Sailing - Rescued!

....Making the hike across island to the beach

....Safe on shore
...The kids are facinated by their pictures. The little guy is 5 years old and the small girl 7.

...We abandoned the castles to the kids who were fascinated by filling the cup and dumping it.

I must tell the story about our day at the beach when we were sailing. We moor in Bluefield bay to access the beach. Then it is necessary to hike across the island as the beach is on the backside. As we arrived there was a boatload of surfers unloading who had come by panga (a small boat) from Bocas.

Not wanting to share our turf with a bunch of others we were directed to move up the beach to a spot where we would be alone. The beach is beautiful with breakers rolling in onto a sandbar. On our first trip there, Harry and I had played in the surf for about an hour in the area where the surfers had gone. The 'new' beach area was similar with surf breaking onto another sandbar. What we didn't know is that between the 2 sandbars is an area where the water comes in from both directions, the result being that there is a washing machine effect created as the two mix. So into the surf we go. Harry immediately dislodges a contact lense and has to head into shore. Jim and Gail and I continue to play in the surf, diving into the waves and body surfing in towards shore. One particularly big wave came along and we all three dove into it. When we surfaced, to our surprise there was no bottom. No problem, we have been washed off of the sandbar so we swim back to it. Touch down, no bottom. We try again, still no bottom - I wonder where the heck it has gone. Again we attempt to swim back. suddenly a wave breaks over my head and I slurp in some water. Now I am getting tired. Another wave breaks over me and again I slurp some water. OK now I know I am in trouble. I call for help in Spanish but I am spluttering and my voice is weak. Gail realizes that we are in trouble so she bellows in English. Jim hears Gail call and so he bellows as well. Harry and Daniel hear the calls on the beach and Daniel and Shawna dive into the water to rescue us. I in the meantime realize that if I don't do something different, I am going to drown. I flip over onto my back and suddenly I can catch my breath. I rest in that position and now when the waves break over me I can hold my breath. I wait patiently on my back until Shawna reaches me. I give her my hand over my head and let her tow me in. Daniel rescued Gail.

As it turns out, all 3 of us had been washed into the surf by the same wave. Jim made it in to shore himself by flipping onto his back and then sidestroking in. He was exhausted when he got there. Gail and I were rescued. I may have been able to get out by staying on my back and being washed in somewhere, but without our rescuers it is quite likely that both Gail and I could have drowned. The whole experience left us a bit shaken and with a whole new respect for the ocean. That is the 3rd time I have been rescued from drowning, I am beginning to think I may be running out of lives.

Needless to say, we did not go back into the water and spent the rest of the day building sandcastles on the beach and playing with the little Indian children hanging around. They were very cute and loved to have their pictures taken. They kept bringing us seashells to buy so of couse now we have a small sea shell collection.