Mini-Freakout in the Water

[dinosaur]

here is a story for your enjoyment...

a few weeks ago I am swimming down at brighton beach area in new york. for those who are not familiar with brighton beach, there tends to be a strong current that runs parallel to the beach. this fact will make sense shortly.

i am a swimming fanatic. keeping me out of the water requires chains, shackles, and a handful of able bodied men with nothing to lose. so there i am flopping around and goofing off in the water. floating on my back and letting the current rush me down the beach, swimming out and back in, you name it. all of a sudden, mid-stroke, i feel something slam right into my chest and slide off around my ribs. i whip around to try and get a look at what it is, then i feel it make contact with my thigh and slide down my leg a ways and disappear. i use the term "disappear" loosely, because after all this is north eastern water, which means blackish-brownish-can't see a damn thing-ish. so by now my fists are up like a boxer, and i am treading water with my legs, while my mouth is saying all sorts of four letter words.

i want to take a break here to stress that i don't startle easily. i've been in a variety of situations, but none of them have ever involved large-ish things feeling me up in black water.

aaanyways... my eyes are scanning the water in front of me intensely looking for any movement or sign of what it might be that had just cop'd a feel. and there it is, surfacing now, it's a- a- a gatorade bottle!! oh cmon! really? i didn't know gatorade bottles could give off that "slithering" feeling... but they can! i mean, it was one of the big ones, the 32 ouncers. a wave of humility washed over me and i decided it was time to get out of the sun and take a breather. damnit coney island, why can't i run into a nice frozen daquiri?

- fin.

[Last_Mutineer]

The Gatorade bottle was probably just a decoy the squid let loose when he realised you were the fighting sort.

[MarkJ]

LOL Great story!

Maybe Jaws III drinks Gatoraid???

[Ocean Girl]

Too funny!

[witzgall]

IT WAS THE KRACKEN. KNOWN TO DRINK ANYTHING RED OR GREEN!

[brutb]

I think it was probably a GATOR (or a Croc) and he left you with his calling bottle(card).

[WarmBreeze]

Having swam, A LOT, on the east coast in the type of water where you can only see about 3inches down before it goes all murky and dark I can empathize. Have encountered many jelly fish the 'hard way'.

I am a swim freak, will stay in the water as long as I can. I only do not dive in if I see jelly fish close to the surface. Other than that I'm in.

However, I can not say that I have ever encountered the dreaded 'Gatorade' creature you speak of. I shall be alert for future swims.

Thanks for the great story. Hope you got your Daiquiri.

[dinosaur]

i feel the need to answer this now so i can help put those of you suffering sleepless nights at ease... i DID get my daiquiri, but i had to get it the hard way.... by paying money for it! i know i know, i can't believe it either...

i know all to well about the murky water conditions out here Sun. i can remember when i was a kid some days the beach was just flat out off limits jellyfish wise. you couldn't go for more than a few feet without spotting one of those dark red jellies, some of em the size of garbage can lids.

from my limited experience with the gatorade creature, i can say that it mostly sticks to the waters of the southern brooklyn coast. you should be fine as long as you stick to spots known for low incidents of electrolyte addiction...

cheers and safe swims!

[WarmBreeze]

I shall make sure to have a Daiquiri before entering the water from now on then.

Cheers~

[Wavewacker]

That's funny, a diver that drinks gatoraid under water.