05 February 2009

Boat Trip

It was the longest boat trip I had ever set out upon. Till then I had only traveled there on cruise ships and short 30 minute flights on rickety single-prop charter planes. The crew on the 33 foot Contender for this trip included my dad, uncle, cousin, myself, and two friends. After quickly loading the boat we drifted out of the mangroves of Coco Plum Marina and speeded across the light green waters of Biscayne Bay. We passed the lighthouse on the southern tip of Key Biscayne and crossed the continental shelf into the Gulf Stream. With the tall hotels of South Beach and downtown Miami well out of sight; once we passed the last boat fishing for sailfish in the Stream; once I could see nothing in any direction I realized as I looked into the deep, empty, dark blue of the Atlantic - I was in a whole other world. With the rumbling engines and the wind whisping my ears I could hear nothing. The sea affected all of my senses: I could taste and smell the salt from the ocean, the bright sun in the cloudless sky warmed my skin, and all there was to see was blue. The water is very eerie in The Bermuda Triangle the dark water seems lifeless as you look thousands of meters down into its depths. It seems like you are going nowhere for hours, not knowing if you’re going in circles, the sun changes positions… thank god for GPS! The scenery never changes but as I would peer over at the screen trying to figure out how much longer till we see land I could see us getting closer. Just then right as the odometer reads 150 miles my entire world changes! All of the sudden the water turns to a vibrant and vivid turquoise! I see tall pines in the distance, I hear seagulls squawking, the wind dies down. As we draw closer to the island I lean over the side of the boat to splash my face with the warm refreshing salt water and I could see a beautiful reef, schools of fish, and the pure white sand of the Bahamas.

No comments:

Post a Comment