While I slowly paddling into position near the inside of Point Roadknight this morning, to my left 30' away something moving caught my eye. I turned my to see a large dorsal fin slowly submerging coming straight at me
My cadence picked up remakably....looking over my sholder I paddled to the rocks, with out losing sight of the fin, it resurfaced on a new course heading out to sea.....it was about 10' to 12' long....its a pity the water was so murky I would liked to have been able to see more of the fish.
I thought it had gone, so I caught a small wave over to a woman who I was surfing with at the time. We had only started to catch a few good glassy waves, she was having a ball, but I had to ruin her day & let her know what had happened.
She was very sceptical, thinking it was just a dolphin, but in the interests of safety she went to catch a few waves in the shallows of bay.
A couple of other mates showed up to head out, while we were talking on the beach, the woman yelled & I could see our friend was still cruising the area....now the shallows of the bay !
So did the flash of the chrome logo on my paddle attract the fish?
And when it got closer it saw a very toxic looking fluro board thought there must be better breakfast around?
That's it Dean.. Your paddle with the chrome Airwave logo on it would have been like a giant lure..
DJ
I've always been wary of wearing flashy metallic stuff in the water. Heard too many stories of divers having their silver watches attacked by barracuda. Spose sharks could be for the same.
Reminds me of an old Wayne Lynch story from down that way years ago. Think it was a interview in a old tracks magazine. Ive probably still got it somewhere.
Wayne and a bloke he was rescuing got stalked by a big toothy bugger.
Imagine the ones ya dont see.
W
and that was the days Tracks was a newspaper (wonder if guys like dog and Legion where around then 
) it was down near Port Campbell . Yep reckon that silver logo was a definate attraction 
Hi dean , did anyone p155 in their wetties(before seeing the shark). Urine is meant to be a strong attractor
Wayne Lynch recalls his story 15th Dec 2007. From The Age:
His too-close-for-comfort encounter is just one of many that people have had with great white sharks along Victoria's south-west coast.
Surfing at a remote location, Lynch went to the rescue of another surfer who had lost his board and was struggling against a strong current.
After lifting the exhausted man onto the front of his board, Lynch locked eyes with a huge shark only three metres away.
"They just sort of appear and lift their head . . . there is no sound at all," he recalls.
The shark circled the pair as they paddled towards the relative shelter of some bull kelp. Half an hour later, when they were only 30 metres from shore, Lynch glanced behind to see the shark coming down a swell towards them on its side with its mouth wide open, "just going like a bullet".
He braced for the impact. And then, nothing.
"I am always aware of sharks and I am scared to death of them," he says. "I don't ever enter the water without having it on my mind."
Heavy...
Hey Dean,
Look at the up side it will slowly thin the crowds at PRK and sups out paddle mals!
There are definitely plenty of toothy critters out there, we got run outa rincon by a big thresher late last year.
You often see smaller sharks maybe 5 to 6 foot cruising under the surfers at 13 beach when your out on sup in the summer.
If it wants you its going to get you!
Maybe you need to design a carbon paddle with built in 12g thunder stick
Phill
This made me laugh, I had my close call at Shellies at the Island, first few days of January.
Geez Phil, "if it wants you it's going to get you". Don't be so defeatist. I'm not very happy about going to PRK and surfing with a shark. 10 to 12 foot long!! that's like that big one at the melb. aquairium, That's things got to eat more than mullet!
Ive got a great surfing book, full of amazing articles and pictures.
One of the storys/articles that i remember was actually about a SUP'er who had a great white follow him in the middle of a long distance SUP race. He was on an 18foot sup, and the shark was longer than it!
For over a mile the shark just 'bumped' its teeth on the edge of the board, which is a 'curiousity' agenda for sharks, to see if they will break any teeth from attacking the SUP. THe entire paddle back to shore, the SUP surfer was just racing to shore and throwing the occasional Paddle slap at the great white. In the end he survives and doesnt complete the race...
Its quite an awesome story, if anybody wants to read it all, let me know and ill type it up.
EDIT; oh and btw to answer your question, in the surf, sharks dont rely on their usual senses as the waters too disturbed or something. So anything that can represent food/fish whatso ever will be targeted by sharks. On Flatter water, its more curiousity that attracts them, but likelyhood of an attack is minimal.
. 
)
. It's true though 
, I remember those days. I don't buy mags any more, but my wife occasionally buys them for me. She got me a Tracks the other day. Wow, disappointing. The old papers seemed much better.
Hey Dean, a shark was spotted by crew at the bells comp today as well.
Could be the same one. I don't think it was in the comp area but they moved the comp from
Bells to Winki so not sure which break it was seen. They were talking about it on the webcast
today. Sounds like a similar size, about 10 to 12ft.
p.s. Man you have all the toys!
I've never seen a shark and don't want to. But this makes me think if you surf then it's just a matter of time..... even at PRK. Love the ultralite Dean, great pics of PRK from 300 feet
By the way, there is a BIG shark said to be hanging around between Phillip Island and
the Flinders side. Cruising the heads I guess chassing seals and tuna. When I say BIG
I mean approx 30ft.
From what I was told it has plenty of food available so shouldn't cause any problems and
it's size makes it a bit lazy. If it swam underneith you you would probably just think it
is a cloud passing over top.
But as Phil said they are everywhere and youre pretty safe, but if they wanna get ya....
Dean, love the look of the quady
I suspect the shark had heard all about Dean Snow boards and wanted to take a look for himself.
My wife was out on the SUP a few weeks ago at a beach break, very sunny, very clear water but lots of fish about. There was another guy out on a mal near her and nobody else for several 100m's in either direction.
Out beyond the break a few 100m's there were a few small boats milling about, one of them ended up coming in and yelling out to my wife and the mal rider there were 5 hammerheads out there..... she did not hang around and paddled straight in.
I explained that just because we can not see them does not mean they are not there. Sharks are always there, big or small and like others have said, if they really want you they will get you.
We bought a Shark Shield a few years ago, we use it when swimming in the lake as the water can be very murky and sharks are sighted regularly. Have not used it in the surf but may start doing so. Yes, of course the thing works......I mean we have not been attacked yet so it must...right? LOL.
Hey Logman,
Not defeatist just realist, I have scuba dived for 25 yr in and around Port Phillip the surf coast and most states of Australia. In that time I have seen plenty of sharks and I dont believe I could have out run any of them. Frankly they scare the heck out of me.
Often in decompression diving on the deep wrecks we would get circled whilst on the deco line but touch wood nothing to this date has happened. If any on the sharks we have seen had wanted us we were sitting ducks. I believe I have more chance of being killed walking across the street or in a car accident than by shark attack.
Famous last words watch this space lol.
Phill
) . It's true though , I remember those days. I don't buy mags any more, but my wife occasionally buys them for me. She got me a Tracks the other day. Wow, disappointing. The old papers seemed much better.
I don't remember when they stopped the paper. My memory's a bit hazy (well, non-existent). I do remember cutting out pictures from the paper and blu-tacking them all over my wall as a grommet though.
I don't remember when they stopped the paper. My memory's a bit hazy (well, non-existent). I do remember cutting out pictures from the paper and blu-tacking them all over my wall as a grommet though. never been the same since they went all high gloss mag type.
I don't remember when they stopped the paper. My memory's a bit hazy (well, non-existent). I do remember cutting out pictures from the paper and blu-tacking them all over my wall as a grommet though.
I don't remember when they stopped the paper. My memory's a bit hazy (well, non-existent). I do remember cutting out pictures from the paper and blu-tacking them all over my wall as a grommet though. never been the same since they went all high gloss mag type.
