River Vacation (or How I Almost Died)
I’ve been spending my vacation at the river house! The first few days was just my dad and me, before some other family came in. On my second day, we heard there were huge waves out on the bay, and we decided to “just go see” after checking the crab pots. We were in the wrong boat, but the temptation was too strong.
As soon as we got a little ways into the inlet, we could see the waves just rolling at the entrance. Surf was up! But we went a little further…you know, just to see. As we got closer to the end, it became apparent that this was a fool’s mission. But we had gone too far and there was no way to safely turn the boat around.
Looking out at that rocking water, I was torn between really wanting to experience the adventure of being out among them, and really not wanting to get wet. In any case, I had no choice, and we had to go through. So that’s what we did.
I’ll admit that I was a little scared. It wasn’t so much that I feared for my life; I never thought we were in any real danger of death. I was more afraid that we’d be really, really inconvenienced. It’s just so much nicer to be sitting on a boat than it is to be thrown off a boat. And also, I didn’t want my camera to fall in.
There were a couple of times when I thought the boat could conceivably be rolled, and my dad had to maneuver just right to turn the boat at the safest time. After that, he just chose a wave and surfed it back into the inlet.
Even though we were probably in no more danger than that of being sea sick, I still reserve the right to refer to it as “the day I almost died”. I don’t have a lot of excitement in my life, so I take what I can get. Also, that sounds so much more interesting than “the day I almost got wet”.
I’m working on a crabbing video for next week, but in the meantime, here are a few pictures:
steadily skipping stones 
Yeah, I milk it for all it’s worth. The story will get better over time I am sure. The pictures are great. Is the lighthouse outhouse really an “outhouse” or just a house that is out?
My dad says it’s really an outhouse! He said, “They don’t have an in-house; there’s no plumbing in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay!” We circled around a time or two before we could figure out what it was, haha!
Hilarious…can I use the picture? I am sure there is a post lurking there.
Certainly! It is funny.
Thanks!
Ooooohhh..scary ride!! Glad it ended well!
Me too! It was kind of exciting, but I was pretty happy to be back on calmer waters.
Oh fun! I know just what you mean about the temptation of waves. One time my son and I took my kayak/orange plastic bathtub out to Lake Michigan. Wow! It was like riding a bucking horse. Very exciting, I hated to stop, but would have hated to be swept out and die of hypothermia. Later I told the guy at the kayak store what we had done and he literally paled. So, ok. But I’m so glad we did it once, anyway! I love how you tell a story 🙂
Sometimes we have the most fun when we’re oblivious to the danger we’re putting ourselves in! I’m with you – glad you did it, but wouldn’t do it again. And I’m also glad you didn’t get swept out into the middle of Lake Michigan and die of hypothermia!
I love that you went after the adventure, and I love that you admitted to worry about the big inconvenience.
{I worry about things like this, too.}
I’m so glad everything worked out!
Well, we went so far that we had to go through with it, haha! But it was an adventure that I’m glad for. Although I wouldn’t do it again 🙂
It’s funny how the mind works, isn’t it? I was really thinking about how unpleasant it would be if I got knocked overboard, or if my camera fell in, or if the boat capsized. And I was thinking, “Isn’t this just the way? You want to push the envelope, and then you’re sorry. It was so much more pleasant in calm water.”
Great story. Glad you didn’t die. 🙂 I enjoyed the pictures, especially the lighthouse outhouse.
Me too! Although that almost dying may have been a slight exageration 🙂 I just love that outhouse, too! That’s something you don’t think about, but it makes sense.
I don’t do well on rough waters. Good for you!
Yeah, I get really car sick very quickly, and I usually get sea sick as well. Being in a smaller boat, where I could see very well, seemed to help a lot. Also, we were moving much of the time, so that helped. It’s odd that those huge waves didn’t make me sick, but really, we were only out there for a short time.
Mostly, I would feel sick after we got back on land. Every now and then, at odd times, I’d feel like I the land was moving. But that mostly was going away by the time I left. I didn’t go out on the bay the last couple of trips they made, though. Just in case 🙂
Love the photo of Smith Light Point standing out in the sea by itself 😀
I like that one, too. I wish I could have gotten up on it – that would have been pretty awesome. As it was, we went around it 3 or 4 times, but it was hard to get really great pictures. There was only one real angle (looking up at it from the water), and the boat was moving the entire time (of course), so… But this picture turned out okay.
I guess the bright sunlight makes it easier to shoot from a moving boat 😀
Love the wonderful photos. It makes me want to go visit, and seems SO different from north Texas. Sounds like a great vacation.
You have an open invitation! I would love that 🙂
I was just talking to a customer the other day about Texas. He’s from there, but left to join the military at 17. I always think of you when Texas comes up!
I love the Northeast. I lived in Massachusetts when I was 12 for six months when my dad’s job transferred him there, then sent him back to Texas just when I was beginning to adjust. Everyone made fun of my accent–but their’s was worse!
I never noticed you had an accent 😉