Surviving at Sea (Drifting at Sea for 3 Days and 4 Nights)

The sea breeze was also unpredictable, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. To stay safe, I alternated putting my water bottle on the left and right sides of the kayak to balance its body and prevent it from tilting too much and capsizing.

Oil drilling platforms appeared on the horizon

Under the blue sky and clear sea, I cross my legs and gaze at the endless horizon.

In this situation, a glass of red wine was essential to lift my spirits.

As the kayak slowly approached Conception Point, the wind and waves gradually grew stronger. I had heard about few tragic stories that occurred here, so I put aside my playful thoughts and became alert.

Entering Conception Point Channel, the sky was getting dark, and the temperature dropped sharply. I put on two sweatshirts, one wetsuit, two thick sweaters, a dry suite, a thick raincoat over the dry suite, a safety jacket, and a thin aluminum foil jacket for emergency situations that could reflect heat back to my body.

That's how I dressed, but even at midnight, especially at three o'clock in the morning, I still felt cold and shivered uncontrollably, suffering greatly.

It was 9:30 pm, precisely at the midpoint of the Conception Channel. Crossing this point should be safer.

This is what I looked like sailing in the middle of the night. Most boats have an automatic steering device, but my kayak didn't, so I had to adjust its direction manually continusely.

What was most useful at this time? A compass was the most useful because at night, you couldn't see anything clearly and there were no reference points. It was easy to get lost, so only a compass could point out the right direction in time. GPS was slow to respond, and it could take a while to determine the right direction after traveling a certain distance. If you relied solely on GPS, you could end up going in circles. GPS combined with a compass was the perfect solution.

Next time, I must remember to buy a compass that can glow in the dark, or else my headlamp's batteries will be consumed very fast.

At night, two fishing boats caught up with me and sailed alongside me for several hours in the dark, with their lights flashing, as if trying to communicate with me. Unfortunately, I didn't understand any Morse code or anything like that, so I didn't know what they were saying. They sped up and disappeared from the sea surface quickly as dawn approached, perhaps rushing to catch tuna. It was the tuna fishing season.

Having their company at night made me feel much warmer inside. Thank you, strangers!

Fixed youtube links show they appear in the postings.


Now to go back and read and watch everything 

The sunrise painted half of the sky red.

It's so cold! Look at my legs, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, and I still feel cold.

At noon, the sun came out, and the weather warmed up. A group of seabirds flew overhead.

With such good weather, I used Madmacs to troll for tuna again for a while, but there were too many seaweeds and kelp, the trolling was not that success. Maybe the location was wrong, or maybe my skills were limited. Anyway, I didn't catch anything.

The wind suddenly stopped. Instead of struggling to paddle, I decided to wait for the wind to pick up again. So I cooked lunch with my utensils and, after finishing lunch and wine, lay comfortably on the chair with my legs crossed, took a nap in the warm sun and gentle breeze.

After waiting for two hours, the wind suddenly picked up again, and I hoisted the sail to catch the wind and continue my journey.