Learning to Not Breathe

A lot of Paddlesurfers are returning to the sport of surfing after perhaps a long hiatus, or perhaps never surfed at all. Many of you will eventually get into bigger waves and experience the joy of bouncing around in whitewater or retreating from a crashing lip by hugging the bottom. One critical skill you must learn is how to hold your breath and conserve energy. We’ll cover conserving energy later, this article is about not breathing–on purpose.

You may recall swimming long distances under water when you were younger, but if it’s been a while since you tested your underwater abilities, do so before you get into waves of significant size. If you find it impossible to hold your breath while being active for thirty seconds, then some training is in order.

When you practiced holding your breath and swimming underwater as a tad, you were doing hypoxic training, and it’s the most effective way to increase your body’s efficiency when you can’t get oxygen. It’s simply exercising for short periods while holding your breath.

As you get older it gets harder to do this, as they say, the wind is the first thing to go. You’ll need to train more to do less. Sorry about that, but training hard beats sitting on a tour bus. Like a lot of deterioration associated with aging, working at it will slow the process dramatically and keep you at the high end of that ugly downward curve. Hmmm, I’m feeling kind of depressed just writing this.

A swimming pool is a great and convenient way to do hypoxic training, and you can combine it with improving your swimming, which is another critical surfing tool. Don’t do any underwater breath-holding exercise without a spotter. Shallow water blackouts occur in even healthy and experienced people. It only takes a short amount of time to drown–do this practice only with a capable buddy who is willing to pay attention–especially in the ocean. Here’s why: I’m a certified Rescue Diver (well, sort of, I never completed the CPR requirement) and a lot of the requirements for that certification have to do with finding and recovering stuff from the bottom. I’ll tell you for sure–that ain’t easy and it takes a long time sometimes. I never did find my spare weight belt that we were using for one exercise, and we looked for over an hour. You don’t want people looking for you if you’ve blacked out, you want them watching you when things go bad.

Pool regimen: Start by warming up with a fairly long swim. Five or six laps of the pool is about right. Then swim a lap freestyle, face down, without breathing. Take a lap at a leisurely pace to recover, then do it again. Five or six repetitions is a good start. Cool off for a while and fully recover your breath, then do another set.

Surf regimen: Swim until you feel warmed up, position yourself where you can feel the swell underwater (near a break is good if there are no surfers out). Dive to the bottom and stay down for two waves. Surface and breath for two or three waves, then dive for two waves. Repeat this five or six times.

Carrying a diving weight belt or a rock around underwater is a more extreme version of the same training. The amount of energy expended is similar but you’ll be using other muscles. It might be worthwhile to toss this in sometimes (but I don’t).

If you do these exercises regularly you’ll find your ability to manage being tossed around by waves is greatly improved. You may be able to extend the time you can hold your breath and make the exercises more difficult.

There are no guarantees in the water. Great watermen die in situations that seem almost trivial, and out-of-shape newbies survive in horrific circumstances. But preparation and understanding the possibilities should give you not only a better chance but a better time. If you come up sputtering and choking every time the whitewater roughs you up a little, you won’t have as much fun as the guy who goes through the washing machine and comes up calm.

Handling a Close Out Wave

I’m writing this article in large part because I’m trying to get better at this myself. I’ve run people over trying to get out of their wave, and been clobbered by closeouts more times than I care to admit. This are big boards we’re playing with, you can’t just dive off them into the face and believe everything will work out okay. If they get caught in the lip you’re going for a leash ride. On the other hand, you have a paddle to help balance and a board that will float on whitewater. You have some options that shortboarders and longboarders would consider to be just asking for a beating.

Here’s the basic options:

Ride it out down the line. Just stick with your trim and see what happens. Wait, I know the answer–you get flogged, eh? Almost certainly, especially with these big boards. When you pile into the closeout the collapsing lip will grab the nose of your board and usually flip you to the downside. Not a good place to land because you can’t dive under the wave for fear of hitting the reef head first. So you hit flat and take a ride over the falls like a rag doll. Good luck on that. Next option please.

Race the lip out. Turn down the face and try to beat the wave to the lagoon (or the beach). For longboarders and shortboarders this is a forlorn hope, especially if the wave is tossing the lip out. The board will slow as it leaves the curve of the face and position you exactly where the lip is most certain to land on your head and punch you into your board like a peg. People get injuries doing this, it’s a bad idea. But Paddlesurfers actually have a possible variation for this option that can work like a charm. we’ll discuss that at the end.

Dive into the face. The easiest and probably the least dangerous of the options. Dive over the inside nose of the board into the face at the base. Kick down, arch your back and let the impact of the wave carry you through to the back and into precious air. Make sure you go deep enough that you don’t get dragged over the falls. If the wave is really big you may regret being tied to your board. Just about the time you reach air the board may start taking you for a long underwater ride. DO NOT FREAK. Relax and wait for stuff to stop moving.

Slide over the top. If you have a good distance to go before you come to the closeout you can just turn up the face and slide over the top. If you judge it poorly the crumbling wave will turn your board back down the face and take you involuntarily through a combination of all the painful parts of the scenarios that precede this.

Drive out the back. Fade down the wave to gain speed then do a very sharp turn up the face. dig in hard and stay committed to the turn. With luck, skill and a lot of speed you’ll pop over the top. You feel godlike when you pull this off. I’m batting about .100 on this so far. I’ve found you actually can surf completely backwards on one of these boards, just not for very long.

Unique to Paddlesurfing (I think) is the Whitewater Flail. I’m getting pretty good at this, even in pretty big waves. It helps a lot if you’re in mushy waves–another good reason to stay away from the “best” areas of the break. You simply ride the wave until it starts to close, then turn down the face and paddle like hell. This pulls you ahead of the falling lip and the first boom of whitewater. Then move further back on the board, shift your weight backwards, stuff your paddle behind you onto the wall o’ whitewater and lean on it. The step back keeps the nose from being levered under by the whitewater turbulence hitting the tail, and leaning on the paddle lets you lighten the rear end so it floats up onto the froth and helps you balance. You need to resist all the turbulent movements, which lends the name “iron legging” to the technique.

2008 Maui Paddle Showcase

The Paddle Showcase is complete. It took almost as much effort as the board showcase, we hope you find it useful. You can just click on the Paddle showcase tab to get right to the index, or there’s a copy of the index at the end of this article.

The showcase will continue to grow and evolve–we’ll evaluate paddles and add them as they become available for us to test. If there is a paddle you like to see included, please let us know and we’ll get to work on it.

Paddles are Personal and Critical
Paddles are personal, even when you’re done nothing to make them that way. Whether you start with a $18 plastic canoe paddle extended with a broken pool skimmer shaft or a $320 custom Malama they influence every aspect of how you do this sport. The right paddle makes everything easier, more fun, more rewarding. The wrong paddle can leave you with aching arms, back and shoulders, struggling in every wave or slow and wobbly in flatwater.

[Read more]

Making Waves: Predicting Your Next Great Day

“Where do waves come from, Master? Why are there forty foot waves at Jaws when they’re just head high at Kenaha. Does swell period have anything to do with pregnancy or sanitary napkins? Why are there sets? How come we surf monks can’t get chicks.”

“Ah, grasshopper. These are all hopeless grommet questions, but then you are a hopeless grommet. Wax my board and polish my paddle and I will enlighten you..”

Wind makes waves. First ripples form, then the ripples give the wind something to push against and it shoves the ripples into chop, then waves, then big humping life-sucking victory-at-sea mackers if everything goes well. [Read more]

Sure Are A Lot Of Janitors

Diane and I went to Kihei this morning to paddle some. When we got to Kam 1 beach the horizon was lined with Paddlesurfers–janitors, in surfer parlance, because they all look like they’re sweeping up. And they are–when the surf is small like it was today it’s about the only game in town. The longboarders are starting to feel like they’re in the minority. One of them said to me this morning “EVERYONE is on standup boards these days–I feel like I’ve been left behind.”

My reply was that it’s more fun, why wouldn’t you do it?

The growth rate here in Maui is explosive. People used to stop me and ask what this strange thing I was doing is called. Now they’re stopping me to ask about technical details, or to get my opinion on where to place a mast track.  I counted twenty three SUP boards visible from Kam 1 at eight o’clock, and more people came and went all morning.

I had my doubts that people would really gravitate to flatwater stand up paddling, but that’s exactly what most people are doing. Sure, they wander over to the cove to catch a few little waves, but by and large a SUP board is a much more practical and fun alternative to a kayak. I saw literally a dozen people putting their board in the water at Kam 1, where there is no immediate opportunity to surf. There’s really only one reason why you would do that–you have no intention of surfing, you just want to paddle.

Remarkable. If growth in Maui is any indication, this summer should be wacky on the mainland. I hope the board manufacturers are ready for it.

Cut Feet and Sore Shoulders

I’m losing my marbles. The wind has been excellent for the last week, and the surf sucks, but I’m doggedly trying to Paddlesurf. Why I don’t just go windsurf is beyond me, normally I’d be happy as a clam about these conditions. I guess I’m an addict. Yesterday I took my addiction to new lows and went paddling on the south side while it was blowing like stink at Kanaha. Put in at Launiopoko (the translation of this westside beach park is “no waves, knucklehead–go windsurfing”), caught a few ankleslappers, and then paddled west. I stopped at every break along the way–like Puamana (translation: “no waves here either”) and wound up at the Pacific O grill for lunch.

I had sixteen soggy bucks in my boardshorts, which is chump change for a fancy beachside cafe, so I told the bartender how much I had, asked the price of a beer (five bucks–FIVE BUCKS!!), did some fast menu math and decided I could also have some Gyoza but would have to leave a crappy tip. After a brief consultation with the bartender (Melissa from Atlanta–nice kid) we decided it was better that I eat something than suitably reward her. Took forever for my Gyoza to arrive, so I relaxed and chatted with Melissa, and watched about a million people take surfing lessons at Lahina Breakwall. Every time Melissa made a blended drink she’d put the leftover foo-foo drink in a glass and give it to me. Nice of her, but after one very tasty IPA and the third pineapple-banana-mango tropical sunburst I decided I’d better get back in the water while I could still feel my legs.

I decided to paddle out of the lagoon at the breakwall instead of threading the needle at the secret channel. So I worked my way past the throngs of flailing surf students and found some remarkable surf on the outside edge. The breakwall seems to manufacture it’s own waves. How it makes head high waves out of kneeslapper swells is a mystery, but it’s likely a refraction thing. These were chest to head high and very fast. I paddled out to the lineup, stepped back on my board to turn it, slipped on the wet deck and fell unceremoniously next to a very competent-looking local surfer girl. As I hauled myself back to my feet she said “the waves are pretty rough here–you might want to go over there”, pointing to the throngs of beginners. I smiled and said I’d give it a try here first, caught a really nice head high wave and got a great ride out of it. I even popped out the back with a really clean backside turn that felt just right.

I paddled back out and the surfer girl smiled and said, “I’m embarrassed, you’re a better surfer than me” which wasn’t true, but was nice to hear. Of course the next wave I caught closed out on the nose of my board as I attempted a duplicate backside exit, and shoved me into the rock garden near the breakwall. I lost my treasured hat, so i had to wander around a bit to find it, and cut my feet to shreds on the razor sharp rocks. Surf booties are a must at the breakwall.

On the paddle back to Launipoko (about three miles) I noticed little trails of blood washing off the back of my board. Chumming for sharks. Surfed at all the breaks and at Launipoko, then caught a wave to the beach and headed home.

Nice day in all, but last night my shoulders were killing me, and my feet are covered with band-aids. It’s eight o’clock and there are already whitecaps.

Darn.

Sunday WOW

I joined Sol Morey and a few of his friends in their weekly WOW (walk on water) paddle this Sunday morning. They’ve been doing it for a while and generally have eight to twelve paddlers, leaving from the Canoe hut near Kenolio Park in West Kehei and finishing up at Kalama Park–a leisurely 3.5 mile paddle. A nice, easy distance and a very pleasant time. We were in the water by 8:30 or so, and the water was like a lake. Lots of fish, turtles, and reefs to be seen. I noticed at least five or six other SUP paddlers out for a cruise. What a fine way to spend Sunday morning.

I’ll do a longer writeup in the next issue, but here’s a few teaser photos:

Seven paddlers on this Sunday WOW

Next time I’m bringing my rod! This is Kayak fisherman Mel Ross with a nice Kagamy Popio (small Ulua). We saw lots of Ulua on the reefs. that coulda been my dinner.

How many skinny girls can you fit on one board? Four if you stick other boards under the nose and tail.

If you’re in Maui and you’d like to come along, contact Sol at 808.875.4761

I Got My Camera Back!!

What an odd day. I spent most of it sewing new sleeves for all the rack pads on the funmobile. the surf looked big, and I bet it was going off in a reasonable size on the west side (ho’okipa was closed out and very windy), but I was home sewing. And I thought the last post made me out to be a sissy. Part of making new pad covers was cleaning out the funmobile, and in vacuuming out the tons of sand i found my iPhone. I had lost it a couple of weeks ago and bought a replacement. It was stuck in a crevice that I just didn’t find when i looked for it. I’ll have to see if I can return thet new one I bought–i still have the packaging.

Then this afternoon I got an email from Mark Raaphoorst. A fisherman found my camera and saw some pictures of the Ding King in the camera. They dropped it off at the shop and Mark sent me an email asking if I lost the camera. How wild is that. I need to buy some serious amounts of beer.

Big Sissy

I sure am glad the wind came up at Kanaha early this morning, it gave me an excuse to get off the water without admitting that I was scared. OK, I was. When I showed up Randy (from StandUpZone) and Frank (Lightning Bolt) were screwing around with Randy’s new gorgeous video camera. I asked how the surf was while I took my board off the funmobile, and they said in near unison “messy”.  It was indeed.  I paddled out with absolute confidence until I reached the channel and noticed that occasionally the waves were closing it out. Still, I punched through with no big problems, the rideable waves were overhead to one and a half, which didn’t concern me too much. There were three prone surfers out–that was it.

What bothered me was the angle–it was from the northeast, and it was making a bowl-shaped face that I remember all too well from the first few days I got back to Maui in January. They beat the crap out of me then. Closes out at both ends and smacks you in the middle unless you’re really fast down the line.

I’m not.

Still, I felt that my surfing had progressed enough so I could be comfortable with the waves so I watched a few to get my bearings and suddenly realized I couldn’t tell the big waves from the small. The swell was thick rather than tall, and the big waves leaped up very suddenly when they reached the reef. In fact, while I was messing around trying to figure things out I got caught inside and worked a little bit. I think it was then that I lost my camera. I had stuck my Xacti waterproof video cam in my back pocket. Normally having it pop out would be no big deal–I’d just paddle around and look for it. I have a red floating soft lanyard attached to it, and it’s easy to spot. But I didn’t notice it missing until later, and in the “victory-at-sea conditions it would be hard to spot. So if you find a blue Xacti with a red lanyard on it…  I suspect it will show up somewhere in Tahiti in a month or so.

Anyway, I got back out to the lineup and watched a few more waves. I was considering bailing on the whole idea when Chan paddled out.  I watched her catch a few waves and decided I could do it too. I moved way down to the left and tried to catch the edge of a face in the channel. Bad idea. The first wave I caught ran out of poop in twenty yards, and right behind it was a big guy that was crumbling as I caught it. I managed to stay up for a few yards and then got hit by the whitewater and pounded.

I went back out (why I did that escapes me) and watched Randy try to punch straight out through the middle of the reef. I didn’t see how that could work, and after a while, so did Randy. He caught a couple of good looking rides on the far inside and then I lost track of him.

The wind started picking up a little, then suddenly jumped right up to prime windsurfing force–probably 20-25 knots.  I was being blown down the lineup. I had to drop to my knees and paddle like mad to get back to the channel, then I caught a ride through to the lagoon and started paddling in. I got about halfway there and discovered the camera was gone, so I turned around and went looking for it. I resolved to go as far as the reef and then run along with the wind and see if I could spot it. Nada. Expensive day.

Paddled in, shot the breeze with Frank (still healing and looking pretty pained), Randy and Chan. What great folks, always interesting to talk to. Randy is always stoked about something, right now he’s very excited about his new camera, and it’s a pretty amazing piece of gear. Chan is simply a really smart lady with well-considered, informed opinions. Damned good surfer too. And Frank is an all around good guy, dying to get back in the water.

I finally beat feet for the west side, tried S-Turns for a while, caught a few nice waves, but the wind came up and was blowing me all over the place. Wound up at Puamana mucking around in knee-high mushy waves. Puaman can serve up some tasty faces sometimes, but when it’s the only game in town it always feels like my old dating days, when you’d hit all the hot spots on Friday night until everything started closing, and then you’d wind up at Denny’s, grumpily eating a grand slam breakfast.

Take Ten

Man, Kanaha is looking really shabby. I’ve got an idea about what to do with all the plastic bags we get from the grocery store. I’m going to take one to Kanaha with me every morning I go there and spend ten minutes picking up trash.

Yeah, I don’t like picking up other people’s crap, especially the dirty diapers I find tossed  in the parking lot. I have no idea WTF people are thinking, but the slobs will always be with us (unless we put a bounty on them) and the park is ours.

I’m not going to try to talk anyone else into doing this–other than to mention it here. I hate it when people do that to me. I’m just going to do it. So if you see me rummaging in the garbage cans and picking up trash, don’t offer me some spare change. The recession hasn’t nailed me yet. I just hate looking at one of the most beautiful parks in the world after the slobs get done with it.

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