A parasailing excursion on a family vacation when I was young had a gross — but hilarious — outcome

• On a family vacation, we booked an excursion to go parasailing.
• We were all so excited to try it, but on the boat, I started to feel nauseated.
• I got sick while in the air and was horrified, but it’s become a funny family story.

I was 12 years old when the grossest — but also funniest — thing happened to me on vacation.

My family and my aunt, uncle, and younger cousin rented a house in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. One day, we booked an excursion to go parasailing. We clambered excitedly onto the small boat at the bayside dock.

It was fairly windy, but the two men running the operation assured our parents it was a fine day for parasailing. We set off to the open ocean, a few hundred feet from the shoreline. The boat slowed. The water was choppy, and I felt a not-quite-pleasant swaying sensation.

We were all excited to try parasailing

My sunburn-prone dad had stayed behind, and we paired each kid with an adult to be hoisted in joint harnesses. Our cousin and uncle went first, and we watched, enthralled, as they sailed upward, big smiles plastered on their faces.

I was grinning, too, at first. But as the boat bobbed over the surface, I started to feel a little off. But I didn’t want to spoil the fun, though, and I was anxious for my turn, so I said nothing about the nausea that was building. When it was time, I strapped in with my aunt and watched the boat become tiny as we rose 200 feet in the air.

After a few minutes of oohing and aahing at the view, I went quiet. The queasy feeling had intensified. I shut my eyes, willing it to abate. I said, “Aunt Susan…I don’t feel very good.”

My experience didn’t exactly go as planned

My sweet aunt jumped into comfort mode, rubbing my arms and coaxing me to fix my eyes on the horizon. We sang a Carly Simon song, my voice wobbly and thin.

It wasn’t working.

I turned back to look at my aunt for reassurance, and that’s when it happened.

I vomited. All over both of us. In the direction of the wind and her face.

To her everlasting credit, squeamish Aunt Susan held it together, stroking my hair and telling me it was OK. She tried signaling to the boat that we wanted to come in.

I was blubbering and apologizing, still feeling awful. We saw the men wave back at us, but instead of moving toward the boat, we began moving downward toward the ocean.

“Oh no,” Aunt Susan said. “I think they’re going to dunk us.”

We looked down and discovered we were rapidly descending onto a huge school of pale blue jellyfish.

Shrieking, we grasped our barf-covered legs, praying we didn’t crash into a jellyfish. Luckily, we avoided them as we dipped into the sea.

“At least our legs are cleaned off,” Aunt Susan said, trying to make me laugh as we rose again into the sky. Finally, my mom, noticing something was amiss, told the boat guys to reel us in.

I clutched the side of the boat while Aunt Susan collapsed next to me, looking pale and fairly nauseous herself. I assured my sister and mom they could take their turn. “I felt a little better after throwing up,” I said, feeling guilty that Aunt Susan couldn’t say the same.

It’s now a funny family story

Back at the beach house, my dad greeted us jovially.

“So,” he said, “how was it?”

I burst into tears and gasped out, “I threw up all over Aunt Susan!” My dad couldn’t contain the laugh that bubbled up, which only made me cry harder.

Aunt Susan gave me a big hug. “It’s OK, sweetie,” she said. “I am going to go take a shower, though.” I cracked a small smile. I knew, even as upset as I was, that someday it would be a funny story.

Sure enough, it became the big joke for the rest of our family vacation and for many years afterward. It was a disgusting, hilarious bonding experience for me and my aunt, who I’m still close to today.

And now, whenever anyone mentions parasailing, I say, “Make sure you bring Dramamine! I’ve got a story about that…”