Close call

This afternoon I developed a lot more respect for the ocean. Which , to be Honest, is just a polite way of saying that I very nearly drowned.

But wait , Let us start this story at a proper place. Like the begining for instance.

This morning was extremely hot and Humid here in Uitenhage and Myself Neville and Chris decided to go snorkeling at Sardinia bay this afternoon.  We got there around two and I went to stick my toes into the water . I must say , the water was piss Very cold! But as Neville said , we did not go all the way there just to turn around , and so , like proper Gautengers we donned masks, flippers and snorkels and got going. After the initial shock of the cold water I started to enjoy the swim and suggested that we swim out to the reef (+- 280m from our starting point) . All went well until I found myself in the middle of a fairly strong rip current that made plans to take me out further than I had planned to go .

I panicked fought the current for a while , but all this managed to do was to make me real tired. While I was fighting the current 2 big waves crashed over me in succession and knocked my mask and snorkel of my head. Luckily I managed to catch them in time. Eventually I decided to start swimming to the right and to try and make it onto the rocks so I could get my breath and energy ( that was now severely depleted) back. I must be honest, I barely made it. If the current was a little stronger , or the rocks a little farther away , I would have had to post this blog from heaven. But , by the grace of God , I made it onto the rocks with only some small dings and scratches for my trouble. Unfortunately , by this time I was completely drained of all of my energy and I just could not see myself swimming the 250 meters back to shore.

But thanks to God , I have a really great friend who deals with problems like a true McGyver. And so Neville got back into the water and swam to shore to go and fetch a boogie board. Then he and a stranger swam all the back to bring me the board , and then swam with me back to shore.

So, what have I learnt from all of this ?

1. Never underestimate the sea and its power
2. Never over estimate your own strength and fitness
3. It is very easy to drown. Scarily easy.
   
4. Do not panic. I allowed myself to get panicked and spent a lot of energy fighting the current and the waves, where if I had stayed calm and continued to swim in a normal snorkel style I would have spent far less energy and reached the rocks with energy to spare.
5. I am not nearly as fit as I thought  - and I need to get more excersize on a regular basis.
   
6. I have good friends who will go to great lengths to help me. Neville swam a bloody long distance to help me and Chris stuck with me all the time to make sure I am ok.

So , Thank you Father for Keeping me safe. Thank you for keeping my friends safe. Thank you for friends who are there when things go pear shaped. Amen