Surf: Shifty poorly formed closeouts. Waist to Shoulder high waves. Choppy, sloppy.
My first day back in the water after two weeks in dry dock. Unexpected trip home and the week of work to recover from it.
Chris and I cruised the coast trying to find something worthwhile to surf. The jetty wasn’t breaking, the usual spots were looking less that lovely. After about 40 min of checking we swing back to Linda Mar.
Managed to get a few quick rides in between closeouts but the big story of the day was a great surfing first aid rally by the 8 or so of us out in the water.
A real big set came through that I was barely able to scratch over. I could barely hear the sound over the booming closeouts, but I manage to make out a faint “help”. Another surfer had been hit by his board in the head and was bleeding considerably. I yelled to Chris who was able to help him get in to shore. I bellied in and ran for my first aid kit.
David, another surfer out, is an ER doc and was able to patch the guy up. We got him cleaned up, calmed down, and off to the hospital for 9 stitches and to rest off a mild concussion.
It was a bit of a spook, but I was really impressed how quickly folks were able to come to the rescue. I’m still on the hunt for a proper surf rescue class somewhere, but knowing that most of the folks I surf with have first aid kits to spare is a little comforting.