Surfing Waves

Il start by introducing myself here, Im not a surfer but spend a fair bit of my time in the waves none the less and looking for advise from people that are in the water like you guys are.

Ive been doing this for about a year or so now and slowly but surely learning how to jump big surf without breaking bones, been bashed up pretty badly and spent a fair bit of time being pummelled inside waves but not much drama, usually after coming off the ski I may get smashed by the next wave, re surface swim to my ski unflip it, get on start it and go with no major probs.



On the Weekend I had my first taste of what its like to be pounded by breaking surf for what Im guessing was 10 minutes, and I got a new respect for what you guys do out there every weekend, and wondering how you guys manage to survive out there as I nearly drowned twice in the space of 30 minutes jumping my usual location at an offshore reef break here where I live.

Ok I try and keep it as short as possible, but basically I came off my ski in pretty big breaking surf, what I had was clean breaking waves with maybe 2.5 - 3m meter faces, after the wave breaks it creates a secondary wave of foam and white water that I would guess to be head height deep, and that area of white water is quite large. This is the area I was caught in, each time I resurfaced and tried to find my upturned ski the next wave barrelled over either ontop of me or just infront of me, it was as though the ocean would not let me go, after being pummelled inside maybe 8 - 10 of these foam monsters I swear to god I was so exhausted I thought it was all over for me, but somehow eventually got my ski unflipped only to discover the kill switch that my lanyard attaches too had broken off on the reef while the ski was being tossed and I was screwed, with not motor I was flipped over by the next wave and the whole thing started again, this time I was lucky to get out alive, I was rescued by another ski and escaped by the skin of my teeth.

Any tips or advice on how you guys deal with this would be greatly appreciated, as I can only assume its something you have to deal with on a regular basis..



Much appreciated, Jason.

I'll declare a conflict of interest here.
I can't stand jet skis anywhere near where I'm surfing, the smell the noise and the risk to people if they operate near a crowded line up.
Here there is a 300 meter exclusion zone, away from surfers for jet skis in Australia.

But to answer your question a lot of the big wave jet ski guys in fairness go where a lot less surfers go.
Most have come through surfing and have an understanding of the dynamics of big waves, it is good you are asking, too many don't .

The short and most appropriate answer, learn and work with other jet skiers learn the techniques of rescue and wave knowledge from them. There is so much difference between what you are doing and how a board surfer survives in big surf.

Most big wave ski riders work as teams training and practicing until they develop trust in each other and their knowledge.
I guess you and I know it is much more than wet motocross!
.
Now the advice, develop your breathing capacity and ability to remain relaxed and calm under the pummeling , learn to read the waves beyond viewing them as just a jump.
When a big wave has broken there is a penetration depth of aerated water , most watercraft fail zone as,their propulsion encounters cavitation and cannot drive.
Just watch a video on Reef Macintosh at Teahupou and see why I have advised you this way.

Here is the link for that and these are guys that have some experience but they are not jumping big waves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25yXVXbzrjo

I figure since you are asking genuinely that your reef is sort of an area where you and other guys play, cool.
If they had to rescue you and your ski they would probably be happy to share safety tips.

Big answer a little prejudiced , unfortunately

My advice is to learn to body surf in the size of waves you want to jump. If you get to know the waves and surf better you will learn how to survive it better. For a jet ski because it can have mechanical problems you should work with another jet ski for safety. But the size waves you are talking about is something most people could eventually learn how to take the pounding and get out (with a lot of effort and time). You might have a pair of fins tied to you in case you get separated from your ski. But if you can't handle the pounding learn on smaller waves. In the situation you described you were in over your head. Lucky you didn't get killed. To sum it up learn in smaller surf, learn how to take a pounding and get out which includes studying the break and the currents there, have another jet skier looking out for you.

Surf Patrol isn't there a link to dealing with currents also somewhere?

So part of surviving a pounding is knowing the ocean and specifically the area you are in. Before you go out look at the ocean and try to figure out the trouble spots where you will get into bad trouble. Avoid those spots. Read this thing on currents near beaches. sometimes a current can help you get out of a spot but sometimes it only increases the danger.
http://beachsafe.org.au/surf-ed/ripcurrents

To be fair, surfing is often a bit easier in this situation because once you hop back on your board, if things are bad, you can just hold onto the board and let the white water wash you in.

There's a phrase in surfing, "If you can't get there, you shouldn't be there", meaning that if you can't paddle in and out of a zone then you're not good enough to be there - fortunately, for surfers paddling out to a break (or beachbreaks at least), then the ocean will usually enforce this rule well before you get to the really dangerous zone.

Jetskis, on the other hand, can fly out to any spot in the ocean, blissfully unaware of the power involved.

So if you want to learn how to handle big surf, get off your jetski and give surfing a go.

Thanks to everyone, I think fitness is the main factor that's got me into trouble here, I'm 42 and been smoking for many years, it's been a big wake up call.

Good call there Jason.
I'll be 65 in a couple of months, I can go out and handle pretty big stuff, but I also have the fitness and awareness to get myself in and out of trouble. I also know my personal limits.

On a jet ski a person with little or no awareness can speed themselves into a life threatening situation.

We see people in all sorts of inappropriate boats and things going out to sea oblivious of the unsuitability of their craft at least once or twice there are avoidable drownings near our break.
Occasionally local surfers have to either perform a rescue or retrieve a body.
Not a nice activity.
My advice go for it but and enjoy it but know you've backed yourself by being prepared and knowledgeable to handle as big as your endophins need.

Knowing your limits is the key. I must be pretty good at that since I am still alive Part of that is knowing the surf and the dangers it provides. At a break you are not familiar with the risk will be greater because it will be more difficult to know your limits. If you are completely free and caught in a huge ocean at many spots you cans swim completely under the wave by going all the way to the bottom and waiting for the wave to pass over you then come back up. At most breaks you have at least a foot of undisturbed water all the way down at the bottom except where the lip hits (so you don't want to be there). So theoretically you can just swim down and wait for the wave to pass over you then back up and take a breath and repeat. If you panic or aren't in shape this won't work well. Panic is not a good thing, it causes you to make unwise decisions and increases your need for oxygen. One thing I found when I re-started surfing recently was that when I got held down for just a few seconds I panicked something I never did in all my time in the ocean except when I was a child. I started hiking as exercise on the days when I couldn't surf and found this exercise helped me not panic. I think that during my hikes I was winded for a prolonged period of time and this got me used to being without enough oxygen. Yeah so getting in better shape should help you.

Gonna try attach some fins to myself somehow in future, I think the fear alone will make me think more about where I don't want to fall in, reality though is it's going to happen from time to time and I have to learn how to deal with the situation, gonna spend some time in water in smaller surf to get used to being held under, panic did get me, think what got me was how it was again and again and again, think towards the end I'd given up mentally

Think the thing that's shaken me up the most is that I gave up and put my hands up in the air for assistance, it was just a case of get me out of these breakers right now, did not care about my ski being tossed around, just had to get out of the breakers and get my xxxxx together, did not have anything left in reserve, down to zero.

You survived that is a good start, and you are reviewing how you got to that situation and beginning to think about how to do it differently, seeking advice, so it will be different.
Chuck the smokes out too, take your life on with lungfuls of good air from healthy lungs.

If the water is deep enough you can just let the whitewater pound you over and over. You may not want to do this in breaks that break outside of and push you over a shallow reef but then again it depends on your choices. Each wave will take you closer to the shore.......if that is where you want to go. So if you just relax and let the waves pound you, you will get closer and closer to the shore (till the whitewater weakens and the current is stronger). Back when I surfed larger waves I usually did that. I had to anyway since my board was inside and I had to go retrieve it. Once I was inside a ways I would swim between the waves and try to catch them (I am a pretty decent swimmer). If you had some fins it would be easier.

Not sure if this will work but this is a vid of where I was, you can see the way the white water moves after the waves break at 20 sec.



This is me there a while ago at the Alkimos reef, was quite a while ago when I did not know how to jump properly, but it give you an idea where I was, I was landing too flat and broke my nose pretty badly in this vid, hurt like hell.

I am not sure how shallow it is there. I would probably enjoy surfing those waves, could maybe bodysurf with no fins in waves like that only not sure how the wetsuit might hinder or help. Ouch.

About 5 - 10 minutes after we arrived there were some standup surfers who jumped into a boat and disappeard, did not think much about it until next day it was reported 5.5 m shark sited at Alkimos reef, I think the guys in the boat must have seen the shark and got there mates onboard and left, exactly the same time I went into the water, all my shins were bleeding from the reef, I think some areas you can stand up on the reef, but not for long until the next wave comes and bowls you over.

So learning where the reef is shallow would be key in keeping yourself safer at that break. Also learning the currents would help. You don't need much water to body surf over a reef. A foot of water is fine