[Paddlewise] Surf Spanking!

Paddlewisers,

With surf in the 5-7 foot range, I canceled my plans for a coastal paddle to 
go surfing at San Onofre State Beach instead.  Surf in the 5-7 foot range is 
larger than I like, but I went anyway because it was my first chance to go 
surfing in a while due the surf being too small lately thanks to La Nina 
making for a mild winter here in Southern California.  I met up with a couple 
of surf kayaking friends on the beach, Marie Humphrey and Mike Vest, and we 
went out into the large surf.

The waves were breaking all the way from the beach to 1/4 mile out, and they 
were stormy, meaning that they were coming in quickly one after the other 
with very little interval between them.

I paddled a ways out and had a lull in the surf, which ended up being too 
brief.  Paddling out through the breakers was tiring, and just when I thought 
I was outside, I saw a large set that was going to break even farther out.  
To try to get safely inside, I paddled hard to catch a wave that was rolling 
under me, but I was in the wrong position and missed it.  I should've kept 
paddling towards the beach, but I turned around a paddled out like crazy.  A 
smaller wave between me and the large set on the outside blocked my view of 
the set for a moment.  As I crested that wave, I didn't like what I saw 
before me.

It was going to be close, so I stayed aggressive and kept paddling out like 
crazy.  A second or two later, the top of the wave was teetering above me, 
and I knew it was going to break right on me.  I realized then just hard I 
was breathing from the exertion of paddling hard, and I doubted that I had 
enough air to make it through the pounding of this wave.  I have been pounded 
by larger waves, but never when I was so out of breath.

I kept paddling and just before the wave broke on me, I rolled under to let 
the bottom of my surf kayak, an Alamax, take the beating rather than my body. 
 This rolling under technique worked pretty well for me in the past in a long 
sea kayak, but in my short white water and surf kayaks, I was always tossed, 
which was what I expected this time.  Needless to say, I was tossed, and 
cartwheeled, and flipped, and pried from my tucked forward position to the 
back deck a couple of times.  And yes, I was out of air, very!

I didn't even get a chance to use my bombproof roll.  I was waiting for 
everything to calm down so I could roll, but things weren't slowing down.  I 
wish I could say that I was sucked out of the cockpit, but I wasn't.  The 
call for air was strong, so I became a squirming hatch blower.  Not long 
after getting out of the boat, I surfaced and gasped for precious air while 
still in the white water.

When things calmed down, I had my paddle in one hand and the kayak was a few 
feet away.  I did a quick paddle swim to the kayak and grabbed the bow strap 
just before another large wave broke on me.  That wave ripped the kayak out 
of my hand, and when I surfaced, the kayak was gone, along with my plans to 
do a re-entry and roll, and pump out the water with the pump I kept in the 
kayak.

I had a long 1/4 mile swim ahead of me through surf, rip currents and a 
current pushing me fast down the coast.  I knew I was going to stay warm in 
my full wetsuit and stay afloat in my PFD, and I had the paddle to make 
swimming faster, but despite pacing myself and taking short breaks, I was 
tiring quickly.  When I was about halfway in, I was glad to see that Marie 
and Mike spotted me.  Marie came to me, while Mike herded up the kayak.  I 
pulled myself up onto the back deck of Marie's white water kayak, and she 
towed me towards where Mike had my kayak.  But the towing was slow.  Having 
towed swimmers in rescues myself, I knew it was slow and tiring.  Marie grew 
tired but kept at it and did a great job.  When we reached where Mike was 
with my kayak, we were about 40 yards off the beach and, thanks to the 
current, a half mile down the beach and in front of the nuclear power plant.

As Marie and I positioned the boats for a side rescue, we saw a large 
breaking wave coming down on us, and we quickly dispersed.  When I surfaced, 
I saw Marie get side surfed all the way to the beach and hit the boulders at 
the waters edge with her kayak, but she was OK.

I still had a hold of the kayak and kept swimming it in, until the nasty 
beach break that was repeatedly pounding me ripped it from my hands.  I did 
the paddle swim on in while watching my plastic (thank goodness) kayak 
getting cartwheeled repeatedly in the beach break.

Getting the kayak onto the beach was no easy task.  Despite air bags in the 
front and back, it was full of sand and water, and felt like it weighed a 
ton.  Repeatedly, as the waves washed the kayak up on the beach, I tried to 
grab a hold of it, tip it over to get the water out, and drag it up the beach 
to safety, but the waves washing back down the beach pulled it back out, and 
I ended up watching my kayak do cartwheels again.  Mike landed, and together, 
he and I were able to wrestle the kayak down, tip it over to drain the water 
out, and carry it up the beach.

I was never so exhausted in my life.

After rehydrating and resting about a half hour, I went back out into the 
surf to regain lost confidence.  However, I rode only the smaller waves on 
the inside, because I was too tired to risk another long swim.

Thank you, Marie and Mike, for the rescue!

By the way, Mike ended up having a worse day than me.  Later during a 
landing, he side surfed into a concrete pole, which put a huge dent in the 
hull of his plastic white water kayak, and during the incident, he let go of 
his paddle and never saw it again.

What a day in the surf at San O'!

Duane Strosaker
Who for a while will have
to change his motto from
"Roll or Drown" to "Got Spanked"!
 <A HREF="http://members.aol.com/pirateseakayaker/index.html">Pirate Sea 
Kayaker</A> 




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