A Really Sharp Baja Vacation Keeps Him in Stitches

After a week in Cabo, Fig came back looking like a politician: tanned, rested and ready to run again.

The Fig: I am rested. But the good news is I got my voice back 100%. I lost my voice after two weeks of announcing the Op Pro and U.S. Open.

Yo, Fig, I heard that isn’t all you came back from Mexico with.

Well, I didn’t get sick but I did get a few stitches.

A late takeoff? Or did you smash up on those mean Baja rocks?

I had a brand-new board, and my fins were really sharp. The waves were breaking good, like 6- to 10-foot faces. My fins needed to be sanded down a little bit, but I didn’t have time before the trip. I was paddling out through a big set and the fin was so sharp it sliced my skin open like a watermelon right near the ankle. It was on the first day there!

Bloody?

Yeah.

OK, folks let’s take the surfer’s test. You’ve paid for air fare, a rental car, new surfboards, extra leashes and traveling board bags, and have just found the answer to life’s blues: A nice break bursting with plenty of waves. But now you’re dinged up.

Do you A) Get out of the water? B) Get out of the water and wrap yourself around a bottle of tequila to ease the pain? C) Continue surfing?

Fig? What’s the answer?

Actually, I kept surfing for another half-hour. But after it started to feel weird, I went in. On the beach, I took a look and it was a big gash, almost to the bone. I applied the ‘ol pressure technique to slow the bleeding. I was hot and had to wait for my buddies who were enjoying the waves. It was 110 degrees. And we were more than an hour away from the nearest hospital.

Ah yes, coaxing your surf buddies to come in and help you gives a whole new meaning to friendship, doesn’t it?

Beyond words. When we finally got to the hospital, it was like a 2,000-degree furnace in that place. No windows. No air conditioning. I found a water faucet and wet my face, my hat and my hair, then jumped on the doctor’s table.

They knew what to do?

Oh yeah. The doc hit me with two shots to numb the ankle area, cleaned up the gash, broke out the thread, then stitched it up. The doc gave me antibiotics, told me to lie in bed and not to get into the water for eight days.

Hmmmm. Surfer’s test No. 2: You’re on vacation. A doctor has just warned you stay out of the water. Do you A) Heed the warning? B) Rationalize and wait four days? C) Be hard core and hit it?

Hey! You’re on vacation, it’s a tough thing to do. Fortunately, I brought this video camera and played Mr. Video Man.

For how long?

One day. The Fig took the massive duct tape therapy, wrapped it all around the ankle and surfed for the rest of the trip.

Trip rippers included John Parmenter, Fig’s shop partner and former U.S. champion; Huntington Beach local Phil Fein and shaper Chuck Burns. Fig says grommets Chris Camacho and Ryan Turner, both 15, kept up with the older set, even on the big days.

For anyone taking a trip to hot spots, Fig passes along this advice: Take plenty of drinking water. With 110-degree days in mid-August, Fig and friends (he took a crew of 11 surfers) were, at one point, down to a quart. Water temps were in the 85-degree range. Also, if you have an epoxy board, which is likely to ripple in temperatures above 135, take a reflective board bag. Airlines now charge a $45 board fee each way. The trick, Fig says, is to pack two or three boards into one bag.

With strong south swells hitting the Baja tip, waves were hitting on the Gulf and Pacific side. Fig’s group mainly caught caught waves on the Gulf side, near Shipwreck’s, closer to San Jose del Cabo.

After surfing, they chartered a fishing boat and hooked into some 30-pound mahi mahi.

We had talked to a restaurant before we went and cut a deal for them to cook the fish. Man, it was like the most excellent fish I’ve had. We had yellowtail tuna, and they fixed it sushi style right on the boat. With a little soy sauce, the stuff was almost jumping off our tongues.

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Contests: With the big boys departing Huntington Beach after the world tour’s U.S. Open of Surfing, the U.S. Bud Tour kicked in at Virginia Beach, Va., and Imperial Beach. In Virginia last Sunday, Huntington Beach’s Jeff Deffenbaugh terrorized the small surf to win his first Bud contest. In second was Hawaii’s Conan Hayes, followed by Australia’s Beau Emerton. On Aug. 21 in Imperial Beach, Chris Gallagher of Santa Cruz was first, Vince de La Pena of Laguna Niguel, second, and Hawaii’s Noah Budroe was third. Hot amateur Kalani Robb of Hawaii was fourth. Bud Tour hits Trestles Sept. 12-18.

Speaking of big boys, Kelly Slater won another world-tour contest two weeks ago, taking the Gotcha Lacanau Pro in France. A week later, he grabbed second place at Hossegor, also in France. Slater scored with two eight-point waves and a nine for his best three rides (top is 10 points). Slater had a sumptuous stand-up tube inside a crashing two-meter shore break dumper. Brazilian Flavio Padaratz won.

Wish: Fig wants to wish his mom, Betty Fignetti, also known as Momma Fig, a happy birthday this Monday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMA FIG!