Surfing with the Sharks!

Once, my husband and I went to Vero Beach, FL for vacation. We did lots of swimming, biking, beach volleyball etc. So one day, he says, “Let’s go surfing today.”

So I says, “Did you forget that time we went water skiing with Mike and Stanley? I tried for an hour to get up on those skis. I just don’t have a good sense of balance.”

“No worries…I’ll help you.  It’ll be fine.”

So we found a little shop on the beach that rented boards, got 2 and then headed out on the waves. In the surf shop, the guy mentioned that we should watch out for sharks. He said the shrimp were swarming right off the coast and that usually attracts sharks because they love shrimp. So we said, “Thanks!” and took off for the water’s edge.

We laid down on the boards and paddled out past a few waves, just waiting for a big one to head in so we could hopefully catch it. As I was paddling around about 100 yards offshore, waiting for a wave, suddenly I was surrounded by thousands of shrimp. Many of them were clearly dead and there were only shrimp parts and shells floating around.

It didn’t take much for my imagination to kick in and I imagined a herd of sharks trolling the area for more shrimp, only they’d find me and eat me instead. So I turned my board toward the shore and started paddling at a frenzied pace.

I could hear my husband in the background saying, “Where are you going? What’s going on?”

I shouted “sharks” but don’t think he heard me. I was so freaked out that saving him wasn’t a priority. “It’s every man for himself,” I whispered under my breath.

It only took me a few minutes to paddle to shore because I was paddling so fast and furious. My husband said the board actually lifted up off the water’s surface due to my speed.

I threw the board down in the sand and stood there watching to see where the sharks were, yelling “Sharks” the whole time at my husband. Of course, he hurriedly got out of the water too. We both stood there in the hot Florida sun watching for few minutes.

He said, “Are you sure you saw sharks?”

“I saw a bunch of half-eaten shrimp. I did not want to be their second course. So I hauled my ass outta there!”

He laughed. “Well, we could go into town and get lunch and then try again later.”

“Nah, you go ahead without me. I aint eager to become shark bait. Find you another surfing buddy.” He laughed. And we went to town, ate lunch and went back to the hotel for a nap. That huge adrenaline rush made me crash later.

That was my first and only surfing experience. I still have a Mother of Pearl necklace he bought me in Vero Beach. It always reminds me of that incident.