He was sort of unsteady on his standup paddleboard, and as I watched him drop in and fall almost immediately on a few waves, I wondered why he was out here on a pretty big day. The waves were well overhead on the sets, with a lot of water moving around.

He paddled back out after a particularly bad wipeout, where his paddleboard almost took somebody out, and coasted to a stop near me. “Hey man, if you want a wave and I’m anywhere near it, just go. I’ll get out of the way.”

I told him not to worry about it, but maybe just keep an eye on his board.

He nodded. “I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Ain’t we all I thought as I turned for a smaller wave, which held up on the inside and took me all the way to the exposed reef. Paddling back out, I saw him drop in on a set wave and actually make it. I hooted for him, stoked he finally got one. He seemed like a nice guy.

A huge swell lifted the horizon, and we all paddled furiously outside to avoid getting pummeled. I was on a bigger board, and managed to get into position in time to actually turn and take off.

It was a good wave.

He yelled for me as I flew past him, and when I finally made my way out to the lineup, he paddled over to me on his knees.

“You had an epic one, bro! The best of the day!”

I didn’t answer right away, because something was off. Missing. I couldn’t tell quite what, until I saw a leg resting perpendicular on his board.

Yeah, a leg.

He saw me looking at the prosthetic. “Don’t know how, but it came off after that one wave I had.”

“You got a good one.”

“And then you did, too!”

The things we think we know.

I shook my head.

“Not quite as good.”