Pohnpei Surf Club…. always something happening

The latest has come in from the Pohnpei Surf  Club.

This place hosts some  of the most epic waves in the world and scores them all year round  but with great waves comes great responsibility….. but don’t worry you’re in safe hands!! 

Safety training does count when the time comes!!

From- Allois Malfitani’s Log Book 

09/01/10

We never have had any REALLY SERIOUS injuries with surfers here in Pohnpei. Mostly scratches and a few stitches but we have to always be prepared for the worst case scenario.
The first swell of January had some solid double overhead and bigger waves on the larger sets. Guests Brad from California was out with the crew warming up and catching a few good waves.

When one of the bigger sets moved in Brad went for it but his tail slipped on the bottom turn and he fell. Not a big deal. The wave behind was bigger, a real solid P-Pass wave and he took it on the head. After a few seconds I saw him on the inside I thought, catching up with his breathing, that was until I saw him paddling into a total wrong direction. That was when friend Diogo paddles next to him and saw what I didn’t see from a distance, the blood. At this stage Brad was close to the boat and we brought him in.
I guess the second wave took him down hard to the bottom hitting the reef face, neck and back pretty good. His survival instincts kicked in and he made it up to his board but was really confused. At first check it didn’t look to good. We could see cuts under his hair, lips, big bumps on his face and back and plenty scratches. That was when our safety training with the employees kicked in (they are all First Aid/CPR trained).

We had two boats out there so who ever was in the water was left behind and could stay with the other boat. I left with the ski and got to the camp in around 7 minutes, got the car ready by the boat dock and call the clinic (both, the largest private clinic and public hospital are located 200 meters from the Pohnpei Surf Club). As soon as the boat arrived we got him into the car and to the Clinic where they were waiting for us at the door.. I my self was surprised on how fast we got him from Palikir to the clinic and how fast they were in the clinic taking care of all Brad’s injuries.

After 12 stitches, some x-rays and a lot of cleaning and bandages he was ready to go home, but not to California. When I asked him if he wanted to go home early he just said, NO WAY!
After a few days he felt a little better and was out and about and even had a last surf session before he left.