Surfing Waves

So just writing as someone completely new. I was out for my first time and caught a wave but lost balance. I had my board leash firmly attached, or so I thought. My 14 ft board went about 100 yards ahead of me. luckily didn’t hit anybody, and kind of freaked out. Also had another guy come over and got a little aggressive as he said that it could have hurt someone and i shouldn’t try to walk the waves. All that being said i don’t won’t to be a nuisance and learn from my mistakes. My question would be has anybody else had a wave yank the leash off, and is there something I can do to prevent in the future. Thanks for the advice

Why did it come loose? Was it the ankle wrap or at the board or a snapped leash?

What brand and model of board are you using that is 14 feet ? It takes a lot of skills to turn a 14 footer.



Unless you got a really old one.

First and foremost whatever board you are riding ( I suspect SUP )you need to be able to,control the board in the waves, not being able to , puts every one at risk, including yourself.
if you go out, find a spot where you can develop your skills away from other surfers, in lots of places you would be subjected to a lot worse than someone being aggressive to you!

Many things worry me a about your first time experience! No skills, most likely the leash wasn’t done properly, in this I am guessing but no riding skills, no awareness of surf etiquette, on a 14ft board, a mixture that could seriously injury or kill someone!
That is why I am giving harsh judgement because you showed little!
Truth!

correct and I completely agree. I have read up on etiquette and yes it’s a SUP. My leash coming loose kinda scratching head it’s an FSC with quick disconnect. that being said when this happened I swam to board and flipped back over. the velcro was still fastened like it would be on my ankle. It didn’t snap or excessively yank on my ankle. Since on SUP i was further out away from the other surfers so i could practice just catching and then dismounting safely. Last thing i want to do is cause someone else to get hurt or worse. that being said I’m going to look into how I can better insure my leash is okay. I’m new and do lack what people who have been doing it make look natural and I know it. After that I went further to the side like paddle of shame far. i did manage to catch some there and not have the issue again. Thanks for the advice and I will take it and slow myself down until i get some of the other skills that will keep everybody safe and having fun.

Great approach beakerman, , let’s give some tips now, most beginners on surfboards go with others , SUPs need to be safely away from others on an uncrowned side break. Good SUPers have the skills to ride in crowds but often cause friction with the other surfers because of their ability to catch many more waves than a standard surfer.
Let’s talk wipeouts, a short board has an arc of injury of about the length of the board and a leash say 3/4 of the board length so consider a 9ft arc....... a longboard 9ft + 9ft leash a 14ft SUP + 10 ft coiled leash include in any leash the stretch factor +the relative weights of your board!
Ordinary surfers have fear and have to intense distrust and dislike of unknown SUPers among them!.
Being further out is not a safety measure it just about ensures your board will go hurtling through the guys on the inside!Eeek!

Ok that’s the bad points, depending on your beach you may be able to get away from a crowded break and down the beach.

Can you read the beach identify rips, suitable waves and turn and control your board, because jumping off in any phase of paddling out or riding your SUP is a cardinal sin. That will get you punched out in many line ups Seriously by jailing you exhibit no control whatsoever ! Scary stuff,

So learn to paddle out prone one way using rips or calm water as roads out! B
Learn white water riding and control riding in,
Learn to finish a ride by pulling out over the back of the wave or int e white water proning onto your board to bring it to,a stop in control.
or by steering to slight enough white water.

Every surfer on every craft started as newbies, knowing very little, you will learn easily what to to do,as you are aware of things to learn , absolutely no shame in being new.

Surfing is not easy on any board, surfing even harder long time surfers make it look easy, but they too had the kook stage!