The Shipwreck (true story): 5 Minute Freewrite Prompt, 'Salty Air'

All Photos are mine, taken by me and my "steemit" kids @abyni & @knightengale as well as my husband @serapium may be seen in some of them :)

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Living on a sailboat, at least in our case, meant that the salty air was the norm. It's somewhat indescribable, the smell, the taste, the simple feel of always being surrounded by the salty ocean air. Everything was pretty much always damp, but somehow when we were in the Bahamas at least, it wasn't an unpleasant thing. (Don't get me started on Florida, though!)

our boat home in the background

It was basically living outside, on the water. There was never a time when we were inside closed doors really, other than when it rained really hard... and that was somewhat miserable, because then it was like being stuck in a car in a hot parking lot with no breeze at all. That's what happens when your windows mainly sit on the roof of your ocean home!

When I think of salty air, the first memory that pops into my mind is the first time we saw the Sapona Shipwreck. It was our third day (maybe?) since we had sailed from the US (Florida) to the Bahamas and made the crossing to Bimini. We'd checked into the country, paid the fees and customs and we were free to explore. We anchored overnight near the sight of a shipwreck that we'd heard was an amazing place to go diving and snorkeling.

I wasn't expecting too much myself. I was still way too afraid of the water, way too intimidated by my lack of good swimming skills and the thought of snorkeling freaked me out (and yet, yes, I lived on a boat on the ocean).

However, the next morning, I woke up, stumbled out of my cabin and popped my head out of the pilot house to look towards where this wreck was supposed to be.

I was STUNNED. There, rising up out of the amazingly turquoise waters was an enormous shipwreck. It was the most beautiful thing I'd seen yet. I just stood there practically shouting, "HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! OH MY GOD!" I was enraptured.

I realize that I have odd... tendencies and the things that impress me or that I get entertainment out of are different than a lot of people, but the visual of this totally unexpected sight blew me away. It's been a year and a half-ish and I can still vivdly remember the immense amount of feelings that this sight evoked in me. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

My husband and our kids spent the day diving, snorkeling, climbing and jumping off of the shipwreck and it was just one of the best days ever. Still one of my favorite times on the boat.

And here is the video from that part of our trip, if you're interested:

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Thanks to @mariannewest for the #freewrite challenges!

Prompt: salty air
Set your timer for 5 minutes
Start writing
Use the hashtag #freewrite
Publish your piece (include a link to this post if you wish)
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Or, if you don't want to publish your freewrite, just copy and paste as a comment under the prompt post.*