Slipping into something unconfortable...

...or your family as a life saver.

Day before yesterday the tide was way way out in Puget Sound so my son and I decided to explore some new beach that we had not seen before because the water was always up to the rocks and we could not pass.

So off we went for a three hour walk down the sandy beach and saw new things. When we were tired we turned around and walked back when about three quarters of the way back we saw that the tide was coming in to the point of covering the bottoms of the rocks which were usually completely covered. Oh c**p! Well we can climb over some rocks to pass by right?

Well almost, this is where it turns in the hell of what TV shows are made of. My son stepped out on to the rocks and made it about five feet and slipped and fell. Getting up he cut his hands up on the rocks and stuff covering them. At first I thought he might have broken some ribs or his wrist but he determined he was ok.

We continued on just a couple of feet when I suddenly went up side down. I had stepped onto a flat black rock that had a clear covering of slime. I flipped and fell head first into the bay. The first thing I remember was having my head completely in freezing water. In fact I was sliding down to my waist when my son grabbed my right arm and started pulling me out. I tried to grab the rocks and cut the hell out of my hands as I tried to help by climbing on the black rock with the slime. He literally pulled me over it.

There we were sitting on some cold wet rocks wet and wondering how the heck we were going to get out. I decided to climb the rocks upward to a railroad track and follow it out. We did and made it back to the Jeep. I took off what I could and set the heater on high. All my son could say was "what do we tell mom". I was thinking "wow my son just saved my ass".

Earlier I was telling him how I was going to bring my camera next time. There won't be a next time there that's for sure. I really had a bonding experience with my 17 year old son anyway.

Watch not only where you step but make sure the surface can be walked on in the first place. After all it's hard to type when your fingers and hands are in bandages and your toes are blood shot.

Curt

I’m glad you are ok. Bonding with a 17 year old son can be tough. I’m glad you succeeded. I usually carry a walking stick to test unsure footings first. And I always carry a camera. So I guess you are lucky you didn’t loose a camera in the process, much less you’re self or your son. Oh well alls well that ends well.

BTW what did the wife say?

Wow Curt. What an ordeal! Good thing your Son is 17 and not 7! And a VERY good thing he was with you! Much of the time when I am out shooting it is alone and I often think about that when moving about. The kid that had to cut his own arm off in Utah is on my mind a lot of the time. It keeps me from taking chances. Also, when in an unfamiliar shoreline I always make sure to keep a table of the tides with me. Learned my lesson in Scotland many years ago after being caught far from shore in some tidal flats with the water rising fast. Glad you're still with us.

Bill

Curt, sounds like you have a wonderful son to be proud of. I won't bore you with the story of locking myself out of our "new" house (without any clothes on) on the first night. After the fire we had a couple of years back in the Catalina mountains, I took a walk up Sabino Canyon to do a couple of shots. Decided that the paved road was too tame and didn't offer the right view, so I bush-whacked along the edge of the stream. It was a nasty soup of burnt, stinking, rotting ash, sand and debris. To make a long story short, it was my first encounter with "quick sand" here in the desert. I did manage to extract my leg under my own power, but just barely. Had a nice hike back to the car and a shower. Enough for me! tim

P.S. Glad you are ok. Buy your son a nice, big ice cream sundae when it is a bit warmer.

"wow my son just saved my ass"

That's what they're for Curt.

.

df cardwell said:

"wow my son just saved my ass"

That's what they're for Curt.

.

Click to expand...

I originally thought they might be good for carrying camera gear and as photo assistants. However, I've found that they take up photography themselves, ask you to hold their gear while they get a shot, and then ask to borrow your tripod just when you're ready to shoot. Oh, and do you have some extra film on you? At least they shoot film, and complain about cameras that don't have a full information finder in manual mode.

Back on topic, I have a friend who went too far out on a granitic dome for a shot and ended up straining his knees so badly in saving himself from a fall that he was unable to hike for a couple of years. He was out alone. No rope.

The moral is, don't get distracted and lured into a "venture" without first thinking about how you get back out safely.

BTW, there is a very nice tides program called xtide for unix/linux and wxtide in a Windows version (probably also ported to OS-X, Darwin, aka BSD Unix by now). You can print the output and take it along, graphical or tabular.

Glad you got out safely Curt.

Lee

He never ceases to amaze me, he gets straight A's and is level headed. My wife didn't say much, the look said it all. I took my son out to a nice restaurant for dinner. With my screwed up back I couldn't get up and it's a wonder my glasses stayed on my head. Today both ours hand are swollen but we feel lucky and are grateful. I can relate to others who have had similar experiences now. It's so easy to get into a dangerous situation. Next time I will do my homework instead of rushing in without a thought.

Curt

I have a 10 year old son and he does accompany me when I go shooting sometimes. You have reminded me how easily situations can become dangerous. I'm glad you are both okay. Life is so precious and we need to be aware of our surroundings. I'm very much like you are and spontaneous so good to think more about where you are and where you're going.