Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Taking our family to Jamaica; Day 4

Monday:

We had breakfast together as a family and planned to give the kids a free day, then go snorkeling later in the afternoon.  We asked our waitress, who called a friend to bring his boat right to our hotel and pick us up and take us on a tour out to the reef.  The kids got in the pool and laid in the sun while we went down the street to Rock Cliff to pick up Ms. Pat and go shopping to buy groceries for the team for the upcoming week.  We went to several stores and got lots of food.  It seemed like it took a really long time. But Bruce and I had a good time and made friends everywhere we went.  We really felt this time like we “belonged” here.  And we were treated differently by the locals, too.  In fact, someone at the grocery store even asked us if we lived nearby.

Rock Cliff is almost right next door to Negril Escape.  We dropped Ms. Pat off and helped her unload the groceries that we had purchased together.  As we said our good-byes, she said something really interesting.  She kind of shrugged and said, “Why don’t you guys take over this place?”  Huh?  Bruce and I just looked at each other, puzzled.  “You could fix it up and use it,” she said.  Well, that’s an interesting thought.  I wonder where that came from?

When we finally got back to the hotel late in the afternoon, we got our swimsuits on, and got ready to go out on the ocean.  A big yellow snorkeling boat, the Sunbaby, pulled in to the little bay by the hotel. Roger and Kirk helped us all jump onto the boat from the cliff to take us out to the reef.  As we slowly started out on the ocean, Bruce and I saw the Rock Cliff hotel from the ocean.  Then we saw that it was right next door to Sunset on the Cliffs where we stayed on our first trip to Negril.  Was that the hotel that we had peeked over the wall at and wondered about almost two years ago?

We could see the clouds coming and it was a little over cast but the afternoon storm hadn’t hit us yet. Roger and Kirk helped the kids get used to their fins and snorkels, and off we went.  We saw all kinds of fish, and the kids even held sea urchins, star fish, sea cucumbers, and other creatures.  We swam around and around.  We weren’t in any rush at all to get back.  When everyone was ready to get out of the water, and just as we all got in to the boat, the rain started and the wind picked up.

It was cold as we drove back and the waves were really rough.  The rain was pouring down and the wind was blowing.  We were all freezing as we pulled up to the cliffs at our hotel.  The waves were really pounding now, especially here in the little cove near the hotel.  The boat was bobbing up and down.

The older kids jumped off first and were on standby and ready to help the younger ones.  Andrew and Jackie were on either side of the ladder ready to catch Katie.  One of them grabbed her hand and she jumped off just as a wave ebbed and threw her up toward the ladder.

Little Andrew was next.  Nick and Phil were standing by to catch him.  As he went to make his move the boat dipped.  But it already was too late.  His foot had come off of the boat and his momentum had already pushed him forward.  He was going to miss the ladder completely and head right into the rock. There was a collective gasp as we were all sure at that moment that he wasn’t going to make it and would crash into the side of the sharp cliffs.  In my mind’s eye I could just see him coming short of the ladder and falling into the ocean, smashed between the boat and the cliff.  But somehow, by a miracle, as the boat dipped, he rose up and just barely got his foot onto one of the rungs, and pulled himself on to the ladder without a scratch.  We collectively let out our breath.  Whew.

Bruce waited for his moment and jumped off safely.  I tossed him the bag and the rest of our stuff from the boat.  Then it was my turn.  Frankly, it was a little scary, jumping off the boat in the storm onto the sharp rocks.  But all of the rest of my family was already safely on solid ground, so I had no choice!  I jumped forward and Bruce grabbed my arm.  We all made it off the boat safely in the pouring rain.

We turned and all waved good-bye to Sunbaby.  We shouted our thanks to Roger and Kirk over the roar of the wind and the waves.  And then standing in the rain, we all turned to look at each other in silence. Almost instinctively everyone took off in a mad dash for the pool.  We jumped in one by one, every one of us laughing a laughter filled with relief and pure joy.  The rain and the wind were cold but the pool was warm.  It was invigorating.  We played in the pool for another half hour before going in to get cleaned up for dinner.

It really was an amazing snorkeling trip.  And we all knew that we had witnessed the hand of God yank Andrew from the boat to the safety of the cliff.  We had shared a moment of silent unity on the deck. And a giggle fest of nonsense and bonding in the pool.  Looking back, it was probably the highlight of family bonding of the whole trip.  

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