Warning: Shore break
You know there's something wrong with the sea waves when you feel the unexpectedly high force of sea waves pushing you very strong... strong enough to make you turn upside down, losing control of your body's position, and losing track of direction (can't tell up from down). This is what happened to me yesterday as i swam on Coogee Beach.
It was a bit scary at the beginning. Sometimes, the waves looked calm, but oftenly they arrive in curly waves, huge ones, with a strong push. The back current was so strong too. I had to put enough effort to hold on still.
Thinking that swimming deeper offshore would be calmer with less waves, i waited till the sea calms itself, then make the swim of it up to the point where the waves haven't break. So i did it, swam there, and had some pleasant swim on the calm sea... maybe for 5 minutes. Getting a bit tired, i decided to get back up to the beach. As i tried, i realised that i was stuck! It turned out that i was not strong enough to swim back, since there's some sort of current pulling me away from the beach. So, i swam as hard as i could whenever there's a wave, and then rest & take enough breaths when there's back current. I couldn't feel the sand bed underneath me, probably the sea was more than 2 metres deep? Anyway, the idea of shouting for help did come across my mind, luckily i didn't have too. I felt the sand on my feet, so i stood up and walked to the beach with the water level approximately as high as my neck... until,
until all of the sudden,
a massively strong wave struck me, and pushed me hard, sinking me quickly, turning me upside down, making me face upwards (or was it downwards? sorry i couldn't tell) on the sand. As i rose up and went out of the water, a lifeguard came to me and asked whether i'm alright, whether my neck's okay or not. She told me she've already warned me, but i really didn't hear her.
Just few moments later, a sign saying "Warning: Shore break" was put on the beach, with a picture of a tumbling person and a wave.
"Oh, so that's what a shore break feels like...", i talked to mysef. Among the many occasions that i swam at sea, this never happened to me before...
It was a bit scary at the beginning. Sometimes, the waves looked calm, but oftenly they arrive in curly waves, huge ones, with a strong push. The back current was so strong too. I had to put enough effort to hold on still.
Thinking that swimming deeper offshore would be calmer with less waves, i waited till the sea calms itself, then make the swim of it up to the point where the waves haven't break. So i did it, swam there, and had some pleasant swim on the calm sea... maybe for 5 minutes. Getting a bit tired, i decided to get back up to the beach. As i tried, i realised that i was stuck! It turned out that i was not strong enough to swim back, since there's some sort of current pulling me away from the beach. So, i swam as hard as i could whenever there's a wave, and then rest & take enough breaths when there's back current. I couldn't feel the sand bed underneath me, probably the sea was more than 2 metres deep? Anyway, the idea of shouting for help did come across my mind, luckily i didn't have too. I felt the sand on my feet, so i stood up and walked to the beach with the water level approximately as high as my neck... until,
until all of the sudden,
a massively strong wave struck me, and pushed me hard, sinking me quickly, turning me upside down, making me face upwards (or was it downwards? sorry i couldn't tell) on the sand. As i rose up and went out of the water, a lifeguard came to me and asked whether i'm alright, whether my neck's okay or not. She told me she've already warned me, but i really didn't hear her.
Just few moments later, a sign saying "Warning: Shore break" was put on the beach, with a picture of a tumbling person and a wave.
"Oh, so that's what a shore break feels like...", i talked to mysef. Among the many occasions that i swam at sea, this never happened to me before...
posted by Irfan at 11:03 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home