The rope between the boat and the parasail was 800 feet long and didn't appear much stronger than the rope we use wakeboarding or tubing... the one that snapped several weeks ago while Justin was pulling someone on a tube. There was a group of 5 women on the boat with us, and three of them went up first. I was glad to get to see how it worked, but watching how high they were made it even more scary! Naturally, Justin and I were too cheap to pay $35 to get pictures taken during the ride, but these women were nice enough to take some and email them to me so we'd have evidence! Here are some of the pictures.
This is one of my favorites. Even with the rope in front of my face you can see that I'm screaming, and I'm gripping the straps so tightly that I'm sure my knuckles are turning white. This is as the boat is first pulling us into the air.
Here's a little further out - Justin looks relaxed, and I'm still holding on for dear life. My hands and forearms were actually tired by the end of the 9 minute ride.
It was actually a TON of fun and not very scary at all. I didn't realize the harness had a back strap so you could lean back and relax. That would have helped a lot! I was holding myself up like on a swing the whole time! We had a great view of Orange Beach (and probably Gulf Shores and Pensacola, too) from the sky. We also saw a shark swimming around underneath us! Part of the fun is to get "dipped" where the boat slows down until you float down to the water, then pulls you back up. We were a little nervous about being dipped after seeing the shark! He pulled us waist deep into the water, I guess because he knew we'd enjoy it. He only dipped the other women's toes, but I think our way was more fun! It was a great experience that I'll definitely do again!
I'll post more Orange Beach pictures soon!
