Safety in bigger waves

Hello,

Approx 6 months ago my mate and I took up SUP with the goal to surf our entrance bar on a good south swell. SO far we have had 2 very good sessions but have discovered the hold downs with a paddle board are somewhat longer than our shortboards and not very easy to swim to the surface with a paddle in your hand!

Has anyone learnt how to deal with the problems of being dragged for ages and trying to get to the surface with a paddle in your hand.

I have taped a 200mm long piece of foam noodle to the paddle but didn't really help.

Looking at inflatable wetsuits also.

Any advise on bail out technique or survival tips most welcome.

Cheers

Ah yes, that time of year!
Not much you can do about that extra foam! Not sure what size you are up against, but here are 3 techniques I picked up over the years that work pretty well up to 8'. Over that, well its 'balls and all' really and unless there is a deep channel I stay away

1. If the white water is not much over head height, I kick the board up and over before I go down. This seems dangerous at first but it is safer than a board dragging out 20' behind you. 90% of the time it pops up right beside me.
2. When I dive I get into a position where I can use the paddle blade to hold my position as best I can and stop getting dragged. Angle the blade and it will lift you towards the surface as you get dragged.
3. I have started using a storm leggy which doesn't stretch as much, so the boards stays closer. Safer for me and those behind me. It is a trade off - as you def get a big yank on the ankle.

+1. But if you can push the paddle down under the turbulence and get the blade into the solid water you can use the paddle as an anchor to stop getting dragged quite so far. Works up to a soft 6ft but anything 5ft+ and a bit more push in it tends to smash you whatever you do.

good topic, does anyone try to hold the front of the board and dive thru?
This is why short boarders don't wear PFD.
I think wearing a PFD would only drag you further along in the white water which might be worse than going deep.
also like paddle for underwater stability.

Ive noticed on waves doing this you do get a considerable push back, due to bigger board and flotation. only tried on small waves.

on larger waves I just push the board away side ways, and dive under the wave and wait for the big pull on the leggy, still not sure if its better to dive deep or swim up into the wave, which sometimes seems to work better without getting pulled down too deep.

I hate the thought of getting side on and getting pushed onto a fin or come in contact with nose or tail.

More experiences and other peoples views on this would be appreciated.

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SMac69 said...
[br]Hello,

Approx 6 months ago my mate and I took up SUP with the goal to surf our entrance bar on a good south swell. SO far we have had 2 very good sessions but have discovered the hold downs with a paddle board are somewhat longer than our shortboards and not very easy to swim to the surface with a paddle in your hand!

Has anyone learnt how to deal with the problems of being dragged for ages and trying to get to the surface with a paddle in your hand.

I have taped a 200mm long piece of foam noodle to the paddle but didn't really help.

Looking at inflatable wetsuits also.

Any advise on bail out technique or survival tips most welcome.

Cheers

hi mate , to start with is to adapt to your new form of surfing and condition your self to paddle boarding , when I first started I was in the same boat, just wanted to surf flat out, but after a steep learning curve and a few bad wipeouts I soon realised that my approach had to change, firstly I started with changing my leggie , I ditched anything with stretch in it ,stretch in large waves is the enemy , a thick leggie with a good nylon rope to attach to your board is priceless ,next is leggie and that will be relative to your board size , so let's say your boards around 9 foot , in waves around 3 to 4 feet I'd use a 7 ft leggie 4 to 6 feet 8/9 foot leggie after that it's a personal choice, but the same rules apply though, you want a leggie that will save your board and a long swim , plus you want to be able to retrieve your board quickly after a wipeout , that is the secret to success with supping , mastering board control no matter the situation. So choose spots that are very defined and organised, to start charging in and uncrowded , as far as be dragged that all comes down to conditioning and practicing your bailout techniques,
The next part and probably the hardest thing is what to due with that bloody paddle, because sooner or later you and your paddle are ginning to part ways, good news they all float pretty well, so unless they get jammed in the reef they will always surface , so in normal wipeout situation rule of thumb just hangon to it. Bad wipeout ditch it and worried about where your board is .then go find it once you have got everything under control , they never seem to go to far for some reason, in big waves things change a bit , I'd be following the lead of some of the big wave guys and either buy a paddle with high colouring on it or painting high via colouring on it . It will help while your dealing with your knowing that your your brightly coloured paddle will be easier to find amongst all the white wash .
Goodluck have fun and be safe

Hi Tortise...."stretch in leg ropes is the enemy"?
Don't we see the guys supping Mavericks with 15 foot or longer leg ropes?
I think stretch and length in a leg rope is good

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GizzieNZ said...
Hi Tortise...."stretch in leg ropes is the enemy"?
Don't we see the guys supping Mavericks with 15 foot or longer leg ropes?
I think stretch and length in a leg rope is good

Like I posted over a certain size it's a personal choice . I've never surfed 15 foot mav's , so I would n't know , what equipment I'd use . Bigger waves need different gear and total commitment

Thanks everyone for all those ideas and tips, very good and much appreciated.

Im looking at a padded vest that Patagonia make which looks really good for protection and coming back to the surface.

The string on the paddle is a great idea as iv had two ropes break so far and impossible to swim with paddle.

I like the bailout and kick the board up onto the foam but will practise in smaller conditions.

I have tried the paddle in various angles to slow down the drag but very keen to try to use it to angle and bring to the surface.

Definitely a whole new ball game SUPing bigger waves but great fun.

Cheers

We have recently had a few people where I live coming out once it gets a bit bigger as it's easy to get out, all I got to say is if your not comfortable out in the bigger stuff for the safety of others around you don't go out until you are confident in your ability to deal with the situation at hand.

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Towny said..

We have recently had a few people where I live coming out once it gets a bit bigger as it's easy to get out, all I got to say is if your not comfortable out in the bigger stuff for the safety of others around you don't go out until you are confident in your ability to deal with the situation at hand.

Well said Towny . Where my local is , once its double overhead its a real battle . It can take a few attempts to get out , which in itself drains energy . So therefore , if you cant get out you don't deserve to be there .

Redeemed my self esteem today.....surf a bit bigger
Got out after 15 minutes and second attempt....only caught one wave but the young fit shortboarder who was the only other person out only caught two waves so all good

If your not sure don't take the risk,especially if there's no one around,the hard part I think is choosing to paddle or swim to saftey or stay put and cop what's coming,nothing worse than trying to out run sets only to cop a hold down exhausted,and personally stretchy leashes will take a lot longer to release a board ,draging you underwater longer and taking up valuable escape time,they will spear your board at you much faster as well,getting dragged down the lineup is still moving you out of the impact zone which is good unless your surfing at a a cliff and then mabey not so good.

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Zeusman said..

AA said..
Ah yes, that time of year! Not much you can do about that extra foam! Not sure what size you are up against, but here are 3 techniques I picked up over the years that work pretty well up to 8'. Over that, well its 'balls and all' really and unless there is a deep channel I stay away 1. If the white water is not much over head height, I kick the board up and over before I go down. This seems dangerous at first but it is safer than a board dragging out 20' behind you. 90% of the time it pops up right beside me. 2. When I dive I get into a position where I can use the paddle blade to hold my position as best I can and stop getting dragged. Angle the blade and it will lift you towards the surface as you get dragged. 3. I have started using a storm leggy which doesn't stretch as much, so the boards stays closer. Safer for me and those behind me. It is a trade off - as you def get a big yank on the ankle.

Hey AA, can you expand a bit on your idea of using the paddle and angling it to push you back up? are you holding the blade down near your feet, raised up near your head, out in front of you, in close etc... Just can't picture what you mean.

If I get caught inside by a big one, I generally make sure nobody is behind me first. If there is I'll take a couple of quick strokes to one side to hopefully clear the space directly behind. Then dive under the wave, turn under water and grab hold of my leash with one hand then two before the board starts pulling. That generally has the same effect in pulling you to the surface. Gotta get that timing right though otherwise you F***ked!!

Tang said..
+1. But if you can push the paddle down under the turbulence and get the blade into the solid water you can use the paddle as an anchor to stop getting dragged quite so far. Works up to a soft 6ft but anything 5ft+ and a bit more push in it tends to smash you whatever you do.


Zeusman, as Tang describes you need solid water, grab the shaft with two hands, one close to the blade and use its surface area as a break/drogue to stop you getting dragged as far. Angle the blade at around 45% so it forces you up as you get dragged along. Of course you need to know which way is up for this one to work