Surfing Waves

Just in case no body knows try not to land on your fin with your head, it hurts.

I was out surfing a couple of days ago and misjudged a wave, I bailed as the wave was pitching, I probably should have just gone for it anyway (would have been safer) my board went over the falls first and thought I got away with it but then I got dragged over too, i can only guess I landed head first on one of the fins as I have a nice slice on top of my head, was close to needing stitches but i think i have got away with it, if the wave would have been much bigger could have been serious.
Do you guys often surf alone? could have easily been knocked out.
I am often the last one in the water when the sun sets but maybe I'll start going in when the last person leaves

I’m in that situation because I must drive 1 ½ hours to surf and don’t want to miss waves that I can catch after everyone leaves. Rocks appear at low tide when the takeoffs are steeper and the faces are more hollow. I take extra care to wipeout shallow or on my board but it can’t always be controlled. Once already a rock clipped my ribs and I was out for a couple of weeks. If I had taken the hit on my head that would have knocked me out or worse. I should get out when alone.

It is a good idea to try to figure out ways to make surfing safer. What I do I don't recommend anyone else do. I go out surfing in treacherous conditions all by myself but I have been doing it for years and never get hurt

mg100 wrote:Do you guys often surf alone? could have easily been knocked out.
I am often the last one in the water when the sun sets but maybe I'll start going in when the last person leaves

I got to one of my usual breaks in the late afternoon on a weekday not long ago. It was really low tide. There was a slight offshore breeze and the waves were about 3-4 foot and pretty good. The only spooky part was that nobody was out. That fact always puts a little damper on my enthusiasm because I am well aware of all the things that can go wrong. Nevertheless, I couldn't help thinking that I better hurry up and get out before other people showed up. I paddled out and started catching waves, taking my time, getting in the choicest takeoff spots, kooking around. I was out for about an hour and a half and nobody showed up. When it started to hit dusk, I headed in. I was stoked to get an uncrowded session at one of my local spots. As I paddled in, another surfer showed up for the last half hour of daylight. I didn't regret my choice to surf alone, but I consciously decided I'd accept the risk that day. Sometimes I don't accept the risk though. There have been a couple of times where I accepted the risk and wished I hadn't. It's a personal choice. All forays into the wilderness have risks you have to weigh carefully.

People want different stuff out of surfing. For some it is just for fun and relaxation. Not me. For me it is to help keep my mind and body healthy. It is my exercise and my psychiatrist. I want to learn to surf so every single session has positive outcomes from it. I am exercising and getting my ocean psychotherapy. I also practicing paddling and learning to read waves better and practicing surfing. I also enjoy the excitement of bigger waves and the challenge of difficult conditions. When it is really treacherous I am practicing dealing with breaking waves and avoiding breaking waves a lot. I always feel better after surfing, never come out thinking I wish I hadn't gone out. I do know the risks but the risks are obviously different for different people.

mg100 wrote:Just in case no body knows try not to land on your fin with your head, it hurts.

The thing is, those places you shouldn't land on behave like they have a magnet on it..

I broke my fin (and cracked the fin cup, still have to fix it) in a hollow day. Similar to what happened to you, paddled for the wave, for a second it didn't feel like it was going to curl so I stopped paddling. Bad idea, the wave suddenly curled, didn't even had time to throw the board away and landed with my back on the fin I guess. It's like that Cicerus quote: "More is lost through indecision, than by wrong decision".

But yeah, we have to be careful, specially when surfing alone.