Butterflies fly throughout my stomach like a rollercoaster. My mind races, picturing all the things that could go wrong. I could wipeout and break my leg or fall face-first and swallow, what would seem like, a gallon of water. But I realize it is too late now as our 1998 Sea Ray speedboat fires up and sets off from the dock. Water sprays my face from the countless waves we hit, only making my nerves worse. I slowly zip up my Full Throttle life vest and grip my sleek neon green wakeboard. The rumble of the engine dies. “You ready?” My dad, Troy, sounds much more excited than I do. I nod my head and step up to the side of the boat. The frigid water stares back at me, but the cold does not worry me. The part that I know is coming, does.
I hit the icy water like a brick wall, and gasp for air with my teeth chattering. My life jacket holds me above the depths. Splash! My wakeboard skims the water towards me, after a not so gentle toss
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The force of the board powering through the water is almost unbearable, and water crashes onto my face like a never-ending tidal wave. I pull the rope with all my might and push my legs forward, but it is not quite enough to steady the board. It flies to the side, and the handle slips from my fingers. My feet fly as my head gets sucked underneath the deep blue water. My life vest pulls me to the surface and, after I cough up water, my lungs fill with air, replacing the liquid that I just inhaled. I notice the board floating away. My body feels limp from the fall, so swimming seems like an impossible task, but I will myself to chase the board once again. It feels like a mile before my hand finds the boots of the board. The boat races back toward me, so I begin to strap my feet in again. The engine dies as the rope flies overhead and splashes nearby, forcing another short swim. When I reach the rope, I line back up, re-focus and prepare for round
I smiled to myself and decided that I would go join in. With that, I took a huge deep breath and jumped into the salty water. The water was cool and refreshing; I felt it slide through my hair making it sway in the water. I swam deeper and deeper into the deep blue water. Sunlight streamed through it, lighting up the water around me turning it to gold. I kicked harder and I felt my muscles surge with strength and I pushed further. My lunges began to burn for the need of oxygen, but I refused to go up. I repeatedly told myself just a little bit longer. Until I was unable to proceed anymore without more air in my lungs, I swam to the top of the water taking a huge breaths, filling my lungs with air. I could then taste the salty water as it ran down my face and dripped over my lips. Just then I thought, I will never forget this moment, this place, or the experiences I felt while visiting
As you wait for the boat to come pick you up, make sure to unfasten your boots. Hold the board out of the water in order to allow other boats to see you clearly.
There would be friction between your hands and the rope when trying to pool or if you lost grip of it. This resulted in your hands becoming blood red and burning. I began to appreciate sailing with its moods of being calm and suddenly becoming rough. Sometimes the wind would pick up and the boat would be going remarkably fast that the sail would be getting pushed into a 40 degree angle with the water. This means we were basically trying to stay on the boat because it would be dangerously close to flipping if a larger wave were to come. We traveled all the way to the other side of the bay in which we then docked the boat on the beach. We found a beach ball on the beach, therefore we took a brief intermission to throw the beach ball around. We then pushed the boat off the beach and hopped on. There was water constantly brushing my face making it difficult to see. There was a “thumping” noise when the wind would pick up, from the waves hitting the front of the boat and the boat falling back down to the water again. After these events, I knew I wanted to do this more
Without delay, I sunk right back in the water. My doubts began coming back to me, making me realize I might of been over my head on this one, but I persisted. I reached surface again and began swimming towards the rightmost shore. It wasn’t the best journey, as I kept bobbing in and out of the water, but I managed to reach the shore. The moment I got stood back on my own feet I stood back on them as a new man; I enjoyed the danger I just experienced, besides drinking a hefty amount of lake
My body fills with excitement, this is the longboat I have been assigned to. A thundering horn booms through the air, coming from the docks. Quickly, my leisurely walk becomes a steady
I gingerly stepped on to the ship, as it wobbled side-to-side; slightly fearful of the soft blue sheet beneath me stretching to the horizon, undulating like the heaving breast of a runner having completed a race. At nineteen years old, some may think it is juvenile to fear the ocean, but not to me. I mean, how could someone look at the rising tides; getting closer each time, as if impending doom, and not get even the slightest chills of fear? And living above those rising tides for seven whole days? My stomach leaped forward. I heard my friends stepping on behind me: laughing and bickering playfully, and could slowly feel the fear begin to dissipate as excitement for the upcoming voyage took over my senses. It only grew as I glanced around. The inside of the cruise ship strangely but incredibly resembled a mixture of the buzzing and stimulating surroundings of Las Vegas, and the posh and classy atmosphere of Beverly Hills; which happened to be two of my favorite places; living in the States as we did. There were large branded stores, casinos, restaurants with worldwide cuisines, a games arcade; where I just knew the guys would
After of so it seemed hours of drifting and swimming, I arrived to a rocky shore. I lift my head up and see
When I am thinking about this my family is cheering me on to jump. I am to afraid so, I decide to walk down to the little beach. As I am down there I go swimming and regain my
The wood has been lodged between 2 large rocks. Not far down the stream, I spot a small piece of land. We must get to this island as our lives depend on it. Even Though the last thing on my mind is to go back into the cold rushing water we have to go downstream. I dislodge the piece of wood and we pick up speed very fast.
As the "unsinkable paddle" sank down through the gloomy water, I sprang off my paddleboard. I went 3 feet down, 6 feet down, 9 feet down, but could not even make out the silty bottom of the murky lake. Out of air, I threw my arms down and shot up through the water. Breaking the surface, I turned my head to Jack. Answering his raised eyebrows, I shook my head in defeat.
The lonely empty silence is overpowered by a wall of foam rushing towards me. Wheels of sand are churning beneath my feet. My golden locks are flattened and hunched over my head to form a thick curtain over my eyes. Light ripples are printed against my olive stomach as the sun beams through the oceans unsteadiness. I look below me and can’t see where the sand bank ends; I look above and realize it’s a long way to the top. Don’t panic Kate, you’ll get through this. I try to paddle to the top but am halted by something severely weighing me down- My board. That’s what got me in this mess in the first place. I can see the floral pattern peeping through the sand that is rapidly crawling over it. I quickly rip apart the Velcro of my foot strap and watch my board float to the surface effortlessly as I attempt climbing through the water to reach the surface. The fin of my board becomes more visible to me as I ascend. Finally, an alleviating sensation blasts through my mouth.
I frantically searched for the brakes, only to realize that surfboards don’t have brakes. The rocks drew closer, and closer, and closer still. To say that I panicked would be an understatement, for I considered both myself and the board. Turning was out of the question, as the only direction was forward. The volume of the roaring wave behind me did not help, as it only served to both push me into oblivion and drown out my thoughts.
I flailed under the water, it was completely dark and very deep, the current attempting to pull me with it but pushing my arms up I felt my kayak and I was under it. Quickly as I could I swam to the side, breached the surface of the water and gasped for breath. The boat had tipped over under the dock and that’s why it was so dark. I then pushed the kayak out from under the dock and flipped it
Freezing cold, I walk up the beach in my red windbreaker. Me and my friend Mack are carrying the huge racing sail bag onto the transport raft to be brought to our boat for the biggest race of the year, Smug Cup. Our crew consists of another kid from my cabin, Elling, who bribed us to take him on our boat with Norwegian chocolate and our cabin’s counselor Jean, from France. The sun was setting quickly so we quickly boarded the boat, and I could already foretell a cold night coming from the darkness and clouds ahead. All day I had been out on the water, from sailing in the morning and windsurfing in the bitter cold lake in the afternoon. We raised the sails and got to the starting line then BOOM! The gun goes off to signal go and we fight for positioning. The wind blowing on our faces nearly blinds us, but I continue to steer and direct the boat around other competitors.
The sun is radiant and scorching, as always when it’s August in Michigan, while the lake water is warm with occasional ripples flowing through as the wind subtly blows over. I’ve got my giant pink floaty around my waist with my ridiculously large bug-eyed sunglasses around my face and I’m ready to set myself afloat into the water. As I float on my raft into the warm water I close my eyes while the waves relax me into a soft slumber as I drift into the middle of lake. Without knowing how much time has passed, I awaken to the sound of Alicia’s mom yelling my name and automatically panic,