The six surfers at South Beach last Tuesday had plenty of experience. Weather and ocean patterns from Alaska slam into the unsheltered expanse of coast, creating a crashing shore break and an adrenaline rush. But experience didn’t protect Adam Neale, an Inverness Park resident, that day. “Adam’s one of the best surfers out there, and he can really milk a wave for all it’s worth,” said Shawn Collins, a friend of 10 years from Inverness who was surfing with Mr. Neale that afternoon. “He just rides forever. He’ll just vanish and you never really think much about it.” That’s why no one noticed when Mr. Neale’s board slammed into his jaw, knocking him unconscious. His friends found him face down in the surf, face and lips blue. They struggled to pull him ashore and tried their hand at CPR, coached by a 911 dispatcher. By the time park rangers and sheriff’s deputies arrived, Mr. Neale’s lungs had been full of water for half an hour. His surfing buddies say his survival was a miracle. “I don’t remember much from the experience save my friends pleading with me to not die,” Mr. Neale said. “I remember feeling like I had to really dig deep to stay alive.” As fellow surfers Enzo Buckenmeyer and Lewis Samuels performed compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Mr. Neale, Mr. Collins stood watch on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, hoping the emergency vehicles wouldn’t miss the turn and plotting the most direct path through the ice plant that would take them to the spot on the beach where his friend had drifted. He called 911 a second time out of desperation. “That was the longest period of my life,” he said. After 20 minutes, emergency responders arrived and got Mr. Neale breathing again. As the Henry One helicopter touched down to airlift Mr. Neale to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Mr. Collins had to call his friend’s wife, Megan Neale, to tell her the news. Mr. Neale spent a day in the hospital, and said he’s still exhausted from the experience. Without cell reception to call 911, his friends agreed, he likely wouldn’t have survived. Mr. Collins said on Drakes Bay, or at Kehoe Beach, where cell phones don’t get a signal, his friend might not have been so lucky. A planned AT&T cell tower near the Point Reyes Lighthouse will expand service on the outer reaches of the seashore, but not for customers of other cell companies. Park rangers are planning to install four new beach safety stations at North and South Beaches, each equipped with rescue sticks, tourniquets and flotation devices. The rescue equipment could help bystanders rescue swimmers and surfers in an area where it often takes many minutes for emergency responders to arrive. Still, Mr. Collins said cell service is the most important factor in severe situations like Mr. Neale’s near drowning. “None of that stuff is really helpful if you can’t call a helicopter to come out,” he said. The incident came a day after another near drowning in the area. On July 4, solar entrepreneur Tom Dinwoodie was swimming near the boathouse he owns on Tomales Bay when he was accidentally struck by a passing motorboat. The boater, an Inverness Yacht Club member, pulled Mr. Dinwoodie in with a rope and brought him to the club’s dock, where first responders performed CPR and restored a pulse. He was lifted to Santa Rosa Memorial by a California Highway Patrol helicopter. Mr. Dinwoodie’s nephew, James Dinwoodie, said his uncle sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury and had been in an induced coma until late last week. He is still hospitalized but is breathing on his own and communicating. He has a “fighting chance” of making a full recovery, his nephew said. Mr. Dinwoodie was swimming outside of any clearly demarcated swimming areas. But even at popular swimming spots like Shell Beach, buoys have disappeared, and boats are not altogether barred, alarming some regular swimmers.