See you on the bottom

I can't say I have any dramatic, near death hold down stories. But I can say that I tend to get beat up a little more on, say, head high days than on big DOH days. I think it has to do with the fact that on the biggest days, you're taking the precautions... making sure you get that extra deep breath... making sure you don't panic... etc. You make a conscious effort to prepare yourself for the big hits, and to avoid putting yourself into dangerous situations. But on the days where it's only in the head high range, you don't necessarily take those precautions... you don't think about any "consequences" so you're more likely to make mistakes.... like not timing your paddle out, not paying attention to currents, not looking for the sandy bottom on that inside closout section that could cost you your board... or a few stitches.

So the longest "hold down" I've ever had was only a few seconds, but with no air in your lungs, it still makes you come up gasping for air like it was your last breath on Earth.

 

I've had several hold downs where my throat muscles started to spasm, but never inhaled water (knock on wood). The worst scare I had was jumping off my board and not realizing how shallow it was beneath me. Some how I end up going in head first, slamming the crown of my head into the floor, and jarring my neck/head. I thought at first I'm dead, then I thought I'm paralyzed, then I thought one more wave!

 

On the East Coast, its more about not smacking the bottom hard, on the shallow sand bars.

But then again, in the winter, when your in top to bottom in rubber, a 5 second hold down seems like forever!

 

big ass day in cedars, in a nice barrel but eventually got swallowed up. came up to find a jetty 2 ft away and a few more waves coming right at me. first wave came and i swam down super deep, and gently was brushed up against the jetty by the current/breaking wave(mad mussels n crap). before the second wave came, i literally ran across the top of the jetty (higher tide, small jetty) and managed to make it under the second wave (significantly less impact than the first one)

made it to the beach EXHAUSTED, thanking god i didn't get my leash snagged on the jetty or get knocked out.

escaped w/ a few cuts on my feet, minor tears in wetsuit and small dings in board. by far scariest experience i've had surfing.

 

That reminds me of another time at a break with very little beach. I was just trying to get out of the water and was getting pounded into the rocks, walking perpendicular to the incoming waves. I thought my right leg was going to get snapped over a couple boulders several times, but I just kept rushing towards safety every time the water sucked back out.

 

My worst was at South Garbage like 5 years ago. I was out on what was the biggest day I have ever seen in San Diego... I was out on the shoulder for a long time. I saw a few smaller sets and we were all going on them, having fun. Getting confident, then this old guy on a long board said that in a few minutes, the whole cove was going to empty out at the tide shift and we were going to see clean up sets. About five minutes later, on the horizon, you could see huge rouge sets scooping in from the south. And we all paddled like madmen. Me and one other guy almost made it to the outside, but at the last second the water kept sucking up and we were right under the lip. Luckily, I duck dove what felt like 10 feet deep and braced myself. I had both feet on my board for extra push and when the wave impacted the top of the water, it shot down right across my back and slammed the middle of my board. It immediately broke two of my twos and ripped the board off my leg. I was about 15 feet deep for one more wave that broke and I could see the light kind of so I knew I was going back up to the top. When i caught air, there was a no move waves coming and my board was only about 50 feet away. I guess my board went so deep it didnt come back up until the set was over. But there were 20 people in the lineup that day and me and one other guy were left. Every other person just got swept into the beach. Broken leashes. Snapped boards. Craziest one I have ever been in. And what makes it scary is that this break is like 350 years out to sea. So when you are alone. You are alone. No lifeguards on the beach... And you are in water that is very, very deep.... I got lucky and in the end it wasnt that bad, but that was for sure my worst hold down. I was shook the rest of the day. It look me an hour just to pick off a wave to take back to the inside that day. I was just way outside after that trying to avoid death, thinking why the fu** did I paddle out here. This was stupid. I am on a 7'6 pipeline gun paddling around in 20ft sets... what am I thinknig.... Scary day. I have never surfed a really HUGE day since then. When it gets that big, I can watch. Not worth the possibility.

 

Yep... saw a lifeguard out surfing a little jetty one day during a decent swell at a spot where the current really swirls near the end of the rocks. He wasn't paying attention, I guess, and took off too deep. He didn't make the drop and ended up getting pounded into the rocks. They had to take him off the beach on a stretcher... punctured lung and broken ribs. Missed a semester of school in Hawaii that fall.

 

Yeah and I love the reminder of how not in control I am in the big picture. "Its that place where you lose yourself and you find yourself" - RIP Bodhi

 

hurricane ike a couple years ago, the first day of it was close to double o and it was way too choppy to paddle out in, noone else was in the water but me and my friend. this was when i was much more novice and before i was proficient at duck dives.. i got caught inside of a set and hesitated and froze up and a real heavy double o wave broke right on my back... i was held under for what seemed like an eternity , and i didnt even know which way was up. I ended up inhaling some water. when i finally broke the surface i was staring straight at another wave in the set and got hammered by that one just the same... i was WORKED

 

My most memorable hold down was in Costa Rica. I was trying to jam in one more session before departing the next morning. I was exhausted from surfing three days in a row for five hours straight. I paddled out from a short distance walk from of our hotel in Jaco. If anyone knows Jaco is not a great place to surf in the late afternoon, because of the wind, plus it's a dumpy wave. Well My buddies and I paddled out in solid 6-8ft swells. An eight foot set rolled in on me, I went to duck dive and was unable gain any depth on this wave. I got pushed down with board under me and just dragged under water some distance. I usually don't panic, but I was not coming up. Finally, I reach the surface gasping for air, then boom I take another on the head and began the process all over again. This time really panicked which caused my legs to crap up. I finally broke the surface and found myself about 200 yards from my first eight foot wave encounter. After that I was done.

My most recent nasty wipe out was at DE, Naval Jetties several months ago. It was a freakish day where all the surf reports were incorrect, but for the better. SwellInfo and others predicted 2-4ft surf, but in actuality it was solid 4-6ft with plus sets. I turned to see an outsider rolling in at 6ft plus and made an attempt to paddle out to it and turn at the last moment. My take-off speed was much slower then the wave was moving. The wave jacked up as I attempted to get up on my board. That's when I saw that this was going to be bad. I free fell down the face of the wave and over the falls. My surfboard fell quicker than me and all seemed to be in slow motion. Then bam, I hit my board shin first and then tumbled several times and popped out to the surface. The wipe wasn’t so bad, but hitting my board was. I paddled back out with blood dripping down my leg. Maybe it was the cool water, but the injury to my shin didn’t hurt until later. I now have a new scare to display.

 

haha, yeah seconds feel like hours when a set comes thru the inside in the middle of january....

 

My most recent bad wipeout was last week after the red bull rivals contest at the pier. I took a 3 to 4 foot set wave, did a few turns and kept pumping on it while it reformed on the inside. I was like 20 feet from the shore and pulled into a really small inside barrel that was breaking in about an inch of water. I pulled into about a 1.5 foot barrel, and when I thought it was going to let me out, the damn think just flipped me up and over head first. I hit head first in the sand and my fins shredded over my legs and the board hit me like 5 times in a row on my head. And this happened in front of like 20 cameras and like 2000 people watching. I just sat up, grabbed my sh** and ran away... Pretty gay. The worst wipeouts are always the dumb ones, where right at the last second you go... WOOPS... that was dumb.

 

though i will never try and estimate how long i was down for.. this winter in oc storm surf day with overhead sets, i was proud just to make the paddle out.. got some waves last wave took off got smashed held down popped up just to see anoter one comeing down right on my dome, held down again came up feeling like i was going to die coughing up water, only to take another one before i finally got out of impact zone.. i was the only one out that day and drifted from 46 to like 74 in about an hour crazyest day of my life.. sickest walk back ever too. make you feel small

 

I think we've all done a double head hit. You hit the sea bottom with your head, come back up and bang your head on your board. Now I just cover my head with my hands.

 

Never did a double head hit, but I have face planted in steep, head-high swell. My body bend backwards to the point where it felt like feet my were going to hit me in the back of the head. When you hear your spine crack underwater, there's that split second where you wonder if you're walking away from this one.

Then you paddle back out for more....

 

That's surfing. No matter how much damage or potential damage, you just can't get enough.