Just a few weeks ago, I nearly drowned. My wife, Patty, and I were playing in the Gulf of Mexico (America) off the coast of Casey Key, a little-known barrier island between Sarasota and Fort Myers in Florida. Hurricanes Helene and Milton had changed the shoreline significantly. The owners of the oceanfront properties had to deal with several feet of sand covering everything, but they were only allowed to push the sand back to the high tide line.…