NDE at North Steyne this morning

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longbum
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Post by longbum » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:16 pm

^^yep. bodybash the waves or atleast just roll under or inline with 'em, atleast you'll get pushed in, you'll get hammerred but you'll also end up on the sand.
And get a good leggy. :roll:

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Surfin Turf
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Post by Surfin Turf » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:22 pm

grazza wrote:..... not bodysurfing the first outside sets was an error. Even I'd been thumped, still would have pushed me in a lot. ....
can't blame you for that .... I've had quite a few swims too in my time and unfortunately it seems that swim in's and big surf always seem to go together :wink: but I really hesitate taking off at that size too without a board under me .... problem is I reckon', that to be able to bodysurf that size you would need prior experience, but how do you get that when your surfin' everytime it gets good ....

wonder how many of us do a leggie check before a sizeable surf ... I find in recent years I do 'cause I'm scared of having to swim in and I always carry a spare in case it looks dodgy ...

a hell of day at see for you grazza .... hope to hear you're back out there in the morning ...

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Post by daryl » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:36 pm

grazza wrote:
Coops@DY wrote:10ft!!! Christ its double the size of everywhere else. Good story man. Keep on keeping on.
Of course it's going to be bigger than DY, Coops. If you surf Manly much you know how on the right swell (and this was the right swell) waves come off the Bommie and get focussed on the left at North Steyne. Always bigger than anywhere else around here.

North Steyne was easily a couple of feet bigger than Queensie. I'd be calling it 6 with some 8 ft sets. The one that mowed me down was probably the biggest of the morning, but overall it really wasn't that big. Fun sized big in my book.

That's what rattles me - I wouldn't think twice about surfing it at that size. And yet I get myself into serious trouble in the water for the first time in 40 odd years of surfing. And it when from being OK to being in deep shit so quickly.
No blame, except your leg rope broke. there's one with a new double some-bit swivel.

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chopescahrger
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Post by chopescahrger » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:43 pm

i love my churchills

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Post by daryl » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:49 pm

Just b4 nixing going in this AM, was looking at a legrope :oops: in the bin :oops: and thought, gee that's thin :?: no wonder it broke. Even the anke strap was thin, couldn't have been more than 3cm wide. :?:
The 'rope' looked about 5mm, not 6-7.

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Post by getxo » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:56 pm

Interesting the respect that an honest admission provokes. Gutsy thing to do to share this.

Everyone has a tale like this after a few years of surfing whether it is getting smashed to the sh*thouse at North Steyne or stuck in a rip at 2 foot Maroubra or whatever.

At the end of the day we only call the shots so far.

A friend lost his wife, daughter and his daughter's friend in a freak beach accident at Port a few years ago. The trio quietly drifting off the bank and drowing while 50 swimmers were enjoying the beach 1/2 after the flags had come down. All but one were handy in the water, but it was not enough on that day.

Love the ocean but understand the nature of the beast.

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Lucky Al
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Post by Lucky Al » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:41 pm

that yarn had me on the edge of my seat grazza, cheering for ya over here. love the delusions of bradshawness, hope they haven't evaporated for good!

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Post by Beanpole » Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:19 pm

Glad you gave it a crack grazza but I know what you mean.
Its so easy to step over that line.

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Post by AlbyAl » Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:40 am

Me too Grazza - embarrassing, but very real danger in fairly ordinary Sydney surf. Surfing Bronte on a biggish south swell - jump off the pool and charge through the white water and make it out. No-one else out - but it's not all that big really. Having lived in WA for a long time - it's nothing compared to Margs etc

Catch a nice long one right across the bay. Too far in to paddle back out. Get pushed in to the cliffs between Bronte and Tama. Get washed UP the cliffs by white water! Usually the drift should carry me around to Tama, but its not there. So I'm repeatedly washed up the fricken rocks, pushing back off with me feet, trying to paddle out a bit, get a few metres, but the next wall of white water just shoves me back against the rocks. Can't climb out either - the surge is too much.
I'm saying to meself: "stay calm - youre experienced, fit, you'll get out of this - its only Bronte!" and I'm getting washed repeatedly against the cliffs - breathing very very hard - people are gathering above to watch, and I feel this truly awful sensation: I might have to call for help! :oops: Starting to lose strength, feet bleeding, English backpackers above staring at me. Somebody has a camera out. I am going to break bones or drown or both - at piddly Bronte!.
Then the surf-gods relent; I get a fe w extra metres out, the drift kicks in, and I'm carried across the cliffs with a few more smacks to Tamarama. Crawl up the sand spewing out water, totally confused. Hobble back to the car at Bronte as various spectators tell me how interesting that looked, and a couple of locals piss themselves.

And so?
Any particular surf can put you in that very personal space of limits and inadequacy, which now and again, as long as you survive, is surely one of the valuable things surfers have. Thank you dear ocean for letting me feel my mortality. But I don't want it too often.

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Post by mattyd » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:34 am

Hey Grazza!

Thanks for sharing your NDE.
Have done more than a few swims in on bigger days both in OZ and OS. Legropes are never a guarantee are they! I suppose this is all a part of surfing when it gets over that 6 foot mark. It definitely thins the crowd out which is one of the reasons I really enjoy bigger waves too.

Rattled now, but that feeling will surely pass. Get ready for Tuesday, find a like-minded mate and get back into it. You'll feel right back at home after the first drop.

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munch
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Post by munch » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:01 pm

Coops@DY wrote:10ft!!! Christ its double the size of everywhere else. Good story man. Keep on keeping on.
:lol: how bigs that wave of mg's over at sn -> wotd :?:

thanks for sharing grazza, good story ;)
If it's well engineered it's beautiful .

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aitch
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Post by aitch » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:03 pm

Good mate of mine was in the Caroline's when that swell hit last year. Dorian and some boys are there and Sime has a serious dig. Made it into that "Best trip ever" issue of ASL - all time. But sitting round with Dorian that night, one of the boys is getting a hard time for undoing his leggy and bailing on a 3 footer. Dorian pipes up and says "...man there's a time and a place where everyone gets rid of their board and goes down, everyone does it."

As for the size question. check http://www.swellnet.com.au/ it's wave of the day is a Friday special.

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Post by daryl » Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:04 pm

Beanpole wrote:Glad you gave it a crack grazza but I know what you mean.
Its so easy to step over that line.
It's a fine line, hang in there.

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Post by Nick Carroll » Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:44 pm

grazza heavy!

It's good to tell these stories because everyone hears 'em differently given their own experience, and factors it in. And they know you're not a kook so they benefit from the tale, they don't just go "ahh he's a barney it'll never happen to me."

not having been there, so I can't really weigh in, but I doubt your swimming let you down so much as being a bit casual pre-go-out as far as having a plan -- you're at your local and your guard is down. If it'd been a new spot you'd have sussed out all the lines going in and out.

snapped my leggie too yesterday, like "twang!" under a thick 6'er, made such a loud noise (I was underwater at the time) that I thought my board had snapped instead.

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Post by locomotive » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:12 pm

I suppose we're all prone to belittling our local's danger, but I think it's more important to focus on the ocean. It's the ocean we're surfing, and it can be anything, anytime. I often remind myself not to get too comfortable with it because I'm sure to get smacked up the head if I do.

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Post by Beerfan » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:22 pm

This is a great thread. When i was out on fri morning, it didn't look too big, but once out the back i was sh^&ting. My mate wasn't too worried, but, i was out of my depth. I told him i was gunna get a smaller one and go in. But, before that happened, we got hit by the clean up set. Was really sh%^ttin then. Was even worse to get in and see two halves of my mates board, but not my mate. Luckily, he ended up in ok. Was thinking all day about it, and i won't be trying it again in a hurry, probably not ever, actually, never. I mean, really, even though i surf at least twice a week, im not in good enough shape to be out there over 6', and well, i dont have the balls. Was a good experience in a way though, i learnt a lot, about me, and the ocean.

Cheers

skbooger
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Post by skbooger » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:26 pm

Sounds like a bitch man...i havent been in that situatuion yet and i hope i do nto ever have to be in that position...did u go back out after man because 10ft

channels
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Post by channels » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:44 pm

Been there grazza, I'm doing a stint with work in NZ at the moment living in Auckland about 30 minutes from closest surf beach so limited to weekend surfs at the mo. Had been doing a lot of running and gym work to keep fit. Last winter, I went to Muriwai beach... west coast beachie with 6 - 8 foot sets unloading on the outer banks, temp guage in the car was reading 5.5 degrees air temp. Was having a great surf, until I got held up in the lip due to the strong offshores. Two wave hold down and snapped leggie meant at least 200 metres to get back to shore. I kept getting flogged and then sucked back behind the peak so wasn't getting anywhere. I grew up in South West WA so comfortable in big surf and cold water but was really struggling. Finally got pushed in by white water and it took me twenty minutes to get back to shore. Sat in the beach for another 15 minutes working out how the hell that just happened. Moral for me is that I now swim 30 laps in the pool 3 times a week to keep me ready for those times in the future.

Hope you get back on that horse...

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