A three hour tour? Not this trip! This trip took us over two weeks to reach our final destination. Many adventures arose both out at sea and while in port. By far, our most miserable adventure was our first over night trip on the Gulf. The water was choppy and the wind was nearly 20 knots. Water was spraying everywhere and the respectable Captain stayed on watch the entire night. Ryan was sea sick and slept on the deck under a drenched sleeping bag. At about 1am I woke up and went up to the deck to see what's going on and I felt like I had stepped on to the movie set for The Perfect Storm...
The boat is crashing into waves; water is mercilessly wetting everything in sight; the wind is frigid against my wet skin; what do I see? My mother and Ryan watching my dad clenching on to the bimini that is flapping in a wind that is struggling to beat his death grip. What a sight! So, here I am in my t-shirt and underwear, which are both soaked in sea water by now, steering the boat while my dad manages to temporarily fix the problem of the fly-away bimini. I'm hunched over with my knees locked together trying hopelessly to preserve some sort of body heat as well as keep my balance in the incessant rocking and banging of the boat praying nobody is thrown off the boat. I yell through chattering teeth for Ryan to get my rain jacket. Soon the commotion dies down and my father is up the rest of the trip until we final reach our heaven-sent friends in Sarasota. Before and after that night was literally smooth sailing so, we can't really complain. We saw lots of beautiful scenery and made a couple of dolphin friends along the way. Click here for some more pictures from the trip. |
