Key West Travelogue - 4

(Continued from here)

The break at Starbucks gave me an opportunity to call up my friends and talk to them. I called up my roommates and when I was talking to them I could hear a lot of background noise. Then suddenly it dawned on me, today was India's first cricket match of the world cup against Bangladesh. My friends were explaining to me about the sorry state of the game and how minnows like Bangladesh were showing us how to play cricket. In many ways it was good that I'd decided to come to Key West during that weekend, because it got me away from the pathetic cricket match which we ended up loosing miserably.

Anyways, the hour at Starbucks went off really quickly thanks to the many phone calls made to many different friends and hearing from almost every person about the sorry state of affairs of the India - Bangladesh game. I paid for the coffee, took my battery and charger and left.

Parasailing is a big adventure activity that almost everyone indulges in, when they visit Key West. I had seen pictures and videos of it and I realized that it would not be prudent to take my expensive digital SLR camera along with me when I was parasailing. So, I quickly rushed back to my car, dropped off my camera, went to the pier and waited for the parasailing boat to come.

Since, it was quite windy that day, many parasailing operators were closed. Only a few handful were operational. After a 15 minute wait, I saw a boat come-in and dock at the place where I was waiting. I could sense the nervous energy flowing through me. Its a very interesting feeling - a feeling which I havent felt since 2001 when I indulged in Bungee Jumping in Vienna.

The boat operators said that I'd have to wait longer. Apparently a few more people had registered for parasailing. So we waited. Although the wait was only 10 minutes or so, it seemed like an hour. Thats what the nervous energy does to you. Finally, two more people arrived and we all climbed aboard the boat and ventured out. I made a deal with the boat operators to take a video and some pictures of me doing parasailing since I hadnt brought my camera along. Of course I had to pay 20 bucks extra for it.

I was nominated first to go and one of the boat operator gave me a life-jacket and a harness to put on. Although the wind had died down a wee bit, it was still so strong that I found it difficult to stand upright. So donned on the life-jacket and the harness while being seated and just waited. My heart was pounding away like a high speed bullet train and the wait seemed endless.

Finally the boat was stopped and the boat operators started opening the para-sail. I climbed on to the elevated section at the rear of the boat and my harness was hooked onto the para-sail. Then in a few moments before I could realize what was happening I was airborne. I shouted screamed not in excitement but in fear but I wasn't coming down, I was just going up and up and up...



This is the video taken just after I was airborne. The most amazing thing is that the boat is moving at nearly 90 degrees to the rope which made the parasail wobble really bad. You can make it out 6-7 seconds into the video by the direction of water after-flow relative to the rope direction. Honestly, It was scary.

All the more so because I had kept my glasses on and was worried. My eyesight is so poor that, if I remove my glasses I can see clearly only upto a distance of 1 feet and anything beyond that is a blur. Unfortunately I wasnt carrying a second spare pair and if my glasses were to fall off, I wouldnt have been able to drive back 180 miles. So I was kinda extra cautious.

As I gained more and more height, the wobble kinda reduced and I could feel the wind gushing past my ears. Of course because I had kept my glasses on I was able to enjoy the magnificient arial view of the blue atlantic ocean, the small islands, distant ships and my small white boat. At the behest of the boat operator, I mustered courage to free both my hands and wave out to him so that he could take some good pictures and video footage.



After having been on the top for about 10 minutes or so, I felt the rope being pulled down slowly and I was half-sad and half-relieved that I'll be back down again. Actually, its a very sinking feeling when you see that you're suspended from something and you look at your feet and see them dangling in mid-air.

The journey down was uneventful and surprisingly wobble free and I was absolutely overjoyed and relieved when after about 20 minutes or so, my feet touched the boat deck again. Now it was my turn to watch as the couple did their parasailing stint.

I couldnt wait to get back to the shore, because the time was nearing 06:30 and I had to go to mallory square and see the sunset and the sunset celebrations. The couple finished parasailing and we all headed back towards the dock again. As soon as we reached the dock, I literally thanked the boat crew in a hurry, paid them 10 bucks tip and rushed towards my parked car. By the time I picked up my camera and headed towards Mallory Square, it was about 07:00 pm and crowd had just begun to gather there for the view of the sunset and the sunset celebrations. I picked out a spot overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, readied my camera and started cliking.

Here are some of the sunset pictures and a picture of a juggling act performed as a part of the sunset celebrations. Please feel free to download and use the pictures in any way you guys want.






The one below is my absolute favourite. When I saw the preview for the first time after clicking the picture, i absolutely couldnt believe my eyes. This is my current desktop background picture.



This one below is a jugglery act performed on Mallory Square as a part of the sunset celebrations.



And finally, the last rays of the sun.



Watching a sunset spectacle always leaves me in a melancholy and a ponderous mood. Subconciously I've come to associate sunset with the ultimate end - death. Somehow, I forced myself to walk back to the car and I just sat inside feeling kinda lost and empty - feeling as if there's nothing more to see, nothing more to do.

I drove quietly back to the hostel and just crashed into bed without eating anything.

(Continued here...)