0
AggieDave

Tsunami surfer

Recommended Posts

Yall hear about this guy?

Clicky

Quote

Surfer rode tsunami wave to safety
January 4, 2005
Page Tools


A veteran surfer has told how he was forced to ride a towering tsunami to save his life as it engulfed an idyllic Sri Lankan village.

Martin Hambrook, 40, from Porthcawl, south Wales, was in the sea off the island's southern coast waiting for what he hoped would be a perfect wave.

Partner Vicky Maxwell, 42, and son Jai, 7, were watching from the beach as the horrific form of the tsunami appeared on the horizon.

The family-of-three fly to Sri Lanka every year and were staying at the Hansa Surf Lodge, in Hikkaduwa, when the giant wave hit on Boxing Day.

His partner and son were forced to flee to the safety of their nearby hotel balcony and watch in horror as the wave scooped him up.

"It was really terrible because I was surfing on a wave I wasn't supposed to be on," Mr Hambrook told Wales on Sunday newspaper in an exclusive interview.

"As an experienced surfer, when I saw the wave come I realised something was wrong, but I couldn't escape because the surfboard was tied to my ankle."

Despite the ferocity of the wave, he stayed on his board as he was carried over the sandy beach right up to the hotel.

He leapt off in the restaurant as the sea withdrew and a second wave, about 10 metres high, rolled in. The family then fled to higher ground.

All three survived the devastation which has claimed thousands of lives and have opted to stay on the island to help local people clear wreckage.

PA


--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Sounds like he did what he had to do. Good head on his shoulders, and great balance staying on the board! I had heard that a group of 12 - 20 surfers had been wiped out somewhere by the Tsunami...
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
people ride em.... don't know about that one. But people ride em.... take a look

http://www.garrettmcnamara.com

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I call a third Bullshit on that!!!

I've been to Wales...and let me just say this, the surf sucks and I doubt there's any "big wave" riders there. Plus anyone surfing 65' waves doing tow-in surfing, knows the wave is coming and is fully prepared for it. That would mean that he got sucked out to sea first and then survived without hitting anything on the way in? Cough! Cough! Bullshit! Cough!
...drags me down like some sweet gravity!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
BS BS BS....

Iknow, because the debis and the trees and the buildings wouldn't have posed any danger and wouldn't have knocked him off!!!!!!!!!!

In open water a tsunami travels at 400-500mph.
Near shore they travel between 70-150mph.

First I want to know how he catches the wave and then how he rides it dodging all of the debris and tress and buildings goin 70-150mph!!!!!!!

-----------------------------------------------------
Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I'll second that BS.
I've never heard of a big wave surfer (or wave of any size surfer) from South Wales.


Yeah??
But then again I bet you never heard about a surfer caught at sea with the biggest approaching Tsunami in living memory..wondering what the hell to do.
Its not like he planned it......he faced it because he had too.....no choice...and thats where alot of weird and strange success ( and failure) stories come from...Take a walk through the incidents forum on cutaway stories for a 'relevant' example of the phenomenon
Ok I bet he didnt 'ride' it ......but if he made it out alive after being on a board on the sea at the time....he did something right.

I guess a guy floating on a tree trunk out at sea for over 100 hundred miles for 8 days living on cocunuts opened by door handles is BS as well...... no video, didnt happen ...right?

Extraordinary situations realise extraordinary stories

I say .....well done mate...you lived.
Whether he was from Porthcawl or Cali....whatever, he did something right.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
BS BS BS BS BS.

The second wave was 10 meters, thats freaking 30+feet, so how big was the first. This paper is telling me a new South Wales surfer paddled intoa 30 foot plus wave and rode it.:S:S A handful of surfer can ride those waves, they get towed in and are riding 10 foot plus guns specially desgined for huge ass waves.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Ok I bet he didnt 'ride' it


No kidding.
If the wave passed by him without cresting and left him in the ocean while the shore was being ravaged, I would believe that. But to say he paddled onto the tsunami wave is a Powerade commercial.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Yall hear about this guy?



Martin Hambrook, 40, from Porthcawl, south Wales, was in the sea off the island's southern coast waiting for what he hoped would be a perfect wave.



Actually, if it was to be a perfect wave, and recreate the experience of surfing off the Welsh coast, then you would have had to have bunged in a few fresh human turds and some used condoms and syringes to accompany him on his ride into shore.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Actually, if it was to be a perfect wave, and recreate the experience of surfing off the Welsh coast, then you would have had to have bunged in a few fresh human turds and some used condoms and syringes to accompany him on his ride into shore.



Thank god for that gulf stream. Otherwise that stuff would still be off the New Jersey coast.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I've never heard of a big wave surfer (or wave of any size surfer) from South Wales.



Ready.....
Post....
Establish facts :$
Always the best way

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

I've never heard of a big wave surfer (or wave of any size surfer) from South Wales.



Maybe not. But New South Wales is in Australia, and I believe it's the home of, among other places, Bondi Beach. Bondi was featured in the classic of surf and skydiving "Point Break." Methinks there are lots of surfers from NSW.

Wendy W.


There are some bad ass surfers in OZ, but Porthcawl, South Wales is in the UK.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Actually, if it was to be a perfect wave, and recreate the experience of surfing off the Welsh coast, then you would have had to have bunged in a few fresh human turds and some used condoms and syringes to accompany him on his ride into shore.



errr....not quite.
Some rubbish....mainly just cold and flat

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ah -- missed the city. Dang. Right up there with the Jamaican bobsled team then, hm?

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0