Surf's Up Dude!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118341)
Gainesville, Florida
October 8, 2016 8:02am CST
I got a call last night around midnight from a girl I used to date who lives up in South Carolina. She was calling to ask me if I wanted to drive up to meet up with her in Charleston to go surfing. Mind you, Hurricane Matthew is battering the South Carolina coast today. Because of the storm surge, there will be huge swells pushing onshore today, and this girl is convinced it would be great surfing weather! I had to remind her that all the roads heading east toward the coast are closed, and that emergency officials are only letting people head west as they evacuate the coastal areas. Being that she lives inland from the coast, she hasn't been fully aware of how bad this hurricane has been as it slices its way up the eastern seaboard.
So, no, there won't be any surfing today! She was pretty crazy to suggest it given the situation, but I have to admit there was a small part of me that wanted to grab my surfboard and jump in the truck and head up to South Carolina! Trust me, as the hurricane approached, I had given some thought to whether or not it would be good surfing weather!
My broken ribs are still healing, although I'm not in pain anymore, and my follow up doctor appointment is on the 18th, so it's best if I don't do anything crazy before then!
21 people like this
23 responses
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
If it would have been anyone else, I would have said she was joking, but I know this girl too well and know that she was being serious! She's dragged me off on many a surfing adventure.
4 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
@JudyEv She is a lot of fun, and that's why we have such a good bond!
3 people like this
@JudyEv (325246)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Oct 16
@moffittjc She sounds a lot of fun. Don't forget you're both getting older though. Our news showed someone going for a swim when the storms were on and the comment was 'some people never learn'. 
5 people like this
@LadyDuck (457307)
• Switzerland
9 Oct 16
@moffittjc I would kill my husband if he would plan to do something with one of his "ex".
5 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
@LadyDuck Well, I'm not married, so I don't have to worry about that at the moment! haha. But I get what you're saying. And if I was married, I wouldn't put myself (or my wife) in a precarious position like that!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
She'll be coming down to Gainesville in a couple of weeks, if the surfing report is good, we can drive over to St. Augustine and catch up on our surfing!
5 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45496)
• United States
8 Oct 16
I hope to God that girl was joking with you - if not, she's insane and please stay away from her LOL.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
She's a real sweetheart, but when it comes to surfing, she's always up for an adventure!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
@sol_cee She wanted me to go surfing due to raging hormones?
3 people like this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
8 Oct 16
Once I was in P.C. when a tropical storm was headed that way, not there but headed that way. I was walking on the beach above the sucked out sand, in the dry sand, and all of the sudden a wave came up and it, knocked me down! And I wasn`t the only one. I went home that evening, going to P.C. and no beach just sucked.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
There normally isn't big waves in the Gulf, especially around PC, so you know a big storm is coming when you have big waves there!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
Nah, I don't think so. She and I are really good friends.
3 people like this
@infatuatedbby (95001)
• United States
9 Oct 16
Yeah totally does not sound like a good idea Especially since you're still recovery from your broken ribs!
Especially since you're still recovery from your broken ribs!2 people like this
@infatuatedbby (95001)
• United States
9 Oct 16
@moffittjc Too adventurous I have never broken anything
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
@infatuatedbby I can help you with that! It's fun breaking bones and whatnot! lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
Yes, everyone keeps reminding me of my broken ribs. You guys are taking all the fun out of my adventurous life! lol
3 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
9 Oct 16
Did she get hit in the head with a surfboard? That has to be the dumbest idea I have ever heard, call me crazy but no wait call her crazy!! lol I think your kids might miss you if you were killed by a hurricane size wave!!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
She's just an adventurous girl! When you're a die-hard surfer, you take every chance you can get to catch the big waves!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
Yes, they are healing nicely! I haven't been feeling any pain lately. Can't wait to be able to do active things again soon! I'm ready to go surfing! Or skydiving! lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
I saw what the hurricane did to the coastal cities of north Florida, so I could only imagine it was just as bad in South and Norther Carolina! I didn't want to have any part of that!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (246334)
• United States
15 Oct 16
@moffittjc The Carolinas really got blasted. We were very, very fortunate. This time. Ugh!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
9 Oct 16
I was wondering if you were okay. Only a crazy person would go to the coast with a hurricane coming in. I didn't think that would be you. Glad to hear you're fine, sorta.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
Yes, I'm doing well Elizabeth! I was the lead on an emergency response team yesterday assisting with search and rescue efforts in Flagler Beach, Florida. Our task force of 12 responders went from house to house checking on everything. It was a long and busy day (we work 12 hour shifts), but thankfully we did not find any serious injuries or fatalities in our search grid. Thankfully, most people along the coast heeded the warnings and evacuated.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Oct 16
@ElizabethWallace I think phrases like that definitely did help this time. This is the first time I have ever seen authorities use phrases like that! Not even when Andrew and Katrina were approaching did they use such matter-of-fact language. I think it made people realize "hey, this sh*t's for real this time!"
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
10 Oct 16
@moffittjc Great. I'm sure the authorities using phrases like, "It will kill you," helped.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
Haha, yeah we are still good friends! We tease each other that we're going to marry each other someday. We still like to have fun together every once in a while.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
Yeah, we could go surfing any time, but she wanted to go while the waves were really big due to the hurricane.
@RitzzView (2994)
• India
9 Oct 16
@moffittjc hope she would call you agai . . when waves are peaceful..:)
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Oct 16
I am still friends with lots of girls I used to date. Life is too short to hate. I'm even best friends with my ex-wife.
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Oct 16
@Jannifer Don't worry, I get teased about it quite often!
@Jannifer (41)
•
11 Oct 16
@moffittjc I have to say I am friends also with my ex and I was just joking on other comment
1 person likes this
@dfollin (24167)
• United States
9 Oct 16
Well, just because she lives more inland does not mean that she does not know what is going on.I live in northern Virginia and I know what has been going on and is still going on via the news, Facebook, Twitter and talking to family and friends. And really..... some friend? She asked you to go surfing with healing broken ribs?!!!!!!
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
It's been almost two months since I broke my ribs, so she may have assumed that they are completely healed by now.
@silvermist (19702)
• India
9 Oct 16
@moffittjc I am all for adventure.But what about your healing ribs?Do not be a bad boy.Have patience.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
9 Oct 16
@moffittjc Okay ,that is a relief.Take care.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
Don't worry, I was a good boy! No surfing for me during the hurricane1
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38618)
• Midland, Michigan
9 Oct 16
You think? I didn't realize you broke your ribs, but surely that wouldn't be the way to heal them quicker. I don't see how someone living in a state that is being hit wouldn't know the severity of the storm. I hope she came to her senses and stayed away from even trying to get there.
Another member, I think it was Claudia posted recently about all the people that go surfing when they hear about conditions that make the waves less calm. Had she gone when it was hitting or just about to hit Florida maybe she'd have made it, but it's probably good she didn't think about it or she could get caught there too.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
Die-hard surfers are always looking for opportunities to surf. There could be a nuclear armageddon going on, and if the surfers heard that all the nuclear bombs going off created big waves, they would be out there surfing them, even as the world was destroyed around them! I guess it's a surfer thing. I like to surf, but it doesn't consume my life.
@JamesHxstatic (29233)
• Eugene, Oregon
8 Oct 16
Surfing in regular waves with those ribs could be a painful experience, in big surf it could get crazy.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Oct 16
Yeah, my ribs, arms and shoulders are always sore after a normal day of surfing, so I had no intentions of really going up there to surf in a hurricane, although the thought did appeal to me.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21736)
• Canada
9 Oct 16
We get the same reaction in the winter when we have a blizzard. Then the idiots who go out for a 'joy ride' out the lives of others at risk.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118341)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Oct 16
I am one of those adventurers who will get out and do crazy things, but I would never do something stupid that would put others in harm's way. It's best to stay home in those bad situations and ride it out and live to see another day. There will always be opportunities to surf on better days.
1 person likes this
