Wipe-out!

I’ve already bragged about enjoying my GoPro underwater camera. I made an underwater video in Maui, which it turns out is going to be featured on the GoPro website (more on that later).

So today I finally took it out in some pretty solid sized surf at Ocean Beach, San Francisco. The waves weren’t huge by OB standards–probably 10-12 foot sets–but the amount of water that was churning across the surface was tremendous, and the Beach had the feel of a very big day. The waves sucked up on the take-off to create some pretty ugly drops.

So I had my camera out, and after only about 15 minutes in the water, my batteries died. (I hadn’t replaced them since Maui, so I imagined I was running thin, I just wasn’t sure how low they were.) As such, my only wave that I actually caught on camera was this ridiculous wipe-out.

As my buddy who I was surfing with told me after the wave, when I had paddled back out:
“I saw this wave wedge up with you right inside of it, and the next thing I know you’re gone and I’m watching it peel in both directions from the back. I’m watching the right and the left, to see which way you had gone. Meanwhile, the impact zone was spraying sand up in an absolute explosion, with sandy white water shooting plumes in what looked like a heavy experience. I kept looking for you on the left and the right, didn’t see you, and then finally saw your board tombstoning about 50 yards in from where you had taken off. I just kept watching your board get thrashed around, and then finally I saw you gasp up to grab your board, jump on, and then take another wave right on the head.”

Yes my friends, it was a pretty horrendous wipe-out. As I mouth to the camera at the end, “That was the worst wipe-out of my life.” Thank God I had my GoPro on board so I can remember it!

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