Beyond expectations

Dear reader,

Early this week a friend asked me if I would like to go on a Saturday boating trip. I try hard to accept invitations to things like this, so of course I agreed. He described the voyage as a few hours out to a small island, some snorkeling, and then a return by sunset. Free wine was also mentioned. This description conjured in me, as I'm sure it does in you, an image of a lazy trawl accompanied by the romantic luminescence of the day's end.

I arrived at the dock slightly late, still panting from my jog to get there in the hot sun and fresh air of Alicante in Spring. In front of me sat a speed boat. My initial thought was something to the effect of "Woooooooo". As we boarded the driver smiled and shook our hands, then told us to tie our stuff in. We were informed that sitting down would not work, because it would harm our backs.

We drifted slowly out of the sheltered port, and the captain opened up the engine. The craft, a long slender rubber raft with two rows for passengers immediately planed out, then picked up to skipping over the huge sea waves. We gained speed and each wave became a small jump. Standing up and hanging tightly to handrails designed to keep passengers intact, our mouths were plastered open by the wind. I have no idea how fast we were going, but it felt like sticking my head out of a car window at the least.

After careening for about a few minutes, with the whole group laughing hysterically at how much fun the trip was, we stopped to admire the city of Alicante from a new perspective, far out in the water. Everyone's hair was plastered far back on their heads, like some grotesque 50s prom group, and no where could an unsmiling face be found.

We were then informed that the boat had only been traveling at half capacity.

We picked up again, this time going much faster and jumping even higher, and continued to stop at several more scenic locations along the coast including the nearby town, a pool where there are evidently sunset swims on Sundays, a nude beach (!? Did not know there was a nude beach 15 minutes from my city, Spain is interesting), and finally another long sandy beach.

We stopped there about 900 feet off of shore. The water was roughly fifteen feet deep, and a clear turquoise. We could see the details of the sand below us, and nearby a group of Spaniards were scuba diving and spearfishing. The captain handed out snorkels and we jumped into the water, which was shockingly cold but refreshing.

I got a mouthful of water as I jumped in, and was surprised to see how salty it was. Puget Sound at least never seemed so strong. It was also very easy to float. I could stoop swimming and put on my snorkel mask, and just sit there with my eyes just at water level without any effort, the rest of my body entirely submerged.

We swam around for a bit, traveling in a wide circle from our boat. A nearby old Spanish man waved to us from his sailboat, and we swam over to say hi. The man was docked with a friend, both of them being in possession of very handsome craft, and when we came closer he invited us aboard and asked if we would like a drink. I sat there and drank a Spanish beer while he shared stories about his life and advice on good destinations, and then we said goodbyes to him and his party and went back to our boat.

The sun was still intense, but lowering in the sky, and we dried ourselves off and put the snorkels away while our guide offered everyone some Sangria. (Largely fruit based wine mixture.) I had a few small glasses, and then we made the return voyage, zooming along the water. I'm not sure that I have had too many more exhilarating experiences than feeling the light of a gorgeous sunset with strong, warm wind in my face.

On reaching the dock, we got off, thanked the captain, paid what was a very reasonable 20 euros for the trip, and went home skipping.

What an excellent way to spend an evening,
Tim