It was on a dive at Christmas Tree Cove at Palos Verdes Estates that Bob and I went through a memorable event. He had been boning up on the legal fish we could take, bag limits, etc., and had his fishing license in hand, and was ready to try spearfishing. It was on a return from a foray into the shallow waters of the cove that he encountered an extra large wave just as he was exiting the water. He was tossed off-balance, and the tip of the speargun he was carrying jammed into his inner thigh. He looked down and saw the blood gushing out of the hole in his wet suit, and knew he had to deal with the situation immediately. Now on the shore, he signaled me to get out of the water and to come and help him. I scrambled onto the shore and came to his aid. He had already taken measures to staunch the flow of blood, and he patiently explained to me what had happened, and that he would need help to get up the steep slope (about 170 feet up), to get to the car, parked on Paseo Del Mar. I was panicking, and I urged him to let me find a phone and call 911 to get an ambulance, but Bob insisted that he could handle the wound if I could get him and the gear up the cliff to the car. The next 15 minutes were hectic, hauling his gear and my gear up the trail, and then helping Bob to hobble up to Paseo Del Mar. Once in the car and on the road, Bob explained to me that he wanted to go to Dr. Sakaguchi's office. Apparently, Dr. Sakaguchi was the Witkop family doctor. But we were in Palos Verdes Estates, and Dr. Sakaguchi's office was in Pacoima, many miles away. Bob convinced me that he had a tourniquet and a small rock strategically placed so that his bleeding would be minimal, so I wasted no time driving him to Dr. Sakaguchi's office. The Dr. said that Bob had nicked his femoral artery, but that it would heal up properly, which eased our minds considerably. If I remember correctly, after that event, Bob switched to the somewhat less powerful, but perhaps safer arbolete pole spear, which many of us used. That spear has proven to be safer to use. – Gene Montgomery (regarding a particularly memorable dive in the 1970's)
