Riding the Mantas with mask and snorkel in French Polynesia 1986
While going through some photos of cruising with our children, Sammy and Jamie, I came across many pictures of them wearing masks and snorkels! So many, in fact, that I realized how utterly valuable these pieces of equipment are aboard a boat.
Of course we use them for seeing under water and being able to breath while our noses and mouths are beneath the surface of the sea, but did you ever consider that wearing them could keep you from crying when cutting up the onions going into the fish chowder?
Sammy our galley slave, loved making delicious fish chowders. But she did not like the tears that came every time she cut up those onions. She came up with the idea of wearing her mask! It worked a charm. Even when we finally arrived home and lived in a house, Sammy would keep her mask for any time she had to make a chowder!
Even as a toddler, Sammy would get her Daddy’s mask and jump over the side and look at all the fishies, as she called them! Here we are in Little Harbor, Abacos, note how empty it is! Sammy is about a year and a half old, and already putting that huge mask and snorkel to good use!
Our little girl eventually graduated into an accomplished scuba diver. Sammy and her brother, Jamie, and Andy would all go scuba diving together. Then the masks and snorkels became Christmas presents and were as precious to them as their Legos and books!
Another life is to use a mask and snorkel in a hurricane! No photos were possible when working on the deck of KANDARIK in a hurricane situation! We were getting prepared to ride out a hurricane in the Bahamas, and while working on deck when the wind was trying to rip us apart, the ONLY way we could see and breath was wearing our good old masks and snorkels! Think about putting your head out a window of your car going 75 mph in the rain! There is no way you can open your eyes or even attempt to breath! This is another life for a mask and snorkel!
Choose these valuable cruising assets carefully for quality and comfort. They will be so helpful in your lives aboard a cruising boat!
Pam
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