There are a couple reasons I could be afraid of this crap. The first reason is the game known as UNDERWATER TAG!
Since I was around 6 years-old my family has been part of a private pool club called Sudden Pitch. The cool thing to do was get the other kids together and play underwater tag, or gutter ball. Underwater tag is when if you were above water you could be tagged and you were "it." The coolest kids could hold their breath really long and go from one corner of the shallow end to the other all in one breath (those corners were the "safe" zones). Oh how I tried to be that kid. After learning to hold my breath for that long, there was an incident when my brother (3 years older and probably around 13 at the time) held his hand over my head waiting for me to come up. Obviously I didn't want to get tagged! So I stayed under water and struggled breathing since he was kind of holding me under, and when I finally came up the game was ruined for me and I cried to my mommy. This probably results in a fear of drowning.
Another reason I may be afraid of the water happened during an outing on our boat called Habiti (Arabic for my love, when directed toward a male.) We had run over a lobster trap and the line was caught in our propeller (the big fan thing that goes round and round under the boat resulting in motion.) Someone had to dive under the boat to see what was going on, to determine the damage and whether or not we had to fix it right then and there or it could wait till we got back to the dock. Well, being the youngest, the most agile, and willing, of course I had to go diving. Usually the beach and landlocked waters are warm enough for swimming, but we stopped in open waters where it felt freezing. I dove for about 15 minutes and then my parents had to take me out of the water so that I wouldn't get hypothermia. The entire ride back I laid on the couch shivering with 3 different blankets on me in the heat of summer. This probably resulted in further fear of drowning. Not to mention that looking at the bottom of a boat in open waters is kind of freaky to begin with because there are living things down there. Thank God there weren't any sharks... or worse... SEALS! haha
I also have an uncalled for fear of sharks. I used to imagine that there were sharks in the deep end of pools and I could never swim unless a grownup was there.
As a matter of fact I am terrified of things that are alive in the water touching me. My family and I were once on a beach that I was afraid to swim in because of a newspaper article the day before that said the beach was covered with jellyfish and it was unsafe. Apparently we were in the clear, but I was a kid! Have mercy on the child!
I fell asleep on the beach and my brother and dad picked me up and painstakingly dumped my in the water and I SCREAMED bloody murder and ran away.
So perhaps it was never a fear of boats, just a fear of everything surrounding boats.
Anyway, part of my process of overcoming fears is to just face them. I'm afraid of heights, so lets go up the tallest building in the world and put our foreheads against the glass. That's the kind of person I am. There are some things that I'm not afraid of but just don't desire to do them, like sky-diving... I am afraid of skydiving, but I also just don't want to do it. One of the ways I wanted to feel more comfortable on the ocean was by driving my own boat without help.
Along with our Habibti we had a smaller fishing boat called Booties. Not like asses... like foot booties you wear in cold water. Pervert.
I asked my dad to take me out to learn, and it was successful, despite the almost colliding with other boats on a regular basis.
This is a picture of a 22ft capecraft which is the boat i drove... but that is not me... and it's not my picture.
http://www.capecraftfishingboats.com/images/models/2100WA_main.jpg
Driving a boat really fast over waves can be extremely nerve racking since you often are flying in the air and feel as though you are not in control of where the boat will land and go after it lands. Not to mention, that in the harbor you have to go slow because of the no wake zones. It sounds easier, but the boat reacts faster than you intend, and then the currents take over, not to mention the other stupid boats that ignore the no wake signs and get you caught in their waves.
Parking our boat back at the dock could have been an extremely tragic experience if my dad did not duck his head. I had to drive in and do a fast last minute sharp turn so that the bow faced the opposite way we drove in. I successfully managed the turn, so that we were so close to the boat behind where i was supposed to park.. it almost took my dad out with its dangling anchor.
I parked, and decided NEVER AGAIN. Plus I think that put my dad in a bad mood. Ruh Row.
Thank you ocean, for succcckinngggg.
Something to dance and sing to: Hello by Martin Solveig & Drogonette
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