To the Islands!

I took off from Belhaven and headed to the ferry at Swan Quarter. I had to wait about half an hour before boarding began.

The ferry ride to Ocracoke Island takes about two and a half hours.  It wasn’t long before all I could see in any direction was water. 

This was serious water. 

Long ago, when I was maybe  nine or ten, I was swimming in Lake Michigan and got caught in seaweed. Although I wasn’t caught for long, it was terrifying. I couldn’t get my head above water and I couldn’t get my feet on the lake’s floor. I thought I was going to die, there in the lake in about three feet of water.

I finally broke through that seaweed, but to this day I am uncomfortable in either a lake or an ocean. If I can’t clearly see through the water to my feet, I have a bit of a panic.

This discomfort has grown over the years, and now I don’t like to be on a boat. I don’t even like to fly over a large body of water. I’ve even thought that if I ever go to Europe I may have to travel to Alaska and get to Eureope through China in an attempt to cross as little water as possible.

In the last several years, I’ve gone out on boats a few times. I made it all the way to Catalina Island and back about ten years ago, but I had to be drugged (lightly). I’ve taken two boat trips to Alcatraz Island when I was in Bahia Kino. But this! I was so far out on the water I couldn’t see land in any direction.

It was not comfortable.

The first thing I did was check for lifeboats and lifejackets. Then I relaxed a bit. I roamed around on deck, eventually sitting on  one of the wooden benches. After awhile, my butt got sore so I sat in the car. The slight rocking motion of the ferry was relaxing, and I actually fell asleep!

Asleep. Me. On a body of water. A big body of water.

I feel this is a major breakthrough for water and me. I am still not sure I want to swim where I can’t see to my feet, but fly over the Atlantic? That’s a maybe!