Words + Photos By: John Weston & Dan Wills
Kayaking from the northernmost point of western UAE, around the coast of Oman, through the Strait of Hormuz, and down to the northern tip of eastern UAE! A total distance of 160km in five days, armed with just fishing gear, cameras and as much water as our kayaks can carry.
Actually finishing and feeling it all come together after six months of consideration and training, was out of this world! A part of me was relieved that we had actually done it and survived. Another part was amazed at the maps we had made and the distance we covered in such a small amount of time. And a part of me was glad that I wouldn’t have to sit in a kayak again for a while. One of things we noticed, very quickly on our first day, was that although we had both completed challenges before – hiking mountains and running long distances, – kayaking is unique because when you sit in that little plastic boat with a 30km distance to cover, you start to realise how restricting it is. Knowing that there is no place or time to stop, it gave it a whole new meaning to the words backache, knee pain and cramp.
Day one was fairly uneventful. We soon adjusted to the high waves and strong current, and due to restrictions on the border at Dibba, we were delayed a bit, so we didn’t cover the distance we had hoped to. We also didn’t have time to stop and fish, so we didn’t eat that night – a small sacrifice. We pitched up on a small beach of rocks, and by the time we had washed the salt off of us and made a fire, it was already dark. When we laid down and watched the blanket of stars above us, we wished we actually knew more about astronomy. We were two small human beings in a vast ocean under an even vaster universe. With legs, arms and shoulders aching, and the thought of another four identical days in front of us, we finally fell asleep.
A log fell out of the fire during the night and to my horror (and Dan’s delight) it set fire to my dive boots. That left me with only a pair of flip-flops for the remainder of the trip. Not a huge set back, but it did prove to be painful.
We were up before the sun and set about loading the kayaks. We were travelling in a tandem kayak with pedals as well as paddles, which gave relief to tired arms. We carried a bottle of water each and a small dry bag with cameras, passports, a knife and enough kit to survive if we were capsized and separated, including a two-way radio. Inside the kayak we stored a bag of firewood. We tied a rope to the back of the kayak and connected a smaller single seat kayak. On this one, we had our cooler, two fishing rods, a large dry bag of clothes each, and another large dry bag containing our cookers, first aid and other bits. In the storage compartment on the rear kayak, we had loaded 36 1.5l water bottles. We had arranged for Extra Divers Musandam to cache another 36 bottles and a bag of firewood, and they had graciously agreed. There’s no way we could have carried the quantity of water we would need for the entire trip, and we figured if we didn’t catch fish, we could fill up on water.
We could not have picked a worse week to attempt the trip. Off shore winds hit a record high and although they were easterly winds, and we started off the trip being fairly protected by the mountains, it didn’t take long for the weather to have a serious effect on our plans. At times, we were going nowhere or we were both hanging on to the kayak while the swells from the wind were lifting the kayak up and down and smashing us around. By the end of the day, we were battling to get to the beach we had chosen on the map.
Since the seas were calm during the morning, we did actually manage to catch some fish, so after the tiresome day, we had something to look forward to. Unfortunately, the beach we chose was not actually ideal. The first thing we noticed was that the water line was above our heads, which meant that we would have to hump the kayaks up onto the rocks 10ft up. After a long day, that was definitely not a happy moment, but we soon had a fire going and gutted the fish.
We made camp on a rock. Not the most comfortable night I had ever experienced, and each time I woke up every 10 minutes, the water was lapping closer to us. It wasn’t the most relaxing situation, but at least we were stretched out, not sitting in the kayak and we had eaten.
Day three actually turned out to be one of the hardest. We immediately ran into big swells and currents, making our way slowly, hugging the coast to the safety of the fjords. We lost the trawling rod, which was a major setback. It fell off the kayak into the water and sank, but we made a joke of it and kept morale up. We had to make 30km per day to make the trip on time. In the rough conditions, this meant we had to kayak ten hours a day, which left no time for fishing.
We both looked forward to the calm fjords, we knew we still had to cart all of the kit over a small land crossing, but the water in the fjords is stunning. It’s clear, safe and has hardly any current, so kayaking very quickly improved and we made excellent speed.
The original land crossing we had identified on Google Earth proved to be impossible to actually get onto the land. So we spent time hunting for somewhere we could actually get out of the kayaks and take the kit out of the water. We eventually found a spot and unloaded all of the supplies and got ready to cover a 1km hike four times – one trip each for the kayaks and two more for the cooler and bags.
Unfortunately, during the first trip up the mountain whilst carrying a kayak, my left flip-flop broke. Not a good place to be! The terrain was awful and very rocky with sharp thorny desert scrub poking through and attacking your feet with nasty sharp spikes. Dan found some gaffer tape and I had to tape my flip-flop back onto my foot praying it would hold.
Bruised feet, four hours and around 8km later, we had carted all of our kit to the other side of the land crossing and made ready to kayak another hour to the beach where Extra Divers Musandam had stashed our water. We prayed they actually left it there as we had ditched our remaining wood and most of the spare water before the hike to save weight and time.
The beach we had agreed for the drop was actually the largest beach we had seen. It was covered in even more sharp rocks. The light was fading and we had to hunt for the stash, and then carry it to a small disused goat pen where we decided to camp. Then we had to go back to the kayaks and unload what we needed for the night, and then go and make camp. We just stared at the fire and laughed at the ridiculous situation we had gotten ourselves into. We were both hungry, in pain and knew that we had passed the point of no return – we couldn’t go back now even if we wanted to.
We came out of the fjords on the fourth day feeling fresher from the calm waters the previous afternoon, we felt more positive and determined to reach the last beach for our final night.
On the way we stopped at Extra Divers Musandam, firstly to say a massive thanks to Kurt Bonami and his team. Secondly, we needed to check the weather and wind conditions around the peninsula. Kurt’s first words were, “You won’t be going to Ras Al Khamiah in a kayak today.” The wind had gotten worse whilst we had been in the protection of the fjords. Breakers several meters high could be seen from the beach next to the diver centre all the way across to the peninsula. We could head out to the tip of Musandam, but there was no way we could get around it with 200kg of kit in a plastic kayak. Even the big ships were waiting it out. We waited and thought that maybe if we can get around the tip, we would be okay. Kurt came through for us a second time. He arranged a truck to take us around the corner, so we could start our journey again.
We landed on our last beach as darkness fell. The winds were high and the sea was just row after row of breakers. Getting in the water would be impossible in these conditions.
Kurt had mentioned that the winds were due to die down at around noon the next day. So once we were dropped at the beach, we holed up, sat and waited. All night long the wind was incessant. I woke every 30 minutes or so hoping it would be at least calm enough for us to get in and further out. By noon the next day, the wind showed no signs of dying down. The waves crashed every few seconds and all hopes of kayaking south across the border to the UAE were gone. Bad news. We had waited over 24 hours and eventually we made the call and decided to hitch a lift on a truck.
Two smelly, unshaven, badly dressed guys on the side of the road with two kayaks and a pile of kit are not the most attractive travelling companions for anyone. Around two hours into our “thumbs out” approach, I was on the sat phone talking to my friend Matt, asking him to come and collect us. Dan managed to convince a nice Pakistani driver to take us across the border to a gas station, where Matt would pick us up in my truck.
An hour later, we were on the Emirates Road heading south. I have no idea how badly we smelt or looked. I was just happy to be back in the UAE, on solid ground and heading home to a shower, a warm comfy bed, and a pile of takeout menus.
So far, people have asked me how the trip was, when can they see the video, and how much did we raise for charity. I’m aware most people want to see us being thrown around by the rough seas, but during those moments all we were thinking about was staying balanced, holding on with two hands and trying not to capsize! So we did not get as much footage as we’d hoped for, but what we did get, tells a great story and something I will never ever forget!
Although Mother Nature beat us on the last leg of the trip, we still consider it a success, we raised nearly 2,000 GBP for Cancer Research, so thanks to everyone who donated at www.justgiving.com/jdweston, the page will be open until 10th February.
Thanks to Kelway International for a large donation and for allowing me the flexibility to plan and make the trip. Thanks to Extra Divers Musandam for their continued and much needed support and, of course, to OutdoorUAE magazine for the coverage.
