Are u ok?

I've now been surfing for a little over 10 months straight. It's really an amazing thing to do. There really is no feeling like paddling into a wave, making the drop and riding to the shoulder and paddling back out. Even when my arms are their most tired, it just takes one good wave to keep me going for another hour or two in the water. One of the subtle things that makes surfing great, no matter how big the wave, you're still falling into water. So you worry less about how you fall, especially at the local beach breaks. Since we don't have any really sharp reefs, there's really nothing to worry about. That's what I though till Friday afternoon. It was my first time surfing up in Orange County. One of the guys I work with and I went to Huntington River Jetty's for an after work session on Friday. There was finally some waves although it was pretty windy, it was still fun. We had been out for about an hour and half when I took off an a 4 foot wave that was coming through. No biggie, paddled into it but could see that it was just going to closeout on both sides and with nowhere to go would be a waste of energy. So I put the brakes on hard but unfortunately was too late and went over the falls. Not too bad of a ride, feels like you're in the washing machine. But this time and I came around once, I felt something hit my head. I knew almost immediately it was the board and that it was the most dangerous part, the fin. For those who don't surf, the fins on surfboards are pretty sharp and when they move through the water, they can slice through your skin like warm butter. After a few more seconds of the spin cycle, I popped up at the surface. I immediately put my hand on my head to check for blood. Nothing. Feeling a little relief, I checked again and left my hand for a second or two longer. When I pulled it back, it was completely covered with red.
Now, this is a problem for a couple of reasons The first of which, cutting your head with your fins can get really ugly and since I couldn't see it, I didn't know how bad it was. But what's worse is bleeding in the ocean, at a river mouth, in the evening. I was inside a little and the paddle to the line up is far, so my buddy was still pretty far out. Since I wasn't sure how bad it was, I decided to paddle back out to see if he could take a look and make the call on what to do. As I paddled up, I said "hey man, I think I just cut myself" and got the response I was worried about "oh sh$t, we need to get in...NOW." I was lucky to catch the next wave, body boarded all the way to the beach and was out. We headed for the car to get a towel to wipe it off and decide whether to head for the hospital. After washing it off, take a picture with our iphones, I decided I was okay to drive home and wasn't in need of stitches.
So since I cut myself, I've stayed out of the water for the weekend and done housework, which actually worked out really well. Built a surfboard rack today and got our master bedroom completely painted.
Anytime I hit or cut my head, I can't help but laugh. I always think of when I was a child and would do the same, look at my dad and get "well, where's there's no sense, there's no feeling" as a response. I guess he's right because this one didn't really hurt. Enjoy the pictures!

Here's what it looked like about an hour after it happened


Healing up nicely.....I love pouring hydrogen peroxide into this bad boy!