That time I almost died in the ocean

Discussion in 'The Thunderdome' started by Indy, Aug 23, 2014.

  1. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    The Goliath Grouper (or Jewfish, if you prefer) Thread got me thinking about the ocean and reminded me of a story.

    My buddy is in the navy and currently based in Virginia. We went to visit in a couple weeks ago, and over the weekend we went down to Nag's Head NC. Another buddy and I were chillin in the ocean, jumping waves, body surfing, etc. We were on a sand bar of sorts, and a wave hit us. After the wave passed, something flipped in the water and grazed my stomach. It was something large with a white belly. We didn't stick around to find out what it might be. We both looked at each other in awe for a sec, yelled something like "Holy shit," and got the **** outta there. That was the fastest I've ever swam in my life. We don't think it was a shark since we never saw a fin above the water even after getting out, but it was something pretty big.

    Anyone else have any cool "I almost died in the ocean" stories?
     
  2. syndicate

    syndicate Well-Known Member

    I don't have an almost died story but I have a dumbass moment. I was at Cocoa Beach, FL which is a shark attack hot spot and was swimming next to the pier at dusk. U Didn't really think of the danger until later.
     
  3. utvol0427

    utvol0427 Chieftain

    I'm pretty sure I've posted this on here before, but here it is again.

    I was in Hilton Head about 4 or 5 years ago with some friends. The first day there the water was extremely rough and the waves were massive by Atlantic Ocean standards, so we decided that night to go buy some boards to go body surfing the next day. As luck would have it, the next day the water more resembled a lake than the ocean so we decided to take our boards out that to just float in the water and take it easy. I don't remember exactly how far off shore we were, but we were probably in water that was about six feet deep when I saw something splash out of the corner of my eye. I got myself turned around and saw a shark about 10 feet away from me, fin out of the water, swimming right towards us. I've never moved that fast in my life and it's by far the most scared I've ever been. The shark was about 5-6 feet long and the lifeguard said it was probably a bull shark based on the description we gave. About 10 minutes later some guys fishing about 50 yards down the beach caught a bull shark that was about the same size.

    Not an "almost died story", but one that I think was pretty cool happen a couple of years later in Hilton Head. My wife and I were in chest deep water when we noticed that people south of us were starting to get out of the water. We started going towards shore, but only made it into knee deep water before we were surrounded by thousands of sting rays. They were swimming north and it took about 5 minutes for all of them to pass. We just stood there with them swimming all around us, waiting for a break so we could make it the rest of the way to shore. Not sure why it happened, but the lifeguards cleared the water for the rest of the day.
     
  4. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    Nope. I've always been pretty cognizant of the fact that oceans: it is where the sharks are.

    Once you've got that firmly locked in your mind, and still proceed to enter the water, well, that's on you.
     
  5. justingroves

    justingroves supermod

    I get in the ocean up to my knees, that's it.

    The way I look at it, you're on a feeding flat. I've fished enough to know what happens on flats. Big fish eat little fish. I don't want to be mistaken for a little fish.
     
  6. wildnkrazykat

    wildnkrazykat Well-Known Member

    When I was 10 or so I got caught in some type of current. It didn't pull me off shore, but pulled me up the beach-about 6 hotels. Every time id tryto stand up it was like the sand justdropped out from under me, then a wave would hit me and under id go again. I was freaked out.
     
  7. Oldvol75

    Oldvol75 Super Bigfoot Guru Mod

    I'm more worried about that statement! Did you both fall in love or something at that moment?
     
  8. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    You're reaching, OV.

    Awe, as in what the **** did we just see?
     
  9. wildnkrazykat

    wildnkrazykat Well-Known Member

    Disbelief?
     
  10. OrangeEmpire

    OrangeEmpire Take a chance, Custer did

    While on our Senior trip we went to Daytona Beach and got caught in a rip tide.
     
  11. g8terh8ter_eric

    g8terh8ter_eric Contributor

    Same thing happened to me when we took a family trip to Mazatlan, Mexico in 1993. If it wouldn't have been for my brother, I would have probably drowned. I was a pretty strong swimmer too, but those rip currents don't play.
     
  12. JayVols

    JayVols Walleye Catchin' Moderator

    I was 80 miles offshore in a 30ft boat with 1 engine out with a tropical depression on top of us. Some of the waves were crashing over the top of the boat.

    Oh, I've been bitten by a shark. Well, more like a graze. Caught a small one & it squirmed out of my hand & his teeth grazed my arm. It counts. It brought blood......
     
  13. CardinalVol

    CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

    This summer I was out about to my waist and a wave came on top of me that was full of a school of fish. Freaked me out. I saw it coming, screamed, the tried to dive out of the way. My wife thought I had lost my mind. I don't want to know what it would be like with something any bigger.
     
  14. wildnkrazykat

    wildnkrazykat Well-Known Member

    Indy, I'm proud of how many responses are in this thread
     
  15. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    I got pulled way out by a rip tide once at OBX. Got stung by a bunch of jelly fish while swimming over a reef in Haiti to the point I was struggling to swim, probably would have drowned had a fisherman not cruised over in his dugout canoe and pulled me up (pretty daring thing to do, considering most Haitians can't swim at all). Fell in the water in Alaska a couple of times. Adventures in hypothermia. That's about it.

    I love the ocean, though. I always swim out beyond the breakers.
     
  16. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    And I am about as worried of sharks as I am being struck by lightning. It is in my mind, but as long as you are following the rules, you're pretty safe.
     
  17. wildnkrazykat

    wildnkrazykat Well-Known Member

    I agree about loving the ocean.
     
  18. kmf600

    kmf600 Energy vampire

    I stepped on a really sharp shell one time. I thought it was glass, but nope, just a shell. I got sunburn once too
     
  19. OrangeEmpire

    OrangeEmpire Take a chance, Custer did

    I wish I was a beach bum
     
  20. IP

    IP Super Moderator

    Oh man, I've cut my foot open to the point of gushing blood at least 4 times. I have big feet.
     

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