Well it has been 3 days till I could bring myself to face the reality that I am a mere mortal and Neptune is always the one with more power. No matter how fit and strong a person is the ocean can dominate you at any point and you can see how happy I am standing above with a few new sticks to charge with to the story which unfolds below:
Arrived to pumping Bayview...the ampt was high!!!Quick quick lets get on it!NOte the unfriendly rock cliffs!!!
My lesson 101 of patience and sometimes the longer safer road may be the better road to take rather than get out there now quick as it is pumping 15ft and other Ou’s are getting waves… is not the right option.
We drove for 2 hrs up to Hermanus to find Bayview cooking 10-15ft reeling down the bay with a fair crew on it… quick quick lets get out there the convo with Seth went knowing he had to be back in CT by 4pm. Wax up the 8.6 and dart down the pipeline which I always jump off when it is 10ft plus. Now the jump at the best of time is gnarly and requires a set of balls and impeccable timing as many have sat out there and pondered what if you actually got done on those rocks? You would be screwed is the common outcome, as it is a vertical cliff with 8ft whitewaters pounding the knobbly rocks with such force. The census is that you would die. Well I am glad to say I am living proof that is not the case! Yes I timed it wrong, well should I say Neptune throw a curve ball at me in between the sets, it seem dead flat but rather a small closer in wave broke 30metres away from me when I was stand at the point of no return on the cliff face thinking “ Ok I can jump over this white water” but didn’t expect the wave to crash even harder on the rocks I was on 10metres away from me and exploding 12ft higher than me so at this point the best thing I could think of to do is jump into the turmoil of white ball with my brand new (1 surf old) 8.6 an hope for the best. Well at this stage the best was to come out ALIVE. I got hammered and slammed dunked on the cliffs from all angles – felt like 50 guys with steel toe boots where kicking me as hard as they could. I smashed my shoulder, elbow, lat, head both sides, cheek bone, foot and worst of all my hip. Which was like jumping out a car at 60km/h onto concrete, leaving unable to move my lower half. After the waves past I found myself on a dry ledge 20ft out the water, with my board dangling down below with a new rocker setup- bit like a L-shape. I jumped down in the water to meet Seth who all this time was hiding behind a ledge with his 10.2 in hand, which the 12ft high white water had crashed over him but survived. His eyes wide open and the only words to come out where “ Fuck are you alright? ” At this point I didn’t really know the adrenaline was pumping so high and my focus was on just staying concussion as if I was to blank out under water that would be me dead. So I think I said like “ sh+-,* I think I am pretty f**& up” and my board is gone. On inspection of my board once we had paddled beyond the breakline I found that I had snapped 2 fins, all my rails where smashed and the my brand new board was snapped in 2 = R4000 down the drain.
Went to the chat to the guys in the line up, not really thinking too clearly as was running on adrenaline, the only option was to paddle back up the point 30mins to the old harbour to get out as to negotiate 15ft waves in would be kind of silly! Not too mention silly would be not to just paddle out from the old harbour and save myself the trauma that I had just been through. So paddled by myself through the shark infested water bleeding everywhere with 2 x 4ft boards for 30 mins and the hit land to discover I could really stand on my hip!
So hobbled up the harbour in the town square with all the tourists skimming were has this dude come from and what the hell is he doing! Till some nice +-35yrs old lady who has just come out of Bayview hotel getting her nails done checks me out as says “ you guys are crazy” my response was “mmm suppose so” then she sees me hobbling a little more till she grasps “ shit are you OK? can I give you a lift?” – hell yeah I take a lift 2 km back to the car as I can’t walk at all and feel like a train has run over me. So I get the 8.6 inside her brand new R350 000 Toyota Fortuner and she insisted that I just sit on her leather seats so didn’t argue the point and she drove me to our car and could only offer me some deep heat which at this point I was going to take anything that would easy the pain or suspect may come handy.
Back at the car I had to get Mickey D undress me taking my suit off was slightly painful, peeling all the scabs off as the suit was ripped off me, Andy M to put my pants and socks on and then listen to all the guys ranting on how sick the waves where! Pain pain and more pain as I hadn’t even caught one wave the whole day…but hay I am alive and not dead…so it’s a good day!
3 days later I have been lying in bed, icing every 30 mins, arnica- pills and gel, hot baths then ice, positive thoughts and read a whole book in 2 days (record for me- “The Alchemist” positively inspiring book to help me set new goals whilst down and out). 100% focusing on rehab on my hip, which I have self-internet diagnosed as “traumatic bursitis” of the hip and hoping that no bones are chipped or broken. As will only be able to tell once the rugby ball size lump of fluid and bruising has subsided. Also my nurse Carrie has wonderful the first 2 days but think I have used up all my please can you pass me the…
I have set myself till tomorrow when I am going to try get onto the spin bike, and see how it feel and hope to be back in the water after 10 days, otherwise till then it is slow low impact road bike rides to get mobile…Thanks to everyone who has call me up or dropped by to get me a Howzit!
3days later pic, fluid dripping down
