Aren't slides, like, not very high up? lol, sorry.
[I didn't realise this would be so long, sorry!]
The most exhilerating thing that happened to me recently was nearly drowning a few weeks ago, whilst kayaking at sea.
Now, I'm pretty damn good with a paddle, if I do say so myself (Wow, that sounds
wrong! Oh, well!)
The thing is, I was in an old river kayak: long, good for manoeuvering and long journeys etc.
However it's
not good for when you're at sea. As in: not at all adapted to waves, takes on water easily, a bit too heavy and basically the shape's all wrong and so is a whole bunch of stuff.
So you'd think, when you have that kind of kayak, you avoid going too far out, you avoid the crashing waves, right?
Well, I didn't. The tide was coming in, so there were these huge waves (like, they went way over my head) over the bigger rocks (that reveal themselves at low tide) which were quite far from the shore.
Now, I'd just like to say that I have "surfed" whilst kayaking loads of times, without any unfortunate events. That day, however the wind had picked up remakably, the currents were super strong and there were probably many more reasons for me to get the hell out of there.
What did I do? I headed for the big waves. Real smart, I know.
So I "surfed" these huges waves for quite a while having a great time. After a while, though, I noticed I'd taken in quite a bit of water, so decided I should head back shortly. Yet, I couldn't help it, it was "just one more," then "oh, just this one."
Unfortunatly I was caught off-guard by two waves that kind of crossed paths (b/c of weird rock formations beneath the surface, I think) so I did some crazy manoeuver to avoid it which meant I totally wasn't prepared for what came next.
That would be the big wave that hit me.
It was like I was surfing, except this time I was facing somewhere between sideways and backwards with the currents against me as opposed to forwards with the currents in my favour, thus had no control.
My kayak was heavy with water, making any manoeuvering extremely difficult. The force of the wave made it nearly impossible.
I was desperately trying to get out of the mess I was in, but before I could really even do anyhting I capsized.
That was one of the most vivid moments of my life. I remember my surprise as I felt an incredible force knock the kayak out from beneath me. I remember seeing the blinding white spray I was about to fall into, and going deaf from the roar of the ocean.
Once upside down, I was stuck half in-half out of the boat. Without a sparing a single moment, I gave a harsh kick and pushed my self downwards as hard as I could, freeing myself. The cost of my freedom was plunging into deep water. I'd deperately tried to go as far down as I could and now had to desperately try to get back
up again.
I managed to quickly get to the surface, only to be hit in the face by another wave. I was coughing and spluttering, but I was above the water.
I didn't even waste a nanosecond recovering and feeling thankful. My only thoughts were "Shit! My Boat! Shit! My paddle! I can't let them go adrift!" (Something I would laugh about later.)
After succesfully recovering both -though not without some struggle- I managed to get to a calmer spot, with no waves and mild currents.
Having come down from the survival instinct high or adreneline rush or whatever it is they go on about during action scenes in novels, I felt drained.
I had a 2 metre long paddle in one hand and was holding a heavy kayak by a side handle with the other. I wasn't too far away from the shore, but right then -when I was treading water with no idea how deep it was and had a boat and paddle to drag back- it seemed like an awfully long swim.
Now, I'm an okay swimmer, by most standards. I'm not fast, nor do I have any real technique, but I get by. The only thing that troubled me was that I always tended to rely on my more powerful arms when swimming than my legs, sometimes hardly bothering to kick. And right then, my hands were full; I had to swim back with my legs alone and manage to stay afloat without the help of my arms.
It was long, it was tough, but I made it. I can't tell you how thankful I was that I have a naturally good endurance that I've cultivated over the last year.
Thinking back on it, when I finally got to the beach, I'm sure I must've gotten a curious look or to. There I was, in my swimsuit, dragging a kayak, then lay down in the sand gasping for breath.
Know what I did once I recovered? Yeah, I went back out there

(I stayed clear of the larger waves though!)
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I have my own reality, thank you very much.
~
"I was biting down hard on my lip, as I wrote you a poem in orange felt tip."