Surfing Waves

Well if you haven't ever been out in bigger waves with fins on, then you probably don't know that for the most part you can escape getting pounded, as a person with fins on can duck dive all the way to the bottom going completely under the waves. So if this makes you a waterman then perhaps I qualified when I was 11 years old.

You went out on days that big? You must have been shaving at 10.

Well it's hard to tell exactly how big because the wave isn't breaking top to bottom but close to that size. Very likely the size of the breaking portion of that wave but maybe I was 13 or 14 when I went out not shaving yet (so 11 was an exaggeration). I think lots of people don't realize that without a board waves are much easier to go out in. You may have to hold your breath longer and you may need to know how to clear your ears when you dive but if you are careful to not be where the lip comes down you can avoid getting any serious pounding without a board. Most of the force of the wave stays off the bottom except where the lip comes down and the force kind of bounces of the bottom a few times after that then stays completely off the bottom. On a wave like that it may never get close to the bottom

One can still see the fin. I'd say it's, at the very least, a foot long. So use you imagination, stack the fins in front of the white water, then add 3 fins on top and bottom of said white water. Then find some one who can add it all up for you, and then admit that that's a big ass wave. In accept you apology in advance, because that's the kinda guy I am. You're welcome.

You can see this wave is sloping still below where the wave is breaking. So I am not exactly sure how big it is but the breaking portion of the wave looks like about 20 feet on the face. I went out in waves that had 20 foot faces that broke top to bottom when I was 13 or 14 years old. This wave might actually be bigger but because there is a sloping portion of the wave below where it is breaking it's difficult to tell. However I went out in waves with 20 foot faces that were hollow bodysurfing when I was very young not shaving yet.

I see your location and am in awe of you. I was an Army brat growing up and we didn't get stationed near water until I was 17. We were in Colorado and when I heard I was going near the ocean, I was already packing. They moved to Utah and I stayed.I fugged up. I'm sorry.

I recall being held under on the first really big wave I caught for what seemed like 30 seconds. I went in after that. I could hold my breath much longer but was concerned because that was a long time. There was no cutting out of a wave like that while bodysurfing. You get sucked back up over the falls and then driven down toward the bottom however there is like a cushion of water that bounces back up so you rarely hit the bottom but then it sucks you back up and drives you back down again and this process repeats for up to 5 times on the biggest waves then you go into the washing machine cycle where you are flying every which direction and can't even keep you arms on your sides. Then it suddenly all stops and you can surface. Anyway I was standing on the shore and another bodysurfer was standing next to me also looking at the massive waves. I told him I think I was held under for 30 seconds on that wave. He said "I was held under for 30 seconds, you were just held for 26 seconds." I said "what? How do you know?" he showed me his waterproof watch that he was timing everyone with. LOL Anyway I asked him what he did when he was held under like that. He said not much you can do just wait and the wave will let you up eventually. Of course. I went back out and caught a bunch more waves. I developed a couple ways to avoid the long hold down. One is if the wave was too steep anyway I would push out from the face and free fall the 20 feet to the bottom and turn immediately after hitting the water toward the open ocean then I would kick like hell for a few seconds and be free from the sucking of the wave. The other was to push off the bottom on one of the many times the wave drove me toward the bottom. I could shoot out of the water and grab a breath and then get held under for a long time. Mostly I just let the wave do what it was going to do and maintain my body in a position ready for impact with the bottom which was typically a hands and knees toward the bottom configuration this configuration also made it less likely that I would ever contact the bottom. It turns out that was probably good training for me as a future surfer of even bigger waves

In 01 I attempted to move to Costa Rica. My buddy turned into a screaming freak because I wouldn't pay his way and and I "voted him off". I thought I had the place wired after 2 weeks camping at Playa Carmen. My last morning a giant swell arrived and no one was going out. I almost made it out. Missed it by inches. I was paddling up a beast and my nose was above the lip when it pitched. It must have been a horrific sight because there was a crowd when I swam back in. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. I packed my crap and found a room. That night the cops came and cleaned house. I returned to the site and it was empty. One guy told me later, they surrounded the site with vehicles and beat the crap out of every one. The had raw hide straps on the end of their clubs so if they couldn't crack their heads, they could give them a thrashing. God works in mysterious ways.

Next time if you have enough speed going up the face and the wave has a thin enough lip one of two things will happen. First if it hasn't broken and you keep paddling you will launch into the air and second if it is breaking you may be able to keep paddling and punch up through the lip. Another way to avoid getting pounded is to duck dive through the wave instead of going up the face.

I was actually paddling up the face if the wave when it pitched.

Well I'm not sure why you didn't launch because there is momentum. When a wave is just about to break the water on the surface is moving rapidly up the face. If combined with that force you are paddling hard then you have a lot of speed and your mass should continue upward regardless of other forces from the lip. My guess is you were timidly paddling from fear of the wave and the water was pushing you up the wave. I have done this body surfing, paipo boarding, shortboarding, longboarding and even on a 14 foot kayak so I'm not sure why it didn't work for you but my guess is you weren't paddling effectively

Don't get so cocky, Snausage Head. You'da gotten your ass handed to you in the same predicament.

Let me understand what exactly happened. Did you get pitched backwards? What happened?

SlimyBritches wrote:Don't get so cocky, Snausage Head.

SlimyBritches, please understand that this forum is supposed to be just a fun place to share advice and past experiences of our surfing journey. No one needs to prove anything but our mutual love of surfing. OMS is only trying to help you ( as he has helped many other in the past including myself.

There is no need for name calling. Please be nice.

Old man, I survived but it must have looked horrendous because I got a round of applause when I washed ashore.

Old man, I meant Snausage Head affectionately. Not like I called you a pinche pendejo.

How big was the face on the wave?

Beats me. I'm 6'5" was riding a 7'2 and anticipating making it over the top several seconds after going vertical. I was catching double overhead waves prior to seeing this forming several yards further out. Conservatively speaking, 18 ft face.

I'm really not sure what happened to you but I have been in similar situations on similar sized waves with a totally different outcome.