Parasailing!

I crossed something off my list!  On our recent family cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, Dan and I went parasailing.  This was one of the excursions offered at Nassau, so when Dan's aunt reminded me that this was on "the list," I knew I had to do it.  I'll admit, my fears are generally irrational (i.e. Little Richard scares the crap out of me), but heights aren't usually something that get me worked up.  After all, we zip-lined in Alaska and ventured out onto the glass Skydeck 1300 feet in the air in Chicago.  But as a coworker pointed out, "You won't drive in the snow, but you'll parasail?"  Well, I suppose so.   

We booked the excursion before we left and kind of forgot about it until a few days before.  As it inched closer, however, I started to get a little nervous.  But once we got there, I started to calm down and became excited for it. 

When we arrived at the small boat, we saw that there were two attendants - a driver and one working the parachute and ropes.  There were 6 people in our group, including ourselves.  We were the last to go, so we put on our harnesses and life jackets and waited our turn.  We watched an older couple go first and they loved it.  The next couple to go also said it was great, so once it was our turn, we were ready.  There was no turning back now, although I did ask the attendant if anyone ever fell out of the sky.  He assured me no one had.

They clipped us into the parachute and secured the seat.  As the parachute pulled away, we were told to just sit back and bend our knees.  We were lifted into the air like we were flying.  It was all very smooth.  Once we reached our max height, it was so serene and peaceful.  The only thing you could hear was the parachute flapping in the breeze.  We couldn't even hear the boat below.  It was like we were floating.  We stayed up in the air for several minutes before we were lowered towards the water for a dip.  

A few times while we were up there, I thought about what would happen if the harness came undone, but other than that, it was really cool and calming.  Zip-lining was more of a rush, while this was more about floating and enjoying the view.  It was the icing on top of a great family vacation!

Be well,