After waking early to catch the sneaking sunrise and then dusting off the cobwebs in the pool, it was off to InnerSpace Dive Shop for our underwater adventure.
After diving, we went paddle boarding at Bahia Honda State Beach in the afternoon. Paddle boarding is the ultimate way to escape the masses of the beach while getting a subtle but intense workout. The multi-directional waves and swirling winds are exacerbated by the desire and need to keep moving. This results in a great workout for your "core" or in my case, prior to reaching the core, the workout focused on my ankles and the flimsy bio-technics which keep them functioning. Within five minutes, you can feel the indicative burn revealing where your day to day, trainer lead workout is lacking.
It is perfect excercise - if you like the water, can enjoy it by yourself and don't mind being on display for the entire land-lubbing, sand-eating, sun-bathing crowd gathered at the edge of the sea, that is.
Self-concious and fragile (fat and out-of-shape?), I was preoccupied and certain that I would embarass myself and my friend witin minutes of launching into the gulf stream. To my joy, I found that I was capable of staying upright over prolonged periods of paddling, and that I could make progress through the waters while gazing inquisitvely into the murky shadows below.
That is , of course, before I found myself, full of salt water, staring dazedly upwards into the whisps of a fleeting cirrus cloud. Paddleboards are a cross between Canoe/Kayak, Surfboard, and glass-bottom boat but might as well be a floating 2x4 when the seas kick up.
Heading out into the bay, you are alone, master and commander of your own ship, reliant on your own strength to propel you; however, you are not aloof, above the ever changing chaos of the sea. You are engaged, intimately, with each wave and surge, each gust of wind, and finally, you are privy to all that is happening just below your feet, below the waves, within the sea.
Schools of fish and lonely aquatic hunters cruise by indifferently, noticabely lacking the fabled shrieks of "Shark," despite their pressence. Waves from outboards and winds rippling around the islands test your bodhi-satva nerve and challenge the zen-like respite into which you have fallen. Sunburned and shaking, the warm, salty gulf of mexico provides no respite, and, feet firmly set on the board or in the sand, sweat and heat creating a swirling steamfilled corridor, we repeat our mantra to the essence of life... "water, water, water..." as we burn, burn, burn...
Sunset Festival in Key West. Loved the Tie-Died Souzaphone...
Towering pillars of percipitation capturing the final rays of the fading sun...
Planes circle paradise and reveal only that there are many better things to look at.
Beers at a bar...
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