Dumbass Surfer rescued from rocks near Cliff House

[Loscocco]

OMG>>> WHAT AN IDIOT!!!

Watch the video... He is okay enough to give a full interview candidly

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... scue04.DTL

[More Waves Please]

Wow - what a dork. There wasn't even any swell yesterday, so the only thing this guy had to deal with was a moderate current during the incoming tide. How much you want to bet that his New Year's resolution was to learn to surf?

[maxsteamer]

Dork Indeed...This is the sort of dude that makes us all look bad???.. and never mind the cost for the CG to be called out to take him 10 feet to the sand!!!!!!! The guy was like Ya!!! I have only been surfin like 2 weeks???... so I thought I'd head for that big rock even though the sand was just a jump away. I'm Soo glad I was not there, I would have slapped that huge smile off his face.
Max

[kailuakiter]

Makes us look bad for getting rescued? I wonder what the kiter to surfer rescue ratio is...I'm pretty our numbers are worse :?

[adamrod]

umm. how many of you have actually surfed at OB in a heavy rip or in strong current? Sure, in hindsight, he might have made some mistakes, but OB can be a really scary place.

I've been caught in a rip tide at OB before, and it was all I could do to not panic. it sounds like he went out on a small swell day (because he was a beginner) and probably didn't pay attention to the current.

we were all naive and stupid once. we've all gotten in a bit over our heads before. i'm just glad he made it back okay. just think, if the coast guard hadn't come. he probably would have died. So, I for one, am glad that they were there, even if he was a bit of an idiot.

i have a feeling, if they'd interviewed the coast guard who rescued him, they wouldn't be calling him dumb or stupid. they'd just be happy he was okay.

I have always felt that a lot of wave kiters are stupid to kite in conditions they wouldn't dare surf in. well, if your line breaks or your kite goes down, guess what. you've instantly become a surfer!

[maxsteamer]

Hello Adamrod,

I stand to be "Corrected" after talking to a guy who lives in the building here, and is serving in the CG, I agree 100% .. turns out he was a newbe surfer and did not know how to deal with the rip?.. and was in shock after several tries to paddle to the beach.

[More Waves Please]

OK, let's think of this a different way. If this guy were a newbie kiter who showed up at OB on a windy day with a 12M kite, no lessons and gets dragged up onto the Great Highway, we're all going to call him an irresponsible dope who's jeopardizing access.

Why is this surfer any different? How much did it cost to mobilize his rescue team? Why aren't we hearing media stories about people wanting to ban surfing at OB? Guarantee you if a kiter needed to get rescued off of the rocks by a helicopter, we'd be dealing with that.

It's way easier to rent a board and wetsuit then paddle out in the surf. The only difference is that while a new kiter can launch a kite anytime, OB will usually smack down the dumbasses before they get into knee deep water. Also, more experienced kiters are more likely to lend a hand to an obivous newbie. Surfers will sit in the parking lot and laugh at the kooks.

This guy went into the water uninformed about the conditions, assuming he could deal with the ocean because there was no swell. Calling him a dumbass may be a bit harsh, but isn't it just the politically incorrect way of saying he's naive and stupid :)

[kitenaked]

We have ALL done stupid things in the past and fortunately still here to tell about it....

I am glad he is okay. I hope he learned somthing.

[Greg]

-an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure-

Frankly I call him lucky and somewhat smart, he knew he screwed up and he was to weak to get himself out.

But still I think:
Now if they'd given him some more time (like two or three hours), then just yelled over to him, "Dude it's gonna be dark in an hour and the sharks like to hang out around this point!! You best paddle in NOW!!", I bet he would have had the proper motivation... [-X

L.M.G.

[friggin old guy]

I agree with Adam. I remember surfing right at that same spot with the same conditions and watching some guy about 6 yards away from me paddling his ass off in panic mode because he was getting sucked out. Literally 2 feet to one side of him there was no rip, but he was to the point of giving up and sort of looked like a drowned squirrel getting pounded by a hungry dog.

Anybody that has any experience surfing OB oughta think twice about calling somebody a dumbass for getting in trouble out there. OB'll probably bitch slap you a couple times. Respect!

Ok I'll admit I laughed at the guy I'm talking about above and told him to move over a couple of yards and stop panicking. But.....there's a shitload of water moving around OB and the sandbars channel it in unpredictable ways. Don't underestimate it even if there's not a huge swell.