Surfing Waves

Today it was 5-8 feet in my local break. Surprisingly there was very little surfers out in the water. Car park was full but I guess a lot of people were just watching.

I walked around the beach for a bit to find the usual opening to paddle out. The spot I surf have at least 5 point breaks very close to each other. Today I couldn't find any spot to paddle out, there was no obvious rip or channel. I did the best I could so I just find somewhere that was a bit more mellow and paddled out. I got really lucky because the interval was long and no sets were coming in and managed to get out with ease.

All the point break I normally surf at now appears to have giant circular boil all over the place. I see giant bubbles coming out. There was only 1 other longboard that I saw and he sat further out the boil. I went to sit next to him and realize that he is too far out. I paddled inside a bit and sit next to the shortboards that are sitting between the boil and the beach. Everyone was super friendly and they told me to becareful as it can be a steep drop. I tried a few different positions, I sat on the boil, further out or further inside the boil. I also found it very hard to paddle and it felt like the surfboard was not moving at all when I paddled for the wave. Is this due to the boil or just because of the size of the wave?

Overall it was an okay day. I managed to catch a few smaller and gentle waves that I really had to work hard for it. The wave were so thick and it just felt so different.

I don't know if this is my imagination but this was what the wave felt like today. There was some wind today and I haven't surfed in these kind of choppy conditions in probably months/years.

I would see the wave coming so I start paddling for it at position 1. But due to the thickness and volume of the wave, when I'm at position 2. I can't get enough speed to popup. I started slowing down and the next thing I know, I'm at position 3. Kinda feels like there's two waves, not able to catch it on the first part but you will definitely catch it on the second part as it becomes steeper and the lip starts to curl.

I tried to observe the other two longboards in the lineup. They eventually just gave up and left. I was able to catch a couple of waves but I had to work really hard. I only picked the smaller waves and gave the bigger ones to the shortboards. Every now and again there will be a cleanup set that comes in at 8 feet. The shortboards told me they did not think I would make it pass the cleanup sets, there was a few close calls. I did my usual terrible turtle roll and a few I was probably inches from not making over the top. I caught 4-5 waves and decided to call it a day. I probably still have 60% in the tank but realized today is not the day that I want to overexert myself.

I surf a break that has a boil in the lineup. If the waves are consistent it’s the best lineup for that break. It can interfere with paddling or it might mess you up just surfing through it although it’s more likely to if you’re taking off. So usually I lineup to one side or the other. This break is often difficult to takeoff on not related to the boil. I usually find the boil when I paddle out then figure out what the waves are doing in relation to the boil and lineup where it seems the best place on that particular day

It sounds like you were in a long period swell.. The waves travel much faster in that type of swell and can make you feel like you're not paddling as fast relative to the faster speed of the wave.

Thick wave with a long period have a much larger wavelength of energy under the wave. The front of that energy starts standing up when it hits the shallow bottom and it feels like it pitches over really quickly as the back of the wave energy stands up with the front. The modified pic below isnt the best, but it might illustrate it better.

The new boil could be from the increased amount of water moving around the peak.

Naeco78 wrote:It sounds like you were in a long period swell.. The waves travel much faster in that type of swell and can make you feel like you're not paddling as fast relative to the faster speed of the wave.

That makes sense. The forecast was at 18 seconds interval yesterday. I just felt like I wasn't paddling fast enough and if I sit too close to the shortboards, it becomes way too steep and fast for me.

Felt much harder to popup as the wave was big and I wasn't paddling fast enough to go down the slope.

oldmansurfer wrote:I surf a break that has a boil in the lineup. If the waves are consistent it’s the best lineup for that break. It can interfere with paddling or it might mess you up just surfing through it although it’s more likely to if you’re taking off. So usually I lineup to one side or the other. This break is often difficult to takeoff on not related to the boil. I usually find the boil when I paddle out then figure out what the waves are doing in relation to the boil and lineup where it seems the best place on that particular day

It was kinda consistent on the smaller waves but every ~10 minutes will come a huge set that breaks 20 feet further out.

I try not to think about how shallow the reef are. I know on normal days under 4 feet, the boils do not appear and it's safe to wipeout as I won't hit the bottom. The water around the boil is just all over the place. I feel like it's pushing me left and right and when you look at the surface of the water, it's all wrinkly and not clean.

At the break I surf there are days when you have to be careful of the sets. Just need to keep your eyes open and paddle out .

I injured myself on the first set of wave today. It was probably chest to overhead. As I popup and go do my usual bottom turn, I saw the boil infront of me. I also saw someone dropped in on me. Instead of doing the bottom turn on the boil, I just went straight to beach to avoid running over the guy that dropped in. I tried to kickout but somehow the tail of the board smack me really hard on the rear of my calves. The pain was so intense, I thought it was a cramp or my legs were chomped by a shark. I could not swim at all. Managed to crawl onto the board and paddle out. The pain was intense and I was cold sweating. I had to leave the impact zone or I'm going to get hit.

I still don't know how it happened. I've kicked out before and I didn't get hit by the board. I'm also wondering if the boil has caused me to injure myself.

Probably gonna be out for a few days as I can barely walk after getting out the water. I did stay for another hour after the injury and caught some fantastic waves and had one other longboard cheering for me. The cold water really numbed the pain. I didn't know it was that bad till I'm getting nausea from the pain while driving home.