Two years
ago I was in Kona and on our last full day we booked an excursion to go swimming
with wild dolphins out in the open water.
We
arrived at the marina at 6:30 am and the weather was the pits. Heavy rain and fierce winds and I don't know what was blacker: the sky or the ocean.
I didn't
want to go anywhere near the sea so I was tremendously relieved when, walking
across the parking lot, I overheard tourists saying that their excursion had
been cancelled.
We went
to our boat anyway just to check in and say thanks anyway. We got there and
were surprised to see weary eyed tourists climbing aboard a small boat.
"Don't just stand there, come
aboard" a crotchety old seadog barked.
"Isn't the trip cancelled due
to weather?" I asked.
"No. The other boats cancelled
but WE are going out. So if you're coming climb aboard already,” he snapped.
My friend and I were still half asleep so we followed his orders and clambered
aboard like everyone else.
Within
minutes of setting off I knew we had made the wrong decision. I was so seasick
my head was in a permanent position 'overboard'. I tossed everything and then
some. But I wasn't the only one a shade of green. Our fellow passengers were all
united in a battle to stay on-board and alive. Candied ginger was passed around
with cans of ginger ale - for me those were quickly tossed as well. The swells
were so huge that each time the boat powered over one it landed with a huge
CRASH.
"How much longer?"
passengers begged for a positive response from our grouchy and seemingly
unaccommodating captain.
30
minutes later we finally arrived. But that wasn't much of a condolence
considering there were six foot swells of black ocean waiting at this bay. We
were about 500 meters from shore and were warned not to go anywhere near the
rocks - as that would result in 'unfavorable results'.
"Jump in" the crusty old seadog
snarled.
But no
one was eager to jump into the cold blackness - even if there were wild
dolphins somewhere below.
"Hurry up, we're not here all
day!" he barked again.
One by
one weary tourists suited up and plunged themselves into the blackness, immediately
disappearing from site in the rolling swells of fear. Finally there was no one
left on the boat except for me and that grouchy old captain and that was the
way it would stay because there was no way I was going to get into that black
water and besides I was too sick to move.
"What about you?" he shouted.
"I'm not feeling well Sir. If
it's alright with you I'll just wait on the boat and just enjoy, uh, well I'll
just wait here if you don't mind..." He was almost as intimidating as the
black water.
And here
comes the point to this story:
"Geez. You can lead a horse to
water but you can't make him get in the damn water and swim with the
dolphins." he said.
"But I'm sick."
"Then get in the water and you
won't feel sick anymore. Once you see a pod of dolphins at your feet you'll
forget all about everything else. But hey it's Up.To.You."
90
seconds later I too was leaping off the back of that boat into the black swells
- fear be damned. And guess what? The second before I hit the water my
seasickness was gone. The storm, the swells, the blackness - none of it existed
when a few minutes later I was swimming with wild dolphins. Pure magic.
Tuum Est.
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