Kiting 2005 #10 (Sat 9 Apr):
SHARK BITE IN BOTANY"Now that was one for the blog" I said after I'd regained my normal senses. There was still blood dribbling down my leg but ProtoCole had come over and assured me I had no big chunks of flesh missing from my arse, and that the scratches were merely superficial. Not that my heartbeat agreed with that appraisal.
It all seems rather silly now that I'm safely tucked up 20kms away and 26 storeys up from the dark shadowy sundown waters of Botany Bay. But when that "thing" made a grab for me 60ft from shore "silly" was the last thing on my mind. The kite was also low down the list, which is probably why it ended up spinning around it self and heading towards the rock groyne. What was on my mind was: What the fk is it; and If it's a shark should I stop flailing around madly and do that pretend-to-be-dead thing, or am I ok to carry on flapping?
Well I flailed around madly and - according to Proto's recounting of the scene of turmoil, squealed like a puppy that had just been trod on. Maybe that was exactly the frequency of sound that scares those Tiger Sharks away. Because I lived to muse over what really touched my leg and caused such cuts.
Well, the board could've caused the cuts as they were very straight lined, though somehow on the front of both legs and the back of one. Or maybe some metal railings or fences left behind by the builders. Or a chain with no buoy. Or. Or. Or some gigantic underwater octopus with long razor-like tentacles. Probably not a shark though.
I'd spent my day's adrenaline, but Proto was still up for going out again - though a km back up the beach from its lair. I'd had a good kite session by the way, before the incident pit opened: straight on the board and away, no pissing around. But some falling off still. Proto managed upwind action and one decent turn. He also got some Air - though of course not intentionally.
Can't wait to get out there again.
