Randy Suits

The Storm before Our Cruise

My dear travel companion Eve,

We arrived in Port Canaveral the evening before our cruise. The weather during our 2 day drive was sunny, clear and perfect for sight seeing, maximum viewing and safe driving. Our friend Ella called an hour before arrival warning us of an approaching hurricane and as we turned toward the coast, the winds began to increase and dark clouds covered the sky. As we pulled into our Cocoa Beach Hotel to register, we noticed winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour. The local residents were unconcerned as we were on the edge of Hurricane Beryl centered in Jacksonville, Florida (highest intensity of winds was 70 mph) and reaching in the south from Cocoa Beach, Florida as far north as South Carolina, a distance of about 300 miles. The weather forecast called for possible category 4 storm with winds of 70 to 90 mph. We hurriedly rushed out to the beach to find it packed with vacationers and locals surfing, walking or  lounging on the beach and even sun bathing. You simply had to get into the Atlantic Ocean but at my insistence did not venture too far out. That’s my sweet baby, she’s not afraid of sharks or a category 4 storm but I’m afraid of both. God gave me the task of watching over her in her endless quest for adventure, and she will tell you I do my job. It was stimulating to experience the storm on the beach with the crowd which ignored the possible calamity and packed those moments with life. After a brief time in the water, we strolled up the beach we had walked 3 years before trying to locate the hotel where we had stayed then. We decided to drive to the port where our ship, the Monarch of the Seas, would be docked the next day for our departure. We found a local restaurant on Atlantic Avenue which served fresh sea food and ate our dinner. Our room had an ocean view and we could see the clouds, high winds and rough sea. We wondered if our cruise would be delayed. For two people who had never cruised (we didn’t yet have our sea legs) we were quite calm. After all, you had purchased some motion sickness medication, just in case. When we retired we heard the winds whistling outside, but the storm had been down graded to a category 3 so we were hopeful that the storm was not an omen.  We slept until 7:30 AM, went for a continental breakfast and returned for an hour to the beach (the ocean for Eva). As I cautioned my risk taking sweetheart who was frolicking in the waves from the secure footing of terra firma, I noticed a young wife shouting the same directives to her husband and their two sons thrashing in the sea. Her 3 year old daughter was content to stay in ankle deep water like her mother and myself and we struck up a conversation about the fun and occasional aggravation of living with a thrill seeking spouse. It appears that God in his infinite wisdom matches fun loving adventurers like my Eva and her husband with a cautious protector. This adds excitement to the cautious and restraint to the thrill seeker. Eva returned to the room to wash and set her hair for departure and the first evening on our ship. I stayed on the beach for about an hour and walked the beach with the waves washing over my feet. When we checked out of our hotel, we drove directly to the port and saw the majestic ship which would be our home for the next few days. The wind was now only blowing at 5 to 10 mph but in the excitement of boarding, the photo shoot, our first exploratory walk about the promenade deck and life boat muster, we lost our fear. We were on the deck as we steamed out to sea and the wind blew through Eva’s hair. How lovely she was, standing beside me enthralled by the sight of the land on the horizon to our right and the endless ocean  to the north, south and east. As dusk approached and the sun set the storm had diminished to refreshing breezes as the land faded from sight and we were surrounded by ocean. We were no less in the protective care of our Holy Father at sea than we were on terra firma. Thank you Most High God for watching over us and we ask that you deliver us safely to the home we love.

Come sail with me on Gods’ sea of blessing, Kochany