Boat Ride _ Split Croatia
The experience I had on 11.04.2023 definitely needs to be jotted down here.
It was a tuesday morning, the weather was not too cold or too warm. My husband, friends and I got ready to enjoy the boat ride. We were supposed to be at the spot by 7:45AM but arrived slightly after 8:00AM. The travel agent was all set to allot the passengers and the group of pilots to each boat. We boarded one of the four boats, settled into our seats. Honestly I had zero preparation for the boat ride, at that moment my focus was to prep myself with the jacket they gave us all, to sit comfortably and adjust the bags we brought in our little footspace. Then the guide gave us a brief introduction on the boat ride, also he did not give a second thought to say “the pilot was riding the boat for the first time!!”, which he then covered up as a joke. Sigh of relief to know we were in safe hands.
There were four boats in total, slowly each boat started at their own pace. So did our boat. I took few minutes to adjust and accept the choppy waves. We started reaching to the point where I could only watch the blue sky, blue water, feel the sun on my skin and the salty sea breeze.
Slowly a sense of gratitude aroused within me to the nature around, the second minute a overhwhelming joy of being in water, a state of ecstasy in mind, my heart was feather lite and rejuvenated for all that god had given me in life. Next minute a pinch of fear while floating up and down with waves. It was a amalgam of all emotions tuning in one after the other. Also my heart urged to roll out tears, it was confusing to classify if it was happy or fear tears, but I managed to control it not to be a silly crow in the boat. A sense of accomplishment was more in me at that moment, I could picture the entire 30 years of my life and only feel how fortunate I was for everything.
In midst of all these silent talks inside me, I managed to enjoy with my group — clicking pictures and videos, two hours passed by we reached a shore, and were directed to enter another boat which took us on pleasant ride to show the blue caves. It was more serene and divine place I would say, it left me awestruck by the color and the transparency of the sea.
After this ride, we got back to our speed boat and continued our journey towards Komiža Island for a coffee break of 30minutes, where we managed to sip some good coffee and we were happy to read a local newspaper in which our friend’s review was published with our group picture( It always feels good to see when someone you know is on newspaper. Our friend spoke about his experience in Croatia).
Soon after the short refreshments, we moved on to the famous Stiniva Bay and Palkeni Bay on the island which was accessible only by boat. And our last stop at 2PM for lunch was at HVAR Island where we spent long hours. Had the most comfortable home cooked food that we carried, strolled around the streets which had stalls with lavender items around, and we walked up the hill to the Hvar Venetian fortress with a beautiful city view. With few good pictures around the Fort we slowly walked back towards our boat, just right on time to start our journey back.
Our journey back to Split started at 4:15PM. Now that the initial excitement had settled down, it was more normal and we were less enthusiastic than in the morning. In less than ten minutes of our ride, the waves brought back the alterness with its little wild moves, so we all stayed alert and anticipated the waves with firm hand grip. It was more windy I would say and also the pilot had increased his speed to 60 which made it abit rough. We didn’t talk much as we could not hear eachother comfortably with the breezy winds.
This quite hour made me go inwards again, I started watching my thoughts and emotions. At certain point, the wave was really hard — it shook me to reality, made me realise that we don’t know how to swim nor did we wear any life jackets.
Questioning within — “How many people can the two pilots really save?” “Do my other co-passengers know swimming?” “Could they save us if we drown?”
Pause.
.
.
Let it go. Nothing is in my control. Enjoy the waves and the boat music.
But, no I lost again to my wavering thoughts and continued the internal dialogues. “Thinking on how does one feel on their death bed, Is this how they really feel?” Helpless.
They can either choose to be worried or stay calm. I would choose the latter — was my answer.
AGAIN the next question, “What if I were to die today? ”— I would with complete acceptance.
“Where will my acquistions go? ”— I am just a speck of dust in this cosmos.
The state of nothingness hit me hard!!! (Shunya — The Nothing)
Swimming in the joy of consciousness, I had a profound realisation.
After an hour and half, it was time to end my contemplation about life as we reached the Split shore, it was around 5:30PM. As I got out of the boat, my body took sometime to adjust to the land and we happily greeted goodbye to our pilot and continued to walk towards car parking.
That day the water and the wind helped me cleanse myself effortlessly. It made me feel more light and rejuvenated with great upsurge of energy. Felt a certain kind of stability physically and emotionally. I carry a different aura today than a week ago just before this ride.
Each of us have a different perspective and life experiences, perhaps mine could be funny to someone, but it has given me a unwavering foundation to evolve into a ultimate possibility. Happy to taste these flavors in my life.
Croatian Islands and ocean has won my heart. I will definitely visit this place again.
