I literally almost drowned as a kid so I know what they are talking about.
And then in 1993 I did something really stupid. I had a sail boat out in the Bay of San Francisco at end of March and there is one other person on the boat (good thing he could sail).
Anyway we were running downwind in about 22 knots of wind so you have some good wave action (swells with smaller waves on them) and I had the motor out of the well because I wanted to see how fast the boat would go.
Well I was dragging the main sail over to the other side to run ‘wing and wing’ and when the wind caught it it threw me off the boat into the ice cold water and I had no life preserver on. The water is so cold that if you are not used to it that you will gasp for air, and I went down about 10-15 feet. It took everything I had not to gasp and when I came back up for that first breath of air there are those waves slapping me in the face.
I was out in the water for 7 minutes and my friend had to make 2 passes to get a life preserver to me and one pass to get me in the boat (which happened very quick after got the preserver to me) getting on was very difficult because I was exhausted and he could not get the boat to stop because of the high wind so I was being drug along the side of it, but we got me in.
I lost interest in sailing for awhile and sold the boat that autumn. I did still go down to the marina and hang out on the boat while I still had it though ;)
The story is legendary at my workplace out there and they still talk about it even though I left the Bay area in 1997.
I am so glad you were saved and can tell the story.
Good point, While it wasnt a factor in my situation, cold water (near normal freezing point 30-40F) is a killer. It sucks the energy out of you. Lesson for all, wear a preserver unless the water is a reasonably warm temperature. In the Baltimore inner harbor a water taxi flipped in February warm day and most riders drowned due to the cold water. The survivers climbed the bottom of the flipped taxi.
I went back out after catching my breath with a small kids preserver in my hand and had no trouble with the waves crashing on me. Why? After each crash the preserver told me which way was up and I didnt need as much energy to get to air. I figured even if I dropped the preserver I had enough reserve energy to get to it. Without it I had none as every BTU and more was going to my survival.
I’m thankful you’re still with us too... Thanks for sharing.