A Good Experience
I
am admittedly claustrophobic. I don’t like elevators and take them
only when necessary to travel several stories up. I have had to do a
lot of self-talk to remain calm when in tunnels or mines and am
always glad to see daylight!
So
in Grand Cayman I hesitated to take a submarine ride. The submarine
in Grand Cayman was the first of several tourist submarines that are
now located in many places around the world. Although I snorkel, I do
not scuba dive. But the people I was traveling with encouraged me to
ride the sub. I did, and afterward was so glad.
During
my younger days I had gone aboard various submarines---the real
ones--- and toured them, but had never sailed on one, and I was
always more comfortable up on deck!
On
entering the Atlantis
sub I learned that each seat had its own large porthole. As the sub
quietly submerged, the voice of a naturalist came over the microphone
to explain everything that was happening and to describe what we were
seeing.
The
lower the sub sank the more fantastic the scenery became. The oohs
and ahs were loud and constant, reminding me of kids in a candy
store.
We
descended over a reef deeper and deeper into the ocean. Seeing things
I had never seen before, I remember lots and lots of barrel coral.
Each time interesting things came into view, the sub turned around so
that all the scenery, sea creatures and fish could be seen by
everyone on both sides of the sub.
Suddenly,
the sub started its ascent. I couldn’t believe how quickly the time
had passed, and I hadn’t once thought about being enclosed in a
small space under the water. Afterward I was so glad that I had taken
that ride!
However
several years later I sent my grandchildren and their mother on the
Atlantis
sub on Maui, Hawaii while I opted to wander Lahaina town and it’s
waterfront noting the changes that had taken place over the past few
decades. You really can never go back!
SEASICK
I
had done a fair amount of traveling on a boat of one kind or another.
Some were large luxury cruise ships, others were small. I’d sailed
the rough channel waters between the Hawaiian Islands, where the seas
were never calm, many times in a 28-foot sloop.
I
never had been seasick----until the final leg of a trip through the
Cook Islands on the 285-feet long World
Discoverer
----when I was 65 years old.
The
last evening on the boat was horrible. I felt much too queasy to
think about dinner. Feeling so bad, packing was a real chore. Blindly
I managed to get everything into my suitcase in whatever manner. I
went to bed at 8:00 PM for a really miserable uncomfortable night.
The bunk ran athwart ships instead of bow to stern. I even had a hard
time staying in my bunk, and I guess the ship, surfing the rolling
seas, was the cause of my problem.
I
was one happy camper when the ship docked at 7:00 AM in Roratonga,
even if the world did rock and spin all day! I was shocked at
having been sea sick, and glad I’d had so many sick-free good times
in years past!
Three
years later in Australia on a cold windy day I boarded the catamaran,
Matilda,
for
a
50-minute
ferry ride to Kangaroo Island. Forty-five of the 50 minutes were
rough, rough, rough! People on my left and people on my right were
using the barf bags.
Confident
that I would be fine on the short jaunt, I purchased a cup of hot
tea. But I have to admit that I got very queasy and drank no more
than a sip of it. On solid ground again I was fine to enjoy a
delightful day. Being seasick is a terrible feeling and I hope to
never experience it again!
No comments:
Post a Comment