http://www.grindtv.com/surf/blog/23806/law-breaking+photographer+saves+the+life+of+mavericks+surfer/
This reads like a ploy to get ammunition for fighting the jetski ban. Maybe someone leading this battle should start compiling every jetski rescue story as proof that they are needed out there by the many unskilled surfers unable to fend for themselves. I'm sure there are many tales of how someone almost died and then was plucked from the jaws of death by some jetski. That will convince them to repeal the ban I'm sure..... OR NOT! Seems to me that a jetski can't even save you until your on the surface....where your still alive. I'd call jetskis a crutch for the people who may not have trained enough or have more balls then brains and should have never been out there in the first place. And what happens when some untrained old man with a camera in one hand runs you over as he tries to save you? Not like that hasn't happened before also. The only thing this will bring is water safety patrols like in Hawaii. There will be no personal jetski use by tow-in teams or camera men but only trained lifeguards bumping up the lineup to save the incompetent.
Since when did big wave surfing require an in-water rescue team?
Lots of non surfboard related threads going on here of late guys but…
Hows the picture of Trette sitting on his board in the lip…heavy…
Nice Ski driver…most ski drivers only help/save the guys they are towing…
Hmmm, well it's a delicate subject.. I share some of your influences, Dora was the true style master and I love Chapman style single fin guns.
To me, no one should be out on big surf unless they are well trained enough to be able to swim back to shore without their board... also, jet skis make a lot of noise, the fumes stink and I hate it when someone is towing into my 15' wave I paddled into with much effort but... did you know the surfer who almost drowned personally? Was he really inexperienced?
How many times have you endured an over the falls 2 wave hold down followed by one quick breath of air and another 2 wave hold down? Good to have one of those "spare air" mini tanks just in case this ever happens.
I bet that ones third person "soul" might be very glad to smell the fumes from a ski and see oneself being brought back to life looking down on your unconcious body after having said goodbye to your loved ones after that dreaded inevitable black out. Let's not forget Mark Foo, was he unexperienced? One of my best friends never came back after surfing huge Pipeline, his body was never found, no corpse for his family and friends to bury... he used to surf giant surf whenever it happened and was a true waterman and shaper.
There are many unsurfed outer reefs and many huge waves that are impossible to paddle into where jet skis can go do their thing, I hate jet skis, specially when they are out on 8' surf ,but then... even the greatest are always at the mercy of King Neptune...
To all who have paid the ultimate price, may you rest in peace, and if it may ever happen to me... may I be ready for the next chapter...
Howzit billy, In Hawaii they are making jetskiers go to classes and get certified in order to use their skis in surf areas. As always there are people who don't go by the rules and they may end up ruining it for the ones who go to the classes, This is actually a good thing because that way the jet skiers know what to do and how to do things right. Where I live now in Lake Havasu City it is like the jet ski capital of the world and they hold the world championships here so almost every one owns one. You can actually get a DUI for riding if you have been drinking and riding and the Coast Guard sits right outside the launch sites looking to bust people. Aloha,Kokua
Kokua,
Ya I’m good with anyone on a motor vehicle getting some training. I just hate to see the double standard that goes on in places like Mavericks and Ghost tree’s. I live north of Mavericks, within the The Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and anytime someone goes out on a ski around here the coast guard is all over them. Was the coast guard waiting at the boat ramp to give out tickets in Half Moon Bay like they do up here? Shoots, up here they are on you before you can get your ski in the water. So why is that? If NOAA or the Coast Guard is going to get sued it’s going to be from the family of someone who could have been saved like this guy at Mavericks but due to this double standard died instead. I agree that there are days where it would be great to have some safety skis in the water, if not just for the piece of mind, to help scare away the big sharks. But a trained guy on a ski breaking the law to do water patrol and some guy breaking the law to make a buck taking photos are two very different animals.
Yes in the end it’s a great thing he was there to help the guy and I am sorry the guy got so pounded. Hopefully he recovers fast.
[quote="$1"]
but a trained guy on a ski breaking the law to do water patrol and some guy breaking the law to make a buck taking photos are two very different animals.
[/quote]
I couldn't agree more Billy...
Bottom line is the law has no basis in logic or common sense. Its government and radical environmentalisim at its worst.
Howzit billy, Here in Havasu almost everybody owns a jetski and they are legal to launch. They actually need to teach some of the people who ride them here since there are some real nut cases riding them. The Coast Guard is actually waiting to catch people drinking alcohol and riding jets or driving boats so they just wait just outside the launch ramps watching for people that look like they have been drinking. When I was here in 2005 for a visit there was 2 guys who just gunned their skis out of Copper Canyon only to get run over by a speed boat and they both died. Things ahve just gotten out of hand here when it comes to boats and jet skis and some body is always getting hurt during holidays. Also the lake is very polluted and I won't put my head under the water til it cleans up. Aloha,Kokua
Tony - I was living and surfing on the north shore the winter before your friend (and mine) went out surfing for the last time. I was working in the factory that he shaped at - sanded some of his boards and he helped me with design on my bigger boards.
Also the year I was out there, Malik dided surfing Pipe. Both accomplished surfers - something like that should never have happened. Its hard to think about it but in surfing those waves you have to be ready to pay the ultimate price......
[quote="$1"]
Hmmm, well it's a delicate subject.. I share some of your influences, Dora was the true style master and I love Chapman style single fin guns.
To me, no one should be out on big surf unless they are well trained enough to be able to swim back to shore without their board... also, jet skis make a lot of noise, the fumes stink and I hate it when someone is towing into my 15' wave I paddled into with much effort but... did you know the surfer who almost drowned personally? Was he really inexperienced?
How many times have you endured an over the falls 2 wave hold down followed by one quick breath of air and another 2 wave hold down? Good to have one of those "spare air" mini tanks just in case this ever happens.
I bet that ones third person "soul" might be very glad to smell the fumes from a ski and see oneself being brought back to life looking down on your unconcious body after having said goodbye to your loved ones after that dreaded inevitable black out. Let's not forget Mark Foo, was he unexperienced? One of my best friends never came back after surfing huge Pipeline, his body was never found, no corpse for his family and friends to bury... he used to surf giant surf whenever it happened and was a true waterman and shaper.
There are many unsurfed outer reefs and many huge waves that are impossible to paddle into where jet skis can go do their thing, I hate jet skis, specially when they are out on 8' surf ,but then... even the greatest are always at the mercy of King Neptune...
To all who have paid the ultimate price, may you rest in peace, and if it may ever happen to me... may I be ready for the next chapter...
[/quote]
I hate jetskis just as much as you do but here is the thing, just as easily and stupidly as jetskis were banned from Monterea Bay surfing could just as easily be banned by people of the same ilk. Please don't say it could never happen. Its a very slippery slope when we stand by and let someone else's freedoms be taken away no matter how much we may hate the drone of jetskis, the wakes they leave behind and the odor of their motors.