WHAT DANGERS LURK

By Corky Carroll

 

Every now and then I get an email from a reader that just has to be shared with you.  Today is one of those days.  In this day and age of “who even knows what dangers lurk,” the following story is indicative of the current level of fear factor involved when surfing the local waters.  It was sent in by Jeff McKenney and is about a scary moment he had while surfing the “cliffs” in Huntington Beach.

 

“You won’t believe this.  It was the scariest thing that ever happened to me in the water.  I got to the cliffs about 5:40 this morning. Looks smaller than yesterday but

direction is more from the south and I figured there’s a little south-north drift. Low tide and some new sand back on

the beach made it an easy walk south, didn’t have to do the rock dance.  Walked almost to Golden West watching the darker set waves, judging conditions. Some of the waves looked a little crumbly and I wondered if

there was some wind on it.

 

Sunrise is 6:20 this morning. I paddled out just before 6AM, still pretty

dark, nobody around. Paddled out pretty far south of the gap. The water was rippled and bouncy, still wondering about the wind conditions, morning

sickness. Got out to where I figured the waves were breaking, sat up on my

board and started to get my bearings in the lineup. Still twilight but could see the dark sets. Just starting to relax, all alone, waiting for a nice peeling left or more daylight, whatever comes first.

 

Then suddenly my peaceful solitude was ROCKED! About 20-30 yards straight to my right (north) I saw what looked like the nose of a dolphin breaching the water. But it couldn’t be a dolphin because there was a big white patch on its topside. It was swimming straight at me - and FAST! So fast it was creating whitewater and leaving a wake. It’s head bobbing above and below the

water accelerating right at me. Your mind races in these life/death situations,

- this thing is big, its creating a big wake.

- its swimming straight at me VERY FAST, what is it?

- it’s not a dolphin because it has a big white patch

- only killer whales or great whites are dark with white patches

- no other dolphins around, that’s not good.

- where’s the dorsal fin, can’t see it.

- its head is breaching the water each stroke, where’s the tail

- sharks don’t swim up/down like this thing, what the hell is it?

 

Thoughts racing, adrenaline pumping, instinctive defensive reactions…all simultaneous. Get my dangling legs out of the water, get my board between me and the shark, scream at it as loud as I can. Nope, screaming doesn’t

work -it’s still coming straight at me. Ok, I’m holding my board like a shield. The board can take the hit straight on. Hope he doesn’t break right thru it. Keep screaming but get ready for the hit. He’ll go under & try to hit me from below -like the poor guy that got eaten in San Diego. Nope, he’s not going under, still coming straight at me on the surface, nose first, like a torpedo.

 

He’s getting real close, just about ready for impact, doesn’t look quite as large. What the hell is it??? Now it looks more like a diseased, discolored,

rabid seal - like the rotted ones you see lying on the beach from time to time. Doesn’t matter what it is, he’s still gonna torpedo me -HARD, where’s

his teeth? Crouched behind my board, holding it straight up (tombstoned), legs protected, ready for impact, screaming stopped (wasn’t working anyway).

 

Instead of a head on ram, the shark/seal/whatever buzzed just inches from

me. I turned my board slightly to let it by, and then kept turning to get a good look as the creature ducked back under the surface and swam south. I got a good enough look to know exactly what it was. Maybe some of you have

already figured it out. I’m really embarrassed to tell you…. Well, it was the buoy that’s been anchored in the line up just south of flat rock. IT

wasn’t swimming south toward me, I was drifting very FAST north right at it!

and right past it!