Rescued by NASA

3/5/23

On the third day of my Florida trip I was ready for day two of learning to surf, but I was already tired of the commercialized coastline of Cocoa Beach. I had rented my surfboard for three days, and it fit in my rental car, so I set out to explore new beaches. I drove north to Canaveral National Seashore, figuring protected beaches would be more my style. And boy, was I right! (Readers can expect MUCH more about this beautiful place in future posts.)

Canaveral National Seashore/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a lovely example of federal agencies working together. Initially set aside in the 1950's to act as a buffer for nearby National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) activities, the area is now managed by two other federal agencies. The US Fish and Wildlife Services manages the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and the National Park Service runs the Canaveral National Seashore. For this trip I was most interested in the 24+ miles of protected and undeveloped seashore. There are limited services there: no picnic facilities, phones, food, beach showers or drinking water. But there are designated parking areas, pit toilets, and wood boardwalks to most beaches.

I arrived around 8 a.m., pulling off Hwy 1 to the Canaveral National Seashore Headquarters. The beach closest to this south entrance is called Playalinda Beach. Driving south to north, there are 13 small parking areas, each with a boardwalk to the beach. I investigated a few - then chose Lot #11. It had 20 parking spots on the left side of the road, and my car was only the third one there. With a short walk over a single dune, waves were crashing not even 50 yards away. There were three fisherman grouped together to my right, and a couple seated on a blanket to my left, but no one else in sight for a half mile north or south. There was nothing but gorgeous, unspoiled beach, the sun rising over the Atlantic, and gentle, rolling, 1-3 foot waves crashing on the beach at regular intervals. Perfect for a beginner surfer honing her skills.

I put down my towel and water bottle and went right into the water with my board. (I had put on sunscreen on the drive over and left all of my stuff in my car, since it was parked so close.) I picked up where I left off the day before....trying over and over to get just a little bit better.

I "surfed" for three different 30 minute intervals - resting briefly in between. I made new mistakes, old mistakes, embarrassing mistakes - and had a whole lot of fun. It was a gorgeous day - warming gradually to around 78 degrees, The water felt fine, and I wasn't getting too beat up. I could paddle out beyond the waves and rest if I needed to. The fisherman weren't paying any attention to the middle-age, out of shape woman falling over and over again, and the couple was oblivious. I was feeling good about my efforts, and was right where I wanted to be.

I decided to take a mid-morning break and have breakfast on the beach. I walked barefoot to my car and retrieved my food, then sat on my towel, ate and watched the waves. I thought back on all the falls I'd been experiencing. I had the tendency to let them all blend together in my memory; a flurry of face-washes and tumbles and collisions (with waves, with my board) that led to my sore muscles and a couple scrapes and bruises. But I wanted to try to separate them, to learn from them. I knew full well that there might be an entire day of falling ahead of me. And what good would that serve if I didn't learn from each one? So I took a pause and tried to plan ahead.

There are so many things that can go wrong when trying to catch a wave. The most common of my mistakes were as follows:

1) Putting my weight too far forward is my worst mistake. The tip of surfboard goes underwater at the same time as a wave crashes from behind. This leads to a face full of saltwater and an uncontrollable surfboard - as the back of the wave catches the back of the board and I flip ass over teakettle.) Let's try not to do that one again, Jenny.

2) Putting my weight too far back is a better mistake. I can always slide backwards off the board and just watch my board shoot up and toward the beach without me. It's a wussy mistake, though. Am I here to make wussy mistakes over and over or to go for it?! (Lots of self-talk on this trip!)

3) Putting my weight too far left or right. Surfing is a balancing act - like that carnival game featuring a rope ladder connected at a point at the top and a point at the bottom. Put a surfboard on it, spray some saltwater at the person trying to balance there, provide a rolling mass of water and forces coming from several directions, and tell them to POP UP! That's surfing.

3) Having poor timing when you start paddling into a wave. There are a thousand wave variations, therefore a thousand ways to have poor timing. The worst is to not paddle hard enough and be directly UNDER a massive wave as it crashes on you. If you look back and see white, you are too late. Basically, that wave is just going to crush you and have its way with you. It's like willfully laying face down under a trampoline that you know 10 people will be jumping on in a moment, and not scrambling away fast enough as they all jump at once. Now add a thousand metric tons of saltwater. And somehow it's also like those 10 people trying to pull you limb from limb while simultaneously shoving sand and saltwater into all your crevices. Oh - and there's an 8 foot board under you that could go just about anywhere when that happens.

4) Losing focus. This is actually really hard for me. I want to look at the pretty beach, the glinting stars the on the ocean surface, the clouds in the sky, the nearby space center, the other surfers, etc. I am constantly catching myself looking down the beach or up the beach for how the waves are over THERE. I also check my belongings on the beach quite often. (What if someone finds where I hid my car keys and steals my car and all my stuff? I guess I'm not very trusting. Why am I not very trusting?) Meanwhile - the waves that had been previously calm and quiet just grew 4 feet tall and crept up behind me. Boom! Smash! Ack!

5) Being too tired to actually push up and pop up in that moment when you DO put your weight in the right place and DO get your timing right and DO focus and DON'T wuss out.

While the above is way too short a list - it gives you an idea of just how challenging surfing is.

The two items above that I figured I had the most control over were items 4 and 5. I resolved to be more focused and take more frequent breaks, in hopes that I would be ready when my moment came. I put my foodstuffs back in my car and headed back into the ocean.

My new plan was to make 10 attempts to catch a wave, then no matter the outcome, go back to the beach and rest. I did that for a couple of rounds, and I recognized that I was slowly making progress. I was getting a little better. I'm still not doing anything resembling surfing, but I'm getting better at my timing. I can now read the waves, catch the waves and ride them to shore on my elbows. Then I am catching waves and getting to my knees. Then I am getting one foot forward before falling. And I'm falling pretty well. I'm not tumbling head over heels...I'm falling by choice, falling in a semi-planned manner. Most of the time.

In my next sequence, I am doing even better. I recognize that I'm getting tired, but I come really close to actually standing. It's no longer than 0.5 seconds, but I'm on top of the board on my feet. So exciting! So when I get to my 10th try and I decide to go back for one more. Then I go back for try number 12. On my 13th attempt I feel really good - GREAT wave - just missed it! I bet there are more good waves coming!

It's on my 14th attempt that I take a bad, bad tumble. I don't know which mistake I made - I honestly can't recall. Probably all of them at once. As I fall, I'm completely out of control. I feel my board bang into my left foot. Ouch! "Enough, Jenny." I drag my board to shore. Then I look down at my foot - and I see that on the top of my left foot, about 2 inches below my big toe, there's a gash that is bleeding profusely. Oh shit oh shit. One of the fins on the bottom of my board must have nicked me. But there's a lot of blood. I grab my board and run up to my towel and water. I shake out my towel and wrap it around my foot. How bad is it? I'm freaked, but I'm thinking clearly: Yay first aid training kicking in! I need to apply pressure and I need to get it above my heart. I probably look a little weird - my back to the ocean, ass in the sand, holding my hastily-wrapped left foot as high as I can. I tell myself to stay calm...and breath...and think.

I decide not to call the fisherman for help, even though they have a whole wagon of food and supplies and might have a first aid kit. I have bandaids in the car. I decide to sneak a peek. I unwrap my foot and pour my water over my wound to get out sand. Shoot, it's pretty darn deep. Blood immediately starts gushing out again. I tie my towel around it and press hard. I decide to drive to the park headquarters and get help.

The gash is on the top of my left foot, so I keep it wrapped in the towel and up on the dash to the left of the steering wheel, applying as much pressure as I can with my left hand. Then I drive and steer with my right hand and foot. HQ is a little farther away than I remember, and of course I have a slow driver ahead of me. I remind myself to breath. Keep the pressure on. I'm not woozy and it doesn't hurt, thankfully. (Adrenaline = best thing ever!)

At headquarters I'm told to pull over the to the back side of a small building, where I'm met by a park ranger named Trevor. I sit under a tree on the ground and explain what happened. I'm completely covered in sand, barefoot and wearing only a swimsuit and swim shirt. Around my left foot - my formerly white towel is about half red. But Trevor is everything I could hope for - tall and calm and not saying anything stupid (like "what's a woman your age doing surfing by herself?") He acts as if this happens every day. Everything is normal and everything is going to be fine. He helps me with great skill and kindness.

Keeping pressure on has helped, and now the gash is just seeping a bit. He cleans it by pouring a sterile solution over the gash, then gently dries the area. He covers it in gauze and has me continue to apply pressure. It's starting to ache a little now. At my request, he fills my water bottle and I take a long pull. He wraps my foot with good pressure - its expertly done. We start to talk about next steps.

Then I hear sirens.

It turns out Trevor had been a little alarmed by the amount of blood he saw when I first stepped out of the car, and as a precaution he called for EMT backup. And, as it turns out, the nearest EMT was NASA Fire and Rescue from the Kennedy Space Center.

So yes, folks, today I was (almost) rescued by NASA.

I declined their services. And I almost declined telling you all this, dear readers. I didn't want to worry my aunt and my sister, my brothers...my sons...my friends. My pride may also have been a factor.

But in the end I had no choice...it makes for SUCH a great story!

Since my cut had completely stopped bleeding and I was feeling fine, I filled out a little paperwork with NASA, then drove myself to an urgent care in Titusville. I got 3 stitches, a prescription for antibiotics, and a warning not to go in the ocean again until it heals.

So (sigh) my surfing days are over for this vacation. But it could have been much worse. For now I'm happy to be a cautionary tale. What have we learned, children?

"The fins of a surfboard are sharp."

"Rest when you need to rest."

"Always carry a complete first aid kit."

"Put the nearest urgent care address in your phone before any big adventures."

But most of all...

"With great adventures, come great scars!"

Sojourn on!

To see more pictures from my Florida adventure, click here.