"Joyce, Thomas F." wrote: > Great 10 points, Doug, but you don't mention landability as being influenced by the periodicity of the surf. Here in the Great Lakes, we often get surf from waves in close succession, say, one every two seconds. When even three and four foot waves break that fast, landing or launching becomes challenging. By contrast, going through similar amplitude but longer period waves is easier because you have time to recover before getting whacked again. So, if possible, gauge not only how big the waves are but how fast they are coming on. > > TFJ > > ------------------------------------------ Absolutely. I stayed away from certain aspects, like wave periodicity, wave velocity (also called "celerity"), how close together the individual waves are and their respective steepness, undertow, and high versus low tide effects (and wearing PFD's so we don't get that thread going again!). A good paddler understands the implications regarding the steepness of the sea, the degree of energy that the waves contain, and wave period. Geography plays into the equation, but I've found living where I do, that the open coast juxtaposed to inland waters gives me a variety of surf to train in. And you are right, close succession waves are a pain. Large close-succession waves, I consider, are very dangerous and difficult. The energy in a wave is proportional to the square of the wave's height. A four-foot sea contains 16 times the energy of a one-foot sea. Add in a factor of almost no recovery time and landing or launching becomes challenging indeed -- in shore-dumping waves especially. The other thing this brings up is terminology. To my way of thinking, a _dumping wave_ breaks suddenly on shore, throwing you and your boat downward with incredible force. All other waves normally fall into two other general categories: plunging waves and spilling waves. As the crest of the plunging wave breaks and spills forth in front of the main body of the wave, it causes a curl (or what surfers call a tube). These waves are also very hazardous to land through or launch through. They occur near-shore and further out. Basically, to me, a _plunging wave_ is one that happens in water a bit deeper or a lot deeper than a shore-dumper. Spilling waves I like, and normally I can find those on sandy shorelines and bays where there is a gently sloping sea floor. One other "water-meeting-land" condition I find difficult to land in, are surge waves. Surging waves more often that not, do not break. But very steep beaches where the sea floor slopes dramatically can produce a substantial surge of water up the shore. Timing is critical, especially one's exit from the cockpit. If you think backwash from other type of surf landings can cause ungraceful landings, surge-wave landing can be hilarious to watch (to the rest watching the first guy going in, anyway). If you step backwards into deeper water as your kayak is sucked back to sea, you can be up to your head in a second or two. There is a potential of loosing your boat, or worse. A short WW kayak or a sea kayak with a rounded hull and full ends can be easier to land and maneuver through various surf types than a narrow kayak with finer lined ends, as there isn't much for turbulent water to yank on as it sheds water more easily. However, I find the opposite true for exiting turbulent surf. Anyway. I feel like crud this weekend, so BFN. DL *************************************************************************** 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 Sun May 12 2002 - 23:01:39 PDT
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