Posted on 01/04/2005 6:10:46 AM PST by stainlessbanner
A veteran surfer has told how he was forced to ride a towering tsunami to save his life as it engulfed an idyllic Sri Lankan village.
Martin Hambrook, 40, from Porthcawl, south Wales, was in the sea off the island's southern coast waiting for what he hoped would be a perfect wave.
Partner Vicky Maxwell, 42, and son Jai, 7, were watching from the beach as the horrific form of the tsunami appeared on the horizon.
The family-of-three fly to Sri Lanka every year and were staying at the Hansa Surf Lodge, in Hikkaduwa, when the giant wave hit on Boxing Day.
His partner and son were forced to flee to the safety of their nearby hotel balcony and watch in horror as the wave scooped him up.
"It was really terrible because I was surfing on a wave I wasn't supposed to be on," Mr Hambrook told Wales on Sunday newspaper in an exclusive interview.
"As an experienced surfer, when I saw the wave come I realised something was wrong, but I couldn't escape because the surfboard was tied to my ankle."
Despite the ferocity of the wave, he stayed on his board as he was carried over the sandy beach right up to the hotel.
He leapt off in the restaurant as the sea withdrew and a second wave, about 10 metres high, rolled in. The family then fled to higher ground.
All three survived the devastation which has claimed thousands of lives and have opted to stay on the island to help local people clear wreckage.
There is at least one BS story in every storm. This is one.
Okay, okay, I know this isn't something we should make light of, but.....
Didn't that happen on an episode of Gilligan's Island?
One time I surfed a wave of molten lava that shot out of a volcano in Hawaii.
I was on top of mount saint helens when it blew.
Extreme
This story is begging for an investigation...
Dude!
BS detector going off! Remember the guy who "rode the Trade Center" down? BS
Don't know about Gilligan's Island, but a similar scene happened in the book "Lucifer's Hammer." Except, in the book, the guy ended up getting slammed against a building.
Reminds me of the story that was told about a guy riding the debris down from the WTC on 9-11. I didn't believe that story either.
Please note: this guy didn't have a wife or a female companion...he had a "partner".
Maybe he was saved by that georgeous floral arrangement in the lobby of the hotel he surfed into.
In Florida, surfers ride every hurricane by jumping off a pier.
If the tsunami was 6-10ft high, it may have been ridable, though extremely powerful
Surfers are always looking for the "greatest" wave.
No surfers describe themselves as "experienced surfers", not even old dudes.
"Don't know about Gilligan's Island, but a similar scene happened in the book "Lucifer's Hammer." Except, in the book, the guy ended up getting slammed against a building."
Yep! That was a pretty good read.
This also happened in the movie "Escape from LA".
I've seen him somewhere before....
When I have a tornado out here, I always try and use it for a tail wind on my commute home.
This whole sentence is dumb. Leashes are 'tied' to surfers' ankles with a velcro strap. Not much effort required to release it, but I doubt it woulda made much difference.
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