SEBA #3: The Day I Almost Lost Wil

The Great Suburban Outback's triple digit heat wave has moved on to torture some other poor folk, thus SEBA #3 dawned cool and cloudy, with forecasted thunderstorms and other nasty stuff. Wil and I jumped off the St. Joe pier and began the 1.2 mile swim in waves that got progressively bigger as we went.

Halfway through, I was swimming maybe 50 yards ahead of her, and slightly further from shore. I'd stop every few minutes and look back to make sure she was OK and making positive progress. We'd wave and then get about our business. This time I stopped, turned around, looked...and she wasn't there.

I floated for a few minutes, searching the horizon whenever I'd hit the crest of a wave. No Wil. After a few more minutes, I made for shallower waters where I could stand above the waves and get a really good look around. Still no Wil. I was feeling...uneasy.

I headed for the sand and ran 100 yards up and down the beach looking and calling. The only answers came from seagulls, angry that I'd interrupted their dead fish lunch. Up and down, back and forth I went, from where I last saw her to where I thought she could be. Nothing. The relative height of the nearest dune offered a better vantage point, but still there was no pink swim cap or Awesome Training Partner wave anywhere to be seen. At this point (15 minutes after my last Wil sighting) I was feeling...helpless, terrified...you name it.

Desperation setting in, I ran up the dune to the nearest house, rang the doorbell and asked the poor woman (who I'd obviously awakened) if she had a pair of binoculars I could use. She did but they were no help. Back to the house I went, this time to call 911. Seven minutes later the police and Coast Guard were there; we were walking up the beach toward the swim exit at Jean Clock Park when a call came on the radio that THEY'D FOUND HER!

I guess Wil has always wanted to escape to Wisconsin; today she tried to swim there. Far off course and far from shore, the waves were so big that she was a tiny speck alone in a great big sea. Unaware of the turmoil, she just kept swimming - right past me and all the way to Jean Clock. I imagine she was a bit surprised to have the Coast Guard waiting for her!

So the story has a happy ending though I think it cost me a couple of years of longevity! Oh, yeah; we biked and stuff too.