Avoiding Drowning: An Unusual Topic We (I) Should Revisit

Here is Part 1

“You have made danger your calling; therein there is nothing contemptible. Now you perish by your calling: for that I will bury you with my own hands.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Well, completely by surprise, yesterday (8Oct2021) I found myself counting down the last three minutes of my life. The image (archive) and text (edited) below tell the story:

First of all I’d like to thank the two surfers who saved me from drowning today when I got caught in a riptide.  Secondly I’d like to explain how easy this process (nearly) was:

1. Beauty: It’s a beautiful day, and I’m aware that the tide is out and starting to come in. I see an area that appears to be a pool/trough in the middle of the beach, and I’m marginally aware of what a r.i.p.tide is. The waves are respectable, more than rideable (I’m a former surfer), and constant with lots of foam. My favorite beach, my favorite shorts and my favorite swim goggles—I’m good to go.

2. Fun: I’ll just walk out into the surf up to my waist or belly and wrestle with the waves for a while. The water is crystal clear so I can duck dive and look up at the waves as they pass overhead. Maybe 15 to 20 surfers out in the distance, and they are all wearing wetsuits.

3. Trapped: All of a sudden, I can’t touch the ground anymore and the water is well over my head. I’m trying to get oriented and I’m trying to “avoid fighting against the current” but I’m also appreciating that I can’t exactly tell which way the current is coming from because it seems to be coming in from all directions: it is—Water is flowing centrally toward the canal and pushing me out toward the Sea while the waves are hitting me from behind pushing me toward the Beach: I’m stuck. The water is cold so I need to get back to shore and not get swept out any farther. 

4. Drowning: After a while of fighting, I’m clearly aware that I’m losing this battle and that I could easily die here, ironically before my parents die. I don’t really see that I have a bunch of options. Probably my next option was going to be to stop swimming and just start floating and then try to regroup once I get swept out a bit farther into the sea where the current is weaker. The problem with that last remaining option is that this is water from the north Atlantic and it was *damn cold* and I was in shorts (not a wetsuit) and already starting to lose function. About this time in the process, I was starting to calculate that I had about three minutes remaining. Even though I’m a competent swimmer, I was spending more and more time under the foam.

5. Rescued: I see a surfer ride a wave in my direction and I yell to him for help and he comes with another surfer (both of them in wetsuits) and together they both pull me back to shore, not without some effort on both of their parts. Afterword I just collapse on the beach for a while. Five hours later at the time of first editing this post, I’m still exhausted.

Most important realization of the day: Our governments have been hijacked by Pharma and billionaires and we need to reclaim control of our societies.

Second most important realization of the day: Being strong and skilled and smart is not enough. A person also has to know exactly what to do in the exact situation.

Let’s explore right and wrong ways to avoid drowning in a rip current (riptide):

Footnotes:

• Audiobook: https://naxosaudiobooks.com/thus-spoke-zarathustra-abridged/

• Original post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alex-vasquez-do-nd-dc-facn-835543109_first-of-all-id-like-to-thank-the-two-surfers-activity-6852271016601784320-namp

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