As I have heard them defined, "dumpers" are the waves that crash on short, steep beaches. They suddenly rise up and break right at the beach, with very little warning. There is very little chance to place yourself on the wave, as it suddenly just appears under the hull, and boom! there you are, on the beach, probably soaking wet. I survived one landing like this, due more to good luck than good management, although having the gear firmly lashed into the bottom of the open canoe probably helped prevent capsize. For longer beaches, I like to try and ride the back of the wave into the break. The wave crashes under the hull, and cushions the drop, then we jump out into the foam and haul ashore. Works great with open canoes, but is tougher with a kayak, as it is harder to scramble out, with skirts and all. Obviously, I am not talking about huge waves here, just little ones that lump up to about 2-3 ft as they crash. I don't want to try landing in anything bigger, thank you! The technique is to wait just outside the break, until the bow rises, then paddle like mad to stay there as you head to the beach. It is good fun, and not terribly exciting if done right. Riding the front of the wave often causes a broach. With great bracing skills, this can be turned into a sidesurf, otherwise, it will be a very messy capsize in the foam right on the beach. Sidesurfing an open boat is not recommended! The boat fills and sinks as the wave breaks over it. If the boat doesn't broach, then it can turn into a partial pitchpole - one that stops when boat hits the bottom. I would love to know how our ancestors managed to get open boats on and off beaches with surf. There were several entire economies based on being able to launch and land small open boats loaded with fish on surf beaches, both in the US and in Britain. Some of the boats were quite large, as long as 30 ft or so. Rob. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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