Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - (Page 50) Teach your child to bodysurf the By Robert Plotkin I was in the pool with my seven-year-old son wondering how hard it would be to rescue him from drowning in the ocean. I turned him onto his back and put my left arm across his chest and under his armpit. I began to swim on my side, using my right arm in a demented breaststroke. Keeping Max’s head above the water took most of my energy, my body at 45 degrees, swimming as much up as forward, scissoring my legs with concentration, cupping as much water as I could with each crippled stroke. I went about 30 feet and was exhausted, and scared, sinking below the surface, beginning to think of my own life, knowing that I would have to let go of Max and let him die if we were in the ocean. This was under ideal circumstances, with an unpanicked victim and no waves. I realized that if my child were caught in a decent swell, I could do little to help him. At first I felt powerless. And then I realized that I could do something: I could give him prophylactic knowledge. I will make him a waterman, a soul surfer. He will sacrifice to Poseidon, and be rescued by a hippocamp. His favorite superhero will be Aquaman. He will speak Whale. So I took him to the ocean. The waves were moderate, three or four feet, coming in sets of five, lulls lasting a few minutes, perfect. His first lesson was the most important. It was to relax. Sea water is more buoyant than pool water and so the body can just float. I was taught this when my fifth grade class was brought to a pool used to train jet fighters to survive crashing into the ocean. They taught us that survival depended on the ability to float until rescue. They put us in the pool and told us to just hang with our faces in the water, letting our limbs drape, minimizing oxygen needs, turning our heads and bringing our lips to the surface for breaths; or lying on our backs, limbs extended, knees bent slightly, ergonomically, not treading water or struggling or wigging out. And so Max and I floated face down like murder victims. I was a little worried a lifeguard would think we had drowned and blow his whistle 50 coastaltraveler summer
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 Contents Coastal Connoisseur Coastal Picks Coastal Art Coastal Flyer Coastal Sex Coastal Eco Coastal Surfer Coastal Adventurer Coastal Snaps San Diego La Jolla Laguna Beach Malibu Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo Big Sur Carmel Monterey Santa Cruz San Francisco Sausalito Mill Valley Stinson Beach Bolinas Olema Point Reyes Station Fairfax Inverness Marshall, Tomales Sebastopol Petaluma Sonoma Coast Redwood Coast Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 (Page 1) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 (Page 2) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 (Page 3) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Contents (Page 6) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Contents (Page 8) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Contents (Page 9) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Connoisseur (Page 10) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Connoisseur (Page 11) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Connoisseur (Page 12) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 13) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 14) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 15) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 16) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 17) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 18) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 19) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 20) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 21) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 22) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Picks (Page 23) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Art (Page 24) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Art (Page 25) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Art (Page 26) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Art (Page 27) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 28) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 29) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 30) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 31) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 32) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 33) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 34) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Flyer (Page 35) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Sex (Page 36) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Sex (Page 37) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Sex (Page 38) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Sex (Page 39) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Sex (Page 40) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Sex (Page 41) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 42) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 43) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 44) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 45) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 46) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 47) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 48) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Eco (Page 49) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Surfer (Page 50) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Surfer (Page 51) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Adventurer (Page 52) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Adventurer (Page 53) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Adventurer (Page 54) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Adventurer (Page 55) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Adventurer (Page 56) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Adventurer (Page 57) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 58) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 59) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 60) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 61) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 62) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 63) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 64) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Coastal Snaps (Page 65) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - San Diego (Page 66) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - La Jolla (Page 67) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Laguna Beach (Page 68) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Malibu (Page 69) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Santa Barbara (Page 70) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Santa Barbara (Page 71) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - San Luis Obispo (Page 72) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Big Sur (Page 73) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Carmel (Page 74) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Monterey (Page 75) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Santa Cruz (Page 76) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - San Francisco (Page 77) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Sausalito (Page 78) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Mill Valley (Page 79) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Mill Valley (Page 80) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Stinson Beach (Page 81) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Bolinas (Page 82) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Olema (Page 83) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Point Reyes Station (Page 84) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Point Reyes Station (Page 85) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Fairfax (Page 86) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Fairfax (Page 87) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Inverness (Page 88) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Inverness (Page 89) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Marshall, Tomales (Page 90) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Sebastopol (Page 91) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Petaluma (Page 92) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Sonoma Coast (Page 93) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Redwood Coast (Page 94) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Redwood Coast (Page 95) Coastal Traveler - Summer 2008 - Redwood Coast (Page 96)
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