Oops.
The underwater volcano that set of a tsunami that lightly battered the California coast, days ago, was a surf-adjacent story that just keeps giving. Initial reports were met with shrugs and unimpressed whistles, as tsunami warnings are not altogether rare though almost never manifest as tsunamis.
Well, this one delivered by making the water all churny, surging looky-loos off rocks, dragging fishermen out to sea and, very embarrassingly, forcing surfers into rescue situations.
Oh but I can hear the surfers sitting around, directly after the tsunami warning sounded, chatting about how “cool” it’d be to go out and surf it. How “bad ass” their wives and life partners would consider them. Gearing up while neighbors gawk.
Heading off, fist pumping, listening to Bon Jovi and, let’s allow The Los Angeles Times to pick up the story now.
At one popular beach in San Francisco, rescue swimmers braved churning waves and strong currents on Saturday afternoon to save two surfers who had challenged nature to a duel — and lost.
Members of a San Francisco Fire Department patrol spotted a surfer about 300 yards off the coast waving his hands and calling for help about 3 p.m., said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the department. Rescue swimmers swam out to help him, but the conditions were so bad that they determined it was safer to take him to a private sailboat nearby instead of carrying him back to dry land.
But how would you feel to be that surfer who was forced to wave for help and get swum to a private sailboat all while trying to appeal to wife or life partner?
Oops.