Snoryaking

Yesterday, we tried to rent a longtail boat to take us out to Koh Boo, a small island where there is supposed to be good snorkeling. Unfortunately, the longtails apparently do not run in this season... we were left with two options:
1. quit like quitters
2. epic kayak & snorkeling adventure
Obviously we chose the 2nd one. However, the sea is a cruel mistress, and is not always kind to green sailors out on their maiden voyages... Unfortunately Shane's and my water camera filled up with water the other day (we are not pleased, and are sending angry emails) so we weren't able to take any pictures. Here is the next best thing...

 This is us, after we rented our 2 kayaks and 1 stand-up paddle board. Shane is on the right with the stand-up paddle board (looks like a GIANT surfboard), Nick is in the middle, and I am on the left with curly hair.

 We fought past the break and began to paddle intrepidly out to sea.Shane is kneeling on the stand-up paddle board because every time he tried to stand up he would fall backwards into the water.

 A rogue wave broke, much further out past the usual breaking point! It sent my kayak smashing sideways into Nick's. This was our first taste of the cruel ocean's power...

 We arrived at Boo Island, this was exciting, which is why we are all smiling with our hands waving in the air. Finding somewhere to put the boats was a bit tricky, as you can see the coast of the island is jagged rocks with strong waves.

 We checked out the mooring buoys around the island, luckily they had ropes attached. When we left shore it probably would have been helpful for there to have been rope in the kayaks, but there wasn't. Nick tied an epic knot to keep the boats safe. This is about the point where the rocking of the sea began to make me super-seasick. You can tell because my face is green.

 We snorkeled, the fish and coral in this picture are not to scale. We saw all kinds of neat fish, including some puffer fish which we'd never seen before! Unfortunately, getting in the water did not cure my seasickness as it usually does... my face is still green.

 The seasickness became too much, I sprawled on the paddle board, cursing the sea... Nick and Shane kept snorkeling.

 After a while, we paddled back to shore. It was a long paddle under the burning equatorial sun. When we reached the wave break Nick and I both thought (independently of each other) "A kayak is a lot like a surfboard. If I just catch one of these waves, I will glide smoothly into shore."

 A kayak is not all that much like a surfboard. We are not surfers. Therefore Nick and I both (independently of each other) got flipped over and dumped into the water, along with everything in the kayaks that wasn't tied down. Note to self, next time bring own rope... to tie things with, as the things that weren't tied down were-everything. We spent some time searching for all the things that had tipped out of the kayaks, but luckily the sea was on our side this time and we found everything.

 We were exhausted. We all sat on the beach for a bit before dragging the kayaks back to the rental place. You can see that my face is not green any more, this is because after my near-death experience as my kayak flipped over in the waves, and after returning to shore, my stomach immediately felt better. I also forgot to draw my hair in this one, but you can imagine that it is just slicked back with the water. We drove home and had a nap. A great day overall!