Smashed!

No, not me, thank god. I didn't get a scratch on me. It's my board. My nearly brand new Robert August hideously expensive board.

It was a day a lot like yesterday, hard to get out, and with a lot of current. I was warned about the current but even so it was faster than I was prepared for. I didn't even get one wave, was still trying to make it out when it happened. One second: Oh, I'm getting close to the death spikes (the remains of a wooden pier, now simply wood stumps which can't be seen at high tide). Two seconds later, I'm on the death spikes.

I was calm. My board was on top of the spikes and my leash was wrapped around one, and I simply got the leash off. The board was the shield between me and the spikes and took the impact. Better it than me, but still. I got out of the water unscathed and saw a gash all the way across the width of my board. It had also gone about halfway through the width. In other words, my board was halfway broken in half.

My baby, still almost brand new--injured perhaps beyond repair!

Of course since the waves were big the entire peanut gallery on the boardwalk saw this, but screw them. It could and has happened to anyone.

There was nothing I could do but get off the beach and start dialing every number that might lead to someone who could do the repair.