In my earlier posts of this blog I briefly mentioned Floatilla; an annual event in Waikiki where hundreds of people would gather on inflatables in the ocean; dancing to music and imbibing in the waves. Our friends were staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village that 4th of July weekend, and we were ready to engage in the Floatilla craziness that ensues every year. Boy were we in for a surprise.
What we expected…. (This was in previous years when it was held right at shore)
(source)
What we got -__-
First of all, the moments before leaving for Waikiki I just so happened to drop a glass cup on my foot, which resulted in a huge bleeding gash on my ankle. It wasn’t painful, but it was a deep cut that wouldn’t stop bleeding. While Jarden insisted we go to the emergency room to get stitches, I refused to miss Floatilla, and literally just taped gauze around my ankle and hobbled out the door.
So far from land!
We soon excitedly met up with our friends ready to head out to Waikiki beach, which is a close walk from The Hilton. Floatilla started that morning at noon, but it supposedly went on until 6pm. It was around 4pm then; plenty of time we thought!
Initially we thought Floatilla was held right at shore as in previous years, but all we saw were a few inflatables interspersed with little yachts way in the distance. It seemed impossible to reach, but everyone else got there right? We all then attempted to swim out.
See the yachts in the distance? So close, yet so far…
Our journey started out at a good pace, and we were excited to join in on the madness at sea. But then the minutes dragged on, and the waves got bigger. We swam for what felt like over an hour, and the boats didn’t seem much closer. Pair this with my bleeding ankle, to which the bandage fell off long ago, and a member of our group that suddenly announced that he didn’t know how to swim. Ummm what?!?
We missed the party; everyone already heading back!
About an hour after our swim started, we still didn’t reach the boats, but it seemed almost attainable. At that point we could hear the music from the boats, and incidentally also hear it suddenly cut off. With people swimming back, we quickly realized we missed the party. Floatilla officially ended, and we hadn’t even arrived.
I can’t even describe the amount of buzzkill that moment held. An hour of endless swimming with nothing to show for it. And we still had to paddle back. Kill. Me. Now.
Internally crying on my little slice of paradise. See my foot wrap?!
I shouldn’t have wished for that though, as heading back seemed to be more challenging than ever. We were exhausted, in the middle of the ocean, and the waves were pretty huge for us. We all got smashed a few times, me losing my bandanna, inflatables popping left and right, and us praying to not drown. On the bright side, I managed to hold on to my sunglasses and alcohol-filled hydroflask.
Half an hour later we finally reached land. 2 floaties remained; we started off with 5. We were bummed to have missed Floatilla; and even more bummed to find out that Zac Efron was on one of those yachts. Seriously universe?!? On the bright side, we got awesome pictures, have an awesome story, our friend that couldn’t swim didn’t drown, and no shark bit off my bleeding foot. All in all, I’d say it was a great 4th of July weekend 🙂
