Surfing Waves

I feel like I need a confessional, so this place will do.

I pick unpopulated spots to surf. I’m shy and fear strangers more than I fear drowning... I know, I know. I wouldn’t have gone if the waves had started as big as they were becoming near the end...

Anyways there were 3 others at the left point. I was alone on the reef. At low tide where the water meets the beach there is a steep drop off. At high tide the water runs over that.

Tide was almost max. I was cold and tired and rode a small one in. It washes you straight to that drop off I mentioned. I failed to notice the giant set behind me.

Picked me and my new board up and threw us on the beach. Undertow dragged us back out to do it again. Back on the beach. Dragged back out, picked up and thrown back on the beach a third time when I finally got my fingers into the sand and crawled out against the undertow, dragging my board.

Dammit. I have some repairs to do. I haven’t been caught in something like that in years. Thought I had learned some sense would have been a hell of a show if anyone had been watching.

a living example of why you shouldnt go alone, and why you check what’s coming when you plan your exit. I’m lucky it’s just chips and scuffs and the board wasn’t snapped in half.

Grr

Glad to hear you are still here to post again, it can happen to,any of us!

I don't think other surfers, still in the water, could've done much to help in that situation. They missed a great show though!

Good to hear nothing serious happened, great story!

yep, shore break. God I hate it. never had your experience but more through luck than anything else - I remember not too long ago surfing a wave and going down and turning up and looking back down for my next turn and realising all I could see in front of me was sand....the wave had reformed and was about to break. Onto the beach.

I dove backwards as hard and as far as I could and some how must have just managed to dive over the back and my board slid through the wave.

But I could have been you. And it was pure luck I was even looking beach-ward rather than along the face of the wave.

kinda like this. But, you know, without the claim (oh, slightly bigger wave)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaH0QwfjPNh ... =kookslams

But shore break makes for some good videos....you certainly arent alone

https://www.instagram.com/p/BanX_WAjsqU ... =kookslams

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba18X_UDb-s ... =kookslams

When I was learning to surf all the guys used to judge you on how you entered and exited the water. On exit I learned to stay upright and kind of run up the shore while the wave pushes from behind. To enter I learned to time it and run toward the ocean and jump over the top of an incoming wave landing either standing or laying on the board. I still do this from time to time but not the standing entry I guess you know how you would have been judged by the boys where I surf. So much to learn about surfing, it's not just riding the board

Two places I go with heavy shore breaks, on bigger days I will sit outside the break until the next set goes thru before going in.

Yup it was a total kook move. Some of those gifs look familiar dtc! Good on you for noticing the beach and avoiding getting smashed. I am going to work harder to keep that from happening again. It’s normally a pretty placid break and let me get careless.

is there a place you could recommend that explains how big a repair job is needed for the severity of the ding? I am thinking of just filling the chips with resin. I am comfortable with fibreglass but I’m not sure it needs that. I can post a picture if anyone wants to share an opinion

Let’s see if this works:
I think this is going to be a bigger repair than I thought.

Nope, I can’t post a pic...

Saw a guy at Lacanau take a 5' drop at high tide onto...well sand, it snapped his SUP in two. It's really embarrassing carrying two pieces of board back through the camp site for all to see!

I’ll try this again

Wow! Nothing like this has happened to me.... yet! Then again, so far I have only surfed two of my local breaks which are kitty cats.

I have to echo - I think this can happen to anyone so don't be so hard on yourself. I also don't think there's anything another surfer could have done to prevent it. Although, I suppose if you were seriously hurt it might be nice to have someone around. But why are you so afraid of strangers? You don't have to talk to them or make buddies. It's helpful to have someone yell "outside!" occasionally.

One time, I started to come in and was somewhat close (not right next to) the jetty, and I didn't notice people fishing. If it weren't for the surfer who paddled over to me to warn me I would have gotten hooked or tangled. There was also someone on the beach who started to come into the water if I needed help. I didn't but it was definitely close. I didn't even know people were allowed to fish there but I think anything goes after labor day.

We all learn from bad experiences, not the good ones. Thankfully you're still here to tell the tale.

Most important question - did you make it on kookslams?

Thanks Rachelle! Oh I’m an introvert. I started surfing with a friend who’s work schedule changed and now we are rarely off at the same time. I don’t know other surfers well and find smalltalk hard. I also get antsy about being judged at lineups. I’ve been surfing seven years but still feel pretty new Thankfully there is no photographic evidence of my ragdoll exit and at least I managed to score a few sweet glides before that happened

Got a quote on the repair. I think I’ll hire him. The first damage on my brand new board deserves more than my limited experience I think.

My suggestion is to spend some time if you can watching other longboarders going in and out of the ocean and see what they do. It might seem like you just need to watch for the wave behind but there may be a better place to exit ie. a part of the beach where you are less likely to get ragdolled. The entry and exit points may change with the tide and conditions.

Yeah, as old man says sometimes the exit point might be down the beach eg a channel where you don’t surf because there aren’t any waves, but that help when you are getting out. But sometimes it’s just trying to get the timing right rather than paddling for shore as fast as possible

Just like paddling out - except the evil waves are looming up from behind you instead of coming face on.

Glad to know you've made out safely! I'm an introvert as well and making small talks very difficult so I totally get that you want to be surfing away from others.Your story was a good reminder to me that I should pay attention even in a familiar environment. On a good side, the dings to your board don't look too bad so it should be ready to hit the water pretty soon I too do most of the repairs by myself but final sanding to make it look pretty is the hardest part for me, so I'm holding out on purchasing a new board because I'd be spending more $ to getting the dings fixed. BTW, I remember reading about you getting this new board. How is it working out?

Thanks, I will keep it all in mind. This break is one of my most frequent spots to go. It’s usually gentle and usually the waves die out at high tide. This was a weird day and my familiarity and complacency got me in trouble.

I have done some fibreglass work and wouldn’t hesitate if this were one of my older boards, but I want this one done right. Would you guys carve out the dings with a utility knife, or just sand and patch? It is just the surface thankfully but it is not watertight.

We have not had many good wave days here since I got this board Saltydog. I had it out over and over in garbage waves getting frustrated and worried I’d made a mistake, but I’ve gotten 3 good days on it and it’s been amazing. Enormously different from my south point. Far less agile, more weight, more glide, more stability... I love it and see it’ll open different doors for me. Not a true nose rider but it’ll allow some crossstepping. If I don’t destroy it first

It looks like photobucket blocked the pic of the nose dings above. I’ll repost it if anyone has thoughts on how they’d repair it

I would sand it down then cut away the broken glass , fill foam defects then use 2 layers of glass applied over that whole area maybe 3 layers cause it is on the nose rail

I might also add a similar couple layers of glass along the other side of the nose rail just to beef it up.