Cayton bay & technique

[Cowabungadude]

Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum and have a question about the location above. I didn't post this in the location section as I have some other general questions to go with it. I'm still a beginner been surfing for about 18 months but because I live in Chesterfield I don't get to go that often. I last went at the end of November to Cayton bay.

I had mixed feelings about this surf due to the first time in the cold (which was fantastic by the way) however I went on offshore winds at 18mph and 5-6ft swells apparently perfect conditions. However when I arrived the waves were extremely strong and frequent I found it difficult to get passed a certain depth, probably because I'm still new and not as fit as I probably could be. I was just wondering if people surf at this location regularly if there are ever conditions here where the waves are a little less frequent and strong but are big enough for a beginner to ride the green. Hope I'm making sense if not I apologise I go alone and don't know anyone that surfs so I'm just taking it one step at a time. I'm at the stage where I've bought my first board, NSP 5'8 fish and I actually really enjoyed it and did catch waves. I'm trying to learn to turn but because of the frequency and strength in those waves in my last visit it left me quite frustrated as I didn't get what I wanted out of it.

Can anyone give me any tips please? I'd appreciate it immensely !

Thanks
Mat

[oldmansurfer]

It's very common for beginners to have trouble getting out through the surf. Most often beginners try to just paddle directly out to where they want to surf or they may try to take the same path as others who have more skills and are better paddlers than them. So what you really want to do is find the shortest safe path to get outside of the breaking waves then paddle over to the break from outside of it so you don't have to fight the waves all the ways out. This allows you to go out in the shortest distance of breaking waves and therefore requires less endurance but still paddle power and endurance are important. First : Observe the break looking for obstacles and currents and other surfers all of which you might want to avoid except for the currents if they are going out. Look at where the waves are breaking and plan a path out that gets you out with the least amount of battling the waves. Then time you entry into the area with heavier breaking waves. You want to wait for a gap in the waves coming in before you attempt to go through that area. Then you need to have board handling skills and paddling skills. You need to know how to go through whitewater and waves when you screw up and end up getting clobbered. And conditioning helps because you can't paddle well when you are dying from lack of oxygen. If there are other surfers there you can look at what they do and attempt to follow suit but don't get in their way and realize you don't have their skills. How do you know what the depth is? What are you doing to get out?

[Millsy82]

Read through most of my posts lol.

I've just changed my board from an 8ft foamie to a 9ft2 nsp and I can't believe the difference getting out the back.

What I have found myself is on msw if it says over 4-5ft I will try and get out the back but know I won't on most occasions so mess about in the white water or the occasional green wave that comes through and really practice my turtle roll and paddling techniques.

[waikikikichan]

I'm at the stage where I've bought my first board, NSP 5'8 fish

I have the NSP 5'6" and 6'4" Fish. They also make a 6'0" ( and some bigger sizes ). Are you sure yours is 5'8" ?

[Cowabungadude]

Hey guys thanks for the information! Regarding the size of the board it was sold to me as 5'8 but thinking about it that's how tall I am and it is a little shorter actually so probably the 5'6.

Millsy82 the guy I bought my board from actually said a longer board would be more suitable there for me because of the exact reason you have said, to ride the white so probably will be a good idea to get a long board as well as the fish, especially if I'm on the east coast more frequently.

Oldmansurfer, appreciate the detail you've gone in to offering your advice, thanks. I guess I know how deep it is when Im not on my board, mainly by getting smashed off it. I did try to observe others but in fairness there were only a few that did manage to get out of the breaking waves it was quite intense. Maybe the conditions were just not 'good' enough for someone like me. I did try a couple of different ways, grabbing the board and jumping under the wave but when it gets too deep this because a little pointless as I just get dragged back anyway. I then tried what a lot of people were doing and to ride in to the wave hoping the board will lift over but 90% of the times I probably timed it wrong, got smashed and ended up 10 metres behind again! Part of the learning process I imagine.

[surf patrol]

I've surfed at Cayton a couple of times, I really like it there.
You were fortunate to catch it at a perfect 5-6ft, It's more likely to be smaller than that and often has conditions more suited for learning on.

[Cowabungadude]

Apart from the massive climb back up the hill after a decent few hours battling the waves it was pretty good definitely! I don't know if there's a term for this but the waves there seem to break and roll forever, please bear with me I am still a newbie and I don't have anyone to talk to about surfing. I watch as many videos as I can but some of the stuff I just don't understand yet. I didn't enjoy this as like I've already said it made it very difficult for me to get out and I was knackered after a while of trying I succumbed to riding the white but on the board I have I don't think it was great. Any surfing and just being in the water is good though, I am all about the challenge!

[oldmansurfer]

There are a bunch of techniques to go through waves but most important of them all is planning where to do it and timing when to do it. If the whitewater is small then just keep paddling and go over it, if it's a little bigger I do a push up on the board which allows the whitewater to go between me and my board, a little bigger and I push up and then lift the nose up by leaning back so the board meets the wave at an angle, bigger than that and I do a duck dip, where I lean forward and shove the nose of the board under water then pull it back up as the wave hits my exposed rear end. If the wave is breaking on me I might do a turtle roll where I flip over and pull the nose of the board down. There are likely other ways to go through the surf and lots of videos online that show how to do them (except the duck dip). In all of these techniques timing is important, you want to keep paddling out as long as possible before doing them since you will be that much more out after you finish. It takes a lot of practice to get some of these maneuvers down but if you are surfing a lot then you will get better. I surf a break that can be unforgiving to those who can't handle getting caught by the waves. I get lots of practice in dealing with waves and on bigger days in heavier situations I will sometimes came back to shore and go back down the beach to where it is easier to get out. I think sometimes surfers just get focused on trying to get out where they are and forget it's much easier to get out a little further down the beach.

[BoMan]

Adding to the great advice given,,,

Magic Seaweed Reports are excellent, showing wave, wind, and weather data. Look for days when the surf is 3 feet or less. Today’s forecast is for 1-2 feet. Cayton Bay Forecast
http://magicseaweed.com/Cayton-Bay-Pumphouse-Surf-Report/1060/

YouTube is a great video resource for surfing skills. Search for what you need.
* How to paddle out

More resources:

* Surf Simply Tutorials
http://surfsimply.com/surf-simply-tutorials/

* Surf Science
http://www.surfscience.com/

* WkkkChan’s Blog (requires scrolling but worth the effort)
http://alohaki.jugem.jp/

[jaffa1949]

Cowabunga, let's help out a little by mentioning something everyone else has not!

You are a beginner trying to learn on a board that is suitable for a fully skilled fit surfer, you were trying to paddle out on 5 to 6 ft howling offshore day. It just wouldn't work.

How tall are you, and what weight? Maybe age too.

The amount of surf time you are getting you need a board that helps you not hinders you.
The 5ft ish board you are using at the moment hinders you greatly.
I wonder why you chose this board and didn't take the advice about bigger being suitable.

[Cowabungadude]

Hey that's good advice I was quite focused on just getting out there to be honest but on the day I did try some other parts of the beach at it was all pretty heavy if I'm honest.

I'm 5'8 and weigh about 70kg and of average fitness. I chose this board because I learnt how to surf in Devon and Cornwall. I hadn't experienced the conditions at Cayton much previously and my main place was Woolacombe, Croyde and Porthmeor in St Ives. I felt a lot more comfortable on shorter boards than I did with the bigger ones and thought that a smaller board may be easier to turn than a bigger one (which i thought was the next step for me as I don't have problems with catching waves in the slightest) it's just in these conditions getting to them seems to be my problem! Like I said I will probably get a bigger board for this in the future so it is a little easier for me perhaps, if it is going to help? Or do I just need to work on how to paddle out? I don't surf that often because I live pretty much in the centre of the country so it's not like I can nip out for an hour or two. I have to plan a day for travelling etc and then the conditions have got to be there on top of that

[Cowabungadude]

Oh and I'm 29!

[jaffa1949]

I felt a lot more comfortable on shorter boards than I did with the bigger ones and thought that a smaller board may be easier to turn than a bigger one (which i thought was the next step for me as I don't have problems with catching waves in the slightest) it's just in these conditions getting to them seems to be my problem! Like I said I will probably get a bigger board for this in the future so it is a little easier for me perhaps, if it is going to help? Or do I just need to work on how to paddle out?

More reality for you and this is not a put down, catching white water in big conditions is not catching waves ,it is more like controlling the situation so the white water catches you. and yes short boards can turn more easily if you can turn, Croyde and the other beaches are much more gentle than Cayton Bay on that day.
But catching green waves is a whole other game, rather than repeat have a look through all the surfboard advice about why we recommend longer boards.
The 5'8" board is about as useful as a body board to you right now especially with the time lapse between surfs. Oh and turning in the white water is really just slight changes of direction , turning on a wave face is turning. Again read through the surf board advice see what you think!

[oldmansurfer]

If you aren't having problems except in bigger surf it is likely that you can work on your fitness and paddling strength and endurance and improve. You might be able to learn to duck dive the board as well. It is unusual for someone to learn on a shortboard like you apparently did. Most often beginners report being unable to ride green waves when learning on a shortboard so it sound like you beat the curve there

[Cowabungadude]

Jaffa,I wasn't claiming to 'ride waves' being the white waves, I said I had to succumb to these after I couldn't get to the green. I can catch the green but not ride as I've not learned how to turn really and that was my entire point. Because the east coast is going to be my regular location during the winter I wanted to know if the conditions that I did face that day at Cayton are a regular theme and if so what do I need to do to succeed.

Appreciate everyone's advice and don't get me wrong, I think I start on just short of an 8' swell board but I kept coming down sizes and eventually knew what I wanted from successfully surfing at Snowdonia on a shortboard.

Thanks a bunch for everyone's advice I've come to the conclusion that;
- I may need to purchase a bigger board for the east coast or more difficult conditions
- My fitness needs working on
- I will watch some paddling tutorials
- Check the beach for easier access areas

Anything else please feel free to say but again, thanks a lot everyone.

[Lebowski]

Jaffa is right. I'm not sure what you mean by 'successfully surfing', but a board of that size is almost certainly hindering your surfing progress. If you can't get out the back with it and don't know how to turn then it is definitely too small for your ability level.

Cayton Bay gets extremely variable waves. You can also check out South Bay (and North Bay) if the conditions are too big for you at Cayton.

[Cowabungadude]

What I mean by that is, at Surf Snowdia it's a man made lagoon with man made generated perfect waves up to 6'. I had a 3 hour session and caught every single wave, on a short board. So that is what I meant. Obviously I can't get to those types of waves to catch them because of what I've just explained...

[jaffa1949]

Well Cowabunga, you are possibly our first, wave pool graduate making it to the open sea

Since I haven't wave pooled, I offer this opinion, wave pools should be easy waves to catch, each mechanically the same , with few variables in pace size, bottom contours , side currents etc, in real surf every wave has difference, sand bottoms more changing with each wave!

Not even rips or sharks in the pool.

A six foot ocean wave is not a beginner's , add the power of the swell period things get even more powerful. Chuck in a good offshore wind. = advanced level playground.

If you can't get out it is natures way of saying you are not ready.

Your journey is only just beginning, enjoy the ride!

[Cowabungadude]

haha I only went there at the end of October as I was there climbing Snowden with family so made sense to give it a go. I was on the intermediate take off section and the wave you described there pretty much described what is at surf snowdonia. I just used this time to improve my take off on the green. I go to cornwall / devon in the summer at least 1/2 a month and it is a lot easier to get to these types of waves there. Being really honest I have no clue at what conditions I want to look for so I'm not battling the above coniditions I just thought the bigger the better, I guess this is wrong (well for someone at my level at least). Any ideas at what would be good for someone like me, size, wind speed and direction-wise?

[Millsy82]

Up to 3ft I get out the back easily and catch waves my last couple of sessions have been 4-5 ft and I used to struggle with that now though I am getting out but if I do struggle I work on things like my turtle roll and just catch anything.

I've gone from doing 2 turtle rolls in quick succession then bottling it or messing one up and catching the next wave in, yesterday I managed I think 6 then once they had passed me by paddled out the back.

If your on a short board you will want to duck dive I would of thought can you not make sure every time you paddle out in no matter what size waves say to your self I'm going to do 2 duck dives until you get the hang of them, yes you will look a fool doing duck dives under a 1ft wave but it will help you when it gets bigger. This is what I did with my turtle roll and it has really helped me getting out the back when it gets bigger.