Columbus Bay, Cedros.... we nearly end up in a water-fete!! (and not in a good way).
What a run, this is how Side B tears up a beach and mud-trail!
Basic rundown of the day, in point form:
- Met up in Gulf View KFC. Everyone was pretty much on time and was good to see the regular faces, plus one or two newcomers (AASTRA & crew in the green hilux were quite welcome).
- Left at approx 8:45am with a crew of 15 trucks, picked up one more (Lindsay in the blue surf) further down the road. Made one stop in La Brea for a couple of the guys to fuel-up and get supplies, then we were off on the long-trip down to Columbus Bay, Cedros.
- Arrived at the beach at approx 10:30am, where we had a second safety briefing, just to let all the drivers know NOT to wild-play on the beach with their vehicles, since it was a public beach and there were bathers around (though not in great numbers as yet).
From there, things got wet-wet-wet!
We made our way down the beach, which in total was approx a 3km long stretch till the corner. We must have made approx 1.8km of a drive before we couldn't go any further.... however there were a couple relatively difficult obstacles in our way.
The first major obstacle was a long concrete jetty sticking out into the water. Bearing in mind that it was low-tide at the time, we simply drove around it through the shallows with relative ease. From there, we made our way down until we got to a small river which had to be crossed.
Crossing the river made a couple of the guys a bit uneasy, since it was approx 1 1/2 feet deep at the mouth and we'd be driving through seawater. Still, we pressed on (against better judgement) and sought the end of the beach. We made it about 1/4km until we were stopped by a large number of felled coconut trees and beach erosion - we couldn't go any further.
At this point, some of the guys, including myself and 3stagetech became increasingly concerned, since the tide was now starting to come in (it was about 11:50am at this point) and we knew that crossing the river would be risky. We went ahead to see the river where 3stage advised me over the radios that things were getting tight now and we had to move everyone out asap. Upon arriving at the river, I saw from the person standing to depth-gauge it that it was now at thigh-height: approx 2 1/2 feet. Things got tense with me and 3stage and we had to make a decision: either send these guys through that water again, or try to find a track back to the main-road through uncharted coconut mangrove and risk the tide catching us.
A hard decision between us was made - just send everyone through the river and get the heck out of there. We sent another scout to walk the river mouth and found it was shallower deeper out, so we decided to chance it. A call was sent out over the radio to get everyone back to the river mouth quickly and we went through one by one. Each driver was instructed to go through with consistent speed but not too quickly, so as to make a small bow-wave to keep the water out. Unfortunately the tide and waves didn't cooperate and some of the vehicles got drenched, with one stalling in the river. Luckily we got everyone out safely.
After the midday drama was over, we hit a trail from the beach which lead into the coconut mangrove. This trail was scouted earlier this month by rottedV and was deemed safe, infact when we went through it, we found quite a few mud-holes to have some fun in. There was some sticking, some powering through the muck and loads of fun was had.
Then we hit the cliffs to get a great view of the southern tip of trinidad as well as the hills of Venezuela in the distance. After taking in the view, we moved back to the beach for some lunch and relaxation. After everyone had their fill, we had a few games on the beach where we pitted some trucks against each other in small games of tug-of-war.
By 3:00pm we decided to head out and went back through the trail on the beach, then got back onto the main road and headed home. Long drive again back to civilization (i.e. gulf-city) and then we all went home, tired and happy.
Question on everyone's mind : "When is the next run??"
Well... we have a couple ideas in mind... but for now, hold some pics.