How to Get into the Water
I remember the moment (during the summer that I was six) when I vowed never to be one of those lazy grownups that sit on the beach all day without going into the water. I am proud to say that this is one of two vows made by my prepubescent self that my adult self has kept. (Vow number two was to eat all the candy and ice cream I wanted -- which is why I never look particularly good when keeping vow number one.)
My theory as to why so many adults stop going in the water is that by the time we are in our twenties, we realize that it isn't always easy to plunge right in. The water temperature can be darn cold or just feel darn cold. So here is a little advice and encouragement -- on how to get into the ocean when the water feels just a bit cool.
Unless you're jumping off a boat (and then none of this applies), you have no choice but to start in the shallow water where the little breakers wash around your ankles. At first, those waves seem frigid but before long you are commenting that the water feels surprisingly warm. At that point you might you might think that dipping your feet in the surf could refresh you? Forget it. A swim in the ocean isn't only about cooling off. It should be an adventure. Okay, maybe not an adventure like climbing up Mt. Everest or down the Grand Canyon. But an adventure like a good roller coaster.
The adventure starts when you try to find the path into the deeper water with the fewest broken shells carpeting it. (Oddly enough the feet of children between the ages of six and twelve are impervious to these broken shells.) Sure you may have to hop around a bit some days more than others but it's worth it. Keep going. The water around your calves and then your thighs doesn't really feel that cold, does it?
One you are past the "shelly part," begin to focus on the waves. As you step forward, you probably find that you are stretching your body upward in an afford avoid the inevitable. It doesn't work. As I said, you are trying to avoid the INEVITABLE. Each wave crashes higher on your body until it reaches your waist. When it does, you must make a decision. Stay where you are a place where each wave torments the midriff or take the plunge.
My advice? Take the plunge. The decision is hard but think back for a moment. Remember when you pop back to the surface, wiping the water from your eyes, aren't you happy that you did dove in? Always? I bet yes. Once you are wet, the waves no longer torture your midriff. As a matter of fact, they don't really feel cold anymore, do they? Keep going.
As you continue to wade out keep an eye on the surf. If you don't, you might find yourself tumbling head over heels back towards shore. It doesn't have to be that way. Most waves are quite manageable. You simply have to make a decision about each wave as it approaches. Over? Under? Jump over? Glide over? Dive under? Duck under? You'll be making lots of decisions until you reach the perfect spot.
What's the perfect spot? It's a personal thing but for me it where the water is high on my chest. By then the ocean is beginning to fell downright warm. What then? That really depends on whether the waves are breaking at sea or closer to shore.
If the waves are breaking closer to shore you can float for hours although I would recommend checking once in a while to make sure that the waves continue to break between you and the beach -- and to check that you are not now gazing at the beach of Biarritz, France. In the calm beyond the waves you can float over the swells or swim. Although again, even on the calmest of seas I'd keep an eye out for the occasional rogue wave.
What to do if the waves are breaking beyond you? Wait. For what? For the perfect wave. Not the perfect in the sense that surfers in Hawaii await the perfect wave. On the Jersey coast such a wave might be cause for fear possibly evacuation. No, you are waiting for a wave that comes at the right moment so you can hop onboard and get rushed back to the beach where you can begin your trek into the water all over again.
That's my favorite way to spend a afternoon at the beach. Watching and waiting. Riding. Fighting the waves back to the same spot. Watching and waiting. Riding. Fighting the waves back to the same spot.
The shallow water no longer feels cold. The beach no longer feels shelly. The waves no longer feel threatening. It all feels great which you'll never know if you let the cold or the shells or the waves stop you.
Take the plunge. Be a role model. Don't let some six year old, like the six year old I was, call you a lazy adult. Defy the child on both counts. Don't act lazy and most certainly don't act like an adult.
Copyright 2002 Jane Kelly
Books
Indices
Places Meg Visited
