a few days of climbing limestone cliffs over the sea, and every day I passed sea kayaks pulled on shore. They were the silly sit-on-top sort, but the scene made me want to paddle off into that hazy sunset. So, one hot afternoon I trolled around the internet for sea kayaks to rent.The next day I found myself on a jet boat to a large island in the Andaman Sea where I met a lovely woman with a small kayak rental outfit (www.kayakthailand.com).

I had never been sea kayaking. I didn’t know much about the sea except for surfing, and there was none here. I thought about Tamara and her blissful moments on the sea and didn’t think it could be too terribly difficult. Kitty gave me a life jacket, tide chart, camping gear and I was off for a week to check out the karst islands, deserted beaches, and long tail fishing boats.

My first day was hot, but the wind and current were in my favor. I marveled at the strength of the sea. I’ve spent a great deal of my life on rivers… heading downstream. The ocean currents were just as powerful, but I could not wrap my mind around where they were going.

I stopped for a late lunch… napping on a golden beach to myself, and the crabs. As the sun headed toward the horizon, I thought some evening miles would feel awfully good. I was looking for an evening peace with low light, calm water and air. And sure enough, the sea turned to glass and I slipped south around the island. As it got dark I thought camp was in order, but as I headed ashore, I realized that the golden beaches were completely out of reach. They lay beyond a quarter mile of mud flats. The tide was out. I hadn’t exactly thought of that.

This was a problem. I couldn’t stay out there all night. At least my butt was telling me that. And my stomach. And the tide wasn’t going to come rushing back. I couldn’t leave my boat out there, for surely it would float away. So, I carried. Ten trips I took, with my 20 gallons of drinking water, my food, my sleep kit, my books, and finally my great big kayak. I slipped and fell over coral and rocks covered in a slick coating of mud. My ankles bled. My legs were covered in mud. But the moon rose and I slathered peanut butter on a white piece of bread. I found the tide chart I had been given, but wasn’t sure what to do with. High tide would be at 9am. I would wait for the water. I would arrange the entire week around it.

I’m not one for reading directions. Nor do I worry much about trying something new. But for the ladies with the romantic notion about sea kayaking after Tamara’s lovely posts… this is a little word to the wise. Know your charts and respect the sea.

The week found me napping in my hammock, waiting for the tide. It found me splashing in the phosphorescence and drifting between islands. It delivered me back to the same place I always end up… my farm in Central Oregon…. reveling in the renewal of getting gone.

SARAHLEE LAWRENCE is a 2008 featured athlete, river rafting guide and experiential educator who lives an adventurous life running rivers, researching riparian environments, training horses, farming and writing... {more»}