Near Drowning

Absolutely.

Kinda like "Extraordinary Rendition". Waterboarding techniques, except you use a butt instead of water.

That kind of torture would make me sing like a canary. I'm sure it was considered by Project MKUltra at some point.

 

Hell no!!
I would insist they torture me some more. Then more again!!! Don't stop!! MORE!!!

 

More squirting please

 

Haha it was actually funny. In bleeding like a stuck pig. Everyone is giving me looks. A guy who worked in the ER to came by to say hi when he noticed the blood. Gave it a look. He goes "ahhh it's not TO bad" so im like "oh good so i don't need to go to the hospital" to which he replied "....i didn't say that". I proceeded to wrap a towel around my head and drive home. My doc at the time was awesome. I went to him for stitches all the time. He'd take me into the back room and stitch me up. I think he enjoyed it.

 

You old, dirty bastard - bahahahaha

 

CR, beach break, not a huge day, OH on sets (this didn't take place on my last trip). High tide, it's a long paddle out. I rented a boart (mistake numero dos), and noticed the string was slightly frayed, ignored that omen. I was already tired & out of shape (mistake numero uno) from Life stuff; and, was slightly hungover (mistake numero tres).

Only one other dude out. Exchanged nods, surfed about 40 yds apart.

Recipe for disaster, and Disaster delivered. Caught a wave on the waterlogged, pos rental log, hit the whitewater at the end & felt the string snap. Adios boart.

So, I'm now 1,000 yds from the beach. I'm exhausted. Start to swim in. Notice I'm in a massive rip. Start to swim sideways, realize the rip is a couple hundred yds wide & carrying me out to sea. At that moment I knew I wasn't going to make it in. Oddly, no panic. Just a thought, as to how long would it be until I slipped under the water & didn't come up.

Called over to the surfer, hey man lost my board can you help me out. He knew. Put his head down & paddled like he had a motor on his boart. Just as he got to me, I had about had it. He shoved his boart to me (tells me he had been in that situation before).

We both gradually kicked our way in. Raif, from western Canada. Tremendous guy. Owe you my existence. Or, as the saying goes, gawd loves babies & fools.

I've paddled over to people who were drowning, lost their boart, one guy was having some sort of seizure in the water. I always watch out for folks in the water, and I think many surfers do as well. Raif is the man.

Agree with whoever posted regarding changing out one's leash on a regular basis. I also don't rent boarts anymore. And, I always use 2 strings through the leash. Paranoia strikes deep.

 

Damn man glad you are ok.

I had a very similar situation on a CR beachbreak, on a OH day, one other guy out. I also made a couple critical errors leading up to the moment where my leash broke, wayyy out to sea. Wave after wave to the head, and i'm thinking... maybe on the next one I'll just... not come back up? Strangely calm about the whole thing too.

That one other guy out was my friend, roommate at the time, brother from another mother, James.

He saved my life that day and I will never let him forget it. Strange when there is a person out there whom I owe my very breath.

Surfing, the ocean, has given me so much, and just as quickly can take it right back.

 

Well spoken words, HH. Glad you made it in. Our experiences sound nearly identical.

Every day, not to sound melodramatic, I remind myself.....I'm not supposed to be here today; therefore what good, positive things can I do in Life today?

And I do now also wonder...what is my purpose...whereas I never had that thought in my head prior to that incident; that guy Raif was there for a reason. My existence has to be worth more to others, how does this work...I don't have that answer, yet.

 

How does this work? I'm afraid the answer is like trying to learn the perfect cross-step on a longboard. Every step closer to the answer just reveals more nuance.

My views on a "higher power" are very abstract, but I believe that James saw me struggling at that moment for a reason.

I do disagree with your second paragraph. You are supposed to be here today, and your experience confirms it. Who knows how many folks you have had a positive impact on, and how many are left.

It's a shame it takes a near-death experience to shake these thoughts loose, but I'm thankful for it none the less!

 

Good stuff guys. I haven't had anybody save me before, but I did save a swimmer from drowning once and I know for sure I was put there for a reason that day because if I was not there at that moment, that guy would surely have drowned. I don't know what drew me to that spot at that very moment, but I am glad I was able to keep this guy from dying. Heavy stuff.

 

Speaking of drowning here is one for any of you who have young children. When my kids were little we got one of those collapsible back yard pools.......the kind where you inflate the outer ring and start filling it with water and it grows. Set it up about 2 feet from my back porch. The kids loved it. One morning my daughter who was probably 4 at the time wanted to go in. No problem. She's playing in the pool and I start reading the newspaper as I sit on the porch steps literally arms length from the side of the pool. At one point I noticed everything was strangely quiet and I looked up from my reading. My daughter was under water on about a 45* angle spinning her wheels trying to get her feet under her but because of her buoyancy she can't get traction on the bottom. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her out. She was freaking. That quickly I nearly did something stupid that could have cost my daughter her life. I kick myself about that one to this day. The moral of the story is that drowning doesn't look anything like what it is portrayed as on television. Most of the time it happens silently. Its not the splashing and screaming for help you see on tv.

 

It wasn't my time. Plus my love handles always get me to the surface LOL. Like a built in BC. No roar. No tunnel. Just a burning desire to breathe, coupled with the presence of mind not to until head breaks surface. And luck.

 

It can happen so quickly...especially at the beach.
Had to suddenly rush and grab our friends' then young daughter from being sucked under by an undertow after her getting knocked down by the surf at the water's edge. This was in the early 90s at the beach near Mugu Rock in Ventura County. The dad had sleepless nights about it afterwards. I think about it from time to time...usually when we get their Christmas card each year.

 

I've had multiple wave hold downs at world class spots numerous times, and never been close to panicking or running out of air. Although some of those experiences were like surfdog described, having a burning desire to breathe but the presence of mind to wait..

The one that does scare the crap out of me is the thought of my kids drowning. My minions are 3 & 5, and you bet your sweet a$$ they are in life jackets any time we go swimming at the ocean front. I've seen too many kids knocked down and start to get dragged out to sea to not make mine wear them until they are very capable swimmers and older/stronger. It really freaks me out during the summer when I am walking down the beach to a sandbar, and see mom and dad sitting in their chair 10-15 yards away from their two or three yo kid playing in the shorebreak - I see that as a tragedy waiting to happen.

 

Just wait til they are surfing. My daughter decided to paddle in when we were surfing head high Frisco Pier when she was about 12. I stayed out. Last I saw her she was just about to shore. (The Pier which isn't there anymore used to break pretty far out) When she got to the inside she got recycled in the shorebreak and ended up caught by her leash on the pilings of the pier. Board on one side and her on the other caught in the rip under the pier. Someone dove in and rescued her. It was a very close call. My wife who saw this all go down was freaking. I didn't even know what was going on. I was in hot water when I came in.

My youngest is turning into quite a ripper and he has a love for big waves and hollow conditions. He's pretty fearless. As a surfing dad I now get nervous.

 

I see that at Dam Neck more than I care to...even during rough surf conditions. It doesn't seem some parents even have a clue. The ocean is not a swim pool.

 

Yeah, I really became aware of how much power the water has when we were out with my daughter at the bay when she was 2. It was flat as a pancake, and the ripples reaching the shore were knocking her down. it's easy to forget how much power there is in the ocean even on a thigh high day because many of us are out in it so often.