Sport Today

        I admit it, I'm pure chickenpoop when it comes to men
in grey suits (and I used to spearfish).  Ok, now for the scary
fish stories:
        A friend that used to surf Barber's Point (SE Oahu) was
out surfing when his friend got his board bit while he was up
(this is surfing, not windsurfing, on short thrusters => you
look alot like a seal from underneath, but I hadn't ever heard
about an attack while someone was up and surfing).
        A friend that was swimming off of Diamond Head this summer
had a catamaran stop nearby and dump garbage overboard (they should
be shot),  shortly thereafter a feeding frenzy started with several
sharks and this scared my friend into swimming to an offshore bouy
(if you've got any old pictures of Diamond Head, check it out) and
sitting on it for two and a half hours until someone in a boat
came by.
        You will notice that I don't have any windsurfing stories,
although several friends have seen them, haven't heard of any
attacks....yet.  We rationalize that when you're down you look real
big and you don't spend alot of time down compared to surfers and
bodyboarders.   Still gives a new meaning to the phrase 'walk on
water'.
Now for the upside:
        I've sailed though schools of flying fish several times,
they're beautiful - the sea looks like it erupts in patches of
flying crystal.  There are also two resident turtles - I like
them, they're nice and round and brown (not long and grey).
How come I haven't been able to see dolphins when it seems like
everyone else has (although I wish they were another color)?
My wife has seen them, and one day when we were sailing this
spring, several people saw humpback whales but we never got the
chance.

Oh, almost forgot, my personal encounter with them was in a resort on the
island of Hawaii (Mona Kea).

Scott Mather

I once saw a manta ray in Florida.  I was standing on the beach 'cause
there wasn't much wind, but it was HUGE!  I swear this puppy was 12 feet
long and 20 feet across.  It looked exactly like a shadow underwater!
Luckily, they only eat plankton, but I always wondered what would happen
if one decided to get some air and then ran into you...

The scariest creature in the ocean is a sting ray.  I got stung once
and now I practically refuse to walk into any salt water that doesn't
have a sand bottom.  They're not deadly, but they hurt like **** and
if the stinger breaks off it's surgery, dude.

I saw two large somethings swimming off the beach in Florence, OR last
summer.  They were gray/ brown and had fins and were moving really
fast...  I sailed right back to beach and sat right down.  After about
2 minutes I decided that I was being silly cause it was windy and went
back out...

And I was at Florence again this summer when "somebody saw a 23' Great
White Shark".  I mean, when I got back to Hood River I heard that
somebody saw a 23' Great White Shark at Florence on one of the days
when I was there, but if somebody really had the news would have been
all over the beach and all of us would have been back at Doug's so
fast the Oregon State Police would never have known what happened...

Rolland

(Again, the worst fear in the Boston area)

At least keep your head above water and hose off later!

Really, if there's _anything_ living down there I'm glad!

PS While cycling along the Charles one day I encountered a huge (2') turtle,
crossing the bike path. Deciding that someone might hit the turtle I chased
him back into the river! He was a beautiful animal, wow.

While windsurfing at Hatteras a few miles North of the Frisco light house
on Saturday of  Labor day weekend, happily devoid of any shark
thoughts whatsoever. A 5 ft shark jumped clear out of a wave 20 yds upwind
of me . It proceeded to execute a 360 roll, belly up then down  before
splashing back in.

I was so surprised I nearly fell in... If it had been any closer, I would
have been startled right off  my board.

I think it must have been after a fish that was swimming near the wave
face and its momentum carried it all the way out and through the roll.

People used to think that sharks rolled before they bit but I havnt seen
that roll on all those Cousteau documentaries.(?)

There is a lesson in this for all of us. We must be prepared to kick all
those flying sharks off our boards.

Roy "Better wear booties!" Gat.

We had been traveling for 10 or 15 minutes when he cut the throttle real
fast.  He pointed to some manta rays that were jumping 4 or 5 feet out
of the water in front of us and then stated in broken English that if
we went fast through them one might land in the boat.  If that happened
we would all be swimming before we knew what happened.  He stated that
there was no good way to get one out of a boat once it landed inside.
He said that by going slow they could figure out where we were
and avoid us.  They were trying to break up the crustations that grow
on their skin.  I wonder if a windsurfer makes enough noise for them
to know that you are even in the area?

I have been diving at about 60 feet and had the sun go out for what seemed
to be a long time.  Upon looking up I saw that it was a manta ray just
passing over.  They are huge and would probably be very *** a fin
also.

Wilton            (My usual machine is broke so use the address below
                   if you wish to reach me.)  

The "red triangle" is the area within the Tomales Bay-Farallon Islands-
Waddel Creek triangle.

Nobody ever sees one at Waddel?

I've just started sailing at Waddell Creek and although its a blast the one
thing I always seem to hear is "watch out for the Great Whites".  Does this
place deserve its reputation or are people just telling me fish stories.

Brian "not sure I really want to know" Beck.

Jim Munro

Rolland

They are out there! Of that have no doubt.  The highest concentration
is north of SF bay.  Tamalis (sp?) Bay is a breeding ground
for whites.  I've heard most sailers stay inside the breakwater
there.

In Monterey Bay there have been over 70 recorded attacks since
record keeping began. All outside the kelp beds. I got the &$*%&$
scared out of me by a harbor seal diving there once.  

Cheers,

Walter

I was horrified to see one of my fishing friends posing for photos
beside a 6 foot (2 metre) hammerhead shark! He must have caught it just
after I had left the water. I don't think hammerheads are a particularly
great threat to your life, but they look as mean as hell. I should
imagine from the size of its mouth that it could take a *** bite out
of you if it was hungry enough.

I found that my gybes were much more consistent in the afternoon than
the morning! I also scared the life out of myself a few times, sailing
in shallower water when a dark shape kept chasing my board, no matter
how fast I went - my shadow on the sandy bottom of course. It gets your
adrenaline going.

Also scary: you know the scene in Jaws, at the start I think when the
girl gets munched, and there's a bell ringing on a buoy nearby? One of
the beaches here has a bell buoy about 1km off shore, and when you fall
in near that your imagination doesn't half run riot.

I should add, that as a SCUBA diver and marine biologist I really ought
to know better. In UK water the most dangerous thing in the sea is
yourself. If you die or get injured out there it will probably be a
result of your own actions. I should think that holds true for most
other countries as well.

Do any of you Americans / Australians / tropical sailors know of any
instances when windsurfers have been the victims of animal attacks? I
can't imagine a shark would bother chasing a board, as it would not fit
in with its prey 'search images'. I would have thought that the only way
to get eaten is to fall into the poor thing's mouth. Surfers I can
understand, since they look like seals / turtles when silhouetted at the
surface, but windsurfers (unless becalmed) I cannot. I would have
thought we were pretty safe. Any thoughts?

Jim
***********************************************************************

PORT ERIN MARINE LAB.,
PORT ERIN,
ISLE OF MAN, BRITISH ISLES.

For thos interested, his board and the teeth (the sharks!)  are in the
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum in the lighthouse at Steamer Lane.

So my vivid imagination is not just working on fantasy!

Jim Munro

Museum in the lighthouse at Steamer Lane.