From: "Kevin Whilden" <kevin_at_yourplanetearth.org> > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Michael Daly" <michaeldaly_at_rogers.com> > > > Are you talking about river standing waves or non-breaking ocean waves? > > I was thinking only of ocean waves (I guess I should have mentioned that.) > > River waves get lots of velocity from the drops that aren't available > > in an ocean wave (open ocean, let's not get into tidal stuff). > > I was talking about both, though it might be tough to sustain an hour long > surf on an ocean wave. But it doesn't matter at all to the surfer. The > only difference will be that on an ocean wave, the surfer will move over the > ground, while on the river, the surfer will stay in one place relative to > the ground. But he or she will still be surfing! On re-reading, and seeing Nick's comments, I think you are misinterpreting what I wrote a tad. When I said "In general, however, you can't sustain this motion without adding some paddle power", I was specifically including all waves. You're pointing out the case of a relatively large, steep wave. Most smaller waves can't generate enough force to keep you going, as you state in your definition of surfing. In that case, which I have experienced many, many times, extending your ride means paddling to get back into the sweet spot on the wave. The kind of waves I get locally (read: _good_ waves!) can give me a ride of up to perhaps a hundred meters (WAG, not measured) or a football field, with occasional paddle strokes to stay in place. After that, I loose it and can't paddle hard enough to keep up, so I wait for the next one. Breaking waves are practically non-existant, as the beaches are too short and steep to get good surf, just dumping surf and the ride ends in rock rather than sand! The few ocean waves, non-breaking, that I've surfed (Nova Scotia Eastern Shore) were bigger than anything I've had locally, but so long in wavelength that the slope is not conducive to a long ride - not enough power. A sustained ride needs enough slope to generate velocity, as you state in your definition. If you want to plane, the wave speed must comfortably exceed the kayak's hull speed in order to stay with you. Otherwise you either won't plane or you'll plane off the wave into the trough ahead and loose speed. Around here, wave speeds tend to be slow; I can often paddle faster than the small waves, hence planing isn't a consideration. One key point I was trying to make in the original post was the difference in breaking and non-breaking waves in that one features gravity induced speed and the other features a rapid downhill flow of water on the face as well. I wonder if this could be the difference between planing and surfing (though surfers and others ignore the difference). Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jan 19 2002 - 11:33:53 PST
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