Hi All,
Broke my board today surfing shoulder high hurricane swell in New York. Beach break waves were good shape with light offshore winds but short rides both left and right that closed-out pretty quickly in about stomach deep water. I saw the close-out coming and pulled high up to the top of the wave and was launched off my board to behind the wave. When I came up and reeled in the leash my board was in two pieces.
I'd like to learn something from my misfortune So my question is: Am I to blame? Should I be doing something different at the end of waves especially ones like this? i.e. Should I have pulled out earlier or turned toward the beach and tried to ride the close? OR is this just something that happens when all the conditions are aligned?
I'm an intermediate surfer- got my catching, drops, and turns down solid (still working on the noseriding) and have lots of experience in the past 3 years (surfing US East coast, Nantucket, OBX and Costa Rica spots everything from thigh high to head high). My board was a 9'2 NSP epoxy that I bought used, but in great shape, from a surshop rental fleet and surfed on for the 3 years I've been back to surfing.
Thanks for any insights you can share!