The Gulf of Mexico

"Gulf of Mexico" - Makes it sound warm doesnt it? What about "Sea Kayaking in Alabama"? - Makes you want to look at a map and check if there is any coast in Alabama. I definitely came down here expecting it to be warm and got a bit of a shock. For the last 2 weeks I have been Kayaking on the Mississippi and Alabama coast with US Military Veterans. The photos will show a sunny place but the reality was a very cold first week which saw me cold in a sleeping bag rated to 0degrees F (thats -19C) and some tough mornings pulling on damp wetsuits. The area has grown on me with the highlights being some relatively remote beach campsites and some interesting meetings with locals (the bayou population redefines the word red neck for me). It was great to be back in a sea kayak and see a new part of the USA for me. One more day in Alabama and then headed back to Oregon..............

The start point at Bayou Cumbest (we were joined at this camp site by a drunk guy who I honestly could not understand his accent was so thick)
Teaching wet exits on day one of course - Thats me standing trying keep my hands out of the freezing water
Ice on the boats in the morning
One of my co-instructors, John and I's "bat cave" on the last night on coffee island.

Hanging out on the beach on the last afternoon
Pat and I demonstrating safe practice with our flare guns.....
Trying to make john finish the Hummus at lunch time.
Camp on Coffee island
This could almost be a scottish hebridean beach - (but its not - you just have to choose to look away from the oil refinery.