This was an article original posted for Hawaii Skin Diver.

On Sunday, March 22, I was rescued by local life guards and the fire department.

The day started late, with me debating with myself whether to jump in the water after seeing a monk seal. I figured this could be a learning experience, so I jumped in the water at about 10:30. Notice, I only said me, I was diving solo. I was diving in an area I've never been before, and quickly noticed a lot more reef structure and fish, I loved it. The reef and fish were plentiful, but I had took little noticed the current that was taking me further out to sea, and further away from my entry point. I had underestimated the strength and quickness of the current, and figured I could easy swim out of it. After seeing the first small trolling boat pass by, I know I had drifted too far for comfort and attempted my swim back to shore. I struggled for nearly an hour and a half (I have a watch on my float) and made no progress. I tried swimming parallel to land, but the current was pushing me in a diagonal direction, making it impossible for me do do anything, but go with the flow. Thoughts flooded my head and I thought I was going to become another statistic. I quickly calmed myself down, and began to asses the situation, how do I find help, what do I have on my float, and how am I going to prevent any further drifting? I only had a whistle, a flashlight, and night stick...that rescue streamer sounded pretty good for only $30.

My first goal was figure out how keep myself within sight of the shore. I remembered having a conversation with my dad's close friend and fishing buddy, Dennis. He was one of the first pioneers to start skin diving, and he told me how he was once stuck in a rip current and resorted to wrapping his tag line around a rock. About 20 ft away, I could see the faint outline of giant rock, and thankfully in the direction the current was pushing me. I dove down, with the rock only about 20ft from the surface, I wrapped my 60ft tag line around it. After surfacing and holding onto my HSD life gaurd float, I could feel the true force of the current. My float had been submerged about 1 ft under the water with me holding on, and it felt like I was trying to swim up stream. The next thing I had to figure out is how am I going to signal someone? The swell was picking up and I couldn't even see the roofs of 2 story building near shore. Quickly remembering a post made by Stody, I took off one of my fins, and began waving it. Blowing on my whistle, and waving my fin like a mad man, the thoughts of the stupid seal came out from the back of my head, yeah...some learning experience. Hoping to deter the seal and any other curious predators, I dumped everything on my kui, 4 kumu. :\ For half an hour, I waved, whistled, screamed, splashed water, and the sight of Ko Olina's catamaran was about in the distance. I did everything I could to attract their attention, but no luck... [Here, I would like to officially say, Fukc you ko'olina and your worthless captains for not doing anything] About another 30 minutes passed by, and I could see flashing lights on shore, that was greatest feeling I've ever felt, being brought to tears. About 10 minutes later, a jet ski appeared and I was brought to shore, greeted by my dad and the fire department. I suffered no injuries, just extreme exhaustion.

Thank you HSD, the invaluable knowledge posted here helped me a lot. I'd like to thank the Waianae fire department.

Thinking back to what happened, there are several things I would've done differently. I refused to drop any of my gear, I was an idiot. I underestimated mother nature, I'm an idiot x2. I dove a lone, I'm an idiot x3. Take note, and learn from other people's mistakes.

Dive Safe,
Anawati