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Sunday June 28^th – Taking Scouts Snorkeling

Sunday morning we took out a bunch of newbie snorkelers with a few seasoned boaters mixed in.
On board today I have my mate, Rae and my crew leaders were Cole, Andrew and Ellison.

First stop is Calusa Rocks. It was kinda rough (not really, but for this group anything but lake conditions would be bumpy). I stayed close to shore where it’s not so rough because the shallow waters break up the wave energy in the Keys. The snorkeling is fantastic there.

Ya Bug Me Kid

It wasn’t that choppy but we did have about four kids get sick, two of which were throwing up. One of the two was pretty much the smallest kid on the boat. He was making the trip with Mom and kept asking me when we’re going to leave? Where are we going next? I was a little annoyed and just sort of said in my mind, “get lost kid, ya bug me”. I was busy with other things and I put him off a little bit. When he kept coming back around I kind of realized he was getting seasick and/or nervous. I could tell by the look on his face that he was concerned and a little un-easy. I pulled anchor a little early, taking into consideration people that are seasick – mostly the runt. It’s a difficult decision when most are having a good time snorkeling, and doing things that they pretty much came to SeaBase to do. It’s a bummer when you have a couple folks that are not having a good time and may want to go back to SeaBase or to somewhere where it’s calm. I assured the kid that we’re going to find some calm water and I could see relief in his face. Fortunately nearby was another spot called San Pedro.

We idled to the San Pedro wreck site from Calusa Rocks. Typically when the boat is moving people are less likely to get seasick, so we had lunch on the way to San Pedro. The two seasick kids – including the runt, didn’t eat. Using the term runt in this case is not derogatory at all, quite the opposite. The kid was so cute, he melted my heart!  The 2 others came around and seem to be okay so we got to San Pedro and most if not all, were feeling better.

I kept checking on the 4 seasick kids, they felt better and even got the water to snorkel at the wreck of the San Pedro. It’s nothing spectacular, it’s just a historic wreck site with some replica cannons, anchor and memorial plaque. I made it a point to make it a quick dive. Fortunately I was able to tell everybody hey we’re on a mission to just go find the cannons, and then we’re going to move on to the next spot so that the seasick kids could have a better time.

The weather improved fortunately but the kids were still a little sick

We wrapped up quickly and left the ocean via Indian Key Channel, under the Overseas Highway and into Florida Bay. Grabbing a mooring ball at Lignum Vitae island to fun swim, all the queasy kids came around, feeling better! The two seasick kids didn’t eat lunch earlier, so it was good to see them eating sandwiches. As it turns out the “runt of the litter” sort of came alive. We were playing catch – I pull oranges out of the cooler and throw them to the kids (and occasionally the adults) as they jump off the boat. It’s a blast as they try to catch them. My new buddy really came around just had the best time – me too. I am sure that I’m the one who has the most fun. Kiddo buddied up to me and and he talked my ear. That made me feel pretty good. It’s great that it turned out to be a good day for him and I think everybody really had a really good. I’m so happy to be in this environment – this is like the my fountain of youth.I get a lot of exercise going up and down the ladder to the fly bridge. I’m jumping in the water to recover the the oranges that they can’t throw back to the boat after catching them. I’m just having the time of my life honestly. It tickles me to look at these kids and see them have fun. Just tickled pink.

Some of the adult leaders look at me like I’m nuts but I just had fun with the kids today. It was a little tough at first. Some of the kids were looking at me funny when I told them to jump off the side of the boat to catch oranges. First one, um, no thanks. Next one’s like, “I don’t know about this, no thanks… I don’t want to do that”. I gave up eventually but kept the oranges out, juggling. Eventually somebody got up the nerve to jump after an orange.  Once the rest of them saw how much fun it was others joined. Adults then started taking pictures, loving it.

Sunday was one of those days where maybe half the kids were jumping in and having fun. Another bunch  sat up in the fly bridge hanging out, the cool kids I suppose. All in all it was a very good day, another good day!  I seem to have had a lot of good days so far this summer. Weather has a lot to do with it but it’s just been a blast. I’m fortunate to have good health and keep doing this… very fortunate.