Aground (1)
It had started on another tranquil day. We were picked up from the resort early in the morning. We had the boat, the 'dunghi' all to ourselves. It looked a little flimsy, but the water was still and clear. The kid on the boat couldn't have been more than seventeen years old. We set off, planning to go to Button island, first to snorkell and then to fish. We made sure we had enough supplies to last us through the day. You know the important stuff, beer.. and more beer.
The sun found us an hour out of Havelock puttering away slowly towards Button island. It had been an early start, so she decided to take a nap. Rocking with the motion of our little boat, she looked content and at peace with the world. I was up, scanning the horizon, looking for Dolphins. She used to laugh at me, and my 'weird Dolphin quest'. Easy for her to say, she spent a year on a cruise ship, whale watching. The sea was flat, with the horizontal rays of the rising sun reflected from the surface.
The trip was unventful, calm. We reached Button island around mid-morning. I was still getting used to the snorkelling mask, but I put it on and in we went. It was beautiful. Stunning coral reefs, clouds of multi-coloured fish, some swimming languidly close to the surface, others doing a sort of 'panic polka' down by the coral. We floated in the warm waters for a couple of hours. Got off the boat, and we were starving. Out came the sandwiches, followed by the beer. It was getting hot when we set off again to the next destination. The kid who was our guide assured me he knew of the best place to go fishing in the area.
We got to the fishing spot and spent a couple of hours with the lines in the water, and with no luck whatsoever. But we didn't care. There was plenty to drink and it was beautiful. The heat had caused the islands around us to go all hazy. It almost felt that were alone out there, surrounded by hazy green giants. Coming to the conclusion that the fish weren't biting, and with the sun slowly making its way towards the western horizon, we decided to head back. I was drowsy, and not making much sense. She laughed at me and asked whether I wanted to have a little nap. Splendid idea, I thought and I lay down under the tarpaulin cover of the boat as it puttered its way back south.
I have no idea how long I was sleeping for, couldn't have been much more than an hour. I remember her talking about a detour to look at something or the other. She said we had time and she was excited. I went back to sleep, drowsy with the heat and the motion of the boat. I came awake thinking that I must have been dreaming. I dreamt of being thrown around a room and hearing a great shearing sound. Like the sound you would imagine the sound of an airplane crashing into a giant aluminium can. I woke up and the boat was shuddering. The sun blinded me as it shone horizontally straight into my eyes. My throat was dry, my back ached and I was disoriented. There was water in the boat, pooling around my ankles. There was big crack at the bottom of the boat. Which explained the water. Looking back, it seemed fascinating. In the half asleep world, even a tenous link between appearance and consequence is hard to come by. I sat on the boat looking at the water pooling around my ankles.
I heard her shout my name, and I was shaken. There was an edge to her voice. She shouted again, and I looked around to try and see where she was. She was on the boat, on the edge. Gesturing wildly. What? What is it you want? Jump! She said, get out of the boat, its sinking. The kid was jabbering away as well. Speaking his amorphous Hindi-Bihari mix. Jump he said. Get off the boat.
It was obvious that something had gone wrong here. Very obvious. I looked at my feet, searched for my shoes, and she shouted again. Jump! I did and hit the water. Jumping into the sea reminded me of the first time that I had experienced the deep end of the swimming pool. The momentary sense of panic when you realise that your feet are not going to hit the ground. My legs thrashed as I seeked the bottom. No bottom, just lots of salty water which seemed to exploring my nostrils. Unpleasant, and didn't do much for my perception which was being filtered through panic, bordering on hysteria.
Tread water! I did. Head bobbing up and down as I saw the boat go under. Here we were, in a calm flat sea, what happened? We hit a reef, the kid said. That reef used to be a couple of meters under water. Must have changed after the tsunami hit. Lovely, I thought, the boat was gone and here were three of us swimming in these waters.
Sharks! Jelly fish, my feverish mind worked over time. All those late night specials from discovery channel came back to me. I thrashed a bit more and I looked around. She and the kid looked pretty calm.
Consumed by panic. It was the end, every sea going landlubber's nightmare, and of all the tourists here, it was me who had to live through it (or die through it I suppose). The kid said something, I didn't hear him. She called out asking me translate. The kid said, lets swim to that island, pointing to one of the blurry green giants out in the distance. He must have been kidding I thought, I can barely swim one lap at the swimming pool, I was not about to venture across this vast open ocean, patrolled no doubt by the terrifying monsters of the deep.
I translated, and she looked out over her shoulder to the island, and shrugged. Its not that far, and lets face it theres no other choice. I was there, paddling frantically, trying to keep my nose above the water. Stop thrashing around she said, you've got a life jacket on. Of course, I knew there was something there. But fighting against the water was so natural, that I had to stop myself, and go still, in fear of sinking like a lead brick any time. But the life jacket did its trick and I floated, a big piece of flotsam.
The sun found us an hour out of Havelock puttering away slowly towards Button island. It had been an early start, so she decided to take a nap. Rocking with the motion of our little boat, she looked content and at peace with the world. I was up, scanning the horizon, looking for Dolphins. She used to laugh at me, and my 'weird Dolphin quest'. Easy for her to say, she spent a year on a cruise ship, whale watching. The sea was flat, with the horizontal rays of the rising sun reflected from the surface.
The trip was unventful, calm. We reached Button island around mid-morning. I was still getting used to the snorkelling mask, but I put it on and in we went. It was beautiful. Stunning coral reefs, clouds of multi-coloured fish, some swimming languidly close to the surface, others doing a sort of 'panic polka' down by the coral. We floated in the warm waters for a couple of hours. Got off the boat, and we were starving. Out came the sandwiches, followed by the beer. It was getting hot when we set off again to the next destination. The kid who was our guide assured me he knew of the best place to go fishing in the area.
We got to the fishing spot and spent a couple of hours with the lines in the water, and with no luck whatsoever. But we didn't care. There was plenty to drink and it was beautiful. The heat had caused the islands around us to go all hazy. It almost felt that were alone out there, surrounded by hazy green giants. Coming to the conclusion that the fish weren't biting, and with the sun slowly making its way towards the western horizon, we decided to head back. I was drowsy, and not making much sense. She laughed at me and asked whether I wanted to have a little nap. Splendid idea, I thought and I lay down under the tarpaulin cover of the boat as it puttered its way back south.
I have no idea how long I was sleeping for, couldn't have been much more than an hour. I remember her talking about a detour to look at something or the other. She said we had time and she was excited. I went back to sleep, drowsy with the heat and the motion of the boat. I came awake thinking that I must have been dreaming. I dreamt of being thrown around a room and hearing a great shearing sound. Like the sound you would imagine the sound of an airplane crashing into a giant aluminium can. I woke up and the boat was shuddering. The sun blinded me as it shone horizontally straight into my eyes. My throat was dry, my back ached and I was disoriented. There was water in the boat, pooling around my ankles. There was big crack at the bottom of the boat. Which explained the water. Looking back, it seemed fascinating. In the half asleep world, even a tenous link between appearance and consequence is hard to come by. I sat on the boat looking at the water pooling around my ankles.
I heard her shout my name, and I was shaken. There was an edge to her voice. She shouted again, and I looked around to try and see where she was. She was on the boat, on the edge. Gesturing wildly. What? What is it you want? Jump! She said, get out of the boat, its sinking. The kid was jabbering away as well. Speaking his amorphous Hindi-Bihari mix. Jump he said. Get off the boat.
It was obvious that something had gone wrong here. Very obvious. I looked at my feet, searched for my shoes, and she shouted again. Jump! I did and hit the water. Jumping into the sea reminded me of the first time that I had experienced the deep end of the swimming pool. The momentary sense of panic when you realise that your feet are not going to hit the ground. My legs thrashed as I seeked the bottom. No bottom, just lots of salty water which seemed to exploring my nostrils. Unpleasant, and didn't do much for my perception which was being filtered through panic, bordering on hysteria.
Tread water! I did. Head bobbing up and down as I saw the boat go under. Here we were, in a calm flat sea, what happened? We hit a reef, the kid said. That reef used to be a couple of meters under water. Must have changed after the tsunami hit. Lovely, I thought, the boat was gone and here were three of us swimming in these waters.
Sharks! Jelly fish, my feverish mind worked over time. All those late night specials from discovery channel came back to me. I thrashed a bit more and I looked around. She and the kid looked pretty calm.
Consumed by panic. It was the end, every sea going landlubber's nightmare, and of all the tourists here, it was me who had to live through it (or die through it I suppose). The kid said something, I didn't hear him. She called out asking me translate. The kid said, lets swim to that island, pointing to one of the blurry green giants out in the distance. He must have been kidding I thought, I can barely swim one lap at the swimming pool, I was not about to venture across this vast open ocean, patrolled no doubt by the terrifying monsters of the deep.
I translated, and she looked out over her shoulder to the island, and shrugged. Its not that far, and lets face it theres no other choice. I was there, paddling frantically, trying to keep my nose above the water. Stop thrashing around she said, you've got a life jacket on. Of course, I knew there was something there. But fighting against the water was so natural, that I had to stop myself, and go still, in fear of sinking like a lead brick any time. But the life jacket did its trick and I floated, a big piece of flotsam.
