Boat Failure at Biscayne National Park- 2021
Biscayne National Park is the 9th National Park I've been to. It is 95 percent underwater; the only way to explore it is to book a tour or rent/ have a boat and snorkel or dive. This is the only National Park I have been to where I didn't have to show my National Park Pass. This park aids in the protection of coral reefs, mangrove forests, and wildlife. There are different Keys that you can dock, explore, have lunch and then head back out on the water.
When I booked my tour, a sailboat, paddleboard, and snorkeling trip, I didn't know what Key we were going that is decided by the Captain that day. This tour was through Biscayne National Park Institute. I was looking forward to this trip for what felt like forever, combining my love of water with exploration. It was a 6-hour excursion but lasted more than 7 hours. We left the visitor center and set sail (see what I did there, ha!); we sailed into the bay with full sails.
Paddling at Adam's Key
After about an hour and a half, we docked at Adam's Key, one of many tiny keys in Biscayne. There were two "houses" that rangers could choose to live in on this Key. I'm sure it sounds much more glamorous than it really is. But can you imagine living on a key until you realize you forgot to pick up beer for the night or a hurricane comes?
We stayed at Adam's Key for lunch. Then after lunch, our paddleboards were ready for us at the dock. Everyone paddled, but one group decided to kayak even after I gave instructions on how to paddle, and I guess they changed their minds. The poor tour guide was concerned about our safety on the paddles since most of us were not experienced, except for me. You could tell he was stressed, and I tried to help him get people back in the water and give tips on paddling board. But looking back on that experience, he would probably be happier dealing with that all over again rather than what happened later.
We paddled to the mangroves, tied our paddleboards up, and snorkeled. I, of course, broke my mask, but luckily, he had a backup. My mask was full-face, and I broke the connection from the back to the strap. Once I finally jumped in the water to snorkel, I realized quickly that the current was so strong that swimming was difficult, but I still saw some incredible marine life. I also had one of the guys take my borrowed Go Pro for a swim to get some videos.
After snorkeling, we paddled back to the dock and put the boards back on the sailboat. Then we loaded up and sailed back to the visitor's center.
Or that's what was supposed to happen ………..
Mayday!
Within 10-15 minutes, our engine died. We tried the boat again, and it started, but then it died. Again. The captain said it was either engine failure or an empty gas tank. We all looked at each other like, how can that happen?!
He mentioned that this wasn't the boat he typically sailed with, which one can debate if that's a good thing or bad thing….anyways!
We tried calling for help from the boat in front of us, who worked for the same company, but they never responded. So we tried the next best thing … we called Coast Guard. While we called them, we got ourselves stuck on a sandbar.
Let's recap: the engine isn't working for whatever reason, and now we are stuck on a sandbar…..greaaatttt.
The Coast Guard told us to call a boat towing company; 10 were blowing up the radio. Thankfully, we had a guy on the boat who worked for the Coast Guard (he lived in Texas), so one of his buddies facetimed him, asking, "what the hell is going on?" He heard the call.
The captain called his boss, who told him this happened a few months ago. The problem was a clogged fuel line. The captain tried to clear it, but it didn't work. So, he called his boss again.
The second time, below deck, he removed the clog, and we had a working engine!!
But we were still stuck on a sand bar. We were like a car spinning out on the snow on I70 who didn't put their snow chains onWe waved down a boat, and they yelled at us, saying, "Don't you have a radio?" We yelled yes, and then we communicated via radio. I swear I am not making this shit up, and I think all common sense goes out of the window when one crazy thing happens after another.
It was a small boat called "Osprey." I'm not sure if that was the boat's name or the type of boat; all I knew was that the boat was small, and I mean….small compared to this big sailboat, and I was wondering how the hell it would pull us out. Every attempt is made to pull us out; I swore this small boat was going to flip. The rope that was tied to this boat even broke, but I guess the ocean Gods were on this boat's side and it didn't flip, pulling us out. We were finally unstuck!
And on we went again, sailing back.
To the Dock, At Last!
We finally docked after 5 pm; we were supposed to be back at 4. It was a hilarious trip with five other strangers; we all bullshitted, talked about our lives and our love for travel, laughed, exchanged wtf looks, and just went with the flow of the waves, legit and figurative. As I was sitting there bullshitting with them, it reinstated the concept for me of impermanence.
Impermanence means everything in life is temporary; nothing lasts forever. A notion that I have a love-and-hate relationship, but a relationship I'm working on strength. Yes, some of us exchange IG accounts to send videos and pictures, but most of the time, you don't keep in touch after the first few days of the meeting. But who knows what could happen? I know that summer brought some interested people into my life for exciting adventures.
Like I always say to people….. “it's always a fucking adventure with me.”