Cops Called On Me While Paddleboarding

It is one thing to steal something and have the cops show up. After all, you would expect that. But to have the cops show up while you are paddleboarding on a beautiful evening off one of the best beaches in the nation? Not expected.

The workout started off normal. I launched about 5:30pm. The typical crowd of tourists were out enjoying the evening sun.

I had paddled back and forth along the swim area of about 1/2 a mile. Then I headed offshore for a piling. The piling was almost a mile out in the ocean. From the beach it was directly in line with the sun. That probably contributed to the situation.

With my bruised rib from the manatee, I was still paddling slowly. So making progress into the 12 mph winds and 1 to 2ft seas wasn't sexy. After about 30 minutes I made it to the piling. I probably fell off twice on the way.

Once I reached the piling, I sat down on the board for a minute to catch my breath. I knew that transitioning from oncoming seas to following seas was tricky. The board pitches, yaws and bucks differently with the seas coming from behind. So the downwind leg back to the beach was likely to take a couple minutes to adjust to the new direction of the waves.

Sure enough, I fell off the board within a minute. I did my typical quick recovery and was up paddling again. But within another minute, I fell off again. Oh well, quick recovery and I was back up.

Very shortly after that the sheriff's helicopter showed up. At first he was making a beeline north along the coastline. So I assumed he was simply traveling somewhere else. Nope!

The helicopter immediately started doing circles above me. Slow, lazy, "I am watching you!" type of circles.

Well, now what? I was busy paddling. I couldn't watch him or the bucking seas would pitch me hard into the ocean. BAM! That's exactly what happened. Down I went into the water! Just a moment of distraction thinking about the helicopter and I lost my balance.

After a normal quick recovery, I was up and paddling. I ignored the helo.

After his 5th or 6th circle, I wondered if he was responding to a shark report. Was he spotting sharks near me? Was there an attack on the beach and he was looking to see if the man-eater was aiming for me?

I glanced up at the beach. I was still probably 1/2 mile away. Nope. No shark attacks there. The tourists were in the water. Since they were in the water for the entire length of the beachline then I was probably fine.

I went back to paddling. The helicopter kept circling.

My workout was to finish at the blue lifeguard tower. I looked up to ensure I was on track. "Uh oh! Why are there two sheriff ATV's sitting side by side aimed directly at me? That's not good."

I had seen these 4-wheeling cops on beach patrol before. They were distinctive with their white shirts and ATV's. Nobody else had ATV's on the beach.

I quickly realized they, and the helicopter, had something to do with me. I hadn't stolen anything. I hadn't been fishing illegally. And no permit was required to paddleboard in that area. Hmmmm.... I kept paddling.

The paddling was actually fun during this time. The air was in the upper 80's. The water temp was upper 70's. The lazy evening sun was sparkling off the green semi-clear water. And the following waves made it feel like I was surfing. Life was good!

There was nothing I could do about the cops until I reached the beach. Since they were at my finish point anyway, I kept paddling towards them. The outer buouy of the beaches' swim area approached. The water gets shallower here causing the waves to perk up and behave differently. And whenever there is a shift in the wave pattern, yours truly tends to fall off the board once or twice until I can adjust.

Fall off I did. Twice. In full view of the beach, the helicopter and two cops on 4-wheelers.

Recovering in standard fashion, I was back up and finished the beach approach. Picking up my board in shallow water I walked up to the deputies on their 4-wheelers. Right about then, a side-by-side with three firefighters pulled up.

They said someone had seen me fall off and thought I was too far offshore. Appropriately so, the 911 response came out to check and ensure I was okay. Having their "victim" paddle up to them with a big smile on his face probably made their job easier.

There are only good things to say about the deputies and firefighters. They did not hassle me at all. Instead, they were supportive for the fact I had a lifejacket on, a cellphone in a waterproof holder around my neck and was leashed to both my board and paddle. We are lucky to have such pleasant and professional law enforcement and firefighters in our community.

They said that anytime someone was on the beach and saw me fall in (a normal occurrence in my line of ocean paddleboarding), there was a chance that person could get concerned then call 911. That is completely understandable. Thankfully after paddling off this beach for over a year, this was the first time it happened. Maybe night paddling solves that problem because nobody would see me fall in?

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