For you aspiring paddle surfers, check the photos just posted on the Surf Zone at http://www.boatertalk.com. Then read previous postings for a description of how this accident happened. This is one paddler who is lucky to be alive!
That Was Bad…
Glad to hear he is back home and will be coming up to Santa Cruz. That looks really painful.
A Near Death Experience!
The infomation on BoaterTalk is not nearly as well organized as P.net…so it might be a bit difficult to locate the specific postings.
To locate a description of the accident, scroll down a ways to the post “Accident At Jalama Involving Sage & I”. Then scroll back up to the photos of Sage’s injuries under “My Damage - Very Graphic”.
This was as close as one can get to cashing it in!
Slightly OT…
– Last Updated: Dec-16-04 8:04 PM EST –
Jerry, Aside from "surf ettiquette", I have not seen any site that deals with the issue of safety, rescues, etc. in the surf. Do you know of such sites?
I think the only material that comes close to covering these surf zone/rock garden topics in depth is in John Lull's book, Sea Kayaking - Safety and Rescues.
sing
Surf Etiquette
– Last Updated: Dec-16-04 10:20 PM EST –
Sing,
I'm not aware of any material that deals specifically with the situation described. But I think the best way to address a the situation that occurred is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
To reinforce that point, check the Surfing Etiquette page on the San Onofre Paddle Surfing Association site http://www.sopsa.org.
I've tried to tactfully school my paddle surf-mates in the "rules" governing behavior in the line up...but alas, many don’t seem to really get it. Unfortunately, a lot of the paddle surfers did not start out as board surfers and thus haven't had to learn the hard lessons meted out for poor surf manners.
I can’t say this accident was a result of any breach of etiquette because I wasn’t there. But it sounds like the two chaps involved were playing it a little too close and as a result, there was no room for even the slightest error. But saying that, who of us hasn’t probably cut it a little too close at one time or another.
But bottom line, this is certainly a cautionary tale and I’m just glad Sage is home and on the mend.
I was taking pictures at Jalama
– Last Updated: Dec-18-04 2:26 PM EST –
actually it was at the break the locals call aTarantula's.
I stopped taking pictures about 5 minutes before the crash. It was not super crowded and people were taking turns and not dropping in on each other. I was walking up the beach and did not see the crash but from what I heard later neither boater saw each other until it was too late. I talked to three eyewitnesses who saw it and they thought Sage had hit a rock not another boater. So my take on the acccident is to always be aware and always wear a helmet and PFD. It was also very lucky there were such well trained folks around. Sing posted a link to my pictures in the discussion forum here the day after the accident. You can see the rocks and the conditions people were surfing in.
Wednesday AM I was surfing in Lajolla swam right in front of me as I was dropping in on a good sized wave. I was certainly much more afraid of what my boat would do to him than he was of me.