This is a really hard thing for me to do, and i know that everybody will be shocked to the core over the news your about to read, but i just haven't been able to deal with getting on here and telling all you guys what has happened down here over the last few days...
I was skimming with Zappa on Tuesday afternoon at one of our favourite skim hangouts, Koonya, just us two together. The shorebreak wasn't huge or anything, just a tad onshore. We were both getting some really good rides and having a mad skim. We started goofing around, like across the beach spinning around and stuff our boards shot off away, with Zaps going up the beach and mine towards the water.
We waited a second for my skimboard to wash over the falls of the next wave but it didn't, so we said to each other lets go grab it. We dive under the first shorebreak, and were right next to each other, only like two or three metres across from each other and about 10-12 meters from the shoreline, still in the impact zone... i got my hand on the board, turned around and flung it in, with the onshore breeze catching it, and we were right next to each other, with a peak coming up on us. We weren’t stressed of anything, just keen to bodysurf the shorie in. I went over the falls, hit the sand and washed up the beach, thinking that Zappa had done the same, looked up and he wasn't on the beach, he was still in the water. I ran to the waters edge and called out to him, and he said he was right, but he was moving out further and further, and I knew he must have become caught in a really strong current, like in the hot spot or something.
I ran to my bag and got the keys to the car, I was going to grab my bodyboard and fins, but then realised we came down in his car and that stuff was in my van at home... I peaked and searched for our phones, whole time watching him move out further. I sprinted across the beach and up the track to his car and found his phone in his shorts, called 000, he needed to be plucked out by a chopper or a boat or something he was out so far... lady on the phone kept me relaying his movements and position, telling me that everything was on its way and wouldn't be too long, to just calm down.
For what felt like an age he drifted west across and then in towards the reef, I thought he was gonna scramble up them, but now moved around the reef, along its eastern edge. His head went under for five or so seconds, and I f--- freaked out to the lady on the phone, there was no denying the urgency, but he came back up. Soon he went under again and didn't come back up, and within 30 seconds the paramedics arrived and we sprinted down the track together, with one of the paramedics going straight in the water along side the rocks but to no avail.
Within minutes two police rescue choppers were circling and the surf plane too, with about five cops on the beach with me. 2 bodyboarders and a surfer, who had come down to help the search, paddled out to the west of the track on the different section of the beach because a paramedic thought he could see something out there. They came in and told the police that the current ended sort of where Zappa had started to come in towards the reef. After about an hour of air search, the two bodyboarders who were standing about 30 meters from us, yelled to us they could see something in the shore. It was Zappa, and me and Rob (the policeman helping look after me) were the first to grab him and drag him up onto the dry sand. Rob took his pulse and the other policemen ran over to us. One of the helicopters landed on the beach and two of the medics jump out and ran over, but it was too late, he had been under the water for about an hour. It was too late to revive him.
This is the most devastating thing to happen to me, and I’ve lost my Greatest Friend, at one of our favourite skim spots doing what we both loved: getting our skim on. My heart goes out to all who knew him and have been touched by his charm and love, especially his mother Robin, his family, and his beautiful girlfriend Dani. Zap and Shane spent a month in Cabo and Laguna skimming last year in July. We were just starting to try and organise this trip again for this year, we spoke about it together on the way down the beach on Tuesday. It means the world to me that I saw him get his best wave ever on Friday at Hogs… I will never forget that moment…
I know this will shock the entire skimboarding community to the core as well, and I trust your thoughts are with him and all his loved ones.
I would appreciate if these words could stay here on the forum, this is an extremely personal account, and I felt posting this would help me cope with this tragedy. (I will post this again on the skimonline.com forum shortly).
