The first few days were tough. We were slammed into the cycle of a long expedition, which consists of routine days of living, eating and breathing for one goal: to be the first to reach the Bay Islands solely by Kayak. We were greeted by thousands of blood hungry mosquitoes and the rain pounded our heads. Our boats were leaking which caused slower days due to repairs. The sun went down at six and the bugs were out at six thirty. Our first few campsites were 50 yards of deserted beautiful white sand beaches with a line of jungle behind us. The jungle was so thick you couldn’t even walk into it. Palm trees shaded us lightly from overhead, and sharp grass stickers covered the beach beneath our feet poking at us on a regular basis.

Colby was thinking about aborting the whole trip due to the hordes of bugs, dreary rain, and stickers, but he dealt with the hell for a few more days. I wasn’t about to let those irritating forces of nature defy our expedition. We were slowly finding ways of keeping the mosquitoes from sucking us dry. It usually meant covering ourselves completely, which was be harsh considering the very hot and humid climate. We would both dive into the tent and lie on top of our thermarest Xls after killing the few mosquitoes that would sneak in. Sweat beaded on our foreheads while we fell asleep to the rain, and the faint whining of the billions of bugs as they tried to weasel their way into our tent.

Due to the harsh conditions we were not pulling the kind of long days we expected. The heat and sun were too much for our bodies, and the patch reef, which extends down south from Cancun, gave us many days of big surf, because the wind generated swells would flow through the open spots and break on the beaches. We got tired fast. We were only paddling about ten to fifteen miles a day. Carrying over 400 lbs. prevented us from moving any faster.

We continued paddling for a couple of weeks occasionally seeing small Mexican fish camps, and sparse resorts. People were thinning out the farther south we paddled. We were coming to our first big crossing which would take us to an island in the middle of the Bahia De La Ascension. Our trip across required five miles of paddling while fighting fierce winds, and eating a good amount of ocean water. When we finally reached Punta Allen, the beginning of the crossing and the only town in the Sian Kahn Biosphere Reserve, we thought it best to stay for the night.