Three to Five foot seas

Since we have purchased our boat Virgel and I have been listening to the boater's forcast. Some days it is calm to moderate chop, some days it is 1 - 2 foot seas, Saturday it was 3-5 foot seas. We were pretty sure we didn't want to take the boat out in that rough of water, but it would be o.k. on a bigger boat. So we packed up the kids and headed South 2 miles to John Pennenkamp state park. It is the only underwater state park in the country, which protects the only coral reef in the US. We hopped on the Spirit of Pennenkamp the glass bottom boat and headed out to the reef, Molassas reef to be specific. We we made it to open water Virgel and I thought, well this isn't too bad. Unfortunately we were not really in open water just yet. The ride out was beautiful. Stacee and the kids were loving the ride. Ruston and I stayed in the cab and everyone else went outside to enjoy the beautiful views. Before we made it to the reef Ani asked if I would make the boat stop "Jumping". Uh-oh. The real trouble didn't start until we slowed down at the reef. That is when you really understand what 3-5 foot seas really mean. We of course did not take any motion sickness medicine. We all spent a few minutes looking down onto to reef. It is magnificant. I was lucky enough to see one of the largest brain coral, which they said took several hundred years to grow. Saddly, it was damaged due to an anchor being dropped on it. They now have tie off bouys so you are not allowed to anchor at all. Stacee and her kids ended up on top, the captain indicated that was the best place if you were feeling bad. I was inside with Ruston and Ani asleep in my lap. Virgel and I did pretty well with a couple of pepermints. Out of about 60 people on the boat only 5-6 were left looking at the reef before we left. Everyone else was trying not to use the pretty gray bags! Once we headed back everyone started to feel better. Stacee and her kids did get to sea the open ocean and the beautiful color of the water here, they just didn't see too many coral reef fish!
We have decided next time, 3-5 foot seas - bad idea!