Brent Dolan

Everytime I look at this photos and remember the time that my life flashed before my eyes. Still to this day checking this photo out brings back the exact memories that went through my head during this incident.

This surf spot is a stone throw (if you have a strong arm) away from the famous break called Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

It was a pretty crazy senario for waves. It was about head high when we paddled out then pretty much tripled in size because of an upcoming swell.

The break is called "off the wall" and is a very shallow reef break. It is a very dangerous surf spot especially when the swell is on the rise. You can be sitting in the line up surfing head high waves then all of a sudden a swell of waves coming in twice or three times the size bigger and breaking about 50 yards out further. As in the case in this photo.

Sak and I where surfing "off the wall" while Chenzo was filming on the beach for our What Exit 2 DVD. The waves where breaking really fast and you had to really muscle it into the wave to get into it early. The waves where fast rights breaking towards a sandbar that would basicly depcharge the wave at the end of your ride and have you eating sand. Ocasionally there was a left coming in that was a bit more open but as a regular footed surfer and in a spot i have never surfed before I felt more comfortable pushing right.

Well anyways Sak and I where caught inside after catching a smaller set of waves. As we paddled back out we saw this macking set on the horizon. We where already about 10 yards deeper than we should of been but we both paddled our asses off so not to get caught with this wave crashing down on us.

At the time I didn't even know Sak was on the left of me as I paddled for my life (more on that part later in the story)

It felt like my arms had dried concrete on them because I felt like I just couldn't paddle and more and at the point of when the wave started to break is when I tried to take my last breath for the next 25 seconds of me getting bounced around, thrown around and held underwater by this wave. As I was on my stomach with the board underneath me I looked up at this wave and it looked like a monster to me. Nothing like I was use to or ever saw in NJ. I have surfed waves with good size in NJ but this wave had more juice than any wave I surfed In Dirty Jersey.

With that said I didn't make the duck dive to well seeing i was completely out of juice and the lip of this wave crashed right on my neck and lower back. It actually felt like I got hit by a bus going about 30mph. It sent me right down to the reef where the bottom of my board and my fingers smashed against the reef. I remember one guy in hawaii telling me "whatever you do brah don't let go of your board" with that in mind. I held onto my board so hard i actually put indentations of my fingers and hands in the board. After hitting the bottom I got sucked back up and thrown over the falls and back to the bottom of the reef again. I didn't know what was up or what was down at that point.

As I was underneath that wave it seemed like forever. The first things that went through my head was this was it. It is over I will never see my family again. It is almost amazing how when life flashes before your eyes you always thing about the people you love and will miss the most.

I am guessing it was about 25 second or more but around there because we have it on video tape. The board that I had clinched in my two hands and held it like a lifesaver brought me to the top of the water. There was actually two more waves behind it in a three wave set but i was thrown so far in towards the beach that I turned around and took the white water in to choke up some water on the beach.

The funniest part of the whole story was when the wave finally released me Sak was then on the right side of me. That is right started on the left side and ended up on the right side. That means we where being tossed around so much we probably crossed paths at one point.

I mean if you think about it we are probably really luck not to have landed on top of each other or hit by one another's board. I guess that hawaiin guys advice was right after all.

More on hawaii for another time.

way to much typing for me today

laters

brent