smicko said..

^^ That's freaky!!
My worst have been run ins with Whites in full feeding mode. One great big massive **** off thing at Rocky Point up around 20ft about 20 yrs ago and another about 12-14 at Wedge a couple of years ago. The Wedge one was heavy, about a 100m out on a reasonably solid day and drifted over a swell and there it was all arced up and ready to launch at me. I shat bricks for a second or two weighing up the options and decided the only thing I could do was paddle towards it. If I'd tried to run it would've belted me in seconds. After 3 or 4 strokes it's relaxed and slunk off the back of the bank and I scratched into the next wave. Put me off the dawn patrol for a while.

Worst wipeout was at massive Sharkpit at Lano aged 14 or so. It was huuuuge, one solid close out from Eddy's to Lano Island, only time I've ever seen it do it. The only surfable wave was Sharkpit, 1/2 a k or so SW of Eddy's. Inside section was easy 8ft and a mate and I scraped into a couple there before paddling out the back to where we could see these massive perfect peaks peeling off.
Made it out ok and I've gone to take off on a lamp post sized peak and as I got up it petered out and I went "ohh O!"
realising that what we'd seen breaking must've been heaps bigger. Turned around and there's just this THING rearing up 80m further out. Took half a dozen breaths and went for the bottom, got fkn mowed, broke my leggy, swam under the next one then got annihilated. Lip to the middle of the back, pinned on the bottom in God knows how much water.
Pretty much gave up and blacked out just as my head broke the surface, got washed into Sharkpit and hung off a cray float for an hour or so trying to get my **** together. Then had a 1 1/2 hour swim to get to Eddy's..
Meanwhile a cray boat had found my board a few k's out to sea and my mate had made it to shore and raised the alarm with the coppers who sent out search and rescue.
I eventually made it back to shore broken and battered. After weeks of back pain, ended up getting scans and had fractured a vertebra. Put me off big waves forever.

Zachery said..

Diving for scallops as a teenager with a friend, dived to the bottom and started picking when I spotted a few more on the other side of a clump of weed, low on air I decided to swim thru the weed instead of over, I thought I ran into a rock as I went thru the patch, kept picking and surfaced multiple more times, then I thought that is strange I haven't seen my mate for a bit, looked around and eventually saw him on the beach, he was waving furiously and pointed down. I looked down for a shark but then realised the whole area was quite red around me, felt at my chest where I thought I had bumped a rock and my hand slid in thru my wetsuit and onto my ribs, it wasn't a rock it was a razorfish and had sliced so clean for 10cm and I didn't even feel it, well a bit of concern on the beach and 18 stitches later all good