I remember back when I was a young students in middle school. It was summer vacation, and my mom’s friend Ken invited me to go out to the Florida Keys with his family. We set out by car, and on the way there we talked and listened to good music. It was a six hour drive to the keys, and we stopped to rest at a few restaurants along the way. There was a lot of room in the van for me to relax and move around to get different views, not that there was much to look at on the interstate. When we got to the keys we looked for mile marker zero, because that is the very end of Florida. The view was beautiful on the key. There were beaches on both sides of the road as we drove down. We went to the docks, and boarded a two level diving ship. It was a perfectly blue, sunny day with bright white clouds. Men were lifting heavy diving tanks around the margins of the ship, and I offered to help though knowing I could not lift such heavy tanks.
I met the captain who was a slightly thin man with tan skin and messy brown hair. He looked like he had not shaved for a week, and I remember Ken joking that our captain was true to his position since he was hung-over. Still, the captain carried on, and assured us he was going to do a good job. A group of people who signed up to go diving boarded the ship. They were all just above middle age and were clearly dressed for their vacation. I watched how the captain steered the ship carefully away from the docs, and we set off towards the sea. About five minutes out I noticed that the water had changed color. It went from being the average aqua color to being a rich jelly blue and clear like a crystal. We arrived at the first location where a few other boats had anchored, and I could see the reefs below the water.
Ken went through a short drill with the divers, and they went out. I grabbed my snorkel and jumped off the ship. When I gazed upon the coral reefs for the first time in my life I was amazed. It was incredibly colorful. I took pictures of the reefs and fish with an underwater disposable camera I bought at the store. I saw around the top of the water just gazing at the scenery. I felt free and new swimming in such a beautiful place. There were sea turtles, brain coral, different colored fish of many sizes and shapes, a shy nurse shark, rock formations, caves, and so much more to see. I was taken by it all, and I noticed the young boy who came with us was trying to swim under a natural stone arch. It was about twelve feet down looked very inviting, but no matter how many times I tried I could only get within four feet of it. It turned into a competition as others who were snorkeling tried to make it. Eventually the young boy was able to swim through. I kept looking back to see the ship, because I did not want to drift too far away and get lost.
The captain called out, and we boarded the ship. The divers took off their gear, and the engine started. I enjoyed the feeling of the rocking ship and the breeze so I went to the upper deck. Other divers were there, and an older man was looking at the red markings on his arm. He said, “I was stung by poisonous coral. I saw a sea turtle and grabbed it not thinking that it would be very fast, but it took off and dragged me through stinging coral”. Another lady listening in replied, “I guess it is pretty smart”. Giving a few laughs the man said, “Yah, I guess it knew what to do”. It was not long before the ship slowed down and came to a stop. The anchor was dropped, and the captain said we were going to take a look at a sunken ship.
Before the divers took off the captain warned them not to swim through openings with their scuba gear on and to not try to go inside the ship. He said, “many divers die from getting stuck”. This time I did not wait to see the divers go first. I jumped right off the ship and looked down under the water. I was surprised to see that there were no colorful coral reefs, but deep down below there was an old sunken ship partially buried by sand. There was so much sand below it was like an underwater desert, and the ship was so far below that it was blurred by the blue color of the ocean. I was surprised by the detail of the wreck and all the torn and aged wood from the ship. I tried to swim down to take a closer look, but the ship was pretty deep. I floated looking down at things I wish I could get closer to and feel. I swam back to the ship after a while and hung out on the outer deck. There was a commotion, and sure enough one of the divers was caught by the sunken ship. Ken wearing no diving gear at all jumped in and swam down to help. I jumped in the water to get a better look, and I was amazed that he could swim all the way down to the ship where the diver was caught. The diver was released and came back to the surface slowly. The captain stood on the deck complaining about how he just told them not to get stuck.
Everyone got back on deck, and we headed off to the next location. This time I sat in the front with the captain, and he showed me how to operate the ship. He let me steer, and we took pictures of me driving. I explored all around the ship until we came to the next spot. I jumped in and saw some coral reefs. It was a livelier place than the last, and I continued to float while looking at everything I could see below. On the corner of my eye I saw people swimming up to an open space and I swam over to see what it was about. To my surprise there was a statue of Jesus under the water with his hand out, and I tried to dive down to touch it. It took me several attempts, but I finally managed to graze the statues hand.
I continued to float on above the reefs, and I was suddenly being nibbled at by big, flat, round fish all around me. It did not hurt much, but the pinching was enough to make me swirl around trying to scare them off. I spun around suddenly and saw the most terrifying creature looking right at me. I froze. It was a fish no more than three feet from my face. It was not very big, but it was dark and it had a lot of long teeth. I looked at the teeth and did not move. Slowly I started to make my way back to the ship and got on. I was relieved to get my feet out of the water, and I remained on deck for the rest of the trip. The sun was getting low so we headed back to the shore. I noticed again that the water changed color, and as soon as it started turning green I missed the jelly blue waters. People were taking about what they saw, and Ken’s wife stated that she wanted to take a shower. The captain replied that he liked wearing the salt of the sea. I could relate to the pride he felt. I did feel quite at home in the ocean.
The captain was careful to steer the ship to the docs, and all the divers said their goodbyes. Kens family, the captain, and I went to a tiki restaurant right off the coast. The sun was setting, and reggae band played on the wooden deck. I was still covered in salt, and I could smell the sweet island cocktails from the bar. We talked and joked as we enjoyed the fine seafood and dim atmosphere. Beyond the band you could hear the still sound of the waves. That night we went to stay at Ken’s house. It was so close to the beach that his yard was grass growing in the sand. It was a cozy beach house with many glass doors and windows. In the darkness of the room I looked out to the moonlight and thought about the wonderful adventure I had.
