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Mavericks 2010 |
Shortly after we arrived at Mavericks we saw a small wave surge over the breakwater. The clowns in charge of the contest had placed interlocked crowd control fencing at the foot of the bluff in a futile attempt to keep people from climbing the bluff. I soon determined I did not want to be standing in the potential path of a wave, trapped in a crowd and fenced in. I lead the kids over the fence a few feet up the bluff minutes before news was made. Fortunately CJ was taking video with Robby's camera, pointed in just the right direction, at just the right time.
After the first big
wave came through I decided to try to help. I told the kids to
stay put on the bluff while I started disassembling and stacking the
fence sections that had ironically trapped people in the danger zone
and no doubt indirectly lead to injuries. There were even several
sections of fence on the beach facing Mavericks. I had images of
fencing being dragged across the reef doing damage, or worse yet
dragged into the ocean, so I ventured out cautiously and brought back
the few remaining sections.
I don't recall the exact timing, but at some point I was on the bluff watching the crowd of stranglers wander in from the beach when second big wave broke. My feet were about 6 feet off the beach level and they got wet. This wave caused more injuries.
CJ's video has now appeared on TruTV's Top 20 Most Shocking: Summer Blowouts Season 3. We're #7 in the list at around 28:30 into the show (mouseover the video to fast forward). You can see me very briefly a couple of times in other people's footage.
