I was surfing on an electric hydrofoil board near Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii, on Sunday, February 11th, 2024. The waves were 6-10 feet high, and one of them knocked me off my board with such force that it tore apart my board leash and swept my board away.

I consider myself a good swimmer, having competed on my college swim team and participated in multi-mile open water swim events. I am also well-acquainted with the open ocean, having spent the past 20+ years freediving, surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and wing foiling. Over the years, I have had my fair share of incidents and accidents, some less and some more life-threatening.

However, all that experience did not help me this time. The short wave period kept creating more and more white water, reducing my buoyancy and ability to swim. The realization of helplessness while sinking in the low-density water, saturated with air bubbles, made me scared. Being so close to losing my life due to drowning triggered my brain to involuntarily play scenes of my family and friends facing the reality of my death. I was genuinely afraid..

It was hard to judge my distance because of the waves breaking over me, but I was about 0.5 – 1 mile offshore and realized that I might not make it to the shore on my own.

That’s when I decided to activate my ResQLink 400 PLB while attempting to swim back to shore.

The US Coast Guard promptly received a signal from my PLB, called my wife to check on my location, and notified local lifeguards and emergency services. Firemen showed up as the first responders leading to my rescue.

Thank you ACR