作者：suny 在 海归茶馆 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
It's 3 am on a balmy Saturday Morning. I loaded my black Acura Integra with gears and supplies for a 2 day sailing getaway to Islamorada. It's still pitch dark outside, every soul is still sound at sleep on our palm tree hidden street. I turned on the ignition and Acura quietly slipped out of garage. Took a deep breath of familiar air of Space Coast Florida, I am embarking on a whopping latitude change of 2 degrees. But, WOW, what an attitude change.
My journey actually started three months ago when I first discovered sailing. Calling an exotic port on a boat under sail always has certain lure for my wanderlust soul. Recall in the old days when I was still young, I dreamed of circumnavigate the globe around the equator. I can still distinctly remember the 20 some line prose I wrote:
I dream of a sail boat
A dash of red above waterline
She is a beauty with white sail
I dream of a sail boat
Brave the waves of 4 capes
I race to the distant shore
............
It was nothing but a pipe dream of teenage boy. As time goes by, this dream eddied further and further to the back of my mind. Fast forwarding 10 years, I moved half a globe to sunshine state Florida, making a nest near Cape Canaveral, 5 miles away from Atlantic shore. I realized my another childhood dream of becoming a rocket scientist. Yes, it may sound strange, rocket and sailing hardly come to one sentence together. But let me remind you, there's a "ship" in every "spaceship". For those who haven't forgotten their Chinese, "FeiChuan" also comes with a boat in it. In anyway, either it's a island a world away, or a planet in a far far away galaxy, they all equally appeal to me in a romantic way. Besides, who could be a better candidate for a space journey Taikongnaut than a lonely seafaring sailor, who battles waves three times as high as its boat length and months of isolation in a tiny "coconut shell" cabin.
However, besides busily solving daunting problems of human space flight, it took me a long time to realize that sailing isn't that far away. From my home on India River shore, I can watch sail boat making passage gracefully everyday. I always wonder what kind of person are in those boats on a busy working Monday, Tuesday, or as a matter of a fact, in any day. Suddenly it dawned on me, I can as well be one "those people". Luck has it, there's an ASA (American Sailing Association) certified sailing school just a few miles down the river from me. Quickly I signed up for a Basic Keel Boat class (ASA 101). Oh, those three days on water, what a pure sailing fun!
By 9 o'clock Saturday Morning, I have arrived at Keys Cruisers where I am going to take the sailing class. It's a palm tree leaves covered little hut tucked in a tiny tropical kay. If not because of the signs on the wall, it can easily been thought of a vacation cottage. Stepped into the door, I found the owner of the school, Chuck Metcalfe. Long golden and silver curly hairs covers to his forehead, blue eyes and full beard, Chuck looks every bit like the captain Rodalph from my favorite comic book Tin Tin, minus the silly air of course. I learnt quickly enough that Chuck used to be in the same trench as I am. He worked in Apollo program in 1960's as a software engineer. He helped to built the first manned spaceship Saturn IV to the moon. In his early 30th however, Chuck discovered the joy of sailing. After selling couple of businesses, he bought a boat and started cruising in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Chuck's cruising eventually led him from Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Across the Panama Cannel, and over the big stretch of water, he found himself in the beautiful Island of Hawaii. I have the pleasure of visiting the jewel of Pacific Ocean myself, and can intimately related to the pure joy of sailing those majestic islands.
It happened that I was the only student in the sailing class this weekend. It initially took me by surprise. I was fully anticipating to know a couple of new sailing friends, and for a novice, it means a lot. To learn from peers is as important as learning from the master. However at the same time, I felt very lucky. One lovely sailboat, one devoted instructor, and two gorgeous days of sailing, it's almost stuff of fiction. People pays a lot extra for a training like this.
There were very little cloud when we motored the boat out of the little harbor. The tropical sun brutally licked my already deeply tanned skin. It would almost unbearable if not for the light ocean breeze blowing from east. For the first day, we did not bother to raise the sail. Most of the exercise is about handle boat under power, like how to stop a boat in emergency, how to turn around a boat quickly to rescue a fallen crewmember (man over board), and how to pick a anchoring and anchor properly. They all sounds trivial, "How hard could it be? It just like driving a car." you would think. Well, imagine driving a 16 wheeler on ice without a break, and you have to turn on a dime. Now, you got the picture.
We practice again and again on a tranqulient bay of xxx. Some tiny mango tree covered islands dotted the gigantic convas of ocean. The nearest sail is barely visible on the horizon. I was thinking to myself. Isn't this a world away from the time when I practiced my driving the first car, in a crowded parking lot back in frigiate Michigan winter? Now, the whole ocean is my parking lot. I was elated by the end of day, from learning countless new tricks. At the same time exhausted, felt not far from a fried fish on deck. Licking my lips, I can distinctly taste salt. A salty fish, that's what I was.
It's 5 o'clock in the afternoon when I fulled out from Chuck's sailing school. A dive on the coral reefs would be wonderful, I remember talking to myself. Luck has it, I found a catmaran that sails out of Key Largo at 5:30. It has one stop on a coral reef reservation. "Perfect", I said to myself. Within a hour, I am back on water again, as a passenger this time however. The QuickSilver is a giant 50 feet Catmaran. It's trampoline rides just a few feet above the water. As cooled air rushing above my face, and occacinal ocean spray sprinkled my back, I dozed off comfortably
QuickSilver anchored on top of reef formation. I put on my snorkel, fins and an underwater camera that I bought as a Christmas gift to myself. In a splash, I jumped into 75 degree crystal clear water. A few leg stroke, I was in the coral forest. A silver back Barracuda cruised slowing near the surface. But don't be fooled by its leisure manner. These great barracuda are occasionally guilty of attacking humans when provoked.
Coral reef is an association of life forms that have been in existance for 500 million years. Although looking leafy, these creatures are marine animals. At nighttime, they open up slit-like mouth that surrounded by tentacles that extend to sting and trap food. Brain corals and stagerhorn corals are very common in Florida Keys. Soft corals are also seen all around.
Soft coral has another name: Gorgonians. The Gorgons of Greek mythology had snakes for hair and visages so horrid that all that gazed upon them were turned to stones. Consisted of fans and whips, these soft corals have nothing horrible about them. However I do gazed upon them motionless, watching every gentle shift of current moving them. Flamboyant in shades of purple, orange, blue, green and yellow, these Gorgonians are my favorite underwater photo target.
Just as I turned my head, I spotted a huge ball of small mouth grunts. None of them exceeding 2 inches long, these grunts are seldom found more than a few yards from the reef. I took a breath and tried to break their formation. However the "ball" just wrapped around me like a giant water balloon. Never a few inches away from my skin, they make brilliant dances of underwater.
Just as I thought it won't get any better, ocean reefs proved me wrong. Out of blue, a pretty sea turtle sneaked pass by from under. Her shell exhibates beautiful patterns free of any scar or residue. She swam slow and gracefully below me, like a movie star walking on red carpet, not a bit bothered by my clicking camera, and doggly following on her tail. I have seen sea turtle in Hawaii and South Caribbean water, but none of those encounters are as exciting as this one.
Part one ends, to be continued
作者：suny 在 海归茶馆 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
