Snorkel, Sail, & Sea-sickness

The first night of our cruise we ate at the main dining room, booked our excursions, went to a show, and played cards with Andrew & Michelle. It was a blast! Our excursion for the next day was "Snorkel & Sail." We were to depart at 9:00 a.m. for our catamaran, sail out to reef, snorkel for an hour or so, then sail back in. We were meeting the Dostals for breakfast at 8:00, so we set an alarm for seven. Unfortunately, the captain's announcement at eight is what actually woke us up! We called Andrew & Michelle and then hustled around to get ready and still managed a nice breakfast before going ashore.

The day was surprisingly cool in Freeport, but I was trying to be tough and not complain. The bus ride was warm, but once we got on the sail boat and were moving across the water I felt pretty chilled. I was still excited to snorkel, though, and even though the sea was pretty rough, I jumped in as soon as the boat stopped. The water was so cold it was hard to catch my breath! Jason and I swam out to the reef and tried to stay afloat as we identified brain coral, fan coral, clown fish, snapper, and many other amazing undersea varieties of life. Soon I forgot how cold I was and just enjoyed the sneak peek under the sea. I've never snorkeled in such choppy water, though. "Choppy" is probably not the correct term as we had actual waves rolling over us and lifting us up and down. I was actually a little green around the gills when our guide blew his whistle to call us back to the boat. When we got there I had a hard time climbing up the ladder since the catamaran was being raised as much as three feet in the water with each wave! I finally climbed aboard after suffering minor bruises and abrasions from wrestling the ladder. Once on deck, I felt better, but I noticed that a few of my fellow tourists were barfing over the side of the boat!

Jason was shaking, not shivering, when he climbed aboard, so we climbed to the front of the vessel and found the sun. We ended up laying snuggled up in the sun on the nets stretched across the two hulls of the catamaran as we sailed back. That was probably my favorite part of that excursion! Once we were back on dry land we popped into a Subway (we've eaten at Subways in 3 countries, now) and got a pop, then headed out to do some shopping. On the top of my list was a long sleeved shirt which we actually ended up finding in a Harley Davidson shop. It was really strange to see cars driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and some of the traffic signs were quite different, too. I was highly amused at the "speed hump" signs!

The last thing we did in Freeport was visit the beach. We spread out our towels and lounged in the sun which had decided to come out and stay out. The sand was like flour it was so soft and white and the water was an amazing turquoise blue. At 3:30 p.m., we reluctantly caught the bus back to our cruise ship. It was the kind of day I could relive a thousand times, but in 999 of those times, I'd make the sea a bit calmer and the weather a bit warmer!