swaylock–what’s the word on the man in the grey suit’s visit with the unlucky surfer up there. i heard it was at stinson’s beach…any local info?..
swaylock–what’s the word on the man in the grey suit’s visit with the > unlucky surfer up there. i heard it was at stinson’s beach…any local > info?.. Doc. Yeah…it was stinson. Other than the fact that I was just surfing there two weeks ago, I heard the guy got pretty mangled. I’ll bet it’s the same shark that hit the boogie boarder last year. It’s weird. Stinson seems like such an unusual place for an attack. It’s a really shallow, sloping bay/cove and whites like to hunt from below. On the other hand – it is right next to an estuary (Bolinas), and it is a straight shot from the shark havens of the Farralones and Pt. Reyes. I guess I won’t be heading out there any more this summer.
yeah, the media was all over that this morning. speculating that it was the same shark. we’ll never know. i heard peter benchley got his idea for “JAWS” at stinson beach. he saw some local fisherman coming into the harbor with a nice-sized whitey tied to the side of their boat. can anyone confirm this? another day in the red triangle. kirk
I’ve only surfed there a couple of times but I remember there being a sign or plaque that said someone had been hit by a shark in something like 3 feet of water?!
i heard peter benchley got his idea for “JAWS” at stinson beach. > he saw some local fisherman coming into the harbor with a nice-sized > whitey tied to the side of their boat. can anyone confirm this? Kirk, From what I understand, Peter Benchley based the town on Amagansett, New York (on Long Island), and that the captain was modeled after the famous “shark captain” Frank Mundus out of Montauk. PB was a New York City kid. mike
i just read on surfline.com that the kid has no medical insurance. surfrider is setting up a fund for him. go to www.surfrider.org/marin i guess the helicopter ride to the hospital alone cost $8000. yikes. kirk
Doc. Yeah…it was stinson. Other than the fact that I was just surfing > there two weeks ago, I heard the guy got pretty mangled. I’ll bet it’s the > same shark that hit the boogie boarder last year.>>> It’s weird. Stinson seems like such an unusual place for an attack. It’s a > really shallow, sloping bay/cove and whites like to hunt from below. On > the other hand – it is right next to an estuary (Bolinas), and it is a > straight shot from the shark havens of the Farralones and Pt. Reyes.>>> I guess I won’t be heading out there any more this summer. Stinson is a bitchin’ little place but,to me anyway,just looks/feels like great white headquarters.
swaylock–what’s the word on the man in the grey suit’s visit with the > unlucky surfer up there. i heard it was at stinson’s beach…any local > info?.. I was on the beach at Bolinas a couple hours after the attack. Lots of cars with boards in the parking area, very few, about six, in the water, and only one soul within a hundred yards of where the attack took place, which really wasn’t at Stinson Beach, technically. I heard the attack took place in “the channel”, which makes sense because that’s the break that was going off that day as a consequence of the north swell. “The channel” is in front of the waterway that feeds the Bolinas Lagoon–northwest (a mile) of Stinson Beach parking lot and southeast (and considerably closer) to Bolinas Beach.
Spooked The shark attack at Seadrift on Friday definitely has me spooked. If you’ve read this column over the past two years, you know I have often surfed in the channel at Bolinas. On Memorial Day, I was out at the north end of Stinson in the Seadrift area. Most of the other surfers and the lifeguard truck were way at the other end of the beach and for awhile I was alone. All at once the thought registered, “This is Stinson. I don’t know what is swimming underneath me.” I quickly picked my feet out of the water and rested them on the board. (as if that would help.) Sunday I headed back down the coast, putting as much distance as I could between me and West Marin. I ended up with a fun session at the Hook in Santa Cruz. From JS: Here are some comments from JS about the attack: “The shark attack was actually at Seadrift, in the channel. I pulled in just as they were airlifting him out. Flesh was dangling from his thigh up to his kidney area with bone exposed and everything. Shark was estimated at 15 ft. Surf was a perfect glassy 4-6ft right coming through. About 15 other surfers were out at the time this happened. They saw the shark turn and heard a big thump, as it tried pulling him under. The surfers initially panicked, but soon realized that they had to get this guy in so the majority encircled him and assisted him in. He did the majority of the paddling if you can believe that, a good 100 yards. Apparently he will be OK, but I’m not sure about the leg… The thing is I always surf there in the summer and you always wonder about the big fish that swim below you, just know they are there. There has never been an attack in the channel, but several sightings; I’m surprised that it has taken this long. Not sure how much I’ll be going there anymore.” Injury Update An update on the 24-year old local, Lee Fontan (from the Marin Independent Journal.) "It took 100 stitches to close the four bite wounds that Fontan sustained. Fontan’s condition was upgraded from critical to serious yesterday said doctors at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he was airlifted immediately following the attack…Friday’s attack was only the second on record at Stinson Beach. In August 1998, a great white shark ripped into the left of Jonathan Kathrein, a San Rafael teenager, causing a wound that required 200 stitches…The National Park Service banned bathers from the beach’s deeper waters once in August 1999 after a sighting and twice within a two week period during the summer of 2000. Be safe everyone. ggcarroll
From JS: Here are some comments from JS about the attack:>>> “The shark attack was actually at Seadrift, in the channel. I pulled > in just as they were airlifting him out. Flesh was dangling from his thigh > up to his kidney area with bone exposed and everything. Shark was > estimated at 15 ft. Surf was a perfect glassy 4-6ft right coming through. > About 15 other surfers were out at the time this happened. They saw the > shark turn and heard a big thump, as it tried pulling him under. The > surfers initially panicked, but soon realized that they had to get this > guy in so the majority encircled him and assisted him in. He did the > majority of the paddling if you can believe that, a good 100 yards. > Apparently he will be OK, but I’m not sure about the leg…>>> The thing is I always surf there in the summer and you always wonder about > the big fish that swim below you, just know they are there. There has > never been an attack in the channel, but several sightings; I’m surprised > that it has taken this long. Not sure how much I’ll be going there > anymore.” That was me that wrote this…and to think that if I had left an hour earlier to surf, well…that could have been me! -John
That was me that wrote this…and to think that if I had left an hour > earlier to surf, well…that could have been me!>>> -John I posted earlier and reiterate-that whole are is bitchin’ just a neat, groovy area, but reaks of the man in the grey suit. for those of you who surf there- ya got balls.
I posted earlier and reiterate-that whole are is bitchin’ just a neat, > groovy area, but reaks of the man in the grey suit. for those of you who > surf there- ya got balls. You think Bolinas is scary…try Drakes! (it’s the next cove north under Pt. Reyes) You gotta walk a couple of miles to get in there. No roads, no boats, no helicopters. No help for at least an hour or two.
You think Bolinas is scary…try Drakes! (it’s the next cove north under > Pt. Reyes) You gotta walk a couple of miles to get in there. No roads, no > boats, no helicopters. No help for at least an hour or two. Which is excatly why I’ve never surfed there…You get bit out there, you’re dead. I hear the sand bar is set-up perfect this year for the Souths. -John