I was hit with a spray of saltwater as a wave crashed onto the kayak, causing sunscreen to drip into my eyes. My hands being wet with saltwater, I couldn’t exactly rub it out so I was forced to blink through the pain and try to see where I was steering, or rather, attempting to steer the kayak. I didn’t really have a say in where the kayak went; the monstrous waves were nearly impossible to fight and were pushing us closer and closer to the shore–closer to the rocky cliffs lining the land. All I could do was listen to my mom’s encouragement and try not to cry. I couldn’t afford any more salt in my eyes anyway.

Why we chose to launch kayaks during high tide off the coast of a rocky cliff in Oahu, I couldn’t tell you. We thought it would be fun. And it was, up until we had to turn around and paddle against the waves. Paddling with them was like a joy-ride compared to going against them. It took my strength to keep going since my arms ached from fighting the waves with the paddles of the kayak.

After what seemed like 30 minutes of not moving at all, we could finally see where we had originally launched the kayaks: a beach a few miles north of our house sandwiched inside an opening between the rocky cliffs. 

“Lindsay,” my mom yelled over the sound of the crashing waves and howling wind, “we need to get as far forwards as we can. Look,” she pointed, “the waves are moving diagonally to the right, and if we turn in too soon they’ll carry us right into the rocks.”

She was right. The waves we were fighting were pushing us towards the rocks and back the way we came. We had to get as far straight ahead as we could while still avoiding the rocks on the left side coming into the beach before turning our kayak to make our return. I attempted to yell this back to my best friend, Megan, and her dad who were behind us, hoping the sounds of the waves weren’t drowning me out. It seemed like they heard, as they nodded their heads in response to my shouts. 

The waves grew in size and our kayak rocked side to side as each one crashed against us. My heart rate picked up in speed as I realized that we would have to time our entrance to the beach with the waves as well as position ourselves in the perfect place for entrance. Turning our kayak too soon or too late, one of the monstrous waves could tip us over, leaving us to fend for ourselves against the waves and the rocks. One false move and we could literally die. 

I looked back to tell Megan, but they were too far behind. I hoped they would realize it too. 

With a couple more rows, my mom decided we were at the right spot, our kayak still facing north and parallel to the white-capping waves. As we waited for the next incoming wave, my heart slammed against the walls of my chest. The wave came closer and closer until it was right behind us. This was it. 

“Now!” My mom screamed as the front of the wave was almost just under us, and my adrenaline filled arms forced the paddles to turn the kayak so it was perpendicular to the wave. It worked; we timed it perfectly so that we were riding the wave into the beach. Once we made it safely in, I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding and climbed out of the kayak, swimming it to shore. My arms and legs shook as a group of people watching ran to help us.

I looked back at Megan and her dad as they attempted their return. They were in the spot we were in. They were going to make it. They turned the kayak towards the beach and moving in, but they didn’t time it with the waves. They were directly perpendicular to the next set of oncoming waves and hadn’t timed it so that they could ride one in. I watched in horror as a monster wave came up from behind them. We all screamed for them to turn to the side so that they wouldn’t tip over, but it was too late. The wave came up behind them, causing the end of the kayak to rise up and they took a nosedive into the water. It seemed like time had gone into slow motion as I watched them come up for air and grab on to their tipped over kayak.

Luckily, they were far enough in towards the middle of the water between the cliffs that they were able to swim in to shore.

“Well,” my best friend said, hitting Stop on the GoPro strapped to her wrist as she trudged out of the water, “at least I got that on camera.”