The day is beautiful – over here on the leeward side of the Florida Keys. On the windward side, the wind is blustery, and the bay is choppy. Over here on the Atlantic side, the ocean waters are still a little murky from the tropical storm that churned the seas the previous week, but they are warm and inviting.

The original plan was to pick up two kayaks at 8:00 this morning, but the winds changed that. Due to our inexperience regarding the wind, the behavior of the ocean, and the fact Caroline nor I had ever been on a kayak, we opted to put off kayaking and instead drove south, stopping at Long Key State Park, where an attendant invited us to check out a lake in the park to see if we’d be comfortable canoeing its waters, kayaks were unavailable due to the high winds, and canoeing wasn’t what we were interested in so we continued south to Marathon Key.

At the visitor center, the friendly attendant told us of a nice beach off Coco Plum Drive, and off we went to Coco Plum Beach. We hadn’t picked up our snorkel gear yet, so all we could really do was walk along the shallow beach and view the wildlife.

A few fish darted about, and a couple of stingrays sped over the sandy bottom.

Even an incredibly poisonous Man-o-war jellyfish floated by. Then we noticed the wind was easing and decided to return north to Islamorada and check out the kayaks.

Dot at A1A Watersports hooked us up with two sit-on-top kayaks, reassured us how easy this was going to be, showed us where (and how) to put in, gave us two life jackets, and told us she’d watch from the shore and rescue us if we appeared in danger. And so it was that we, for the first time in our lives, paddled off into the deep ocean waters of the great Atlantic.

Below us, somewhere down, there was terra firma, but up here were the two of us bobbing on slivers of plastic, praying not to roll over to be consumed by Triton.

Maybe you hadn’t noticed how tight my jaw was in the photo above, just as well as it wouldn’t have been flattering while Caroline here is obviously having the time of her life.

Sadly, my anxiety might have been for nothing as Dot later told us we could have stood up at any time as the water was maybe hip-deep where we were paddling. Why couldn’t she share that with me beforehand? While Caroline did fine and took to kayaking without a care, it was I who feared going Poseidon Adventure, losing orientation, and falling victim to some freak drowning accident in ankle-deep water. After an hour, I may not have felt like an expert, but this was a great experience that I was looking forward to repeating the next day.

Next up is the jet ski. A1A was our tour guide for this, too. Heidi, the volunteer fireman, was to take us out for our first ride on a jet ski. Like Dot, she assured us we’d have fun and not to worry, just do as I say, go out on the ocean over there and drive this around, and in ten minutes, she’d join us. Here I am, needing to be the brave man before my wife, with my fear of deep water pressing me to bow out, but at the same time needing to man up. Little to do but grin and bear it, and off we went with a light touch on the throttle as I tried to warm up to speed over the ocean on this slightly bigger sliver of plastic powered by a menacingly fast engine. Heidi was fantastic in taking her time getting us up to speed. Our first stop was a reef where there was a chance we would snorkel, but the visibility was poor, so we ditched that and headed over to a sand bar. Off the jet ski, we stood hip-deep in the ocean, surrounded by sharks – I had to sacrifice Caroline to seek the mercy of Neptune.

Damn, those old waterproof single-use cameras were horrible quality; you should see the action shots Heidi took of the fuzzy blurs on the sea.

The first part of the tour took us slowly through a mangrove tunnel and near a pelican rookery getting me used to handling the jet ski before she took us out on the open sea and built up my confidence to go fast, really fast.

Now comfortable with how this ocean rocket performed, Heidi took us on a slalom run that, at times, saw us speeding over the surface, slicing the water at over 50 miles per hour. We stopped for a break well away from the shore in what I would have thought was deep water, but instead, we were able to step off the jet ski and stand in the beautifully warm waters of southern Florida.

The face that says, “I’ve had another incredible day doing amazing things I don’t believe I thought I’d ever do.”

One of those rare photos of me that Caroline took and that I really do like.

A bit cold and totally wet it was time to check in the Harbor Lights Motel to put on dry clothes and have some dinner.