Espiritu Santo Island - Mexico

The wind is getting stronger and the waves higher. As a sailor I can recognise the brisk little squalls charging across the surface of the sea; if I was in a boat, this would be fun. But I'm in a sea kayak. As it's only 14 inches deep, I'm not so much on the water as in it.

This is the first day of a four-day trip up the west coast of Espiritu Santo Island, just off Mexico's Baja California in the Sea of Cortez, and only my second day of sea kayaking ever. Thankfully we have already practised "wet exits", the art of banging on the hull of an upturned kayak before pulling off the sprayskirt to swim out of the cockpit.

The technique is a useful one; beginners can find an eskimo roll, a common method of righting kayaks, tricky in sea-going models. All the same, I'm relieved when we eventually make it to the beach where we will camp for the night.

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