daveSanborn
Active Member
I'm not sure if I shared this here with you all.....
On the 4th of July weekend we were heading out to one of the outer banks islands with some friends in their boat. I was a happy camper as my boat was home and I didn't have crap to worry about. I popped my first beer of the day as I stepped onto the boat at the launch. By the time we were getting close to our destination I was getting hot and the water was beautiful. I downed the rest of my third beer, glanced at the depthfinder and then ran and jumped off the back of the boat. I could have sworn the depthfinder read 2.3 feet, but it was more like 23 feet deep. No biggy, I'm a good swimmer and the island wasn't that far away.... well at least it didn't look that far away when I was in the boat..... my buddy swung the boat back around to check on me, but I didn't want to puss out and climb back in the boat, so I continued to swim for what seemed like an eternity, the whole time repeating to myself that I would not be a 4th of July statistic.
By the time I got ashore... I was able to wade in shallow waters for the last 75 yards or so, but the swim was probably closer to 400 yards... I was dead tired and definitley ready for another beer and a smoke.
Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have exited the boat so far from shore.... the link is a local headline in the exact area where I jumped overboard. Play the video linked within the news story.
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/53715627.html#
On the 4th of July weekend we were heading out to one of the outer banks islands with some friends in their boat. I was a happy camper as my boat was home and I didn't have crap to worry about. I popped my first beer of the day as I stepped onto the boat at the launch. By the time we were getting close to our destination I was getting hot and the water was beautiful. I downed the rest of my third beer, glanced at the depthfinder and then ran and jumped off the back of the boat. I could have sworn the depthfinder read 2.3 feet, but it was more like 23 feet deep. No biggy, I'm a good swimmer and the island wasn't that far away.... well at least it didn't look that far away when I was in the boat..... my buddy swung the boat back around to check on me, but I didn't want to puss out and climb back in the boat, so I continued to swim for what seemed like an eternity, the whole time repeating to myself that I would not be a 4th of July statistic.
By the time I got ashore... I was able to wade in shallow waters for the last 75 yards or so, but the swim was probably closer to 400 yards... I was dead tired and definitley ready for another beer and a smoke.
Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have exited the boat so far from shore.... the link is a local headline in the exact area where I jumped overboard. Play the video linked within the news story.
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/53715627.html#