It was August 2011, and a tropical storm had just passed but was well out to Bermuda. I was body surfing with my boogie board on Figure Eight Island, NC, with some surfers. The waves weren’t breaking much closer to shore, so I decided to paddle out to where the surfers were in head deep water. Finally, a wave came that the surfers caught and rode. I was out for several more minutes expecting the surfers to return where I was. Instead they stayed in much closer to shore. I then realized that I couldn’t hear the waves anymore. There were also bubbles on the surface all around me, but they didn’t seem to be moving. I realized I was caught in a rip current.

I could see my wife and the beach umbrella getting smaller and smaller on the shore. She was looking in my direction, but never saw me waving for help. I tried to swim with the boogie board at first, but if you’ve ever tried to do that you know that won’t work. I kept it with me though using the side stroke to swim. I watched the weather channel NOAA warnings and knew what to do when caught in a rip current. My training kicked in and I remember to swim along the shore for a while and then make my way back to shore. I was so exhausted when I made it to shore that I dropped. Nobody on the beach noticed what happened. I kissed the ground.

– Greg, North Carolina