Swept out to sea after a day of surfing at Surfside Beach on Thursday, John Baker had spent more than 13 hours in the water by 2 a.m. Friday. The 61-year-old tried to head back to shore but the strong currents and wind repeatedly swept him back out. He had waved and yelled at a passing boat, but the skipper hadn't seen him. 'I have only a few hours left,' the retired Coast Guard officer and veterinarian thought to himself, as he battled 2- to 4-foot swells and tried to keep his body warm. Swept farther and farther out into the Gulf of Mexico, he saw bright lights a drilling platform. As he battled sea swells and paddled forward, Baker was cold and shivering. It was about 55 degrees outside. He had to make it to that platform. Baker, from The Woodlands, has always been a bit of an adventurer. He learned to surf as a boy, and later decided to join the military. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as an officer, leaving the service only to attend veterinary school in the 1970s. Baker started working as a veterinarian, plying his trade in several area clinics until his retirement a few years ago. That's when he decided it was time to relax play a little poker and do a lot of surfing. Surfside Beach, a pretty beach town about an hour away from Houston, long ago became one of his favorite haunts. 'He goes down there whenever the waves are decent,' said his wife, Geneva. 'He loves it there.' Baker headed to the beach at about noon Thursday. He called his wife and slipped into the water. The seas were rough. 'But when it gets like that, that's perfect weather for surfers,' said Surfside Beach Mayor Larry Davison, who is also the owner of a popular surf shop. Locals know the waves' danger firsthand. Randy Smith, who runs the town's police and EMS service, remembers last year when a surfer was found alive after two hours of searching. Smith also remembers a person two years ago, lost at sea and later found dead. Geneva Baker became fearful when her husband didn't answer phone calls Thursday evening. She told a friend, and together they contacted authorities at about 10 p.m. A Jeep, but no driver They headed for Surfside Beach, where Smith had already marshaled personnel and started a search. Authorities found Baker's 2006 Jeep Liberty, but they didn't find the man. Smith called the Coast Guard, which dispatched a helicopter to comb the seas for Baker. But the surfer was nowhere to be found. Though Baker had undergone survival training in the Coast Guard and was an expert surfer, officials knew there was a good chance he'd be found dead, somewhere in the pounding, stormy Gulf of Mexico. Baker finally reached the platform, grasping a rope and then a ladder. He climbed onto the rig and yelled out, then pounded on doors. He finally awoke two workers on the platform, known as Brazos 376A and owned by the Houston-based Hilcorp Energy. Les Huddleston, a contract worker, saw Baker quivering and pale. The surfer's voice shook as he tried to explain what happened. Huddleston and his co-worker gave Baker food, warm clothes and a blanket. They asked if he was OK and gave him medicine for some minor wounds scraped feet, reddened eyes and a sunburn. And they let Baker use a satellite phone to call his wife on shore. Geneva Baker still remembers seeing the strange number on the cell phone, answering and hearing her husband's voice as if he were back from the dead. 'Are you looking for me?' he asked. The Coast Guard offered to send a boat to pick Baker up, but he didn't want sailors to have to cut through the dangerous waters. He accepted, though, when Hilcorp offered to have a helicopter fly him back to land. Time to reflect The copter landed at about 8 a.m. Friday at a helipad in Palacios. After a tearful reunion and a long hug, the Bakers made the drive back home to The Woodlands. There, Baker reflected on his ordeal. He had surfed too far out to sea on Thursday afternoon and got caught in the churning water. The wind and rip currents kept pushing him farther and farther out into the Gulf. 'It's like having a car wreck. I'm not afraid of surfing, but I made a bad decision,' he said. With all he went through, Baker marveled, he hadn't even managed to catch a wave on his surfboard. moises.mendoza@chron.com 