Snorkeling with my new hip

Now that I have my doctor’s approval I am about to try snorkeling with my new hip. I’m a little nervous. The last time I’d tried snorkeling I was swimming lopsided because I couldn’t really kick with my left leg. I’m pretty buoyant and when I’d get tipped over it was hard to get back on track. I arrived at John Pennekamp State Park first thing in the morning. If I messed up I didn’t want witnesses laughing at me. The dive shop was open and quickly outfitted me with rental fins, mask and snorkel. The dive master warned me that there wouldn’t be a lot to see but I assured him it was just a test for me to try out my new hip.

Cannon Beach at John Pennekamp.

Cannon Beach is not very big. There are some picnic tables but mostly you stake out a section of sand. I went down to the far corner of the beach where I saw another snorkeler enter. It was pretty rocky. Most of the shoreline was covered with chunks of coral. With the waves about to knock me off my feet I gingerly worked my way into the water. Once I was in deep enough I sat down and pulled on my fins. Then the mask and snorkel and I was off. Lots of little fish in the shallow water. As I went deeper those became more scarce. After what I thought was about 10 minutes I turned around to head back to shore. My test was a success!

Getting out of the Water

I was feeling pretty good about the way my first snorkel went. It felt good, my kicks were strong and balanced. But I hadn’t thought the whole thing through. Although I managed to get in the water without injury getting out was turning out to be a whole different matter. I explored along the shoreline but it was all sharp coral. Finally I just went for it, for about 2 steps. A nice lady with flip flops on came down the beach. She took my fins from my hand and took my arm to help me over the sharp coral rocks. Oh Man it hurt! But with her help I was able to limp back to my things.

Not 10 Minutes

Back at my beach towel I dried my feet and stuffed them into my shoes. My watch lay on the sand with the time staring up at me. I thought I’d been in the water about 10 minutes, just a short swim but it was closer to two hours. It was actually lunch time! Except for my feet my muscles felt better than they had in years. I think I can handle the snorkel trip to the reef once they give the go ahead.