Death of Sion Milosky at Maverick’s renews safety talks: Big-wave surfers, filmmakers discuss volunteer water patrol

By Stephen Baxter – Santa Cruz Sentinel (http://www.mercurynews.com)

Sion

As news of Sion Milosky’s death at Maverick’s ripped through the surfing world Thursday, some big-wave surfers and photographers raised questions about the risks of surfing giant waves and the prospect of Jet Ski water patrols at Maverick’s to help prevent future tragedies.

Milosky, a 35-year-old originally from Kalaheo, Kauai, Hawaii, was known as one of the best big-wave riders in the world. He died late Wednesday after surfing “the session of a lifetime,” according to Chris Killen of Capitola, a surf filmmaker who captured Milosky’s last wave.

Ken “Skindog” Collins of Santa Cruz said Milosky dominated sessions at Maverick’s on Monday and Wednesday, and he surfed from the early afternoon to about 6:30 p.m.

“This swell was really huge. It was one of those swells that was really spread out. It was hard to see what was going on with everyone out there,” Collins said. “(Milosky) had this huge smile on his face and just turned around and paddled into this 50- to 60-foot wave. That was the last time I saw him. The wave just sent him straight to heaven.”

Killen was driving a Jet Ski in the channel when he filmed Milosky take off on his backhand on a wave face he also estimated at more than 50 feet.

“He was really deep and he makes the drop, and the end section comes and just explodes behind him as he straightens out,” Killen said.

Milosky went down. The wave crashed over him. Killen saw Milosky’s board “tombstone” straight up from the tension of his leash as he was driven deep under water.

“He was riding an 11-foot board, and I could see maybe 3 or 4 feet of the board out of the water,” Killen said.

The next wave broke directly on the board, and Killen said he tried several times to find Milosky.

Killen asked Kyle Buthman — another Santa Cruz filmmaker and the only other Jet Ski driver in the lineup at the time — if he had seen Milosky. He said, “no,” and about 15 or 20 frantic minutes later they spotted pro surfer Nathan Fletcher waving his arms near the harbor.

Fletcher found Milosky’s body, Killen said.

“I’m looking over just devastated,” Killen said. “His head’s flopping and I could tell he was blue from far away. But I still have a lot of hope because … he’s Sion.”

On shore Killen started chest compressions and asked a woman on the beach to call 911. At 6:51 p.m. the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office received the call. Paramedics arrived and continued CPR.

LIVES LOST

Milosky’s death is not the first at Maverick’s.

Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo died there in 1994. Jacob Trette, a 30-year-old Orange County surfer, was knocked unconscious at Maverick’s in January and nearly died. A kayaker spotted him floating inside the break. He made it to the hospital in time and recovered.

Shawn Dollar, a Santa Cruz surfer who caught a wave after Milosky’s last Wednesday, said he and Killen want to raise money for a water patrol to be stationed at Maverick’s when it breaks. Photographers typically do double duty as lifeguards and shooters, and he said it is time for full-fledged support.

Brazilian surfer Carlos Burle is snatched from the frothy pit after loosing his surfboard in last year's Maverick's final. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel file )

“We want to raise money to pay for, ideally, two to three Jet Skis in the water to create our own lifeguard crew out there,” Dollar said Thursday.

“I think it’s entirely necessary,” Killen said. “They have lifeguards at Capitola and there’s people spraining their ankles. At Maverick’s, you have professional athletes that are supporting their families, and they can’t fund that?”

The U.S. Coast Guard patrols the area, and roaming state parks lifeguards can provide assistance. The closest rescuers are at Pillar Point Harbor about a mile away. Assistant Harbormaster John Draper told the Sentinel last month that it can take longer than 10 minutes for staff members to suit up, board a Jet Ski and power over to Maverick’s.

At Pillar Point, only four of 10 staff members are certified in surf rescue, Draper said.

Photographers have driven Jet Skis at Maverick’s whenever it has been rideable and especially during big swells. However, non-government sanctioned Jet Skis are only legal there when the National Weather Service issues a high surf warning.

A lesser high surf advisory was in effect Wednesday, according to the weather service.

Shawn Alladio, who ran the water patrol at the 2010 Maverick’s Surf Contest, said she and others had been trying to work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to refine its rules on Jet Skis at Maverick’s and in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

She said Dollar and Killen’s idea could work — with a few caveats.

“To put together a water safety team that’s not a volunteer group — that’s an in-depth discussion,” Alladio said. “I’m all for it, but there has to be an effective plan in place. There has to be support from NOAA.”

Mary Jane Schramm, a NOAA spokeswoman, said Milosky’s death was a “real tragedy,” but she took a hard line against the ability of Jet Ski drivers to save surfers.

“Frankly from the reports, it sounds as though they lost track of the body for a full 20 minutes despite the fact there were two to three skis out there. So the presence of the Jet Skis was immaterial,” Schramm said.

Alladio — who trains water patrol Jet Ski teams around the world — said training would be key for any new water patrol at Maverick’s. Schramm said she talked to Alladio and others after a NOAA Sanctuary Advisory Committee meeting in Half Moon Bay in February about the ongoing Jet Ski controversy. Surfers who support Jet Skis should work with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and have that office sanction volunteer rescuers, Schramm said.

NOT WITHOUT RISK

Milosky had only surfed at Maverick’s a handful of times. He had been staying at Collins’ Westside home since Sunday. They surfed Maverick’s on Monday and Wednesday, Collins said. He and Milosky drew a map of the break to build Milosky’s knowledge of it, since his first turn at Maverick’s came in November.

While he may have been new to Maverick’s, his reputation preceded him.

The father of two young daughters was named the North Shore Underground Surfer of the Year in February. Surfing Magazine declared that Milosky surfed the biggest paddle-in wave in history on a huge, outer-reef left on Oahu a few years ago.

Milosky’s father moved to Hawaii from Santa Cruz 40 years ago, Milosky said in a February video interview with Tracks magazine. His wife took the red-eye flight from Hawaii to California on Wednesday night, Collins said. She was at Maverick’s on Thursday.

Surfers said they understand the risks and are realistic about any rescuers’ limits.

“I fully accept that we’re taking huge risks and sometimes you don’t come up. At the end of the day you’re going out there by yourself and you’re responsible for yourself,” Dollar said. “You have to be able to deal with situations on your own.”

Maverick’s regulars said since Hawaiian pro Shane Dorian’s near-death experience at Maverick’s a day after the Maverick’s contest last year, many surfers have worn neoprene life vests under their wetsuits with air canisters to inflate them.

Collins and others in the Maverick’s lineup Wednesday — including Milosky, Dollar and Nic Lamb of Santa Cruz — wore the vests. However, Dollar said that during a violent wipeout in the evening, the air canister strapped to his chest blew off.

“That was my backup,” Dollar said.

How to Help

Volcom started an online fund to help Milosky’s family online at Volcom’s website. A memorial paddle-out is expected in Half Moon Bay and in Hawaii in the coming days.