I went to the beach yesterday (read this!)

[FishKid]

long, if your lazy, just read the end...

yesterday, I went with my family to the beach. and holy god almighty there was a nasty riptide! I almost died ;(

imagine this, 6+ foot waves, with the impact of an SUV!! comming in at about 40 miles an hour! only the biggest @$$#oles went more than knee deep (me) as soon as I got there, I grabbed my $10 buggie board, and ran to the water. as soon as I see the waves I yell surfs up!! too bad I dont have a surf board! the waves were huge! the first have hit me, i was knee deep, and it was a 2' wave, It sent me way back! after I get back to my feet, I run back to the water, and lower my shoulder into it, that time i get through. i start out, after jumping over several 2' waves, i meet up with some other retards, as soon as we start talking, someone yells "OH MY GOD!!" this wave was 6', and we were standing at the braking point. everyong got thrown atleast 5 feet back! It hurt sooo much!

after that we go deeper, so we can ride them, I caught one really nice one, I was going so fast I could only hold on with one hand! I got back out there for another one, after getting seriously pounded, I leave the water to get some air. Then I go back in, and Im with a guy out about shoulder deep, and we are talking "hey what happened to all the big waves" To my surprise, It was coming, atleast 7' high, I dive under it, I come back up, only to get hammered! Then the waves stop some more, then, it happened, the scarriest 2 minutes of my entire life. The undertow got really strong, and neptune struck back, with a wave that had to be over 10 feet, all I heard was people all over scream in awe, all I could think about was "so this is how it ends" I felt like a train was comming, the undertow wouldnt let me move! it engulfed me, and tossed me like a ceasar salad! when I got to the surface, I was facing the ocean, so I thought I was lost at sea. I wasnt, but I was still over my head...

long story short the guy drowned...

mark

[asmith]

That sucks. Glad you are OK. Be careful out there.

Andrew

[fishrule]

At least a shark didn't attack you.

[Reinhold]

I hate it when that happens. (For you youngsters out there, another old SNL reference.)

[FishKid]

yeah, there was a shark sighting at a beach not too far from where I was...

Its wierd, I was talking with the guy, then he disappeared! But no one knew he was missing for a while!

mark

[icemark]

You know as an avid beach goer/surfer for the last 30+ years I must say (not just to you Mark but to everyone): If you are going into the water/ocean at the beach, learn where the rips are first!

The lifeguards are more than happy to tell you where the rips are and how dangerous a particular area is. It’s their job to keep you safe. But how many people ask? Way too few. Walk up to the tower, and ask. They won't bite.

And if you get it in your head to go someplace without lifeguards you better be a world class ocean swimmer or boarder. Just common sense.

Sorry that the guy drowned. I hope everyone will learn from his mistakes.

[Biomanjcs72]

Mark, that'll sober you up in a hurry, won't it. Growing up, we spent our summers at the gulf, I can't tell you how many times I went sand surfing with my face because a big wave smacked me. I, however, never had anyone drown right next to me. But I got scared several times. Brutal reminder of our own mortality...huh. Glad your OK, two words, three times, flotation device, flotation device, flotation device..... Must suck for the guys family.

[Iron Crab]

Hey Fishkid, I know where you're coming from. I took the family to Block Island just as a hurrricane hit Florida. First couple of days it was great then the water got really mean. I was taking pictures and put my two oldest on a large rock on dry land and the next thing I noticed was they were in chest deep water being pulled in. The rest of the week we stayed away from the water and took the soonest ferry we could get back on to Rhode Island. Glad you're OK.

[piege]

I went to block island on the 4-6. Talk about rough water! Try riding that banana boat right next to where the ferry drops off. That thing was incredible!

[FishKid]

I can not believe how horribly petrified I was when that happened! The only reason I think that I didnt drown, is because I didnt panick, as soon as I realized what had happened, I took a time out for a second or two, so I could rationalize the best course of action. I knew that the best way to get out of a riptide is to swim horizontally, but I hadnt the time, nor the energy (the whole beach was pretty much one big rip) so I drove straight into the beast, luckly for me and the little kid next to me, the wave pattern was like 2 big waves, 5 small ones, so the big ones were gone. I swam as fast as i could without going anywhere, then a big wave came and knocked me under, once that happened, I remembered hearing alll of the shark sightings around where I was, next thing Iknow the big wave pulled me to the beach, while I was under water.

That makes #7 on near death experiences. 2 lives left

mark