Laguna Beach

I wanted to start with one of my most memorable experiences. I went with a friend to Laguna Beach to do some real mermaiding at the ocean and capture some pictures. I had expected it to be sandy and hot, but what I hadn't expected were the riptides. I might have to remind everyone that I am a land bound mermaid, so my experience has been in lakes, swimming pools, dry events, and that until that day, I had never been in the ocean with my tail. In the middle of a beach with hundreds of people, I tugged on my silver tail and posed for pictures. I tangled myself in washed up kelp as the cold ocean water washed over me. People asked for pictures and many people had pulled out cell phones to capture the mermaid. And then the tide rose. I found myself sitting in about a foot of water. As the waves rolled in I realized that they were pulling me out deeper with each riptide that came in. The sand literally washed away from underneath me. I panicked a little when I couldn't pull myself up. Normally I can army crawl several feet, but with the weight of the water, sand, and riptides, I wasn't strong enough. So here is a mermaid being wiped out with each wave that came in. And might I remind you, the water was only a foot deep! I decided that I had to get the fin off in order to walk to safety as the riptides were to dangerous to deal with. I'm struggling with the rubber ankle straps while being pulled out into the ocean. I can't get them off fast enough, and the fabric of the tail is making things more difficult. Once my feet were free, the ocean started to pull on the fin, and I almost lost the tail. Knowing that monofin can cost about $100, I was determined to save it. I clung to the fabric for dear life, watching in horror as the entire tail stretched to about 9 feet. Who knew spandex had so much stretch! Meanwhile, I'm still being tossed around. At some point, I'm on my belly, hanging on to the tail, and the tide pulled my swim top off. This was not a nip slip. This was the whole thing. I realized that I had three choices: save my life, save my dignity, save my tail. In this situation, a normal person would have acted in the manner I just listed. I mean, no rubber monofin is worth your life right? But in the heat of the moment, I focused on saving my tail while pulling up my suit, while being rolled and pulled back out to sea. This was in front of hundreds of people, who moments earlier were snapping pictures of the graceful mermaid. Luckily, I was able to get back on my sea legs and walk up to shore. I was covered in sand, my tail was destroyed (the monofin was okay though), and my pride was shot. That tail has never been the same, and I had to retire the skin. At least I got some good pictures out of it. Graceful mermaid? Not so much.