Hardest you've been worked on a wave

Where we were, pretty much. Watch your cornhole bub.

 

I got worked surfing OBX, near Salvo...DOH swell, paddling out..thought i was over one and it sucked me backwards over the falls and then footballed me about 200 yards..lol...

the only other one was when i thought i was going to die, head and shoulder pinned to the bottom out at the end of the rocks @ IRI Northside ..8-9 foot wave broke directly on top of me...came out of the water shaken that night.

 

Alligator Rock, Hawaii '05 during a rapidly rising swell. I was a North Shore rookie and had NO IDEA the hell that was about to reign down on me. I went to Sunset first, and it looked do-able, like it always does, mostly because the lineup is so far out, so the carnage doesn't look nearly as intense as it actually is. I sat watching with Darrick Doerner (of all people!) who looked at my 7'4'' and hinted that maybe it was a little too short for the current conditions (which, given my current knowledge, would have freaked me out immediately haha). He suggested I go to Leftovers, which is a little more gentle and probably a better choice with the equipment at hand. I had not ever surfed the spot before, and actually ended up paddling out to Alligator Rock instead. There were 6-8 people sitting in the lineup, so I figured that must be the right place. Long story short, one guy was WAAAAY outside and the rest of us sitting at what seemed to me a reasonable location. Again, I didn't know anything about the spot (or big surf in general). A few reasonable sets came through, and I nabbed a little shoulder and felt more confident...next thing I know, the outside guy starts paddling for the horizon, and everyone around me does the same. I didn't even know what was going on until I saw what...basically it looked like the entire horizon shifted. This monster of a wave starts fluttering, and the outside guy BARELY makes it over as it starts breaking. It didn't break top-to-bottom, but it was freaking enormous, by far the biggest wave I had ever seen at that point. It must have been a good 200 yards out when it started breaking, but it just kept coming, and finally reached me as this giant wall of whitewater. I was sort of like "uhhhh, what the f%#$ do I do now?" and ended up bailing my board and diving as deep as I could. It didn't matter, and the thing rag-dolled me for what seemed like a minute (I'm sure it was actually much less) before letting me up. As I stood up on this shallow piece of reef, I looked back and realized the lineup was a few hundred yards away...called it a session after that one and decided to, in the future, listen more closely to "rapidly rising swell conditions".

 

Ouch, that sounds like it sucked pretty bad

 

live aloha........I know EXACTLY what you are talking about....Leftovers was one of my favorite spots.....the same thing happened to me in '95....South Shore, Waikiki, the craziest surfable waves I'd ever seen (except for Country)....sometimes laying flat on the bootom just doesn't help.....Good Times.

 

yea i remember that day.we charged that badboy from cape cod all the way to the outer banks.my biggest hold down was last week in japan,i caught a reef break 20 miles out at sea and me and this 60 ft shark got caught in the lip and went over the falls,i held on to his fin the whole time,he was speaking to me and said every little thing,gon be alright..after that my board broke and the shark gave me a ride to the beach.it was nothing special,just 50 times overhead with a chop!

 

Sounds like some good stuff man, pass that over here would ya...

 

That was a bomb way that we charged.

I'm pissed I missed the Japan trip. Sounds like you had a blast. I ended up surfing Pipeline. As soon as I dropped in on a massive wave, the volcano started going off. Next thing you know, I was dodging falling lava chunks and surfing for my life. I ended up just riding the wave back to mainland US. I caught the red eye from LAX to ILM in NC. I sat next to Snoop Dog and we spent the whole trip talking about gardening and surfing Africa. We then starting talking about lions. When we got off the plane, he told me that our discussion was so awesome, that he was going to change his name to "Snoop Lion." Looking forward to his next album, under "Snoop Lion."

 

Costa Rica, June 2000. Playa Hermosa well north of Tulin, just south of the 1st hotel (can't remember name). We're fresh off the plane and frothing for waves. The conditions were pretty bad, solid 7-8ft long-period swell mixed with a nasty thunderstorm and black sand of course. First wave of the day, first set wave I think I'm going to make this barrel...I don't. It throws me into a somersault before I hit the water at what my ear thinks is 50mph. That wave gives me 1 more head-over-heels moment for good measure. I'm fully dizzy and disoriented at this point. Being used to the moderately clear water of NC I open my eyes to find sunlight (still dizzy). Oh right! Thunderstorm plus black sand equals darkness. The washing machine fades a bit and just as I've grabbed my leash and am about to break the surface I'm hit with set wave #2. Another head-over-heels, another can't see light, another leash grab. Break the surface just in time for set wave #3 to thoroughly work me (swallow a good mouthful of water/sand) and pop me in the head with the rail of my board as a finishing move. And finish me it did. I flopped onto my board after surfacing and proceed to gasp for air in between vomiting. Let's just say I volunteered for video taping duty the next 1.5 hrs.

 

Same for me...except I wasn't sucked over the falls, I just had a Puerto bomb land 10 ft. in front of me. Worst beating of my life.

 

Hurricane Igor, PR. Somehow I pull off a quick trip to the island during the height of Igor. Fly into San Juan, drive over to Rincon where I'm staying and hit the beach. Go to parking lots, Antonios. Pull up to a guy leaving with a broken board, 2 guys with broken leashes and an ambulance leaving. There are never ambulances in Rincon. For some reason I lost all reason in the rush to get down there and bring only my 6'4 Orion instead of my big wave board. Start paddling out at parking lots and I'm nearly out when here comes the mother of all sets. I can see its going to break outside of me, and with all I had seen on the beach, I was afraid to try and duck dive and and afraid to break my leash, so I just turn like an idiot and take the wave on my back, I dont know what the hell I was thinking. The thing squashes me like a cockroach, is the only way I can explain it. I grab my leash and reel the board back in and get back on underwater and then I realize i'm about 10 ft under. Surely it will reach the top eventually. Finally after what seemed like forever I start heading for the top. Nearly knocked the wind out of me. Dont know what I would have done different.

 

I somehow knew that was your doing..

 

My most recent thrashing was a big swell last November. I got to the North side around 8am, figured the conditions would be Okay, the swell was called 7 or 8 ft @ 10 secs? Don't remember the exact forecast. Anyway I had purchased a new Hynson fish about a week before that I was anxious to try out. So I suit up head down to the beach and see the conditions were going off with well OH waves. I was excited to see some actual surf that I lost all sense of reality and paddled out with my fish w/o a leash. Big mistake; there was one older local guy out who I usually see in the Fall, when it's larger and going off near end the rocks. I make a beeline to the lineup, if you call 3 guys out a lineup. I ended up getting worked paddling out when a set comes through. Had a wave detonate right infront of me. My board slips out of my hand leaving my to swim all the way back to shore from the end of the jetty. Needles to say I had quite the workout. I ran back to my car after I made it back in and broke out my 6'1 august squash.I had a hell of a session after the board change.

 

Oddly enough it was at Dewey Beach about 10 years ago. Went out on a big winter day and it was closeing out on a sharp bar. Found myself held by current in the impact area for what seemed forever. Freezing, nautious and out of air. Finally able to get in. Haven't been back since.

 

AH so many times i have paid dues. A few years back we had a Halloween swell....yeah, swell was 8-10 ft plus at like 14 seconds....geez it was Pea Island with just me and one friend out. Place was just cloudbreaking! I got comfortable after a few roll-ins and tried to pull into a bomb...bad decision! I came so close to drowning, just started praying, just seeing bubbles and a white light. It's crazy how one wave can make you re-evaluate your life. I was blessed....we all are

 

I don't always drink beer, so you should probably ask someone that knows more about it

 

Harbour entrance, Humboldt county CA. huge 12+, dropped in on one shoulder on like a 7'9 and got thrown and dragged across some dark sharky harbour. almost drowned. then i went home. waves suck there, not going back

 

2 footer at 1st street jetty. First guy ran over my back with a set of rubber fins, then a sponger slapped me with one of his flippers, then got wrapped up in a 20ft leash connected to a 10ft bic and almost choked til I pulled out my knife... then a tourist dropped in me ; )

 

Hurricane sandy. 20 footer. New Jersey. Nuff said!

 

at manasquan inlet. was surfing a left towards first peak to where it bowls up on the inside. went up for a turn right at the bowl and was a little late. all momentum going up and lip coming down full speed compressed knees into my chest and slammed me into the sand. broke 2 ribs on that wipeout and 6 weeks out of the water.