I’m on a boat. Ya I’m on a boat, take a good long look cuz
I’m sailing on a boat. And I even brought my flippy-flops!
I awoke bright and early expecting a cloudy even possibly
stormy morning considering the night before was one of the largest storms the
Northeast coast got in the past couple months. But to my gratitude it was
bright and sunny! With a little wind but considering I was going on a sailboat,
it could only be a good omen.
As is with moth things with Jessica, my travel buddy, we
were an hour early, which is a good thing since I tend to be on the late side,
to our appointed time of 8:30 at the docks to meet up with fellow snorkelers
and our crew for the day. We quickly charged the camera then sat on the pier
till our captain came.
Along with Jessica and myself, there were four others, a
couple from Germany and a couple from Switzerland and our captain, Stu. He picked
us up on the dingy and brought us on board. There we met Cat, an American on a
working visa from Florida. She said she was sick of her office job so she quite
and came to the land Down Under. Man does she have a cool job! On the water
almost every day, opportunities of sailing and snorkeling all the time. And she
could even live on the boat!
Now Stu. He is our captain for the day. When I asked how
long he’s been sailing he said 40+ years, majority of his life. His parents
owned a sailboat but being a kid, he sat on the side and had fun. He bought his
own boat and then proceeded to teach himself the fine art of sailing, all the
bits his parents never showed him and all the little things every sailor with
every boat has to learn, the hard way. He met and married his beautiful wife,
they had a boy and the whole family sails and lives on the boat. His son is
home schooled on the boat, considering they sail all over Australia, up into
Indonesia and everywhere between. Stu’s dream is to sail around the world and I
would be shocked if he doesn’t do it one day.
Upon boarding The Big Momma, Cat showed us the inside. A
bathroom and a couple cabins, a fully functioning kitchen and table. She also
had a freshly made batch of scones with jam and whipped cream topping to start
our day, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do so.
We enjoyed the food and getting to know our fellow members
of the day. It was a two hour sail from Missions Beach, Queensland to the great
barrier reef. I couldn’t get enough of the sun and the sea. With each passing
moment my grin never waivered, and the more excited I for the ride but also to
see the coral.
Soon Stu and Cat were busy stowing the three sails and
dropping anchor. We climbed aboard the dingy once again, with our swimsuits on
and all six of us looking like dorks with our snorkel masks on before even
hitting the water. One trick when using masks or goggles is to spit on the
inside lens to stop them from fogging up. It works brilliantly considering I
know mine didn’t fog up for the hour we were under.
Jessica and I being the eager beavers we are, jumped in
first. As soon as my head went under, the first thing I see are jelly fish!
Maybe 25 of the little ones that looked like clear bobbing scran wrap. First
thing that went through my head was, “I will name you squishy and you will be
mine. And you will be mine!” That’s a quote from Finding Nemo for you Disney
impaired people. The second thing was PANIC! Considering how many signs that we
have seen at every beach in Australia say “No Swimming except in Stinger net areas.”
They were very squishy and jelly like and these ones didn’t sting, luckily,
after I touched them.
After that initial freak out, it was absolutely amazing! The
coral was in so many fantastic shapes, vibrant blues, golf ball textured coral,
the size of a dog house. Awesome yellows/greens that looked like skeleton trees.
Some were small near the bottom, 15 feet or so and other coral being older and
in more shallow areas were only three feet under. I could have touched it! But
I heard stories of people crashing boats on coral and plenty of people cutting
feet, arms, legs when swimming around it. So I refrained from my inquisitive
side and just looked in awe instead.
There were gazzilions of fish! Yellow ones, blue and black
stripped ones, black with crazy fins, Dory Fish (another Finding Nemo
reference), lots of little fish reminding me of neon tetra’s. it was fantast
just to watch them all swim around and into the coral. Some of my favorite fish
were green bodied 7” long fish that had blue and pink fins. So colorful!
Another part of the reef looked like the classic clam shaped that was slightly
open on top. On the outer rims of the shill it was black with reflective green
on it. Now the gap was filled with purple/black squishy looking stuff. And even
cooler, there were two openings on either end that it looked like it was
breathing! Like two mouths breathing in and out.
The newer part of the reef, were we started was so full of
color! But what I thought was really amazing was the fact that you would be
looking at these amazing technicoloured fish and rainbow bright coral then bam!
Drop off of 20 feet with nothing but sand on the bottom.
On our first snorkel in the new reef, I got to see a shark!
It was only in the periphery of my vision but it was a reef shark all right!!
It wasn’t until the second outing, after lunch, when I saw a shark again! It
was just swimming along and never been that close before. I started to follow
it. I followed for awhile, being close enough to notice that the shark had a
white spot on the tail and back fin, then my brain kicked in and said, ‘what if
this 1.5 meter shark doesn’t like being followed?’ So I let it meaner off and I
swam the hell away from it. Stu said that the reef shark won’t bother us but my
land locked mind set still says that any shark (or jelly
fish/octopus/squid/gators/ or really any kind of fish) should be respected and
given a lot of space.
I was one of the few lucky ones. On my second snorkel of the
day, I was treated with a rare sight of a sea turtle! It was such a majestic
creature! Lazily but quickly gliding through the water.
I can easily see how people can relate astronauts floating in
space to the feeling of floating under the sea; peaceful, relaxing, no sounds
and the feeling that you are completely by yourself.
Cat, of the Big Momma, also fed us lunch between our two
outings, chicken and beef kabobs, along with mackerel that was caught and
filleted the day before. It was all delicious! Buns and salads ere our sides
and only two minutes after lunch was done, me and Jessica were back in the
water, diving off the main deck into the crystal clear blue of the Coral Sea.
By the time our second snorkel outing was finished, we were
all thoroughly tire. But afternoon tea awaited us with fresh Australian grown
fruit and coconut cookies! It was a perfect way to end our Great Barrier Reef
experience as we sailed back to the main land.
All in all it was my favorite experience of Australia. And I
have Stu and Cat of the Big Momma’s to thank for it!
