Two guys I knew in Biloxi, Rob & Ray, were from the Seattle area and had come to Biloxi to work in the casinos.
They were surfing down in NW Oregon with three other friends at dusk. Ray had a long board and was catching the last wave he was going to surf for the evening. As he started paddling with his arms he hit something, turned his head and was face to face with a giant great white shark. He said it shocked him so bad he was paralyzed with fear, everything went into slow motion.
The long-board he was on seemed to stay right up against the shark as he picked up speed sliding down the wave. His hand gripping the board was pressing against the side of the sharks head. He could feel the pectoral fin under the board and his fingers hanging onto the board were touching the fin too. He said it slid along beside him face to face for about 50 yards then disappeared.
He rode the wave as far as possible and could hear a couple of the friends yelling their heads off, they had seen the whole encounter with the shark.
Ray said he was glad they saw the shark because no-one would have believed his story about how big it was.
He never surfed on the west coast again.
Rob didn't see anything.
Last edited by ol_mike; 07/31/22.
