Re: [Paddlewise] X-mas Eve in the Surf

Duane said:

The forecast that day was actually 4-6 feet, max. 8 feet, but the beach
we
surfed at didn't face the direction of the swell directly, so we weren't

getting any of those 8 footers that day.  You are right about the
advisories
for the surf.  The day we surfed was actually the small day between some

larger days.  Generally, I don't kayak surf in anything more than 4-6
feet.
The guys who kayak surf every weekend love the bigger stuff, but I surf
only
about 1-2 times per month.  I am just not out there enough to be good at

avoiding the beatings and be use to taking them in those bigger waves.

Thanks for the update and the honesty regarding conditions you surf in.
It kind of ties in to the discussion a few weeks ago about experts and
intermediate paddlers, and differences thereof. I know the guys who
river kayak in the bigger stuff, only do so if sufficiently "dialed in".
In order to get that way, they usually need to be practicing a couple of
days a week. The same is true for big wave surfing; you need to be up to
the challenge and willing to face the pounding. I know a river paddler
who is at the expert skill level, but will not run Class V out of the
blue, if he hasn't prepared himself. If he hasn't run anything hairy for
a while and got keyed up physically and technically, he will not run it.
That doesn't mean he isn't an expert Class V paddler, it just means he
not willing to run them at that particular juncture.

I know I've headed out when a big surf has come up or a sudden gale, but
it was during times of relative inactivity in my paddling career. You
usually know when and when you shouldn't be out there for given
conditions. Hope this all makes sense.

BTW -- let us all know how you make out with your strip-built surf
kayak. I plan to build my own surf kayak soon, and would like to hear
back about your dimensions and performance characteristics. A few months
ago you mentioned to the list that about 14 feet was what you intended
to make it at, with a high bow for getting out through the surf. One of
my questions is what is the ideal length for surfing. 14 feet sounds
kind of long. I don't know how steep your waves are and what the period
is, but around here, anything over 8 feet for kayak length doesn't surf
down a wave face very well (that's why most kayak surfers use short
river boats with flat bottomed hulls and chines for carving turns). I
can't stand anything off the shelf, however.

When I build my dream surf/storm kayak, I plan on carving an
exactly-sized-to-my-body form out of large styrofoam blocks glued
together, then wrap it with cloth impregnated epoxy. This will give me a
truly bombproof kayak with no seams to split, no wood to splinter, yet
at the fraction of the cost of a plastic kayak which also has a life
span relatively short to an epoxy boat. A continuos wrap should create a
stiff kayak too, which I like. It will require a bit of finish work to
smooth out the surface after "lay-up", in order to get it paint ready.
Most glass kayaks come out of a mold, but this one will be a bit rough
prior to prep and paint.

The methodology for cockpit creation is relatively straightforward,
involving the use of acetone which you pour into a hole at the top of
the kayak, which melts away the foam. By tilting the kayak toward the
bow, you eventually end up with an area for your legs. The kayak then,
will not require airbags, seat, foot braces, etc. The only week link
will be the cockpit coaming (and the most difficult part of the
fabrication.l It will, however, be homogenous kayak, tough as nails, and
ready for hard-core use. I figure I have a decade left for subjecting my
body to further punishment, and would like a kayak that stands up. As
reported in a previous post, I split my last surf/river kayak in half,
in the surf. Epoxy rules, dude!

DL



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