Raft Adventure

Johnny Jones, 9 September 1999

Thursday when we were at the beach was "about a million degrees," according to Yvonne's husband, Calvin. But we took beach walks, anyway. The hottest one I took was with Fran, about 2 pm. Towards the end of the walk, the idea of shade, air-conditioning, and something to drink enticed me more and more.

When we were almost back, we noticed a couple of people out on the little inflatable boat the Reids had brought down. They were too far away to tell who they were for sure, but I guessed Amy and Jordan.

When we got back to the tent, we learned it was Amy and Lara. It was a yellow-flag day with a pretty stiff breeze. Chris said, "I think they're rowing against the tide. That's not too smart, Aunt Johnny."

I decided to let the drink and shade wait for later, and to try to figure out if Amy and Lara were OK.

I walked down the beach, and decided to keep pace with them from the shore. Walking at a moderate rate kept me even with them, which meant they were being carried along at a pretty fast clip.

But as they went farther down, they also went farther out. I asked myself, "How long do I wait to get really concerned?"

I looked at my watch and decided that at 3:00, unless they were obviously in good shape, I would run back down to the condo and find Bryan or Chip.

I lasted until 2:55. By that time, the raft looked about an inch in length, and they were disappearing behind some of the big waves. I watched the raft ride over some of the waves at what looked like a 45 degree angle.

Getting my bearings by the color of the beach houses so I wouldn't lose where they were, I started running down the beach towards our condo.

On my way, a lady asked me, "Are you trying to get help for those two little boys in that raft?" She had also noticed how far out they were.

"That's my daughter and a friend," I replied. She asked, "Do you want me to call 911?"

I didn't even hesitate. "Yes!" I exclaimed.

Chip was coming down the beach towards me, so a few seconds later I told him what was going on. "I'll check with the lifeguard," he said. I ran back down to the area where the raft was. On my way back, another local asked me, "Do you want me to call 911?"

When I got to the place on the beach opposite where the girls were, they began looking larger. They were coming in.

Before they got all the way in, a strong, young man ran up with a surfboard. One of the residents had sent her son out. He asked, "Are those the girls I was supposed to rescue?"

I answered, "Yes," and he shook his head and said, "Well, at least I got my exercise." Then Mike came running up with a worried look on his face, carrying an skinny little inflatable raft that might have cost $2. It's hard to see how it could have been useful in a rescue attempt.

The girls came in laughing and pulling their boat, which wasn't even fully inflated. "Mom, it was so much fun!" Amy exclaimed.

When we explained to them what we had done, they laughed again. Lara asked, "Aunt Johnny, why did you do that? We were fine!"

Fran was there by this time, and she answered, "We couldn't tell you were fine. People all up and down the beach were watching you and were worried about you."

"Oh, we're sorry!" they said. But they were still giggling. On the way back, the people who called 911 asked, "Do you think they need a spanking?"

When I told Amy how small they looked, she told me their goal was to go to the second sandbar. It looked closer from the shore than it actually was When they got there, large waves were breaking, as we saw from the beach. "I had to paddle really hard to get out there, and to stay on top of the waves," Amy said.

About five minutes later a Coast Guard helicopter buzzed the beach, looking, I'm sure, for two girls being swept out to sea.

In all our years at the beach, that is the only time we have ever called for emergency help. I wished I hadn't, since they were fine. Amy later remarked, "It shows you how much our society values life."

I finally got into the shade and had a nice, tall glass of water, hoping as I sipped there would be no more adventures until Saturday, when we were to leave.

But there were.