Due to all the Hurricane action the surfing in Florida has been awesome lately so yesterday I went to Ponce Inlet which is south of Daytona Beach where the waves would be best.
The conditions were extreme but the waves were about as good as it gets. A time when lack of knowledge and experience could literally mean the difference between life and death. Just the day before a man and his son had been swimming in the inlet and were swept eight miles out to sea before being miraculously rescued some twelve hours later.
http://www.wesh.com/news/17413645/detail.html
The day before that two surfers were bit by sharks.
I stood out on the rock jetty with my camera for most of the afternoon without having to take a step and captured the action as everyone tried their best to harness the oceans energy. Here's just a sample of what I saw.
This pic show the location and setup
The surf was up and the surfers took full advantage almost flying down the line
This guy had the boat to handle the swells but I'd hate to have his gas bill. Might as well be farting fifties.
There is a strong outgoing rip along the rocks and the surfers use it to quickly make it out to the breaking waves.
If they time it wrong a big wave like this could wash them into the rocks. Experience tells them when to go.
This girl and her friend were in over their heads and didn't make the paddle ending up washed into the rocks instead.
Days like today everyone is on alert and some guys quickly jumped the rail and pulled them out to safety. Luckily, she and her friend escaped serious injury.
Some surfers like this guy skip the paddling out and instead walk to the end of the jetty with their boards and jump off into the waves. Again, knowledge and experience is key...
....but he had neither and was swept back in the rocks shortly after jumping in. He had to be carried off on a stretcher with his legs bandaged. I took advantage of the situation and pulled his girlfriend to the side to see if she wanted to do a solo site.
For those that know, the rewards were great and surfers left their mark in the epic Hurricane surf
While the surf had their full attention many had forgot about their cars parked on the beach and the stronger than normal tidal surge
While they were catching hell on the other side this girl found some peace and solitude as she angled for dinner.
A nice Red Fish lost his struggle for life and and will now feed a family of four
It was an amazing day watching everyone push the limits and not always succeeding but when they did it was picture perfect
