Friday, June 8, 2001

Today, we have to check out of the Banyan. :-( but... our friend, Bill Blankenship (not his real name), is taking us out on his boat.

Wow, what a great time mixed with not so great. On our first stop, Mr. Blankenship explained that we were swimming where the bull nose sharks breed in the winter. He said it's packed with them then. That really made me want to get into the water.

While in the water, just swimming around, somehow I got seasick. I know, WTF?! Galahad & Mr. Blankenship went off snorkeling as I was lying back in the boat trying to settle my stomach. Galahad was having a marvelous time, as was Mr. Blankenship, since he had a buddy to snorkel with. He was disappointed that I had not brought a snorkel nor had I mentioned that tidbit before we left his house. I was actually perfectly content to hang out by the boat, swim around, and laze around on the boat. He had a large Bimini top, so there was plenty of shade for me. I tried eating a bite of my sandwich to settle my tummy. Then, I decided that maybe I'd better not eat too much. Me, not eat! You can tell I didn't feel good, aye? It was a beautiful day, and I actually enjoyed myself when my stomach settled down a bit. Can you imagine if we had taken the Dry Tortugas trip?! Two hours each way on a high speed boat. I might have been okay because I don't always get seasick. But what if I hadn't been?

Our next stop was to an underwater shipwreck. They both had fun snorkeling there. Galahad tried his hand with the spear gun. However, there were so many rules of which fish he could spear & which he couldn't that he never found one he could. This fish had to be at least 26 inches, that one at least 12 inches -- too confusing. Plus, they all look so similar. He did see a small jewfish, which as I understand it, is still fairly huge.

Next stop, picnicking at a uninhabited island. I was so happy to be walking on land again. I almost got my toes snapped at by a crab that was within a few inches of where I was walking barefoot in the shallows. Sitting on that island, enjoying lunch, & listening to the gentle slap of the waves on the shore, I felt like we were in a Corona commercial.

One final stop of the day before our long drive back up to the mainland. We went to another shipwreck that was used as target practice by the Navy many years ago. Lots of cormorants hang out atop it now and nest there. Galahad & Mr. Blankenship circled a few times trying one last time to catch some dinner. No sushi for us tonight. [Look at these links I found while looking up cormorants.]

Back to dry land for a landlubber like me. He punched it (do they say that about boats?) on the way back. I was bouncing all over the place -- I thought I might bounce out. It sure was fun and what a lovely breeze. All the personal watercraft kept following us & jumping our wake.

We stayed & chatted for a while with Mrs. Blankenship. I hadn't seen her in a year.