lite & lucid

It was the kind of vacation you give yourself after you quit your job for a new life. Grand Cayman followed very shortly after my Charleston journey.  Whereas Charleston was cold, camping, driving and dogs this was tropical, active and relaxing; a perfect contrast for me.  I knew I wanted to go somewhere in the Caribbean, and the only criteria was to go diving and kite surfing.  I can’t quite rank order the list of “all the things I’ve always wanted to do”, but diving and kitesurfing along with anything else that’s ever been in Outside Magazine, are definitely on there.  I am seriously attacking this list. It was twelve days of bliss, long enough not to have to think about leaving as soon as I arrived.  Aside from the delay out of the US due to missing a stopover flight because of weather, the vacation couldn’t have been better without winning the lottery.

The apartment complex I rented had generous outdoor space, was off the beaten path and was full of lively Canadians. The romantic communal feel was refreshing, and it was within walking distance to a grocery store and a couple of restaurants.  There is also a bus system to get around the entire island so there was no need to rent a car.  Breakfast on the balcony (bacon almost everyday), seafood, beer, turtles, sharks, eels, eagle rays, ship wrecks, corral, angel fish, feeding stingrays, watching sunsets, naps on the veranda, and the best pina coladas I’ve ever imagined – this is the Caribbean life I enjoyed.  I also gave myself the ultimatum that this has to happen at least once a year!

On to the exciting stuff – the activities!  I completed prerequisites for a scuba certification before leaving the US, and that left me with four dives to finish in the open water.  I prescheduled all of those plus six more, and alternated those days with kiteboarding lessons, which turned out to be much more challenging than anticipated.

Diving is completely magical to me.  On the first or second open water dive with one of the almost 30 local diving companies, we did a shore dive, where you put on all your gear and do a much shallower dive by simply walking in from the shore instead of jumping off of a boat.  We still saw a lot of amazing stuff, including a giant lobster under a rock.  This dude was majestic and he backed up and put all his arms and legs and claws up when I got closer to get a better look. Once out

on the boat to do dives at sites all around, but very close to, the island, I got to experience the world 60-100 feet below sea level.  This peaceful, tranquil, but complex world was veiled by the calming sound of my regulator breathing.  I remembered from training to always check my oxygen and time but it was also pretty easy to get distracted by the complex ecosystem all around me.  We swam through arches, little canyons and right next to the wall of corral that dropped off to a depth of 4,000 feet almost immediately.  It was mind blowing.

One of the coolest parts of diving was getting to see a ship, sunk for the purpose of artificial reef, and diving.  It’s the USS Kittewake and it’s about 20-40 feet underwater right off the beach.  When we went to dive it there were almost no other dive boats around and I knew the dive was blessed as soon as we dropped down to depth because there were two eagle rays waiting quietly for us on the sand. An eagle ray is like a sting ray but it’s spotted with white and they look so majestic. Seeing two is fairly unusual, or so said my dive instructor.  We swam around the outside, through the enormous propeller, and around the entire wreck, like we briefed.  After that though our entire group entered into the ship and swam all through the vessel seeing the engine room, mirrors that are still intact and even the helm where we were able to ‘steer’ the ship.  There was of course, no lack of tropical fish.  It was an incredible thing to do.

Kiteboarding was a perfect contrast to scuba because, at least learning it, it was not relaxing or tranquil.  The company was great, KiteSurf Cayman, and they were very, very experienced, patient and safe while teaching.  However, due to a couple of fairly recent surgeries I have lost what I call my body confidence.  Not confidence in the image of my body, but in the use of my body.  After losing a lot of strength and coordination, regaining that has been a long road.  Having been a former collegiate athlete it was no where close to the same level of control and coordination I was used to having even years after.  So, learning to fly a kite anywhere from 24 to 45 feet wide in 10-25 knots of wind while harnessed to it and then strapping a board to your feet and riding from the power of said kite pulling me didn’t come along naturally.  I highly suggest lessons to anyone interested.  I tried learning organically in Charleston, S.C. and had a pretty bad experience doing so, suffice it to say those are some powerful forces and it can get dangerous really quickly if you’re not trained properly.  The right equipment and training are essential.  However, my instructors had a lot of experience and I didn’t give up.  I almost did, because I’m getting older and I realize I can’t do absolutely everything, well, someday I won’t be able to do everything.  Not yet.  So yeah, no giving up on something I’ve always wanted to do.  And after the first two and a half painful days of eating saltwater, getting leg scrapes from seaweed, and crashing kites, I finally did it.  I was able to carve both up and downwind, and generally control myself with a giant kite pulling me on top of a board.  It. Was. Awesome.  I can’t wait to do it again!  I’ll likely get a few more lessons just to refresh and be even more safe and comfortable, but I see Caribbean kitesurfing, or anywhere in the world for that matter, in my future for years.

After so many glorious days of sun, tropical island and ocean wonderland I had to cast sails back to the US.  Of course, without leaving I could never prepare for my unexpected, quick return to the Caribbean!  I bid farewell to Grand Cayman, with full intention of returning in the future.