Ditching your board

[scuba steve]

What is everyone's opinion on this. I know the hardcore surf etiquette followers will say it is always wrong which is probably true in crowds but what if your on your own and get caught in the impact zone?

Personally i always try my best to keep hold of my board but i've seen loads of people in my time swimming out with their board in tow. Some even in crowded 3ft waves. What would/do you think of these sort of people?

Most teachers drill it into their students to never ever ditch their boards but on a 12ft day and you have a 8ft wall of whitewater charging at you and you know in your own mind you cannot duckdive it, then is it OK to ditch your board if only to avoid injury?

Any thoughts

[GowerCharger]

dont do it.
If you are stuck and cant stay on your board grab it by the tail with both hands, or by the rail-saver, and keep hold of it until the wava has passed, you should always have your board under your control (except obvioulsy during a wipeout), its not a matter of etiquette its a matter of safety, ive personally been knocked out by a bailed board and it aint fun.

The people who swim out towing their board are muppets, if they catn paddle out then they shouldnt be there (besides surely paddling is easier?), all theyre doing is marking themselves out as people who cant surf safely (probably cant surf at all) and so losing any respect and setting themsleves up for all kinds of dropins and snakings.

[Dec]

aah yea. I always grab the rail saver..or at least I did. Last time I went surfing it was probably 7ft faces and hollow and I just pulled off a wave to find another bigger wave of the set was breaking. I grabbed the rail saver and ducked under...The pull on the board slipped my hand a bit down the leash onto the swivel and sliced a huge chunk or my finger off.

It was pretty scary..blood everywhere..and I didnt know whose it was untill I saw my finger.


Moral to the story...Learn to duckdive really good!

[rich r]

I recommend against grabbing the rail saver/leash.. as Dec said, you can hurt your hand/fingers pretty good that way.

As for ditching your board - don't do it. Period. If it's too heavy for you, then you shouldn't paddle out. That's a good first indicator that you're not at the right skill level yet.

Second, you don't have to duckdive everything. If the waves are punishing, or your caught in the impact zone and can't duck dive due to a short period between waves in a set, turtle/eskimo roll. Hold onto your rails as tight as you can and turn over.

Because of the upside down rocker, the wave power will tend to wash through you and over the board instead of picking it up. Plus, in heavy white water, you'll avoid getting the washing machine effect and just be able to roll back over on top of your board.

I have pressure dings in the shape of my fingers in one spot on each rail, and I grab in the same spot every time.

The reason it's etiquette is not just safety for those around you, but for YOU, too.

You ditch your board on a reef break, or trail it behind you and the wave grabs it and wraps the leash around a rock or reef - what're gonna do? How about if you get really pounded and need a rest and anything to float on? Or decide that it's too heavy and want to turn tail and bodyboard it in? Maybe you get through the wave and your board gets sucked over the falls pulling you back - or you get sucked over the falls and your board is flying around?

[scuba steve]

As well as the stories of injuries for people on the recieving end of a ditched board there are just as many for people who have held onto their board in the impact zone, when they were in such a position that they could not physically or safely duckdive/turtleroll the wave. Everyone meets these situations, even pros and its not always to do with how good you are, is it? Do people who experience these situations not have a right to be in the water?

If there are not many people out and you get caught in a sketchy situation with no-one behind you is it really that wrong to ditch your board to prevent injury? I guess it depends whether you would actually be safer without your board in your hands or not.

[GowerCharger]

in the old days the big wave loonies at places like waimeia didnt have leashes so ditching wasnt really an option in most circumstances, your unlikely to ever encounter situations as heavy as that so keeping control of your board shouldnt be that much of a problem for you to learn.

As far as grabbing the rail saver goes, i only mentioned that because i know lots of people do it, i always put myself between the wave and the board and grab the back of the board with both hands gripping the bump int he back of the tailpad if i cant get back on before the next wave hits.

[scuba steve]

your unlikely to ever encounter situations as heavy as that so keeping control of your board shouldnt be that much of a problem for you to learn.

I was using a hypothetical situation, personally i do know how to control my board and i rarely, if ever ditch it. I was just putting across the other point of view because i know a lot of other people feel oppositely and believe there are situations where ditching is acceptable.

[LovintheSurf]

so yah i practically agree with everyone here that you should always try to keep your board with you, but if your paddlin out and rigth in front of you a 10 foot wave just broke, and the whitewash is heavy as hell, as long as you make sure NOONE is around you, then i consider it fine to let go and dive under the wave. Its silly to try and get under or get past a huge wall of white wash if you know cant, cause ur gonna get trashed. biggest thing is ONLY do it if THERE IS NOONE around you, and second if the whitewash is really big.

[tomcat360]

I always get owned when I turtle roll. I know it's probably my technique, but I don't ever do it. On my longboard, the waves are generally smaller, and I just paddle straight over them, and go really fast between sets. On bigger waves, I'm on my shortboard, and I just duck dive. I know somewhere in the world where the waves are big that might not be possible sometimes, but it always works here.

[isaluteyou]

i disagree with these hard core etiquete rules. I see no reason why dithing your board is such a no no if no one is near.

You try turtling 12ft waves even on a bodyboard i can just about get through em dont know about ducking with a surfboard as i have never done it.

Someone on here said that if you ditch your board in big surf you shouldnt be out their!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRAP!!!!!!!!!! Thats a load of old tosh dreamt up by very silly people. I see loads of surfers who go out and duckdive/turtle much much better than me but they end up spending almost the entire session just bobbing around too afraid to take the waves. Go Figure!!!!!!!!!!!

Duckdiving / turtling gets you through the wave better it means theres less time lost grabbing your board and if caught in the inside you do not really want to lose any time. Thats the benefit of duckdiving. Although i have seen someone almost drown from getting caught on the inside they used up all their strength attempting to duckdive a freak big set wheras i was sensible ditched my board went under and waited for that set to pass the other guy ended up on the beach coughing up water and freaking out so im told and i made it back to the line up with no energy lost - Now ask yourself who was more sensible??????

Being able to duckdive is absolutely ZERO indication on if you are a good surfer or not aside from a practical form of getting past the breakers it is no indication at all. (sorry it annoys me when people make these terribly missguided claims)

[rich r]

12 foot face? Yeah, I've eskimo'd through that on an 8'6".

If you are caught inside and are off your board, there's not much you can do but keep going under and wait until you can get your board and start moving.

Duck diving or rolling - either way is kind of hard if you don't have any forward motion.

But if you're paddling and a wave is coming towards you, I don't care if it's a 8 foot wall of foam (which is exaggeration at its best) - you should be able to roll or dive through it. It's about timing, motion, and practice.

[Brian]

I recommend against grabbing the rail saver/leash.. as Dec said, you can hurt your hand/fingers pretty good that way.

agreed, i almost took off a couple fingers doing it. Look behind you and if no one is there, ditch the board dont be proud...

if its crowded, take it like a man . getting pummled builds character!!!

Lol reading the replies, you guys are such hardasses!! why are you so anti-ditch. If no ones around, ditch your pants, ditch your board, ditch anything!

[surfn.punk]

ditch your board.......only if u want it snapped. I took my 7'9bic minimal out into 4ft waves......started gettin my ass whooped so ditched my board in the impact zone (no one around). They say those plastic bic boards are indestructable, they were wrong. I learn't my lesson, thank god twas only a bic.

[Brian]

ditch your board.......only if u want it snapped. I took my 7'9bic minimal out into 4ft waves......started gettin my ass whooped so ditched my board in the impact zone (no one around). They say those plastic bic boards are indestructable, they were wrong. I learn't my lesson, thank god twas only a bic.

happened to a friend of mine. its extremely rare, and the wave must hit the board in a very specific location.

[surfn.punk]

Well that makes me feel a whole lot better!!! haha are you sure about the wave hitting in a very specific location? I mean it was in whitewater????

[dougirwin13]

Bic's are tough, but any board will break in the right conditions.

Fact is there are a number of ways any board can break.

On of the big things withg Bics and Surftechs is that they dont flex. So if they take a heavy impact across the centre of the bottom whilst upside down there's a good chance they'll break. As long as the wave is big enough and the orientation is right...

Even the Firewires, Sunovas and custom composites will snap if they get hit with enough force, in the right place, with the right orientation.

Good reason to keep control and not ditch unless you have no choice.

But I reckon everyone has to ditch sometime If you dont you aren't puching your limits IMO.

-doug

[gdude335]

I think ditching your board is acceptable if NO ONE is around. Ive tried duckdiving a set and got moved back really far. I abandonned ship on a set and didnt move at all. Their are some tips. Always make sure the leash will not get caught on your foot and that your board wont hit you.
I really find it acceptable when no one is around, just dont abuse it or else your duckdiving/turtlerolling technique will not get better. Big wave surfers are also an exeption for this. Look at the guys at Mavericks (watch riding giants) all of them go down when a wave will break on them and some will dive into a vertical wall of white water.

[surfn.punk]

Well that makes me feel a whole lot better!!! haha are you sure about the wave hitting in a very specific location? I mean it was in whitewater????

[dougirwin13]

OK, let me clarify.

it's not the wave, it's the force.

When a wave closes out or turns to whitewater you have a lot of force/energy churning around. When that energy hits the right area, in the right kind of scenario, the board will break.

-doug

[Brent]

One spot I surf has a cliff nearby, it's easy to visually judge using this cliff as a reference how much more distance I lose by bailing & diving deep as opposed to duckdiving & getting worked somewhat. By the time I crawl back onto my board I've wasted more energy & stuffed around more & spent more time in the impact zone. If you are in the water floundering around you are not making progress out the back.

I think you should duckdive as best you can - or even better paddle-smart & use rips & timing sets better. The more volatile the surf the better (usually) rips etc are working. Use your head & not your arms.

Secondly, when it gets big be more streamlined as you duckdive - by this I mean pull your elbows into your body more, pull your head down against the board as you go down - to get deeper & also think about how the water is moving around you. Make like a streamlined thing & you'll go deeper.

And practice.