Well I made it back alive! Actually the weather forecasters over predicted on these storms and it wasn't that bad. We had a good amount of sunshine. Saturday it rained almost all night and we had some gusty winds but it wasn't horrible. Had a great weekend we practiced all different rescues, paddle float, T rescue (I'll bet that is nearly impossible in rough water, assisted, assisted rolls... phew all those rescues in chop are strenuous I am sore all over today. Doing rescues in the wind is great practice and it teaches you to hold on to your boat; the cold water is incentive to do it fast. We practiced towing into the wind, boy was that a drag. We also did some on land clinics such as map and compass, knots, rescue and repair equipment, we even made bread in the evening. I wish we had reviewed the proper protocol on a vhf radio. Sunday I worked on all my strokes, forward and reverse sweep, bow draw, sculling, bracing. I knew most those strokes but the critique was invaluable and I improved my technique tremendously. We didn't get a chance to do surf practice. I have done surf clinic with them before and they are reluctant to teach side surfing. They teach you to back paddle on a crest of a wave and come in on the trough. That method is extremely exhausting, I was wonder what you folks do in the surf seems like I see lots of folks side surfing in. Any suggestions or thoughts... does coming in with a loaded kayak require different technique than an empty one? Oh yeah I did one really stupid human trick, I forgot my tent :-( I had a big nylon tarp which I pitched low and managed to stay dry. From now on my spare tent will live in my van. I had my tent packed and ready to go but somehow it never appeared in my van, must have been the trolls. Thanks again for your encouragement it was a great weekend. Now I need a little recovery time. -- MZ visit my website: http://www.mzuschlag.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Mary Zuschlag wrote: - >They teach you to back paddle on a crest >of a wave and come in on the trough. That >method is extremely exhausting, I was wonder >what you folks do in the surf seems like >I see lots of folks side surfing in. >Any suggestions or thoughts... G'Day and congratulations on the practice session Mary, sounded great. Re landing through surf, I'm no expert but the method you described seems safest to me, for a beach with unknown obstacles including the possibility of swimmers that the kayaker may not be aware of. Although the other surfing skills are very worthwhile. A bit surprised you found the method exhausting. For me sidesurfing takes the most effort, although its fun. I'm starting to learn that side surfing a sea kayak makes it hard/impossible to control where you might land. And if there are rocks, or worse still a swimmer in the way - disaster!! Regular surfing seems a bit safer than side surfing. Though I would never do this if there were any possibility of swimmers around. It may be more controllable but often finishes in a side surf. Depending on the size of the wave it may be possible to go back out again over the wave immediately after broaching and avoid the risk of hitting a rock. Some people advocate coming in backwards through the surf but I've seen this turn into backward surfing and although a legitimate skill it seems foolhardy on a beach with unknown obstacles or the possibility of swimmers. A few of my kayak surfing mates have their fibreglass boats in a 'jigsaw' configuration through ambitious and enthusiastic surfing. I admire their courage, if not their bank balance, but would prefer to use a plastic boat for that kind of thing:~) All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
G'day, Following on my last email. On a couple of occasions, through lack of care and attention, I've been trashed and rolled amongst rocks or at the beach edge and wondering why on earth I hadn't broken my neck or severely bruised my back. My boat has an markedly upturned stern and bow and I think they have acted in the same way a roll bar does on a car. It wasn't designed for this purpose but I'm very glad its there, but it won't always save the day! And one of the morals is to lean forward and close to the deck if about to be trashed or hit by a big wave. This is also very important when going out through big waves. Have you ever tried to lean right back on to the rear deck of your boat? If you can't then imagine what it would be like to be forced back by a large wave. I expect just about everyone who plays in the surf knows this but its worth repeating - it has to be reflexive. One of the most useful things I've been told with surfing is to be prepared to roll under an oversized oncoming wave. Its also supposed to be useful as a means of slowing down in the unconscionable/intolerable/should-never-happen circumstance of being about to hit another kayaker or swimmer. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Mary, I don't have a lot of experience kayak surfing. However, I am amazed that your session leaders did not emphasize side-surfing. In the usual long, narrow sea kayak, that is the stable position on a wave ... so that is where you will end up if a wave catches you. Consequently, it is important to know how to handle it. Side-surfing is fun, and once you learn how to safely brace into the wave, very controllable and relatively easy to use to get in ... in __small__ surf. Caveat: it takes a ruggedly built sea kayak to handle waves of any size. Many layups are so light that they will get trashed in 6-foot surf, especially dumping surf. (Don't ask me how I know this.) OTOH, my Pygmy Osprey STd, made of wood and glassed insode and out, is pretty stout, and I think it would fare much better. Doug Lloyd can tell us how to reinforce a kayak for large surf. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Dave said: >>Mary, I don't have a lot of experience kayak surfing. However, I am amazed that your session leaders did not emphasize side-surfing.<< Good side-surfing technique includes the ability to move the bow seaward or the stern seaward. I will often pivot coming in sideways to punch out before being carried too far back into the soup zone where you expand too much energy punching back out repeatedly (recreational surfing situation). On a trip, you just want to get your kayak and gear to shore safely. It would be interesting indeed to talk to Chris Duff about some of this stuff. I hope his new book will have some technical content, and not overly cater to only the unwashed, outdoor-book reader. >>In Caveat: it takes a ruggedly built sea kayak to handle waves of any size....snip....Doug Lloyd can tell us how to reinforce a kayak for large surf.<< I'll restrict myself to keeping comments real, relevant, and only a bit radical. FG kayaks are usually made in two halves and thus, there's your weak link. I know of few manufactures who truly address this issue. Not even the Brits. It is my OPINION that most surf-related damage occurs from buckling. Buckling is mitigated with truly adequate seam reinforcing, all things being equal. Of course, they never are; but accept my proposition with at least a degree of positive energy, as I speak from experience and live-fire battle damage. The importance of seams is a bit of a controversial issue. http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/43/seams.html Doug Lloyd Victoria BC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ "Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said clearly should not be said at all." Ludwig Wittgenstein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ *************************************************************************** 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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