I've already mentioned how sporadic surfing has been in G-town this winter. Either it was flat or the waves came at a time I couldn't make it down; so my surfing has been minimal. This past Friday, I was dying to get out. Of course, the weather didn't cooperate. While the sun eventually made an appearance on the mainland, Galveston, especially on the Seawall, remained foggy all day. I began looking at the G-town.com webcam early in the day. It was so foggy, that it was nearly impossible to see the waves. But, by the first-hand accounts, the waves were waist-high, with an occasional chest-high set. They weren't pretty little north wind waves, but rather the mushy, crazy south wind type. However, I was willing to try just about anything.
I made it to the island about 3 p.m., as did hoards of other mainlanders who had just got off work. Although I noticed all the other surfers driving up when I arrived, I was focused on a group of men walking along the beach in yellow all-weather gear. Two oil tankers had collided just days earlier causing a huge release of oil and the men I saw was the HazMat team walking the beach to see the effects of the oil release. I noticed tar balls, but the 43rd street jetty and at least a few of the jetties to the east and the west had been spared the major damage. It has sounded as if the majority of the spill was heading further south. Nevertheless, the coast guard had assigned a HazMat team to walk the length of the beach to see the damage and by 3 p.m., they were at 43rd street. It was a little eerie seeing them there, but I still put on my 3-2 wetsuit and got ready to go in. It would be cold in the water, but I opted not to wear my booties.
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| It's never good to see a HazMat team at your break. |
Dude B. had some business to take care of, so he wasn't going to be surfing that day.I unloaded and headed down to the east side of the jetty. I paddled out with great difficulty. The current was strong and the waves were coming in fast and hard. The sets were erratic so planning the paddle-out was difficult. I made it to the outside only to find about 12 surfers already waiting for the next wave. I couldn't see them from the seawall because of the fog, so I had no idea how many were out. I watched for a few minutes and decided that I would give the west side of the jetty a shot. If I could get out to the middle between the 43rd and 45th Street Jetty, I might be able to catch a few without the crowds. I made it out there and if I had been a better surfer, I would have caught several. However, I struggled with timing. I caught one close to shore. When I made it to the beach, I walked down to the 43rd street jetty and was about to paddle out, when I decided that going out on the west side would be easier. And, it was at first. But I hadn't adequately analyzed the situation. I didn't look far enough down the jetty. I walked in, eventually jumped on the board and paddled out. However, when I got to the end of the jetty, I got caught up in what I can best describe as a whirlpool. This, of course, was why NO ONE was taking the west side riptide out. I got pushed into the rocky, barnacle-covered jetty. In order to protect the board, I used my feet to push away. I was in a whirlpool because wave after wave was coming in. A lady standing on the jetty was getting concerned about me, but I told her I was fine. When I finally got a break in the waves, I got out of the vicious cycle and made it back to the outside.
My feet were stinging. I decided I better go to the beach and check out my injuries. When I could finally lift my feet out of the water, I could see my left foot was covered in blood. Both feet hurt. I made it to shore to assess my injuries. When I got out of the beach, all I could see was blood. Just then, the hazmat team saw me. Since they are volunteers and two of them were doctors at UTMB, they were concerned. They had some gauze and one of them grabbed my foot and set it on his knee and applied pressure. The cuts were just topical, but the blood was everywhere. Dude B. arrived back at the beach about this time and let me use his first aid kit. The cuts were not deep, but I had several of them. I decided to call it a day. I'm really bummed by the fact I didn't get to surf much, but I'm glad my injuries weren't worse. My run and ride the next day were a little more difficult because of the cuts, but I still managed to get through both activities.
Saturday brought a north wind and beautiful waves to the coast. All I could do was watch. I had too much to do on the mainland. Bummer! I really wanted to go surfing, but I could not. Keeping my fingers crossed for next week.
