When will I learn...

[Bean]

Yesterday, I surfed the morning, and after some midafternoon yard work I came back out and surfed a quick second session.  I rode that last wave all the way in, hopping off in knee deep water.  My right foot folded-in and popped as it sank into the soft sand.  Made me want to hurl.

Doc says, hairline fracture and high ankle sprain.  When will I learn... 

[burchas]

That's too bad hope it's a quick recovery, this summer is too good to miss till now.
So for a novice like me the point of the story is to bail early?

[stoneaxe]

That sucks......heal well and quickly.

I need to learn too....i find myself doing similar and have been lucky I've only tweaked my ankles/feet a couple times. I hyper extended my achilles jumping off my board on the Cape just last week...a few days before the CCBC when you would think i would be extra careful. Fortunately not too badly, I'd wake up and hardly be able to move it but ice, ibuprofen, and stretching were enough. It hurt a little at the start of the CCBC but I was dancing to reggae at the after party. Beer helps....

[PonoBill]

Yeah, I'd say based on my own experience, never.

I have a long list of things I'm never going to do again, and I screw them up pretty consistently. I got rid of all my bigger chain saws, so that's somewhat off the list. Of course, the one I kept is the one I carry a scar from.

[Weasels wake]

I don't think this is something that can always be prevented, I know of no fail safe way to dismount w/o the threat of hurting something, either your ankle or the board (riding it up onto the sand).  Even in clear water it's hard to tell how deep it is or how firm the bottom is, it has happened to every long time surfer I know, including myself.  No matter who you are, your number will come up if you surf long enough.

[Night Wing]

@Bean

Consider yourself lucky. It could have been a lot worse. Instead of a hairline fracture, it could have been a complete break and you'd be in a cast.

Hope you heal quickly.

[TallDude]

Bummer dude... Last year I was just gliding up to a flat water sandy beach after a long paddle. It was getting dark, so it was hard to judge how shallow it was getting. All of the sudden, the nose sticks. I fall forward and tried to catch myself. My paddle was in my left hand. As I landed on my board, my left hand sort of missed the deck. When my paddle hit the board, it caused me to hyper-extend my left thumb. This threw most of my weight on my right shoulder damaging my rotater cuff. Perfect end to a long paddle....

You'll be back in action in no time.

[SUPcheat]

I feel so grateful now I always fall off before I reach shore.

[PonoBill]

I can't believe how long it takes me to get down on my board and get back up again. When I'm coming at the beach after a downwinder I have to start my drill about 30 yards out. Step back a full step--both feet. Push the hat back so it won't block forward vision, bend knees as far as they will go (pitiful), bend at the waist, hands out to catch the board, lower entire assemblage and try to reach the board before the wobbles get too bad, fall, bounce off the board and fall on my back in five inches of water.

Smooth.

Getting back up is even worse. At the CCBC the last few times I lurched to my feet I had serious doubts that I would make it back vertical. Popping up on a longboard? Yeah, right.

[nalu-sup]

Hey Pono (and any other old guys with bad joints), I have a new trick for old guys when coming into the beach that I need to credit to Creek.
Getting down on my knees from a standing position on my boards as I approached the beach used to be pitiful. The first part was semi controlled until I hit the limit of my joints, and then it was a free fall onto my outstretched hands and hope for the best. What I have learned to do is a reversal of a trick I learned from Creek for getting up.
I can still get to my feet reliably on my surf SUPS if it is calm, but getting to my feet out in the middle of a Maliko run with 25 mph winds and one to five foot cross swells proved to be much more challenging, and it used to take three to five failed attempts as my joints/balance would give out on me half way up, and I would be back in the ocean. Creek's trick is to use the paddle as a third leg (crutch). Once I get both feet under me, I plant the paddle blade on the deck with my hand on the shaft just above the blade. I can then use this third contact point to balance and aid my rise up to standing in rough water. Coming into the beach is just a reverse of the process. As you said, step back with both feet, raise the bill of the hat (need to learn to do that one), and then plant the blade on the deck with one hand on the shaft. All of a sudden the lowering process is a controlled descent with a safe landing on the deck. Works like a charm every time (so far that is). Full credit to Creek for teaching the SUP crutch method.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

I mentioned this a couple of years ago, but my wife cracked her heel bone in a similar way. She was on my board and was paddling in to shore. I swear she was in water barely deep enough for the fin. I saw an ankle-high wave come up from behind her. I kick myself that I didn't say anything, but the wave was so small! The wave lifted the back of my board and tossed Kirsten onto the sand. This was hard Jacksonville beach sand, and her heel must have hit just right.

[supthecreek]

Full credit to Creek for teaching the SUP crutch method.

ha ha.... thank God for the crutch!
My front right deckpad has straight line indents all over it, from the blade as I push up.
I need to wax my paddle shaft as well..... if my hand slips mid "rise"... my hamstring cramps 

One another note:
Because my knee doesn't "get down" easily, I generally "step off" in shallows, BUT:
I always place my paddle on the bottom (underwater)  and "step to it" because the paddle tells my body exactly how deep it is..
plus it gives me another "crutch" to lean on. Plus I come in slow.

I know strong, young guys who have misjudged water depth and broken their ankles stepping off and misjudging water depth.
 
Stepping to your "paddle blade on the bottom" mitigates that somewhat, but I always pay full attention to the moment.

[Zooport]

So sorry to hear about that, Bean.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery.  I tore a calf muscle a couple of years ago doing almost the same thing and was out for a number of weeks. 

[Bean]

Thanks for the Aloha guys, I guess I'll be breaking out my coloring books...but not for long

[JimK]

Bean,

Really sorry to hear that especially due to our current surf conditions

Get well soon lots more waves coming

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing