Lost my longboard (surfed without a leash) on a foot overhead wave at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. As I was swimming towards the beach, as I got closer to the beach, waves after waves pounded me, then riptide soon dragged me back to towards the deepend. Was so tired, I thought I was going to be one of the statistics of drowning victims... Finally, my friend helped me to the shore.

Never going to surf without a leash in Ocean Beach, anymore.

ZiDD  

surfed on a winter monsoon..overhead but dumpy  and shallow..i got caught by a solid face and no way out..went up against the wall but too late..landed upside down and almost broke my neck...

I caught Hepatitus A while surfing at a polluted rivermouth in Mexico.  I was sick for a couple of weeks in a foriegn country.  It was horrible.  I guess this could happen at some locations in the Philippines also.  The sanitary conditions are similair.  Be careful!

wasnt the worst but it was scary alright, i think it was an overhead day in san juan. surfing the beach break, trying to paddle out during an outside set, my board however, was dragged by a wave and the leash snapped. was floating out there without a board, watching my board being pushed towards the beach when this aussie guy got near me and let me hang on to his board. at first i thought he was going to help bring me out of the water, but instead he said, "ok boy, now go swim back to the beach and get your board"! i did  

He did a good thing for you Al. If he had helped you in you probably would have given up surfing.
I,ve had far too many heavy moments to single out one. One funny moment that could have turned nasty was one sunday we went to the cockfights by banca from Majestics to Gigmoto and on the way back the motor stopped and Rudy being the lazy bugger he is started to panick. Anyway it was getting dark and we were roughly a kilometer away so my mate and I start paddling using a piece of wood we had in the boat and our arms. We only had the small light at the restaurant to guide us in and we had to come across the reef. The surf was only 3 or 4 foot but trying to bring a boat in through the gap in the dark at Majestics can be daunting. It took us about an hour and a half to get it in but we made it. The funny thing was when we checked the engine the following morning the fuel lead had come off something we could have easily fixed in about a minute.

The first time I surfed Cloud 9 was years ago when the only way you could get to the island was by pump boat from Surigao City. It took 4 1/2 hours. Paddled to the break from behind, so I wasent sure how big it was or how it was breaking. First wave I took off on sucked out like I couldent belive and I got launched and worked sooo bad. When I finally came up in about 2 feet of water my rash guard was pulled over my face and my board shorts were around my knees. When I finally made it back outside, my wife and daughter who were on the boat asked how my first wave was. Of course I told them I ripped it to shreads !