Surfing Waves

Hallo I have just taken up this marvelous sport, and while the rare times i catch waves are awesome, I have spent many unhappy times rolling around in breakers snorting up bits of the north atlantic, and generally getting battered about. Does anyone have any tips on avoiding water leaking into the lung/nose/throat department? I usually find trying to hold my breath tricky while three tonnes of wave is forcing itself up my nose! and am a bit tired of gargling this stuff I'm wondering how folks cope out in deeper water? a nose clip is an option but no doubt will be laffed off the beach

I always have this problem and sometimes its just really unavoidable. If the waves arent that big, then when i fall or am tumbling i let out a steady stream of air so water cant come in. But if its huge waves.. then.. i just try to close everything and hold my breath while using my leash to guide the way up.

Relax.
Water will go up your nose and into your throat, and it doesnt matter at all as long as you dont panic.

It's a mark of a surfer when a litre of water falls out of your nose four hours after you finished surfing, usually at the least convenient moment. Its called the Brain Drain and it should be worn as badge of pride

drowningbitbybit wrote:Relax.
Water will go up your nose and into your throat, and it doesnt matter at all as long as you dont panic.

Name and thread synergy!

You can exhale continuously to try and keep that appetizing seawater out of your nasal passages, but that's less oxygen for your lungs to process should you be underwater for a while. Best to take the advice above: relax, hold your breath and try to get used to the saline nasal flush!

drowningbitbybit wrote:Relax.
Water will go up your nose and into your throat, and it doesnt matter at all as long as you dont panic.

It's a mark of a surfer when a litre of water falls out of your nose four hours after you finished surfing, usually at the least convenient moment. Its called the Brain Drain and it should be worn as badge of pride

hokay...so I'm not gonna drown if my nose/throat fills up with seawater? I guess I do go into panic mode as soon as i get tumbled, thinking im a gonner for sure how do you stop it getting into the lungs? or does it just not happen unless you inhale? when i go swimming in a pool, i kind of exhale a little when my face is in the water doing the crawl, but in the sea i just get swamped and end up getting a bit

i wouldnt want tobe exhaling underwater after a wipeout. true it will keep the water out of your nose and such but sometimes you will be held down longer than expected. also youll know from a pool that you are less bouyant whenyouve exhaled a lot of water. not to mention not having enough air.

surferdude_scarborough wrote:i wouldnt want tobe exhaling underwater after a wipeout. true it will keep the water out of your nose and such but sometimes you will be held down longer than expected. also youll know from a pool that you are less bouyant whenyouve exhaled a lot of water. not to mention not having enough air.

yea, thats why i said when its small . i know its a bad thing when its big. lol.. i have enough trouble not inhaling the water when i take a big wipeout.. i dont need to be breathing out. lol

eif wrote:many unhappy times rolling around in breakers snorting up bits of the north atlantic, and generally getting battered about. a nose clip is an option but no doubt will be laffed off the beach

Welcome to surfing! What fond memories I have of the same thing!

Give the nose clip a try. Swimmers wear them all the time. It might come off surfing though. If they laff, they haven't tried it. When you catch more waves you won't care if they laff. It will be so much fun!

well, am gonna get meself one of these jobs off fleabay, see if it works...nose clip with a leash! they use them in kayaking

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Smiley-Nose-Clip_W0QQitemZ260445322888QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Sporting_Goods_Canoeing_Kayaking_ET?hash=item3ca3c03e88&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1688|293:1|294:50

^ yeah, those work...kind of. they slide off from flatwater rolling kayaks sometimes, so i imagine in surf they'd be gone in a second.

it just takes some getting used to. the 'brain drain' always happens at the most awkward moments. but you don't need a neti pot or any other sinus cleaner stuff.

I used to have the problem, but I use a simple method when faced with a " Ohhhh CR#P". As the wave approches take a deep breath.
While your head is submerged steadly breath the air out of your nose

Simples

dont breathe out - I do this due to an old swimming habit and it has caught me unawares a couple of times - which gets pretty sketchy, even in small surf!! I have also clamped my nostrils shut with my fingers - much to the amusement of DBB at Saunton Let you're nose empty of seawater at the most inopportune moment - usually in front of some hottie Im sure....its a badge of pride

I'd give a noseclip a life-expectancy of about 20-30 seconds in the water. First wipeout and it'll be gone.

Sar wrote: I have also clamped my nostrils shut with my fingers - much to the amusement of DBB at Saunton

Aw, I miss surfing with you Sar

I still remember one surf trip in winter where after driving home 3 hours I bent over to undo my shoe laces at which point what seemed like 1/2 pint of sea water came out of my nose from my sinuses. Amazing how much the Atlantic can ram up there.

lol... actually, i have to do that every night before i got to bed... they only start to come out when I'm lying down just before sleep for some reason xD

drowningbitbybit wrote:I'd give a noseclip a life-expectancy of about 20-30 seconds in the water. First wipeout and it'll be gone.

Sar wrote: I have also clamped my nostrils shut with my fingers - much to the amusement of DBB at Saunton

Aw, I miss surfing with you Sar

As I do you. Your fault for pussying out of the cold atlantic water

tree4 wrote:I still remember one surf trip in winter where after driving home 3 hours I bent over to undo my shoe laces at which point what seemed like 1/2 pint of sea water came out of my nose from my sinuses. Amazing how much the Atlantic can ram up there.

Lol..think this is how me and ChasingDaylight ended our first sesh!!!

I was packing my bag away and she came over to say bye, just as I bent down and the north sea came rushing out of my nose!!

think we had one of those "let us never talk of this again" moments

Hello, I found this thread while searching to see if other people got litres of water up their nose whilst surfing or if I just had a weird nose. Turns out I don't have a weird nose.

I just wanted to say that the nose clip was the first thing I tried to remedy the problem, and I lost 3 to the ocean in quick succession. The longest one lasted was about 5 minutes. So I wouldn't bother with that if I were you - you'd just be adding more plastic to the sea.

Mio, it is a common event to get a nose and sinus fill when wiping out, environmentally forget the plugs, clean salt water is great for the nasal passages.
Worst thing is when the sinuses decide to empty, may surfers have had this happen during office meetings or when meeting in laws.
Don‘t stress, it is amazing how much water you can store up there without risk.
Earplugs are another matter and if you are surfing cold water, important to help prevent surfers ears. ( Surf designed ones are better)