Surfing Waves

Im sure this has prob been asked a few times, but I wasnt able to find anything on it. What are you looking for when you on the beach before heading into the water. It seems to be that the common sense would be to look for the most calm area to paddle out in? Is there something more to it? I have been surfing this past year off and on and i still have trouble getting out to the lineup without exhausting myself. Thanks

Pop onto this thread... Introduce yourself


To answer your question (or at least to spout some random uninformed nonsense)...
Your route out back can be a critically important choice. Arguably more important than being able to duckdive well, because you can often get out back without needing to.

The easiest way out back is to ride a rip, if theres one available.
If not, then you need to be picking the spot between the peaks where the sets are lacking power and crumbling.

Also, timing is as important as position - work out the combination of lulls and sets and make sure you go at the beginning of a lull.

Finally, choice of break - some spots always involve a long difficult paddle, while other spots are almost always a dry hair paddle out. So match the conditions with the break.

But sometimes you just have to paddle

yep things to look for are channels as you really can do a dry hair paddle. Unfortunatly not every break has channels.

Your next best bet is to use ripcurrents often found by piers or jetties. But there are other places they occur - Use the rip then paddle parrallel to shore to excape its grasp.

When desciding on where to paddle out try to aim yourself away from where it is breaking heaviest and be sure you not gonna paddle out in the way of other surfers if at all avoidable

in order to find the rip, look for the brown colorish water, those are channel you want to paddle with. if you don't use the rip, but you have the proper paddling and duck diving technique, then it is pretty easy to paddle out.

good luck

My own added question as the last one is pretty well answered: what exactly is the difference between a channel and a rip? From what I understand, they are pretty much the same thing: a deeper area where the waves are less likely to break and where the water from the beach is most likely to return to sea. No?

well, a rip current happens because a lot of water is being dumped on the beach, and especially if there is a trough between the shore and a sandbar, it all builds up. eventually this water has to make its way back to the ocean, so a rip current will form. rips can occur anywhere at any time, just more likely on rougher days. the ease of paddling here is that the backwards flow of water to the ocean makes waves almost never break, and it's like riding a ski lift to the lineup. a channel, however, is usually just a deep spot between shallow points, like two sandbars, but most commonly found in reefs. the deep water in the channel between the reefs or bars means the waves usually can't break, or if they do, just barely...hope that helps

yep it still break in the rip current but it is less likely to happen.

Thanks guys, great info! I guess I always had the impression to stay away from any rips instead of using them for my advantage. Yesterday I was out in 4-6foot strong choppy surf and was trying everything to make it out. i tried walking out, paddling through, duck diving but the breaks was coming in so fast I just kept getting washed back to land I will take you guys advice next time for sure. Thanks

twerked wrote:well, a rip current happens because a lot of water is being dumped on the beach, and especially if there is a trough between the shore and a sandbar, it all builds up. eventually this water has to make its way back to the ocean, so a rip current will form. rips can occur anywhere at any time, just more likely on rougher days. the ease of paddling here is that the backwards flow of water to the ocean makes waves almost never break, and it's like riding a ski lift to the lineup. a channel, however, is usually just a deep spot between shallow points, like two sandbars, but most commonly found in reefs. the deep water in the channel between the reefs or bars means the waves usually can't break, or if they do, just barely...hope that helps

It helps. Thanks, that was one of the things I never really figured out.

trifish wrote:Thanks guys, great info! I guess I always had the impression to stay away from any rips instead of using them for my advantage. Yesterday I was out in 4-6foot strong choppy surf and was trying everything to make it out. i tried walking out, paddling through, duck diving but the breaks was coming in so fast I just kept getting washed back to land I will take you guys advice next time for sure. Thanks

If the swell period is short and there are no sets, it will be exhausting to get out. Thats just how it is. Once you get better at reading the ocean, you will notice that it breaks more in some places than others, even when there aren't good sets. Also as you paddle more you will get out faster and it will become much easier. The struggle to get out is just a part of paying your dues to the surf gods

Some of us have little choice about the paddle out.

This first paragraph describes my favorite break, but, well, have a read !



http://www.beachwizard.com/beach.asp?co ... eachid=550



Head down arse up and goooooooooo.


EDIT : Just noticed the 'photos at the bottom of that page, they show about 1ft to 2.5ft - a nice size and nice paddle out :-

Soo, can you imagine how far out 4ft to 6ft is - then imagine where the lineup for 7ft plus would be !!!!!

Timed it once, 55 minutes paddle out in the big stuff

Beach corners almost always have a rip along them. By corners I mean the ends of the bay, usually where there are rocks or a point. Stay close to the bays edge along the side and you'll be whisked out to sea quite quickly.