Dusty Payne Slices Knee

During a late, stormy surf at Chopes this afternoon, Dusty Payne gashed his knee open. “It was just starting to get dark,” said the Hawaiian, “And I thought to myself, I should probably go in before I get hurt. My next wave looked like a good one, or so I thought. I made the take-off, did one pump and it turned out to be a west peak. The next thing I knew, I was getting rag-dolled over the reef. When I came up all I could feel was pain in my leg, and Belly from Quiksilver rushed me in on his ski. The docs here are amazing. This is better than being in hospital.” Roommate Cory Lopez stopped by to take Dusty’s dinner order – a solid helping of poison cru (a Tahitian specialty, better than it sounds) and rice. Freddie Patacchia later picked Dusty up in their rental car, under strict doctors’ orders to keep off his feet for the next few hours. He had approximately 14 stitches. The cut was just under his knee joint which, apparently, is way less serious than if it’d been on the joint. Whether or not this’ll affect Dusty’s involvement in the event remains to be seen. But knowing him, it probably won’t.