2016: Parasailing is much, much scarier than paragliding, I think. First of all, your instructor who flies in tandem with you doesn't wear any harness. He just grabs hold of the handle (?) or whatever it is he holds on to, just as you're about to take off, and hoists himself up. I mean, what if he misses, or falls?! I'm not going to fly off on my own! They barely tell you what to do up there. And you're a mile up in the air. It felt like a mile, anyway. Below you is the deep, blue sea. Granted, they do provide you with life-jackets, but no amount of life jackets are going to keep you from panicking, especially after you have signed the agreement to waive all your rights to take any legal actions should any accident happen.
And then, there is the fact that your life is basically in the hands of the boatman down below. He's got to know the direction and velocity of the wind, when to stop, when to start and when to speed, when to turn around...darn, I get into a frenzy just thinking about how much the boatman has to remember. I have trouble even remembering where I put my phone.
I was lucky to have landed smoothly. There was a girl who was dragged across the sand and almost crashed into a tree because her boatman didn't brake in time. A few landed in water, again because of bad timing, or inexperienced instructor.
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The boys prepping me up |
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That's me high up in the air |
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Getting smaller.. |
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Turning around |
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Coming back to the shore |
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Almost thought we were going to land on the treetops |
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Preparing for landing |
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Smooth landing |