Surfing Waves

Yesterday I went out hoping to finally get my overhead barrel. I went to my favorite beach break spot where the waves will often barrel nicely, but the spot can definitely get a little too heavy for me at times. I paddled out, took a little breather, and then an overhead++ peak came rolling through right at me. This was the wave I'd get barreled on for sure I thought. It was a big thick wave and was definitely the biggest wave I've ever taken off on. I was in the perfect spot on the peak for it too. The problem was that I was a little nervous about it. There were two other guys out, but nobody else. The nice thing about surfing larger waves is that they definitely cut down on the crowd.

Anyway, as the wave approached and I half-heartedly paddled for it I was thinking to myself, "Do I want to take off on this?" It was a gnarly wave, but man it had so much potential to serve up a barrel. "You have to take off on this," Jeff Clark whispered in my ear. I decided to go. The wave approached and I paddled slowly to make sure I didn't get too far out in front of it (always my fear with bigger waves). Anyway, the wave started to lift me up it's face and I was ready. I popped up and found myself on top of the world looking down the face of what was probably close to a double overhead wave. Everything felt right, but I didn't feel my board sliding down the incline of the wave. Nope. I was standing on my board on top of the wave. I think my reaction times are improving because I sensed immediately that I was hung up in the lip. I thought I still had the time to try and force my board over the ledge which I was starting to do. That forced me to stop looking across the wave and look down at my board. I wanted to try and push the nose of my board over the ledge and, if all went well, fly me right into the barrel of the wave.

Unfortunately, when I looked down at my board, I discovered my board was on top of the overhang of the lip. Even if I had gotten my board to move down the face, there was no wave face for my board glide on. In other words, I was moments away from a free fall. The lip was just pitching at that moment and I was standing right on top of it. I had an amazing one-of-a-kind view at that moment (another reason why I surf). Luckily I had enough caffeine in me that morning to have the wherewithal to launch myself backwards off my board. I must have jumped back pretty forcefully because I flew far enough to break the plane that divides the space where you either go over the falls or don't. I did not go over the falls I got pulled pretty far forward, but never pitched over. The thrill of that wave, even though nothing really happened, hasn't quite worn off yet.

Good that you didn't get hurt or hurt anyone else and that you enjoyed the moment. As the waves get bigger the saying "he who hesitates is lost" becomes more true. If I find myself thinking " do I want this wave?" I won't even paddle for it. At least you tried and maybe that will help to give you more confidence the next time., Usually what I am thinking is first off is "am I in the right place for this wave?" Then it is "am I doing everything right to catch it?" If the answer is no I abort. If I slip or make a mistake while paddling for the wave I abort.....well once it is in the range of double overhead. I seem to have larger wave late drop skills that go beyond the rest of my wave riding abilities. It's likely some muscle memory from long ago. Good story. I enjoyed it.

Great story!

RinkyDink wrote:I half-heartedly paddled for it

Next time fully commit to the paddle and ride it! Or wipe out, then next time ride it

Yesterday I got my foot and heel banged up pretty good on my fin on a chest high wave. I tried to kick out on a close out section in front of me but the lip caught me and the board and the wave kept banging the board into my feet in the wipeout.

About 6 months ago I tried to kick out/bailout of a 1.5x overhead closeout wave, but too late and got sucked up the face and slammed back down. I wasn’t caught or held under very long but when I came up I was dizzy and the world was spinning from the impact. I body boarded the next wave to shore and sat I was too dizzy stand.

Be careful out there, maybe work on getting barreled in smaller surf, where the stakes are lower. Even small waves can mess you up if you get tangled up with your board.

Commitment, this is needed and some extra strokes paddling to where you are going down the wave, if you feel you are being lifted, your paddle hasn't been committed enough.
The last part of the pop up does two things , pushes your board more strongly into the gravity chute.
And if done correctly you pop upwards into the forward riding stance rather than the up and back, stall stance.
If you were worried about being in front of the wave, your positioning maybe seriously wrong.
But great stuff getting into bigger more challenging stuff, you will nail it , imagine that, if the view from the top was exciting,imagine your first completed big ride

You know if you don't want to go out because the waves are too big there are ways to do that without seeming like.....

Tudeo wrote:Great story!

RinkyDink wrote:I half-heartedly paddled for it

Next time fully commit to the paddle and ride it! Or wipe out, then next time ride it

My thoughts exactly Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Namu wrote:Be careful out there, maybe work on getting barreled in smaller surf, where the stakes are lower. Even small waves can mess you up if you get tangled up with your board.

I took my 6'6" shortboard out about a week ago and mangled my calf pretty good. I was duck diving (not a skill I'm very familiar with) and my one leg was up in the air as I was pushing the nose of my board down. Suddenly I felt the lip of the wave whack my calf pretty hard. Needless to say, that threw me off balance and my calf got knocked into my rail as I got rag dolled. I definitely started my duck dive too early My leg had a welt on it the size of about 3/4 of an orange. My doctor had me get it X-rayed because she thought it might be a fracture. It was fine though. At any rate, I'm definitely conscious of the risks out there. Also, I played the fear up a little bit in my narrative for dramatic effect. I really wasn't so much scared as I was too careful. It's true that I was a little nervous as the wave approached me. My paddle was a little half-hearted because I wanted to make sure I got into the right position. I think two things happened on that wave: I didn't paddle hard enough because I was afraid of getting too far in front of the wave and my popup was off. I have an inconsistent popup problem where I put too much pressure on my back foot (I pop up and put the brakes on essentially). I'm still working on getting my popup more consistent.

I appreciate the good advice about being careful though. I'm actually pretty safety conscious. I don't think I'm overconfident about my skills, but I definitely have some critical areas to work on in my surfing. The danger for me isn't my fear or inability to commit to the wave; it's my infatuation with good waves that can get me into trouble. I took off on the wave I described because it would have been an amazing ride. When I went to the beach I knew there would be some large waves along with medium sized ones. I was going to leave if it was too crazy, but when I saw how good the waves were, I felt compelled to go out. It wasn't the easiest paddle-out either. I had to wait 20 minutes before things got calm enough for me to get outside. The other detail I left out of the story was that there were other surfers around. The peak I was on was me and two other guys, but there were 3 or 4 surfers on the peaks to the north and south of my peak. So there were other surfers out. Again, I too a little dramatic license in my narrative. Anyway, my biggest fear out in the water comes from strong currents not waves so much. For me big waves + strong currents (cross currents or insanely powerful rips) will send me running for a cafe on land. There wasn't much of a current at all the day I described (pretty much like the day we surfed Shell beach). Anyway, I'm going to take your advise and exercise a little more caution out there. Thanks. How's the Aipa board working out for you, by the way?

jaffa1949 wrote:The last part of the pop up does two things , pushes your board more strongly into the gravity chute.
And if done correctly you pop upwards into the forward riding stance rather than the up and back, stall stance.
If you were worried about being in front of the wave, your positioning maybe seriously wrong.
But great stuff getting into bigger more challenging stuff, you will nail it , imagine that, if the view from the top was exciting,imagine your first completed big ride

Yeah, I think you called it. My popup will sometimes do exactly what you describe (pop up to a heavy back foot and stall). Hence, my latest obsession with avoiding the stall. Great analysis and advice, Jaffa.

I liked your first description better I am a cautious surfer although it may not seem like it. I have over the years developed a really good ability to judge what I can handle or maybe more like learned to handle whatever conditions are present. I work at it too so if I tried to catch a wave and think I should have been able to catch it or even think maybe I could have caught it then I will usually try again using a different tactic. However I am usually surfing alone so it's easy for me to take whatever waves I want. I am cautious in a different way from you in bigger waves. I am cautious to not hesitate and to fully commit to it. If I feel hesitation or lack of commitment I will abort before I popup. If I popup I am going for it totally committed . However the right time to try this tactic is when it isn't so big but in smaller critical waves so you can gain the skills to deal with the mistakes. I may free fall on a takeoff and if I do most times I will wipeout but those wipeouts are rarely bad because I will penetrate deep and avoid getting pounded often. I will also almost free fall and those times I am much more likely to make it depending on how I set up the drop and how the wave is breaking but if I wipeout I am slightly more likely to get a good pounding because I will probably start to move forward instead of just dropping straight down. The thing about waves is that a double overhead wave is way more than twice as powerful as a head high wave so to be safe you have to practice in smaller waves what you will do in bigger waves because the consequences are much greater.

As I read I got worried that you went over the falls. Good thing you had a chance to bail. I'm sure you'll get barreled when everything works out... just take chances in manageable doses. I sustained a minor fin cut on the face this weekend when it was smallish but heavier than usual. It bled a bit and a beginner in the lineup was staring at me. Not sure he was shocked to see the injury or worried about attracting sharks...

oldmansurfer wrote: The thing about waves is that a double overhead wave is way more than twice as powerful as a head high wave so to be safe you have to practice in smaller waves what you will do in bigger waves because the consequences are much greater.

Probably the best experience I got from surfing in my youth (particularly from about the age of 21 to 23) is that I got a lot of thrashings in bigger waves. My surfing buddy and I went out in crazy, closed-out death slabs back then. I didn't really know how to surf, but I paddled out and kept trying to learn regardless of the wave size. My buddy imagined himself a future big wave rider so we went out in conditions I wouldn't go near today. I think I was lucky that I didn't get injured back then.

There was one day at Pacifica (beach town outside of SF) when we were the only guys out in these huge brown death walls. It was so big that day that I had to be goaded into paddling out. The only thing I could think about once we got out back was how I was going to get back in. That was it . . . no other thought other than how do I survive this. After about 10 minutes of posturing that I was glad to be there, I told my friend I was heading in. He gave me a hard time, but he was as terrified as I was. Anyway, I managed to navigate my way back to the shore where I spent a half hour parked outside the 6 foot shorebreak pounding the steep sand embankment that was the shore (it helps to take a look at your exit point and think about what your exit from the surf will be like before you paddle out).

Anyway, that was the only time I have found myself deposited on the sand at the shoreline where I had to crawl and scratch my way up the sand embankment. This was the kind of crawl where I was hanging onto the sand as the water on the shore was sucking me back into the maw of the shorebreak. God it was kooky , but there was no one there to see because nobody with any sense was out that day. Still, I try to keep the dangers in perspective. Kael Walsh in the following video (see 3:30 & 3:47) has a couple nasty wipeouts, but it wasn't the end of the world. I'm prepared to take my lumps if the waves have good shape and the current is manageable.

saltydog wrote: just take chances in manageable doses.

I agree. Don't go unless you're confident you can make the wave.

Don't go out in big waves that make you hesitate. You are much more likely to get injured attempting to do what you did then taking a too late drop if you know how to wipeout.

Please don't underestimate the dangers of big waves, we lost 2 guys here a couple of weeks ago in a big swell.

https://www.theinertia.com/surf/a-secon ... indonesia/

I love to surf The Patch when the swell approaches 5 feet because the outside sand bars fire and incredibly long rides can be had. Even on a crowded day, the left break is usually empty because most folks don't like the paddle and know that a wipeout can slam them into the rocks. I have some skill with grabbing my board while falling and making shallow entries into the water but the situation gives me pause. I always worry about getting knocked out and watch the waves closely before jumping in. Pitchy waves in a receding tide are dangerous for me so I make a point to paddle out when the tide's coming in and waves are crumbly.

Next week, I have another decision to make!

BoMan wrote:

I love to surf The Patch when the swell approaches 5 feet because the outside sand bars fire and incredibly long rides can be had. Even on a crowded day, the left break is usually empty because most folks don't like the paddle and know that a wipeout can slam them into the rocks. I have some skill with grabbing my board while falling and making shallow entries into the water but the situation gives me pause. I always worry about getting knocked out and watch the waves closely before jumping in. Pitchy waves in a receding tide are dangerous for me so I make a point to paddle out when the tide's coming in and waves are crumbly.

I would check that area out on an extremely low tide. I've done this around a lot of the breaks I surf. It's actually a fun way to spend time at the beach. I've even found low tide breaks I didn't know existed. Anyway, if there's a super low tide you can often walk over the area you want to surf and get an idea of what the contours of the bottom look like. It makes surfing the place a lot less stressful because you have an idea of what kind of underwater hazards are out there. It might ease your mind about surfing the area or turn you off to it. Either way you'll get useful info. By the way, watch the videos of this year's Margaret River Pro and see how the pros dealt with nasty rocks.

Haha @oms- that clip you posted was the raglan surf report.

I surfed whale bay and indicators a few weeks back in howling off shore double overhead. Most sketchy paddle out I've ever done. All fully submerged reef-rocks with an overhead point swell pounding against them. No Sandy, beCh or soft paddle out option available.
Saw a few surfers get pinned to rocks while waves smashed in to them and watch them clamber up them just to wait for it to dissipate and keep trying to find their way back safely to shore.

I caught a couple but after making the drop got blown back off the wave

I'll never forget the feeling of looking down my first double overhead wave. Or the feeling when I once hit the rip and made it out way to easily of a 9ft beach break day.. add another 3-4ft to my profile pic at the same beach and imagine looking down that face! I vividly remember the feeling that rinky is describing well.

The bigger the wave, the harder you need to paddle. Commit fully or don't bother or risk getting a heavy lip fall!

benjl wrote:I'll never forget the feeling of looking down my first double overhead wave. Or the feeling when I once hit the rip and made it out way to easily of a 9ft beach break day.. add another 3-4ft to my profile pic at the same beach and imagine looking down that face! I vividly remember the feeling that rinky is describing well.

The creepy part of my wave was that the wall was fully formed and stretching out pretty far from my takeoff point. I remember thinking as I looked down the line that the wave might be a close-out. I wouldn't have minded if it closed out and I was in the tube. The problem is that getting into the tube is easier said than done. Anyway, when I first get up on a wave, the wall of it often kind of forms as I glide down the line. If I go too far, I hit the flats. Not my double overhead wave. The wall was fully formed. It's hard to tell at that particular break whether the wave is a close-out because the waves are often S-L-O-W there. They get big and hollow, but they move forward slowly. That's why I like that beach. The waves almost feel like they move in slow motion. The part I don't like about it is that it does have its share of closed-out rides to oblivion. Also, the chaos of beach breaks can sketch me out. I like the predictability of a point break, but I hate the crowds at point breaks.

I remember the feeling of the first waves that I caught paipo boarding that were close to three times overhead but not so sure about the very first one since they all gave me the same feeling. I do remember on the first one thinking "Oh! That worked!" I remember the first waves that i caught surfing that were close to six or seven times overhead but I don't recall specifically the first one because they all gave me the same feeling and there were a few. There were so many waves in my life before I started surfing. I do recall the feeling from the very first overhead wave surfing but that is because I was totally out of control and almost falling down for the whole wave. I do recall the first time I was tubed surfing however that was before I actually learned to surf. I borrowed my brothers 5'2" potato chip board and got lucky. I don't recall most of the tube rides I had surfing other than a few spectacular ones and if I had many tube rides the same day I can't often recall the specific waves except if they were different from the rest. I used to get tubed a lot, at least once a week. If I didn't I would be tube hunting when I surfed trying to get tubed over anything else. I hope you an get that feeling you are looking for. I miss it myself but for now I am still working on other skills.