Kirk's E-mail:  kirkdavis184@yahoo.com

Willy and Deanna have been involved with Ampsurf events.  Ampsurf is short for Association of Amputee Surfers and is non-profit and all volunteer.  www.ampsurf.org  The organization teaches disabled people how to surf, and does its best to sponsor travel for those in need.  The experience is typically life changing for the participants, and inspiring for us volunteers.  Although Ampsurf serves all disabled, they make a special effort to reach veterans.  Willy & Deanna helped in an Pismo Beach clinic, and Willly helped in a San Clemente clinic.

Melanie did her final internship in optometry in Port Hueneme, which is about a 2 hour drive from Pismo Beach. It was nice to have her on our side of the country for a few weeks. We went with her to buy a car, and we enjoyed having her on the weekends. Kirk came from New York to visit while she was here.

Melanie graduated from the State University of New York, College of Optometry.  She now has a full time job in New York.

Willy teaches Jiu-Jitsu classes with Chad at the Gracway Sports Center. Willy has taught security groups and also enjoys training and helping teach at Tibor's MMA Club.

13 Nov 10  Bad Judgement.  Willy's lifetime worst water experience.  With a sailboard that had washed up on the beach, Willy paddled a mile out to surf the big waves left over from the previous weekend’s visit by hurricane Tomas.  No sail, no wax, no leash.  The surf was surprisingly loud at the house, a mile from the reef.  He got a late start and left the house at 17:00.  By 17:30 Willy was out at the reef.  Because it was already dark, thought he would just catch one and go home.  He could hear the big waves in the distance, but could not see them due to being low in the water.  He didn’t want to paddle home in the dark, but …  The first wave came and it was barely overhead. Willy turned and took it, but the wave rolled the board and him. He hung on tight.  The second wave did the same thing.  The third took the board away.  Willy was pulled into surf that was more than double overhead.  By now it was dark.  After a few more poundings Willy saw his board a few yards away, and swam to get on it again.  Two big waves came, and the second one took the board away.  He never saw it again.  It was dark, he was a mile offshore, and was getting boiled in fairly large surf.  He kept trying to work his way in, but wave after wave crashed on him for probably one to two hours.  He could not seem to get in toward shore out of the break.  He couldn’t tell if he was making progress and had just started way outside, or was just in a current circle getting hammered in the same spot.  About ten of the sets were big and violent enough to take him deep and twist his limbs so hard, he was afraid of a significant joint injury. He would struggle so hard to get to the surface that his lungs and arms were burning, and he would surface just before another wave was ready to hit.  He was anxious because the big ones were wearing him down, and he was torn between swimming hard to shore to get out, and saving his energy for the big ones.  He thought he had the energy left for about ten minutes of the big ones. If the size sustained he didn’t think he would make it. Fortunately the big sets would pass and give him time to recover.  At first, he had been in the break for so long he did not think he was making progress out of it and began to think his only hope would be a boat in the morning. Later however the big sets were so draining that it would be hard to last another hour.  Eventually Willy did find myself inside the break and only had an easy 1 mile swim, in the dark, with his bleeding feet that had been cut on the reef.  Willy reached the beach at 21:00, and had a mile walk home.  He had many discussions with our creator out there.  First help, and then thanks!

In retrospect, the problem was very likely the tide.  Willy's timing of getting free of the break corresponded with the change of direction of the tide.  Because there is a shallow reef a mile offshore, Willly thinks that as the tide receeds, all that water between the reef and the shore is pulled out over the reef.  This held Willy in the surf for a very long time.  Willy has surfed breaks close to the beach for over 30 years, and the volume of water between the break and the beach is normally not enoough for the tide to have this effect.  Live and learn!

Deanna came to visit us for the week of Thanksgiving.  Chad and I worked that day.  On Thanksgiving day, Deanna began shopping for dinner in the late afternoon, and had a full dininer with a turkey and everything ready when Chad got done with work later in the evening.  Willy and Chad gave her the island tour.

On Christmas Day, Chad and Willy went to Northwest Point on Providenciales.  We got stuck in the sand and some surfers helped us out. A few minutes later we helped Tanya from our church get her car moving again in the sand. Later that evening, they had a Christmas dinner with Diane and Quinton Higgs.  many others were there from Harvest Bible Church.

Deanna flew to New York between Christmas and New Years, and stayed  with Kirk and Melanie at their new place in New Jersey. She was hoping to make it on to Turks and Caicos but was caught in New York's blizzard and all the airports were shut down.