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Published: April 23rd 2010
where boats break and children stare
there were so many fewer questions
when stars were still just the holes to heaven
yes and there were so many fewer questions
when stars were still just the holes to heaven
---Jack Johnson (Holes to Heaven)
What is it about Little Andamans that draws you to it…fills you with it…empties you of it…and then draws you back to it for more.
You know you can’t f*^#k with the water there. Those are bone breakers. But that’s why.
Of course, I was just an extra…I had gone to Hut Bay alias Little Andaman with two marine biologists. One was researching Dugongs around the island and the other was researching coral reefs. I was just there for the ride.
It wasn’t till we tried to swim from our dhingy anchored out at sea up to the Light House did we realize the force of the water we were dealing with. When we jumped out of our boat with our fins and snorkel sets the water was too deep for us to see the bottom. We couldn’t tell if we were actually moving forward or backward but the boat driver had already warned us that the tide was receding and the currents were too strong for the boat to anchor closer. So he told us to swim hard and if we found ourselves behind the boat at any point…we should give up our quest and save whatever we had for our fiercest lunge for the boat. He was apprehensive about letting us jump off but since he was dealing with ‘scientists’ he didn’t argue.
“Now! Jump! Now!” he screamed at us, as this was the closest point he could bring his boat to shore. First the Karen (Burmese tribe) boy with us jumped off; then went the reef researcher, then went I. The boat left to anchor out in calmer, deeper waters. We headed for the shore.
In the distance I saw glimpses of the sand-bed, the constant churning of the sand making visibility impossible as you neared shallow water. I still couldn’t tell which way the current was pulling us - but I knew it definitely wasn’t forward. As it got shallower I saw the edge of an oncoming coral reef, the Karen boy skin dived and held onto a rock. At that point he was just behind the tip of my left fin. In one second, or maybe less, I was at least four feet behind his left fin and then again in about three seconds I was about a foot behind him to his left. So now I knew which way the current was pulling. It pulled me about four feet behind each time and threw me about two feet forward every few seconds. I had to swim harder.
I felt progress. The way to move forward was to skin dive every time it sucked you backward and hold on to something, and then swim as hard as you can to the surface every time it pushed you forward. The thing is, as it got shallower the current got stronger: I was now being pulled over six feet backward each time and thrown about four feet ahead if I just floated and stopped swimming. I had surfaced to breathe. What I saw made me think: shit.
To the left of me, where the researcher signaled we should head, was a flat reef of black jagged rock spread out like a table where the wave just died onto each time, spreading a white foam layer on top of it; and to the right of me, where the Karen boy signaled we should head was a 1.5 meter high wall of water racing toward the shoreline at the speed of about 90 kmph. Dead ahead was a tall thin rock protruding well above the waterline…not an option.
I thought I stood a better chance with the wave wall so I headed in the direction of the Karen boy and behold…I was thrown above and in front of him…which scared the shit out of me. I think that scared him too because he grabbed my hand then and told me to stay close. Like anything’s in my control here.
I didn’t hear nor see it cross us but when I looked up again to see where we were the boat was in front of us, it’s bow headed straight for us, and the Dugong researcher onboard was yelling at us as the boat approached and crossed us, “Get back! Just swim back and don’t argue with me! We’re anchoring out.”
We didn’t argue. All three of us turned and within a minute were back to where we were 20 odd minutes ago. I was finished. Three unsuccessful attempts to get back into the boat later I told them it was a better idea to just tow me with a rope. They told me to hold on to the side of the boat and rest for a while. It was nice. Five minutes later I was back on the boat and giving high fives to the laughing two. No one except us was laughing.
“I think that was more worth it than actually reaching the lighthouse and looking at the view from it,” said the coral-reef researcher.
“Totally,” I agreed.
I crashed out in my room for two hours, woke up, and thought, F*^$k I wanna do that again.
And I do.
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Nikhil
non-member comment
I had a similar thing happen to me in Thailand. Of course, it couldn't have been of the same intensity, but it was shit scary! I was at this sandbar beach on Ko Nang Yuan - an extremely tiny, boutique island. Check this link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Ko_Nang_Yuan I was snorkelling around on the left side of the sandbar (check the pic) and suddenly I got caught in a current that was pulling me straight into the sea. I totally panicked and my heartrate went up by 120! I could barely breathe with the snorkel kit on so I removed it and made a mad dash for the shore! I literally reach just in time, crazily out of breath, cause I'm no ace swimmer. I still love snorkelling though :)