Florida Trip

Florida is an interesting place to say the least. It is absolutely worth a visit if you get the chance. I recently got back from a vacation there, and it was a blast. To sum up the trip in five words: Relaxing, clubbing, fishing, and boating. By far the most fun and exciting part of the trip was going out in the ocean on my cousin's boat. This is the excerpt from my log:

Sunday: wake up early. 2-4 ft waves predicted. Get on boat. Forget coffee on dock. Motor out to ocean see huge tarpon in boca lake. Questionable waves at inlet, decide to throw caution to the wind and head out. Gun it out to sea and make it past the breakers. Large 4 to 6 foot waves toss us around. A lone sea turtle says hello, then dives deep. We start heading North, against the current, and it is absolutely crazy. Tom tells me to grab the wheel. A surge of adrenaline powers through me, and little gears begin spinning in my head. I am no salty sea dog captain, and these are not calm waters. As i take the wheel, powerful 6 and 7 foot waves toss us around and slam the hull. The boat rocks an tilts perilously close to the frothy surface. The waves try to force us to turn around as i grip the wheel and countersteer to keep us straight. Because the sea is ever changing in front of us, I pick a spot on the horizon and attempt to keep us sailing generally towards it. The waves seem to grow in size and ferocity but the boat handles them amazingly. As a crest passes beneath us, at least half of the boat is exposed before crashing into the trough and spraying water everywhere, only to doing it again seconds later. A lesser vessel would surely have taken on water and sunk or been capsized by the rocking. We are in one of the smallest boats out at sea in these conditions. Despite all of this, Tom starts rigging up the out riggers and rods for trolling. This basically involves climbing all over the boat and hanging off the edge like a madman. We troll for a while, continually getting smashed by the waves, which come towards us as huge walls of water. Surprisingly, the bait doggedly follows us on long lines and stays in the water most of the time. Nothing bites. We have had enough and decide to troll south, with the waves. This is much better, with the waves bobbing us up and dropping us down more gently. The bait once again follows us but jumps out of the water as we crest particularly large waves. A boat sailing towards us is seemingly swallowed by waves when our boat and theirs are in troughs of waves. It is quickly made apparent that the surf has risen considerably (later calculations determine the swells to be 7-8ft). We decide to head home, and race towards the inlet. Waves crash on the rocks surrounding the inlet ominously. Tom decides the best plan of action is to zig zag into the inlet, which will allow us to ride in perpendicular to the waves. He executes this plan beautifully, powering into the inlet to prevent a crash. We make it in, counting our lucky stars. Exhausted, we make it home and wash down the boat before collapsing in bed.