A 11' x 14 kg Walden..It broke paddling up a 4' fast peaking wave at 13th, standing astride, the board wacked the guy in the face, probably as he fell forward
A creace right across the bottom
The face came off better than the board...not a scratch, lucky fellow.

I have decided to get a Gath as a result.
Great idea for the gath

14kg seems like a heavy board, may be a bit heavier when repaired

Dont think your big gath moto helmet would help stop it hitting your face , I have got in the habbit now of putting the paddle crossways in front of my face, saved me many time, even if the paddle did brake its better than my face

Hey downy, how do you go with specs in the water? I wear contacts but its a bugger not being able to open your eyes underwater.

Pete

Hi guys,

You haven't thought about the laser eye surgery?

I did it last year and it is the best $2500 I ever spent!!! There was a bit of a thread in the breeze about it back then & there are a few others on here who have had it done. Happy to pass on more info if you are interested!

I had worn glasses 24/7 for 30 years and now I am free!

Mel
ps - I reckon there must have been some damage to the head that hit that board. Even if there were no external signs he must have seen stars for a week!

I got my eyes done in 1995 and I still have perfect vision. It's life changing and I am still amazed at the difference. Having had it I would gladly pay 4-5 times the price.

The most important thing is to have a stable prescription. If your eyes are changing then you may not be suitable.

You MUST get done by a competent and experienced practitioner. These are the guys who did my eyes:

www.newvisionclinics.com.au/newvision-clinics-director-dr-noel-alpins-am-receives-order-of-australia-medal/

Noel Alpins had a great reputation when I got my eyes done. That was 14 years ago so I don't know anything about his reputation now but he's still in business so I guess that says something.

I know of two stuff ups. One was a chinese guy with really odd shaped eyeballs (really really flat ones). He had about a year of after care and ended up ok. My sister in law got a cheap job done at mate's rates and after several years of stuffing about she is back wearing glasses. I don't know of anybody going blind by having their eyes burned out of their head.