It looks calm, but it's not!
Jordan and I survived it, but my Mother did not fare so well. She will tell you we tried to drown her if you ask, but she failed to tell us she couldn't swim. We went on Sunday so maybe the devil was trying to drown her...who knows?
The surf was huge, easily shoulder height and since the beach drops off around 6ft in to the surf technically you could say it was probably 12-14ft waves....estimating of course. They sure felt larger than that, especially when trying to get out of the water and up the steep beach. You're fine once you get in there and let the waves carry you, but getting in and out was a challenge. Let's just say that to this day, my tailbone is suffering, and it's been 2 weeks since we were in Waimea. We had been riding the waves for about an hour when it seemed to taper off and get calm so I decided to go grab my mom and encourage her to get in and enjoy the water. She came and we walked her in to the surf about 4 ft and suddenly the wave gods decided to awaken. She immediately rolled and couldn't get her footing. Poor woman. I wasn't strong enough with the surf pounding me around to hold her up, but I tried my hardest. Jordan was off in la la land thinking we were fine and when I screamed, "damn it Jord" he finally realized we needed help. My poor mother looked like a drown rat (those being my Dads words of course). All the while she kept saying, "I gotta get out, I gotta get out". I have never seen such fright in someone face. The tid bit about her not being able to swim would have been helpful beforehand. She got a mouthful of water of which tasted awful and about 5lbs of sand in her hair. I've tasted Pacific southern and northern as well as Atlantic southern ocean water. Pacific Hawaiian takes the cake as most disgusting for sure. We toddled back up the steep beach for a rest. She didn't get in the water again. I knew we should have gone to Ko Olina that day. Jordan and I then went back out for a couple of more hours and we had a great time...all the while feeling awful about nearly drowning our parental unit and Sam's grandmother. Around hour 2, my Dad came up on the ridge of the beach and motioned for us to get out and leave. Naturally, we waited for a calm wave to carry us in. It was calm at first, but swiftly changed as we tried to drag ourselves out of the break. Jordan had fins on and had stopped right behind me and the surge came in dragging me back out with it. I did a complete roll, slammed in to Jordan’s head and shoulders, and knocked him over. We then had to go all the way back out and wait for another wave to help get us back in. All the while, my Dad is up on the beach smiling and waving oblivious to our predicament. The best part was just as we were getting out; covered in sand and choking on ocean...the lifeguard tower makes an announcement. "this beach is a category 4 today (5 being the highest) the waves are very dangerous today, and we're seeing many back and neck injuries, if you would like information regarding a more calmer beach come see us". I just knew they had seen our pathetic attempt at getting out of the surf and were laughing their heads off. How embarrassing. We did survive though.
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