Pelican Cay Land and Sea Park is a scenic beauty to behold. Known for an impressive tropical reef system and pristine beaches, it is truly a place to enjoy God’s creation. Sit back, relax, and enjoy God’s creation from the soft sandy beach. That sounds like it might have been a good idea, except that Bill and I were sailing with Tim and Kelly.
We have been doing life with Tim and Kelly for ten years now, and love to vacation with them. On any given day, I’d describe us as reasonable people. But something exciting always seems to happen when Kelly and I are left unsupervised.
The day began aboard Liberty, anchored just west of Elbow Cay, Abaco, Bahamas. While enjoying breakfast and coffee, we planned a short sail south, past Tahiti Beach, to enjoy snorkeling in Pelican Cay Land and Sea Park. The sea breeze picked up a bit before we arrived and the water looked a little rough for my snorkeling comfort. Kelly and I decided that we would simply kayak near a small island and hang out on the beach while the guys took Liberty out a little further to snorkel.
I do have to say that Bill warned us about the possibility of breaking waves and shallow coral and the potential danger they could pose. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we are seasoned kayakers…..
Kelly and I quickly abandoned the “hang out on the beach” plan and set out to kayak over the incoming waves! It was great fun-imagine a water roller coaster. We were screaming and laughing and going around to catch another wave when I noticed the biggest, brightest, most beautiful coral I’ve ever seen. As I heard a loud roar behind us, it dawned on me that the coral was very, very shallow and the oncoming wave was very, very big. I started to warn Kelly, but the words couldn’t come out of my mouth fast enough…
All I really remember is seeing the pink, yellow, and purple coral right before my eyes! And I mean right up close! When I popped up in 15 feet of water, I grabbed the first thing that was floating nearby and yelled to check on Kelly. She had surfaced and grabbed onto the other side of the kayak, which was now upside down. Grabbing onto something that floats and checking on my buddy-can you tell that we are former Girl Scout leaders? I’m even certified in water safety, although it’s getting harder and harder to tell… Still laughing, we were somehow able to right the kayak, get ourselves back onto the kayak, and retrieve all of our belongings.
We were tired, but still laughing and still loving every minute of our adventure. We were discussing what just happened while checking ourselves for scrapes and chipped teeth. We decided that maybe Bill was onto something about the breaking waves; breaking waves mean that the water is shallow. We also decided that maybe if we had tied all of our belongings onto the kayak like our husbands always do then we wouldn’t have had to retrieve them from the sea. So we started stringing our water bottles, shoes, snorkel equipment, etc. onto a line when I heard another roar behind us. The wave was high, but I assured Kelly that we wouldn’t flip this time because we were in 15 feet of water.
Hmmm…I was wrong. We flipped again! I couldn’t believe it! A second time, we both surfaced, grabbed something floating nearby, and checked on each other. Still laughing, and now exhausted, we found ourselves in 15 feet of water, clinging to an upside down kayak surrounded by all of our belongings floating by. I guess I didn’t quite get that knot tied in time.
Here is the part of the story where I have to tell you that in normal circumstances, sufficiently rested and well hydrated, I couldn’t right a kayak and get myself back into it even if you promised me a spa day and a chocolate shake.
Merriam-Webster defines a miracle as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. Hmmm…I wonder…
Unbelievably, Kelly and I, again, successfully righted the kayak, hoisted ourselves back in, collected all of our belongings (and this time we tied them on) while assessing our situation. No worse for the wear-no cuts, no bruises, no broken teeth. While discussing whether or not to attempt another close up look at the coral, we decided that we better kayak toward the guys because they would surely be concerned if they had witnessed any part of our great adventure.
Paddling toward Liberty, Kelly said that we shouldn’t have flipped that second time because we were in deep water. I reminded her that Bill is a kayak instructor and I’m sure that he can tell us how to avoid that in the future. But, I suggested that today probably isn’t the best day to ask him.
Suddenly, out of no where, I hear someone calling my name. It’s Bill, swimming toward us with all of his might. Yep, they must have witnessed all of the fun. I smiled at Kelly and said, “He’s coming to rescue us. No matter what the guys say, we’re spinning this to say that we found Bill in the middle of the ocean and rescued him in our kayak.”
