Crazy Waves Thrilla

Today at the lake…we played “jump the waves,” aka try not to die. We arrived to actual whitecaps and gale force winds. Two of my swim buddies, K and K, walked up, and I said, “I don’t care. I’m going in.” They said, “we’re going in.” Awesome.

We tried to set up under one of the picnic areas, but the wind still blew our gear away, and we had to chase after caps and gloves tumbling away in the grass. The water was insane. Huge waves, white caps, and crazy wind. A few windsurfers were out there, trying, but the wind was too strong. We knew we would’t swim, but didn’t really have a plan other than jumping into the mess.

As we were getting our suits on, A arrived. She had promised her mother that should woulden’t swim, but drove over because she hadn’t been able to reach me and wanted to make sure I was safe. So nice of her.

We asked her to stay and document our crazy adventure. We all ended up tying our packs and shoes to a cement pillar (one of many that hold up the picnic area roof) so they wouldn’t blow away. We got our suits on, gloves on, everything, and headed into the water. K had a new shortie wetsuit, and K just wears a swimsuit. So badass.

I have a really hard time getting in and out of the water at this beach on the lake because the beach and shallow water are covered with large pebbles that shift with each step. It’s very hard to get my footing. I usually use my cane to get out, than lash it to a post in the shallow end. That wasn’t gonna happen today.

We took a group photo (which didn’t turn out), then stumbled and jumped into the waves. It was impossible to swim, but I keep trying to head south because the waves were pushing us in and north. I could do a few strokes, but the water was hitting my snorkel and shutting it off. I couldn’t breathe, so I pulled it off and tried to swim on top of the water. Then a huge wave hit me, and half of it went into my mouth. I hate when I swallow water. More because I’m afraid of duck parasites than dying.

I don’t know how long we were out there, but we whooped it up. We dove into the waves, tried to ride the waves, tried to jump into them after they passed us. It was fabulous and loud and exhilerating.

Getting out was really hard because with my gimp leg and the strong waves I couldn’t hold my footing and kept getting knocked down. After the third time I stayed down, trying to inch forward on my butt until I could get on my hands and knees and crawl out.

Getting dressed was almost impossible because the wind was wipping so hard. I had a new item to test, but couldn’t figure out how to fasten it, so A held it around my body while I removed the top of my suit. I just put on a fleece jacket over it. I needed help getting my wetsuit off because the ankle holes are so small. It’s key to get the wet stuff off fast in this kind of weather. The wind will end up giving you a chill that lasts for days.

K and K got dressed and left; I asked A to wait for me. I just coudln’t get anything on quickly today. Finally, I got my pants on but not before flashing anyone who was north of us. I don’t care. It’s just a butt. Then I couldn’t get my brace on my left leg because the Velcro straps were hard to line up. Finally, I was dressed and had all my wet gear shoved into my mesh bag. We hobbled up the hill to the parking lot. Can’t wait to see all the pix because this was the most intense water I’ve ever tried to swim in. We just wanted to go in for our dip and play in the waves. Super brilliant. So fun. I’m so glad K and K were up for it.