You may have heard about the tragedy that occurred from Hurricane Bill’s waves over the weekend in Maine: The death of a 7 year old girl.

I can tell you first hand that those waves were pretty scary. Courtney, his two friends and me went up to Rockport, MA to Andrew’s Point again where we went snorkeling just the week before. When we arrived, It was smoldering hot and I was prepared to just jump into the water and get to snorkeling. The tide was high and the waves were larger, but I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought it was that way due to the tide being high. I take a few moments to plan the spot I will jump in and return to. I jump into the water and start to realize that it may have not been a good idea. I can barely get the mask on my face as I am trying to keep myself from drifting down the rocks. Also, I’m using lots of energy to keep still and above water. I decide to nix the snorkeling and try to head in after about 5 minutes in the water. As I get closer to the rocks, I notice that the swells are pulling me a couple feet higher than when I jumped in and the waves are crashing hard against the rocks. I immediately think to myself “oh, crap.” This does not look good. I’m starting to get scared. I see a boat in the distance and consider swimming out to it. No can do. I don’t want to look like a wuss in front of Courtney and his friends. So I try to pick my exit point but I can’t see below the water because of the surges and know I could very well encounter rocks protruding below the surface. I was right. As I head in on a swell I swim towards the rock I plan on exiting on. Not a good idea. I didn’t even get to the rock before another wave crashed in on me and threw me into the rock, then the wave pulled me back away from the rock before I could grab a hold. I then again got crashed into the next rock over and grabbed the seaweed on the submerged rock below me to hold on for dear life. The seaweed rips off and I am again thrown into another rock, this one had the right incline for me to exit. I grab the rock with all my strength and body and am lucky enough to hold on while the wave pulled out and ran up the rocks exiting.

Mind you, I was a lifeguard for many years growing up and a strong swimmer and I still had a problem. I ended up with a cut up body and will have some ugly scars for Belize. Not a good idea at all.

I will admit, this was very scary for me. I didn’t even consider that even though hurricane Bill had not yet hit MA but was about to, that it could be effecting the waves and water as it did. This is something to consider in regards to my fearless post on staying in Belize during a hurricane to witness it. Not so sure I’m interested in that anymore.