Rays

We were walking with friends Donna and Bob at Bill Bags State Park when I noticed a large (4' wide) brown ray, likely a sting ray, swimming along about 5 feet off the seawall. It was cruising faster than us, so we quickly lost sight of it.

It reminded me of when my first husband and I were living aboard our boat, the Lazy S, in the Bahamas in the early 1970's. For a while, we anchored at Little Harbor and enjoyed meeting the sculptor Randolph Johnson. He was creating large bronze statures at the forge he built.

One evening, as we motored back to the Lazy S, it seemed like the whole ocean floor began to move. It was the largest ray we had ever seen. Certainly bigger than our little dinghy. All we could hope was that our unreliable Seagull outboard would keep chugging a long (it often conked out at inopportune times) and that we would make it home without the ray coming up under us. Frightening and yet so wonderful.

A couple of years ago, we visited Paige and Trip in Hilo, Hawaii and drove over to the Kona side coast to have dinner at Rays on the Bays so we could see the big Manta rays at night. Unfortunately, the surf was too rough, so the restaurant didn't turn on its big flood lights. Next time. Perhaps we will do the night kayak tour too.