A Rippin' Good Time

Today was the first full day at the beach. After heading out in the morning to score some great sticky buns and then a trip to the tire center to fix the flat received in the sticky bun store parking lot, we all headed down the boardwalk to play some arcade games (skee-ball) and then headed back to the beach.

I had decided to do more than dip my toes in the ocean and my great friend decided to join me. As it was late in the day, the lifeguards had gone home for the day and the beach was "unsupervised." We had seen signs cautioning us about riptides, but we decided we could handle it. However, the beach at Rehoboth has a rather nasty drop-off just as you are getting in. You go from knee-deep water to water over your head. So you spend most of the time treading water. Not that you want to put your feet on the bottom as it is littered with rocks and not much sand, at this "shelf." Getting out of the ocean proved to be a challenge. Basically, it involved letting the wave carry you up on the shelf and then running like hell, before the next wave pushed you over and/or carried you back out into the deep water.

Seeing the signs about the riptides, reminded me of a time many years ago, when my sister and I were on vacation with our whole family in Amagansett, New York, on the east end of Long Island. My sister and I were on a raft and we found ourselves sucked out into very deep water. That year, we had rented a house on the beach. My father came out of the house and noticed us on the raft, seemingly headed for Europe. He began to dash across the sand and as he headed for the surf, two other men noticed my father, spotted us on the raft and jumped up to help my father. With the help of the three of them, we managed to return safely to shore.

Moral of the story, be aware of rip currents. If you get caught in one, let it take you out and then swim parallel to the shore and then in.

Tomorrow on the vacation agenda: Golf!