My First Confrontation with Death in the Atlantic

My girlfriend and I took a trip out to the east coast the summer of 2012. Our plan included a few days out at Cape Cod before heading down to Boston to do some sight seeing in old America. We weren't alone. My cousin and one of my best friends also came on the trip. About a week earlier, my friend flew out to visit his family in Harwich. He met up with us at Logan International and drove us out to the cape in a rental Dodge Charger.

We stayed in a huge vacation house we found online and spent a lot of our time with my friend's family. He comes from a long line of lobster fisherman, so our entire trip was filled with red lobster and mugs full of Sam Adams brew.

Sunshine and Sand

The weather was gray for most of the time we spent on the cape, but there was one day where the clouds parted and the sun broke through. This was it! It was the perfect opportunity to see the golden beaches of Cape Cod we had heard so much about. As a kid, my friend spent summers boogie boarding the crashing waves of the Atlantic. So, we weren't going to pass up the opportunity on a beautiful sunny day.

The sand on the beach was soft under our toes. The sun was hot enough to warrant sun screen for the first time during our entire trip. Like children, we ran for the water, shirts and slippers thrown off, boogie boards in hand!

Now, I'm a relatively good swimmer. I grew up taking swimming lessons and it's something I've never really lost touch with. Much of my travels involve some sort of water activity, so I'm exposed to swimming several times a year. However, my girlfriend doesn't have strong swimming ability. She knows the basics, but you wouldn't find her at the deep end of a pool. So, it was fitting for her to be wading closer to the beach while my cousin, friend, and I continued deeper into the water.

It wasn't too hard to learn how to boogie board. After a couple of tries, I was pretty much a pro! As the wave begins to crest over and crash, you hold the board right where the water folds over. From there, you let the wave carry you back to the beach. The logic was simple: the bigger the wave, the farther and faster your board took you. After a couple more rides, I wanted to get my girlfriend involved. So, I handed her the board and took her out a bit. In no time, she picked up the technique and was riding the waves! We were having a blast!

Dark Water

All of a sudden, I realized the water was much colder and I could barely touch the sand beneath me. My cousin and friend were no where to be found. I looked over at my girlfriend and noticed the waves were crashing over her head. As she struggled to pull onto the boogie board, I realized we were in trouble. Fearing the worst, I told her, "Get up on this board and do not let go." I maneuvered behind the board as she laid on her stomach, paddling for dear life towards the beach. I kicked furiously, panting deeply with every swift movement of my feet. Panic immediately set in.

No matter how hard we paddled and kicked, the waves kept pulling us back. I was starting to get exhausted waving my arms in the air, screaming out to anyone who could possibly hear. I kept asking, pleading, to my girlfriend between gasps, "Are we getting any closer?!" Unfortunately, it seemed all hope was lost. Her arms were dead tired, my legs were jello, and the Atlantic was pulling harder than we could push.

My Moment of Truth

It may have been the lack of oxygen, lack of energy, or lack of hope, but something strange began to happen. I stopped. I completely stopped everything I was doing and closed my eyes. An inner dialogue began in my mind:

Fred, you might die. This may end up on the news after you drown. Your family and friends will weep at their loss, and you will never become the husband, father, or grandfather you've always wanted to be.

That would suck, but there's something far worse: your girlfriend could drown. The most important thing to you in your life could be lost at this very moment if you don't do something. Anything. No matter what happens, you need to get her out of this situation right now.

Then, my eyes shot open. It was the small flash of mental toughness I needed to reassess the situation and figure out a plan. The powerful waves were pulling us outward stronger than they were pushing us forward. There was little use in fighting directly against them. I rotated the boogie board so it faced almost parallel to the beach. I figured, rather than swimming against the direct pull back of the waves, we could swim along it. It was a farther distance to travel, but the current wasn't as powerful.

As I wrapped the emergency cord to the boogie board around my wrist, I calmly told my girlfriend to keep paddling. My voice was no longer trembling and I wasn't gasping for air. Rather than kicking furiously like before, I was thrusting my legs outward and inward like a frog. With each wave I felt, I used the slight push forward to amplify the effects of my thrusting.

After about five minutes of our frog-paddling combination, I realized how tired my legs were. I had been breathing steadily, like a runner trying to keep a steady pace during a marathon. If it wasn't for the cold Atlantic, I'd have sweat dripping out of every pore. The sun was still beating up above, gazing at us as we continued swimming along the beach. I couldn't tell if we were any closer. The pull of the waves felt less powerful, but the beach looked just as far as it did minutes before. As I winced and grunted with pain, I fought on. I had to get her out of this situation.

Then, it appeared. About fifteen feet ahead. Sand. Golden sand. The beach was much farther away, but there was sand. How could that be? By swimming with the current of the waves, the Atlantic had pushed us to a sand bar.

The Feeling of Sand

I noticed the water around us became lighter in color as a continued forward. The frigid water from before had slightly, but noticeably, became warmer. The waves were cresting over and crashing, but didn't really pull us back out. Was this it? Did we really make it back to shore?

I allowed my tired legs to rest, holding my body up with my arms on the board. Like cement blocks, they descended down into the water. As they sank, I felt my toes hit something soft. Sand. I will never forget the way the sand felt at that very moment. It was an overwhelming feeling of relief. Not just for my weary legs, but for the heavy weight in my chest from the fatal situation we were in just minutes ago. I pushed the boogie board forward with every step until the sand was visible beneath the water.

My girlfriend hopped off the board. I picked up the boogie board, tossed it on the beach, and wrapped my arms around her. We made it.

Strength, Hope, Love

Every time I recount this traumatic event, I always wonder how we made it out alive. Was it luck? Maybe. Was it an act of God? Possibly. Either way, I believe it came down to three things:

Strength: Physical ability and mental toughness.
Hope: Staying positive in a seemingly helpless situation.
Love: Love for that special someone. Love of life.