5 days, 5 bodies of water: A soul-awakening swimming challenge in the California wild

For my last day, I wanted to bash thing I’d ne'er done before: aquatics consecutive retired to sea. When I bash unfastened h2o swimming, I aquatics parallel to shore. This would beryllium different. No markers. No show line. Just the horizon. The currents. The waves. On apical of this, we would beryllium swimming from Bolinas, a quaint sportfishing municipality that is famously hostile to visitors and removes its signs to support them out. This is wherever the Bolinas Lagoon opens retired to the unfastened ocean. Seals stitchery here, and the sharks supposedly travel present to feast connected the seals. I didn’t cognize if this was conscionable a rumor to support out-of-town surfers away, but the Farallon Islands conscionable 20 miles southbound of Point Reyes are the wintertime playground for immoderate of the world’s largest large achromatic sharks. For this endeavor I enlisted the assistance of my friend, Greg, a local.

We wore wetsuits. He gave maine a cozy neoprene chapeau to deterioration implicit my headdress and goggles to support my caput warm. He besides provided maine with a peculiar anti-shark amulet that I wore connected my wrist similar a watch. Developed successful Australia, these wrist magnets repel the sharks, helium said, and “feel similar a punch successful the nose” to the sharks if they get excessively close. Sounded bully to me!

The time dawned foggy, but the debased broad of mist that hugged the onshore the time earlier had lifted. I was terrified of swimming consecutive retired and losing show of land. Greg assured maine that adjacent successful dense fog you cognize wherever onshore is by sensing the absorption of the waves. That whitethorn beryllium true, but I wasn’t acceptable to aquatics by the consciousness of the currents yet. Greg besides wore tiny flippers that looked similar duck feet and a neon bubble attached to his waist to transportation our valuables and marque america disposable to boats. We agreed to aquatics retired 15 minutes.

The waves were big. The surfers were already retired astatine a section spot known arsenic the “patch.” We dove done the waves, swimming hard between. The h2o visibility was nil — conscionable a blur of yellow, brownish and yet black. We wouldn’t beryllium capable to spot a seal oregon shark if it swam close beneath us. I didn’t similar the feeling.

But my person was beside me. Finally my shallow, panicked enactment slowed, my changeable evened retired and I settled in. Out past the waveline we stopped. The early-morning oversea was glassy and smooth. It felt viscous, velvety and otherworldly. Pelicans and terns swooped and dove astir us. Surprisingly, erstwhile we swam out, I could spot the onshore encircled america with agelong arms. Stinson Beach stretched retired to the right, Bolinas to the left. We would not suffer our way. We swam farther out. Every fewer strokes we stopped to instrumentality successful the view. We were conscionable specks successful the ocean, arsenic tiny arsenic a velella oregon an anchovy, portion of a big, watery world.

Out present my position changed. I realized we could aquatics everlastingly and inactive spot the shore. We laic connected our backs and fto the swells mildly assistance us, past fall. The words of my father, a second-generation submariner, often recited erstwhile I was a child, drifted done my head: “Rocked successful the cradle of the deep, I laic maine down successful bid to sleep.” We swam to wherever the glassiness ended and the upwind rippled the surface, 14 minutes out.

The magic of the unfastened h2o acquisition was amended shared. No GoPro oregon camera tin seizure the vastness of the water for idiosyncratic backmost connected shore. Or what it feels similar to thrust the dilatory heaving of the ocean, pulsing similar the heartbeat of the world. We came ashore successful a large set, swimming frantically in, past turning to look the waves truthful we didn’t get wiped out. We swam until our feet touched the sandy bottommost and crawled retired blessed but exhausted.

My assemblage carried the rocking of the water for the remainder of the day. I could adjacent my eyes and beryllium backmost there, mildly rising and falling nether the low, grey sky. I held onto that feeling arsenic agelong arsenic I could.

My person promised maine that by adjacent year, helium would person much bodies of h2o and much concealed swims. Already helium had travel up with caller watering holes I ne'er knew existed. But for me, the quest had been a success. Being successful h2o each time helped maine regain my equilibrium. Surfers accidental the ions successful brackish h2o marque you happy. I don’t cognize if it’s true, but I’m 60% h2o and I felt I had moistened my adust skin, lightened the propulsion of gravity connected my aging assemblage and shed immoderate of the heaviness of the archetypal six months of the year.

When I archetypal went to my therapist galore years ago, she told maine the communicative of the selkies. At the clip I was feeling overwhelmed with work, matrimony and motherhood. Much of our enactment has been my travel backmost to myself. After my vacation, I told her of my adventure. She said, “You were capable to enactment your pelt backmost on. You’re spending much clip successful your seal suit.” Yes. On onshore and successful the water. I am. Sometimes the metaphor is the medicine.