Again, there were moments of brilliance

Date: Sep 27, 2005
Time: 1630--1800
Spot(s): Sandy Beach
Conditions: Messy and pounding
Swell: Short period east swell
Surf: 2-4' Haw'n

Words: Went to Sandy Beach to talk story with some bodysurfers for an upcoming article I'm doing. Decided to "make big" and show the boys that I could bodysurf. Uh, wrong move.

The shorebreak was typical Sandy Beach--somewhat unruly with moments of incredible beauty. Lot of big rocks and coral right in the impact zone made for some extra scratchiness. Had fun pushing myself into a few. Met up with the boys, who were ripping it up.

Then I decided to really push it. Nice set came through and I decided to go. Took off late (not unusual) but just went over the ledge. And over the ledge I went. Freefell maybe 5-6 feet into what seemed like a foot of water.

My training as a professional wipeout artist had prepared me well. Curled the body, landed on my back, then went through the rinse cycle. You know you got drilled when water gets blasted up your nose and sand gets lodged in your eye. Wheee.

As bad as my wipeout was, it wasn't the worst. There was a bunch of Japanese tourist foolishly playing in the shorebreak. We went so far as to warn them of the dangers, but they kept playing. One guy decided to "tow" in his friend and launched him into this wicked double-up on some ABC Discount Store bodyboard. He ate it so badly, but somehow came up unscathed.

Rode until twilight, then ended up talking story with my bodysurfing friends till late in the evening.

What's that old saying? God protect fools. Guess so. Me and that tourist both got slammed, but ended up unharmed. I don't want to play the fool again though.

Aloha from Paradise,

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