I Think I'm Going To Practice Holding My Breath
So the waves have been so big that I haven't gotten all the way in the water yet, just wading. And for those of you who are thinking , "Oh my god, she's in Hawaii for 20 days and she hasn't got into the ocean yet..?", well the lifegaurds are patroling the beaches to make sure that everyone is following the sign that says "No Swimming, Currents too strong..." so no one has really been in for a week or so.
But after a lot of watching waves and wading in them, the swell was small (3 feet or so), they took the signs down, and I went to the beach with my roomate Jeremy, his friend, and my roomates girlfriend, Rosie, to go swimming.
I wanted to lay in the sun, so the three of them went in first (secretly, I was still afraid to go in the water because the waves were breaking right on the shore and were still strong. For those of you who don't understand waves, this sucks because it's really hard to duck under them because the water level is knee high, and then a wave breaks and crashes down and suddenly you can't touch bottom---there is no where to go. Normally you can duck under water and lay flat, to go under the wave and then just stand up and the wave has past, but with these kind of "Shore Breaks" it's nearly impossible.) After laying out for an hour or so, Jeremy came back up to the beach and convinced me to go out there with him. My plan was to swim out past where the waves were breaking, so it I could float like I would at the lake back home. I nervously walked to the edge of the water, heard it crash on the beach and felt it touch the tips of my bubbly toes. I was suddendly up to my waist in water, and realized gettng out there wasn't going to be as easy as they make it look. I looked at Jeremy, he laughed as I quickly grabbed his hand hoping he would realize --I WAS SCARED!! He told me to swim off to the right a little bit, where the wave breaks weren't as big, we could just probably float right over the wave before it breaks. Easy for him to say. He swam ahead of me, checking every wave to make sure I made it through alright, which I did. I had made it out past the wave break in one piece. YEAH!!! So, now I'm just treading water and bobbing up and down with every wave. The water was tourquoise blue and crystal clear. You could see the bottom from way out where I was, it was great. So it was just me and Rosie treading water by ourselves for half an hour, while the boys body surfed the waves. Just as I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to wet my hair, I felt a strong jolt on my leg and it pulled me under--way under. I opened my eyes underwater to see what it was, and for those of you who know me best, I wear contacts and didn't have them on while I was in the water, so I was pretty much blind. My feet kicked frantically as I had no clue what was going on and broke away and swam to the top, where i found Rosie laughing her ass off at me. I turned around just as Jeremy upmerged from the water with a huge grin on his face. The bastard had grabbed my leg and pulled me under!!!!
Another 40 minutes of treading water and bobbing up and down, and I was starting to feel sea-sick and my arms and legs were tired from an hour of treading water. The waves had started to get bigger and bigger as the afternoon went on and Rosie and I were nervous sitting out there and waved for the boys to swim out to us. We informed them that we were going to head in. Jeremy said we should wait until this huge swell was gone, but we would have drown if we didn't leave right then. Jeremy said he would take us in ( I thought to my self--how hard is it to get out of the water), so we started swimming and the waves would pick us up, move us with them for a few seconds, and then leave us behind. We were inching closer and closer to the shore and finally I could touch, but the beach was still far away. Then we all realized that we are in perfect position of where the waves were breaking. Jeremy yells "down!", I turn to him and say "What!?!" , then a sound of thunder, I turn and look behind me, he yells "UNDER WATER!!!". My eyes get big, I go to plug my nose, take a breath and BOOM!, I get hit on the side from the waist up by a hard, strong wave. My head immediatly hits the ground, my feet above me, then my feet and knees hit the ground, and I'm eating sand. A complete summersault. Then I get tossed around in all directions, hit my head on the botton again, and then again, I open my eyes and all I see is rough white water. Then a body hits me hard(I later realize this is Jeremy) and I bounce off and hit my head on the ground again. As I'm panicing because I'm almost out of breath, I don't know which way is up, and I can't see anything, I remember Jeremy telling me that if I ever get tossed by a wave, just relax your body, don't fight it, and then just stand up and you'll be fine (yeah easy for him to say). So, I relax my body, puff out my last breath and put my feet on the ground and push up. Instantly my head emerges from the water, with a look of pure terror in my eyes, only to see, that everybody got worked by the wave too, not just me. So I stand all the way up and the water is barely up to my waist, after the wave passes. Just then Jeremy sweeps my feet out from under me, and I plop into the water. Thinking he was an ass, I shoot him a dirty look. Then I felt something tickle my leg, I freak out and reach into the water, only to find the top of my swim suit is now floating next to me, instead of being firmly tied around my neck. So, he wasn't being an ass after all--thanks Jeremy! I discreetly put my top back on and before I can make sure it's secure Jeremy yells "DOWN!" This time I know what to do, but the water is so low, there is nowhere to go, so once again I get worked, but not nearly as bad as the first. I grab Rosie and Jeremy's hands, we all stand up and help each other out of the water, as the adreniline is running through my body. We walk onto the beach, where we find I have a "fan-club" of on-lookers that are all laughing. I smile and wave to everyone, and walk to my towel, plop down, catch my breath and then realize that i have salt water up my nose, in my eyes and ears, and worst of all, in my throat. I drink some water that I have brought with me, gulp, gurgle, and spit, but nothing is getting that crap out of my throat. For the next hour or so, I try to get a tan, proceed to get the salt water out of my mouth, and realize that everytime I look down water comes out of my nose, everytime I lay on my side, water comes out of my nose, and every time I lay down on my back, water goes from my nose to my throat. This is a never-ending battle for the rest of the evening. How Attractive.
All I can say is it's all an experience. I just hope I don't have to experience that again!
But after a lot of watching waves and wading in them, the swell was small (3 feet or so), they took the signs down, and I went to the beach with my roomate Jeremy, his friend, and my roomates girlfriend, Rosie, to go swimming.
I wanted to lay in the sun, so the three of them went in first (secretly, I was still afraid to go in the water because the waves were breaking right on the shore and were still strong. For those of you who don't understand waves, this sucks because it's really hard to duck under them because the water level is knee high, and then a wave breaks and crashes down and suddenly you can't touch bottom---there is no where to go. Normally you can duck under water and lay flat, to go under the wave and then just stand up and the wave has past, but with these kind of "Shore Breaks" it's nearly impossible.) After laying out for an hour or so, Jeremy came back up to the beach and convinced me to go out there with him. My plan was to swim out past where the waves were breaking, so it I could float like I would at the lake back home. I nervously walked to the edge of the water, heard it crash on the beach and felt it touch the tips of my bubbly toes. I was suddendly up to my waist in water, and realized gettng out there wasn't going to be as easy as they make it look. I looked at Jeremy, he laughed as I quickly grabbed his hand hoping he would realize --I WAS SCARED!! He told me to swim off to the right a little bit, where the wave breaks weren't as big, we could just probably float right over the wave before it breaks. Easy for him to say. He swam ahead of me, checking every wave to make sure I made it through alright, which I did. I had made it out past the wave break in one piece. YEAH!!! So, now I'm just treading water and bobbing up and down with every wave. The water was tourquoise blue and crystal clear. You could see the bottom from way out where I was, it was great. So it was just me and Rosie treading water by ourselves for half an hour, while the boys body surfed the waves. Just as I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to wet my hair, I felt a strong jolt on my leg and it pulled me under--way under. I opened my eyes underwater to see what it was, and for those of you who know me best, I wear contacts and didn't have them on while I was in the water, so I was pretty much blind. My feet kicked frantically as I had no clue what was going on and broke away and swam to the top, where i found Rosie laughing her ass off at me. I turned around just as Jeremy upmerged from the water with a huge grin on his face. The bastard had grabbed my leg and pulled me under!!!!
Another 40 minutes of treading water and bobbing up and down, and I was starting to feel sea-sick and my arms and legs were tired from an hour of treading water. The waves had started to get bigger and bigger as the afternoon went on and Rosie and I were nervous sitting out there and waved for the boys to swim out to us. We informed them that we were going to head in. Jeremy said we should wait until this huge swell was gone, but we would have drown if we didn't leave right then. Jeremy said he would take us in ( I thought to my self--how hard is it to get out of the water), so we started swimming and the waves would pick us up, move us with them for a few seconds, and then leave us behind. We were inching closer and closer to the shore and finally I could touch, but the beach was still far away. Then we all realized that we are in perfect position of where the waves were breaking. Jeremy yells "down!", I turn to him and say "What!?!" , then a sound of thunder, I turn and look behind me, he yells "UNDER WATER!!!". My eyes get big, I go to plug my nose, take a breath and BOOM!, I get hit on the side from the waist up by a hard, strong wave. My head immediatly hits the ground, my feet above me, then my feet and knees hit the ground, and I'm eating sand. A complete summersault. Then I get tossed around in all directions, hit my head on the botton again, and then again, I open my eyes and all I see is rough white water. Then a body hits me hard(I later realize this is Jeremy) and I bounce off and hit my head on the ground again. As I'm panicing because I'm almost out of breath, I don't know which way is up, and I can't see anything, I remember Jeremy telling me that if I ever get tossed by a wave, just relax your body, don't fight it, and then just stand up and you'll be fine (yeah easy for him to say). So, I relax my body, puff out my last breath and put my feet on the ground and push up. Instantly my head emerges from the water, with a look of pure terror in my eyes, only to see, that everybody got worked by the wave too, not just me. So I stand all the way up and the water is barely up to my waist, after the wave passes. Just then Jeremy sweeps my feet out from under me, and I plop into the water. Thinking he was an ass, I shoot him a dirty look. Then I felt something tickle my leg, I freak out and reach into the water, only to find the top of my swim suit is now floating next to me, instead of being firmly tied around my neck. So, he wasn't being an ass after all--thanks Jeremy! I discreetly put my top back on and before I can make sure it's secure Jeremy yells "DOWN!" This time I know what to do, but the water is so low, there is nowhere to go, so once again I get worked, but not nearly as bad as the first. I grab Rosie and Jeremy's hands, we all stand up and help each other out of the water, as the adreniline is running through my body. We walk onto the beach, where we find I have a "fan-club" of on-lookers that are all laughing. I smile and wave to everyone, and walk to my towel, plop down, catch my breath and then realize that i have salt water up my nose, in my eyes and ears, and worst of all, in my throat. I drink some water that I have brought with me, gulp, gurgle, and spit, but nothing is getting that crap out of my throat. For the next hour or so, I try to get a tan, proceed to get the salt water out of my mouth, and realize that everytime I look down water comes out of my nose, everytime I lay on my side, water comes out of my nose, and every time I lay down on my back, water goes from my nose to my throat. This is a never-ending battle for the rest of the evening. How Attractive.
All I can say is it's all an experience. I just hope I don't have to experience that again!
posted by A Lover, A Dreamer... @ 12/30/2004 05:07:00 PM
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