Caught Inside

It’s inevitable, some day you’ll paddle into a wave and not make it, and as you start your turn to paddle back out you suddenly realize you can’t see the horizon. Or you’re waiting for a wave and suddenly realize the head-high wave you thought was close is actually far away, and it’s not head high, and it’s already feathering

Uh oh.

Prevention
The best solution is to not get caught inside to begin with. There are a couple of things that can help a lot. First be aware of your situation all the time. If you’re paddling after a wave, is it likely to have a big brother right behind it? If you miss the wave you’re after, which way do you need to turn to have the best chance of making it over big brother. For that matter, if there’s no one going for that second wave, then a Mulligan may be in order. Even riding a wave into a closeout is better than going over the falls.

If the waves are stairstepping, or some of the sets are really big, consider starting farther out, or at least doing your time waiting for your turn out further where you’re less likely to be taken up by the “Clean Up Woman”. Face out to sea so you can see the big mommas coming early, and start paddling for the horizon sooner. Sure, it’s cool to be casual in the big waves, and I know you want to hang out with the guys and talk story, but if they’re sitting in a bad spot you might not want to get worked with them. Maybe they like it. Maybe they’re a lot faster than you.

Caught
So what are you going to do? You can sprint for the top and try to push over, but if you’re certain that you’re not going to make it over, paddling up the wave until it takes you over the falls backwards is a terrible idea. Lots of opportunity to be smacked by your board and a much worse thrashing than is necessary.

On a Sup board you have the advantage of being in position for an effective dive. Aim for the base of the wave and dive deep. Arch your back and time it right and you’ll pop out the back of the wave like an otter, though this otter is tied to a big board that’s turning into a speedboat on the other side of the wave. Catch a breath on the backside if you can, but don’t fight the sleigh ride. At least you’re not under the lip getting worked. It will all be over soon. If you have a chance, look at the next wave to get an idea of what’s coming. You might have as much as ten seconds before the next wave hits. That’s enough for three or four fast hard breaths. Doing this will hyperventilate you a little bit and give you more oxygen in your bloodstream. You can hold your breath longer and with more comfort.

If that didn’t work out, and now you’re bouncing around in ten feet of whitewater there’s really only a few things that can help you. First, stay calm. If you panic and try to swim against the currents, you’re hosed. You can’t do it. Tons of water are swirling you around and you’re trying to overcome them with a few pounds of muscle. Ain’t happening.

Pull yourself tight (arms in and crossed across your chest, knees bent, eyes open) and wait it out. A long hold down is thirty seconds. If you’ve been doing some hypoxic training you can hold your breath that long while you’re doing jumping jacks. If you haven’t done any training then you can still hold your breath that long if you’re sitting on the couch. So relax, be one with the currents, wait for the bubbles to begin floating upwards and follow them up. Pull yourself up your leash if you need to.

Watch for approaching boards as you break the surface. Get a big breath of delicious air right away–there might be another wave about to drop on you. Assess your situation. If you can hug the tail of your board the next wave might push you in a bit, but if it’s macking on your head, go back down to the blue room and try again.

Above all, stay calm. The more often you’ve done this, the calmer you’ll be. Hopefully all your surfing progression has been from small waves to bigger, and you’ve learned a lot along the way. If you’re relatively inexperienced and you’re in big waves, then all I can do is wish you well.

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How-to articles

Time to fire up the How-To section again.

SUP Surfing How To Articles:

Over the next couple of weeks I plan a number of surfing how-to articles. I’m lining up interviews with some very experienced SUP surfers, aimed primarily at creating articles that help the intermediate SUP surfer take the next step. But first I’m going to revive some articles that appeared last winter in Ke Nalu that most readers haven’t seen–they were kind of buried in the archives. These aim at beginner SUP surfers and cover basic technique and some survival issues. The first in that series is Caught Inside, some fundamental words of advice on a situation we all face but beginners seem to encounter more than they should. I’ve added some preventative advice to the article.

I’m also working on a long article titled How to SUP surf, which covers everything a beginner should know before paddling out into anything more than ankle-biters.

SUP Distance How To Articles:

Interest in downwinders and distance paddling is growing fast, in fact it looks to be the fastest growing segment of SUP. The basics are obvious–get on a board, point it towards the horizon, and start paddling. But if you’re going to spend all that time paddling, it ought to deliver as much as it can. Choosing the right board, the right paddle, finding the right technique, learning to ride swells, setting up your board, choosing a fin and placing it properly–all can add greatly to the experience. We’re working on articles about the right equipment, proper paddling technique, weight placement, engaging the core and legs, and general preparation for distance paddling.

SUP racing:

It’s a whole different deal from just doing a downwinder. Race pace and paddling requires different training and techniques. I found that out first hand when I started working on my own pace. I thought the training I did for the Cape Cod Bay Challenge would prepare me for racing. NOT. If anything it made my stroke lazier. Cranking out thirty miles is mostly a matter of having the time to do it. If you want to travel ten miles in minimum time, that’s a whole different deal. We’ll cover racing technique, board choice and board prep, and talk to some of the best racers in the world.

It’s all coming, stay tuned.

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Beginning Stand Up Paddle Surfing

Before you start paddle surfing you need to assess your swimming skills and your ability to handle yourself and your board in surf. Any watersport is dangerous, and good swimming skills are a necessity, even if you only do standup on flat water and lakes.

Leash: Wear one. Even on a lake. When you fall you often give the board a kick that sends  it zooming away. Then the substantial freeboard gives the wind something to push against and suddenly you’re all alone. In waves it’s even easier to be abandoned by your board. I had to swim in from the outer reef at Kanaha when my leash parted one morning last summer. It was after noon before I hit sand. Long morning.

It’s not just your safety that’s at stake though–you can kill or injure someone with one of these boards. A leash is not a cure all for that problem but it’s a start. More important though is the issue of where you practice. Don’t learn where there are other surfers. These are big boards and it’s easy for them to get out of control. You don’t need the best spot in the lineup, all you need is some sloppy waves to practice on. Don’t forget how long the board and leash are. If you get worked and are bouncing along in the whitewater your board can be 25 feet away from you. There’s no excuse for learning where there are people below you who can be hit by your board. When you do fall in, pretend that you don’t have a leash. Do what you can to control the board. DON’T grab the leash though–if it gets wrapped around your fingers while you’re in the wave they can easily be broken.  It’s happened.  It’s a good idea to have a grab handle on the back of the board. Handy on the front of the board for that matter. If you have a solid handle to hang onto then it’s much easier to keep your board away from people. The other big advantage is that you can get an occasional breath while you’re being bounced around–you’ll always be near the surface if you’re hanging onto the board.

While we’re talking about breathing and drowning, your paddle is actually a big help when you’re getting pushed down by a wave. Put it across your chest with the paddle blade above your head and the dihedral bent down. As you are pushed through the water the paddle will send you upwards. I’m not sure why this works, but every time I try it I’m amazed at how fast I pop up.

Lifejacket: It’s not unreasonable to wear a kayak-style lifejacket. The inflatable kind that are almost as narrow as a pair of suspenders are really handy. Some of the best big wave surfers in the world wear them today. Yes, you’ll look stupid, but you’ll be alive and stupid, not dead and cool.

Be aware of the wind and currents, you can easily be blown to sea by an offshore wind or find yourself fighting a powerful current. Start your learning experiences where there are lifeguards, and it’s highly recommended to have someone on the shore that’s paying attention to where you are and whether you are screaming or not.

Etiquette: Once you get good, remember that you have a huge advantage over other surfers–and DON’T take more advantage of it than you should. You can start into a wave long before standard surfers can, you can get back to the lineup much quicker, and you can catch waves even when you’re out of the slot. Don’t be a wave hog.

There’s a backlash starting of surfers being pissed off about SUP folks coming into their favorite spot and taking too many waves. Of course for some of the territorial knuckleheads that think they own the beach, and any wave you take is too many waves. But there’s two good reasons not to irritate fellow surfers

• First of all, you don’t need their waves. A SUP surfer can surf almost anywhere. Waves that are too small for shortboarders are just fine for SUP. Long frequency, no shoulder waves give long and fulfilling rides. You can SUP surf in a ski boat wake. You can also travel long distances to get to outside breaks or breaks that aren’t easy to get to from shore. It’s fun and good exercise getting there, and you don’t have to dodge the grems.
• Second, they were there first. No matter how stupidly they might assert their territory, you’re the new guy, even if you shortboarded that break for the last twenty years. Give them room

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How to Paddle Straight

Kind of an old video, but a lot of people have been talking about paddling techniques lately.

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.

Cross Stepping

Tired of doing that awkward little crab scuffle as you inch around on your board? The cross step is a classic longboard move every Paddlesurfer should master. If nothing else it looks totally soulful. But really the reason for the cross step is not so you can win tango contests, it’s to keep the board flat and trimmed. Your crab scuttle rocks the board from side to side. A properly placed cross step distributes the weight across the board without dipping the rails.

Step one: Tango at home. Seriously–walk around for a few days cross stepping as often as you can. The movement needs to become natural before you get on a board. Don’t just stagger around sideways, place your foot carefully, keeping weight on your toes and heel as you put the foot down. The only way you can do that is to bend your knees, stick your ass out, and get low.. Which is exactly what you want to do. Don’t bend forward at the waist–stay balanced.

Step two: Get loose on your board. Move around, shift your weight, step forward and back. I see guys all the time that are rooted in place on the board.

Step three: Fall in a lot. Hey, it’s going to happen. Catch a wave, trim in, get in a good surfing stance, stay low, start steppin’ brah.

Step four: Be one with the waves. As you move forward the board will accelerate down the wave–unless you’re trimmed straight down the line. As the board accelerates it will tend to boot you off the back. One more reason to stay low.

Step five: No premature celebration. I tend to take three steps and then stand up straight to say “look at me, I’m cross-stepping” though the last three words are mumbled underwater. Stay low going forward, then step your way back.

Okay, NOW you can celebrate.

Being Held Down

Even the idea of being held on the bottom or stuffed under a ledge of reef can start your heart pounding–and that’s exactly what you don’t want to do. If you’re relaxed and calm you can easily hold your breath for 30 seconds, with practice 60 seconds is easy. If you’re panicked and thrashing around it’s more like ten.

Even a fairly small wave can catch you in exactly the wrong spot and pin you. A big wave has all kinds of unpredictable things happening under it. You might pop out in just a few seconds after a wipeout on a big wave, or you could be down on the bottom looking through a curtain of foam, trying to figure out which way is up.

When everything is going bad, time gets haywire. A big wave period (the time between waves) is 15 to 20 seconds. If you are held down until just before the next wave comes, that’s probably twenty seconds maximum.

A two wave hold down, which is pretty rare and considered to be pretty horrific, is at the very most, 40 seconds, and more likely 30 seconds. It might seem like you’re down there for ten minutes, but even a really bad hold down is in the easy range of holding your breath–if you are calm and relaxed.

Of course calmly holding your breath in our living room and doing it while you’re being bounced across a reef are two different things. But the living room is a decent place to practice. You might also want to try the classic hold down exercise–carrying weights underwater. Good training if the prospect scares you. It doesn’t have to be a fifty pound boulder, twenty pounds of dive weights will give you valuable experience.

Here’s some things to consider when the wave is dropping on your head:

1. Why don’t I have some floatation? You might think it looks dorky, but don’t tell that to Laird–he’s usually wearing an impact vest with floatation when he’s charging big stuff. So do an increasing number of tow-in surfers. Even light ones aren’t as comfortable as no vest is, and they can be a liability in a crowded surf spot–it’s tough to dive under a board that’s headed toward your head if you’ve got a vest on. But when a double overhead lip falls on you and you pop up in the foam four seconds later, that vest feels REALLY comfortable.

2. Your paddle can help. If you held onto your paddle when you fell, it adds a little buoyancy and will help pull you up. When you get hit by a wave, putting the paddle behind your head tends to push you upwards. I don’t know why that works, but in my experience it does help. Once you get out of the impact zone you can toss your paddle towards your board and swim unencumbered, or tuck it in your rash guard for a little added float.

3. Don’t fight the power. When you’re being held down, relax as much as possible during the turbulent stage. You can’t swim against the wave’s currents and you’ll just burn up O2. Wait for the bubbles to start to rise, and follow them up. Watch for your board as you surface, no point in adding a head injury to your challenges.

4. Duck and cover. The most important element is simply being calm and getting breaths when you can. Try to control your body by keeping your arms in and your knees bent and clenched while you’re in the wash. And take your time. Kicking like crazy for a breath works some of the time, but one day a lip will fall above you just before you reach the surface.

5. Take the ride. If the waves are breaking outside your position and you can reach your board, get a good grip on it before the next set hits. If the sets aren’t huge and you are getting hit by mostly whitewater, sitting on the board near the tail, holding on with your hands, and dangling your feet will keep you above the whitewater. If nothing else you’ll get pushed out of the impact zone in the whitewater. Just make sure there’s no one barreling down on you as you sit there like a bobber.

6. Bail if necessary. If the lip is headed straight for your head, or other surfers are headed towards you, conditions might be better a few feet down. Get as big a breath as you can, and duck under, diving towards and under the wave. Arch your back and kick forward and chances are you’ll pop out the back quickly. Just make sure you’re deep enough that you don’t get sucked backward over the falls. That’s always bad.

Retrieve your board, and get the heck out of there. You probably only need fifty feet to be in safer water.

One of the beautiful things about surfing is that you’re on your own. In the toughest times no one can really help you. Maybe not as much as when you jump out the door of an airplane, but how things turn out in the surf is pretty much up to you. A little conditioning, a little practice, and some mental discipline will go a long way to making sure they turn out well.

Teaching a Teenager to SUP Surf

Teaching a teenager to SUP surf takes a few tricks. For one thing, it’s a good idea to get them out of the surf and take them on a long paddle outside the break so they can get used to standing on the board. There’s no critter more impatient than a teenage boy, and they’ll just keep making the same mistakes over and over if you keep them in the surf. You might consider this is a sexist generalization, but girls are much easier to teach in general. They’ll listen and try to do what you tell them. They don’t have their ego as engaged. [Read more]

SUP Surfing 101

If you’re beginning stand up surfing then I suspect you’ll find this very helpful. This is a collaborative document that will reflect the knowledge of anyone that has something to contribute. I’d like to include your perspectives. They don’t have to carefully written, just informative. I’ll edit and polish to make the document readable.

1. Introduction–cautions and precautions
2. Etiquette
3. Gear–Available boards and why you would choose them
4. Board Tests
5. Board Theory
6. Paddle tests
7. Paddle Theory
8. Building a Wood Paddle
9. Adding handles and tie downs
10. Getting up–Standing on your board, paddling, balance, turning techniques
11. Standing
12. Turning
13. Distance Paddling
14. Board Trimming
15. Paddling technique
16. Surfing–How to catch waves and some techniques for riding them

Introduction–Cautions and Precautions

Special thanks to Blane Chambers at Paddle Surf Hawaii for reminding me I needed to add this section. Blane has very useful sections on his website with instruction in both basic and advanced technique.

Before you start paddle surfing you need to assess your swimming skills and your ability to handle yourself and your board in surf. Any watersport is dangerous, and good swimming skills are a necessity, even if you only do standup on flat water and lakes.

Leash: Your choice of leash or no leash is personal, and depends on whether or not you think you’re better off tied to a twelve foot board in the surf. Personally, I wear them. Even on a lake. When you fall you often give the board a kick that sends it zooming away. Then the substantial freeboard gives the wind something to push against and suddenly you’re all alone. In waves it’s even easier to be abandoned by your board. I had to swim in from the outer reef at Kanaha when my leash parted one morning last summer. It was after noon before I hit sand. Long morning.

Lifejacket: It’s not unreasonable to wear kayak-style lifejacket. The inflatable kind that are almost as narrow as a pair of suspenders are really handy. Some of the best big wave surfers in the world wear them today. Yes, you’ll look stupid, but you’ll be alive and stupid, not dead and cool.

Be aware of the wind and currents, you can easily be blown to sea by an offshore wind or find yourself fighting a powerful current. Start your learning experiences where there are lifeguards, and it’s highly recommended to have someone on the shore that’s paying attention to where you are and whether you are screaming or not.

When you are beginning, stay away from other surfers. These are big boards and it’s easy for them to get out of control. You don’t need the best spot in the lineup, all you need is some sloppy waves to practice on.

Etiquette: Once you are good, remember that you have a huge advantage over other surfers–and DON’T take more advantage of it than you should. You can start into a wave long before standard surfers can, you can get back to the lineup much quicker, and you can catch waves even when you’re out of the slot. Don’t be a wave hog.

A little more on hogging waves–there’s a backlash starting of surfers being pissed off about SUP folks coming into their favorite spot and taking too many waves. Of course for some of the territorial knuckleheads that think they own the beach, any wave is too many waves. But there’s two good reasons not to irritate fellow surfers–first of all, you don’t need their waves. A SUP surfer can surf almost anywhere. Waves that are too small for shortboarders are just fine for SUP. Long frequency, no shoulder waves give long and fulfilling rides. Cripes, you can SUP surf in a ski boat wake. You can also travel long distances to get to outside brakes or breaks that aren’t easy to get to from shore. It’s fun and good exercise getting there, and you don’t have to dodge the grems. And second, they were there first. No matter how stupidly they might assert their territory, you’re the new guy, even if you shortboarded the break for the last twenty years. Give them room.

Gear–Available boards and why you would choose them

The first issue is the right board. For a rank beginner there’s almost no such thing as too wide or too long. But once you start catching waves or riding in difficult conditions like chop and wind, you might outgrow your first board.

Here’s what Ron had to say on the subject: So I borrowed a board that is 11′X28″X4.75 thick and I’m thinking: This board is fricken HUGE. Wrong. It actually was quite a bit too small (I’m 6′3 and 225) and it gave me no end of grief. Tippy and really hard to control, and today I am one sore puppy from holding that lateral balance. What a great workout though.

Oh yeah and I love it.

But a suggestion. Make sure the first board you use is, if anything, way big for you. Not too small. First time out you won’t be doing any Laird moves anyway. Gotta figure out how to handle the damn thing first. Even for a long time surfer there is that paddle in there confusing things. Just getting used to that takes some work without having to contend with a hard to balance board. And make sure the paddle is long enough too. A short paddle makes you lean sideways, not good.
Anyway way maybe I’m just a total klutz but that’s my thought. The more you weigh, the bigger the board needs to be. I’m 6′3″ and weigh 240. My favorite board for purely getting up and paddling around is a Jimmy Lewis 11′ 0″ by 30″ wide. It’s thick and floaty, has a huge fin that adds stability, and it’s easy to get it moving. It’s an epoxy sandwich board so it’s very light. That’s good news when you’re moving this thing around.

I also really like the Ding King hollow board I waited about six months for. The Ding King has one mold for making these boards and they take about a week apiece. Last I heard Mark still had a long waiting list. Mark’s boards are 11′6″ and 27″ wide. They have a full length pad and they’re fairly stable considering the relatively narrow width. The two best things about this board are how it tracks and how it sails. It’s relatively easy to paddle this board fast and straight. I had a mast track put onto mine and I sail it more than I paddle it–it’s great fun to chase down a big wave and ride it until it poops out, then sail back to the reef and do it again.

I’ve also looked at the new Lairds, the largest of which makes my Jimmy Lewis boards look small (I think it’s 12′ 2″ by 31). They are hard to get right now, but I’ve got my name in for one. They’re being made in Asia somewhere so they should be widely available soon. I’d love one with a mast track, but I don’t think that will be happening soon. I was talking to a buddy of Laird Hamilton’s at the beach yesterday who quoted Laird as saying something like “I was the first guy (in recent history) to do standup, and the last to offer a board, but I want anything I put my name on to be absolutely right”. Everyone I’ve talked to loves these boards, but I haven’t tried one yet. Stay posted.

Most people I know say that JL board is still too small for me–that I need something around 12′ 6″ and 30 inches wide. Sounds good, but for now I’m happy. I finally figured out to surf this 11′0″, and I’m having a great time with it. this board is by far the easiest board to stand up on that I’ve tried. Even much larger boards are harder to keep your balamnce on–I don’t know what kind of mojo Jimmy added to the shape, but it’s working.

The new Starboard boards due out in april also sound very interesting (Update–I now have one of the Starboard 12′6″ boards on the road racing trip I’m taking around North America (www.allaluminumtour.com ) and it’s great for lake paddling–best cruiser I’ve tried yet. I’ll do a review asap). The Hot Sails Maui forum has some interesting details on this.

I also have a Jimmy Lewis 11′7″ x 26. I use this mostly as a regular surfboard–it’s fabulous in small surf. Now that I’m getting better at standup I can actually paddle this thing, but it’s very tippy, especially in side chop. I think it would make a fabulous SUP board for a small or skinny person, especially once they start catching waves. I’m not a good surfer yet, but I can actually shuffle my way to the nose with this board.

Another good choice is a big softop. The bigger the better. But don’t buy one unless it’s seriously cheap, you’ll outgrow it quickly. These are probably the only stand up boards you can rent.

Here’s what Juanita K says about choosing a board for the kind of paddling you plan to do: My husband and I bought 2 SUP boards late last year (made at Burleigh Heads) and we are just about to buy 2 more. Why? Coz we have learnt over the last 6 months that our boards (coolite…like a true paddleboard, 12ft long, 4-41/2 thick, 28″ wide) are perfect for smooth glide and flat water paddling or riding bumps and doing downwinds (which is fine coz in Hervey Bay where we live there is no surf). But, the problem is that when we take these boards surfing, they are way too corky and the rails are just too thick. So…you need to work out if your board is for paddling and surfing OR for surfing and paddling.

Over last weekend, we have some friends at Noosa who kindly let us try their SUP boards and it is amazing how much better theirs surf…BUT…when I took one on a sightseeing paddle around to National Park, our boards gliiiiiide so much better and you can feel so much less resistance on each stroke, coz it feels like they are slipping over the water, rather than ploughing slightly through it. So we are doing a lot of research and asking heaps of questions of a few very good SUP boarders up on the Sunshine Coast, so that we get the specs right for surfing, not so much paddling.

All the best in your hunt and welcome to the SUP fraternity on the east coast of Oz

Hey, Jaunita, thanks for the comments. I’m working with some friends on Maui to build a board that’s right for both surfing and cruising. I don’t think the two need to be mutually exclusive, in fact I think they both demand the same things of the board. What might be impossible is to combine good surfing and cruising into a BEGINNER board.

For example, the Ku Nalu board is the best cruiser I’ve tried–it seems like a single stroke carries you yards and yards, while the JL 11er feels like you travel the length of the stroke and not an inch further. It’s also not the best surfing board. But it’s amazingly stable, maneuverable and a decent surfer. The Ku Nalu is an excellent surfer, it’s nearly as good as the magical JL 11′7″.

So what we’re trying to do is borrow a little stability from the general outline of the JL 11er (but a bit narrower) with the cruising ability of the Ku Nalu in the bottom and rails. The result should be an intermediate board. If it works out well go into limited production.

If you’re buying a board, see if you can get a mast track put into it. Not only will that open a new set of doors (longboard windsurfing) it also makes the board a lot easier to handle. Get whoever puts the mast track in to route some fingerholes in the track at one end. You can still use it to hold a mast base, but you can also stick your fingers in to carry the board. These boards are too wide to tuck under an arm.

Boards with a rubber deck are great for foot grip, but when you’re first learning you’ll spend a lot of time on your knees. The deck is very grippy and can wear holes in your knees. Wax on an undecked board won’t do that. Take a look at my knees sometime–I’ll have the scars for years. I went to the drugstore and got some neoprene knee braces–solved the problem, though you look like a dork. But you’re going to look like a dork for a while anyway, no harm done. You should still wax the rubber deck–makes it much sticker. Just like the boogie boarders wax their soft boards (I didn’t know that trick until recently, I always wondered how those guys kept the boards under them when they swim).

Waxing a board without a deck pad works just fine–for awhile. The problem is that SUP surfers stand in one place a lot longer than surfers do, and the wax gets squeezed away from exactly the places you need it most. Still, you don’t NEED a deck pad, they’re just handy.

Paddles: Then you need a paddle. Two choices generally available, wood or carbon fibre. I’ve seen a few aluminum shafted paddles, but haven’t found any for sale. Carbon fibre is about half the weight and twice the price–about $300. You need a paddle that’s about one shaka above your head–six inches taller than you. Wood paddles are considered better for learning since you’re supposedly less likely to break them. But I’ve found the carbon fibre to be very forgiving and I like to think they’re less of a deadly weapon when you’re flailing them about. In either case, put a layer of duct tape around the paddle edge to cushion it. When you fall you’ll be whacking the board with your paddle edge. Do it a little hard and you’ll knock a chip out of the board. Don’t ask how I know this. You can take the tape off later when you stop falling every thirty seconds. I have two paddles and I like both of them, one is a Pohaku Beachboy paddle, and I don’t know the source of the second one–I’ll dig into that.

Another gear question: Bootie or no bootie. For the first few weeks I think it’s a really good idea to have booties. You’ll be falling in all kinds of crazy positions. Landing on the coral without booties is not fun. I like the O’Neill Superfreak split toe tropicals . They seem to affect your balance less than solid foot booties. While I’m delivering unsolicited plugs, the O’Neill Superfreak board shorts are the best board shorts I’ve ever had–spendy, but worth it. The O’Neill website is pretty cool, though they desperately need a writer who doesn’t just babble corp-speak. Could use a proofreader too, but so could I.

I don’t know why all the stuff I really like lately is named superfreak. Maui Hot sails Superfreak windsurfing sails, superfreak booties, superfreak board shorts. Someone may be trying to tell me something.

Enough gear chat, let’s get in the water.

Carrying your gear

These boards are huge, so carrying them around and getting them in the water can be a challenge in itself. If you’re in heavy shorebreak doing it wrong can be dangerous.

Thanks to Wardog from SurfingSports.com for this section of tips and modifications to make handling your gear easier.

I’ve written about some of these issues on other posts…doesn’t hurt to reiterate here…
Bill, may even want to integrate this into his Standup 101 page…

This first tip is actually for longboard sailing, but since many standup paddlers also get mast track on their boards, it’s a good tip for this section as well. My first recommendation, for difficult launches with shorepound, is to get the Chinook EX pin style base and foot…or similar…single bolt or double…doesn’t matter… (some people call this a European base)

http://surfingsports.com/images/chinook_ex_pin1.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/chinook_ex_pin2.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/chinook … x_rdm1.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/images/chinook … x_rdm2.jpg

What matters, is having a convenient push button to release your board/rig…
You aren’t gonna be able to release it with the standard 2 button cup…have to get the board on it’s rail and the rig perfectly aligned to get your fingers in there to release…very difficult and takes too much time…

Another helpful item is to make a rope handle utilizing the double leash plugs…
http://www.surfingsports.com/standup_pads/big_blue2.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/standup_pa … blue04.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/standup_ba … _bags3.jpg

It’s way safer to hold onto your board in the shorepound with the tail handle, than holding onto the fin…
If you hold onto the fin, you will get sliced…these boards are big and the hydraulic forces involved are tremendous…

http://surfingsports.com/cali_longboard … ling71.jpg

Walking the board and rig backwards when getting out works mo bettah…
http://surfingsports.com/cali_longboard … ling67.jpg

don’t want to do this beginner move…way harder, even if you have big arms…

http://www.surfingsports.com/cali_stand … g_last.jpg

Another helpful item are the inserts that we have installed on the rails…
http://www.surfingsports.com/standup_pa … blue01.jpg
http://www.surfingsports.com/standup_pa … blue03.jpg

Fabricate some webbing handles…they are not in the way…and come in handy while transporting the board to and from the beach…my wifey and her friends really like them…makes it easier to carry the handle with other hand…

…and if you run a bungee across the mid-section and nose…you can secure your paddle in front of a big wave and turtle roll using both hands…otherwise, the Golden Rule of standup is NEVER LET GO OF YOUR PADDLE!!!…;-)

Lastly, you could install footstrap inserts on these boards…at one time, someone made very soft, flexible, foam straps…might have been the old NSI…or Padworkx…I even made some myself…
Lightweight race straps might work…
I installed them on a surfboard that I rode with straps…so that I could lay on them…
Even if you go strapless…you could still install webbing straps to help carry the board and lift it over rocks…

Gotta run…it’s blowin’ like stink…6th day in a row…

Mahalos…

Warm winds, good waves, & strong strokes…{:~)

WARDOG

Actually, I occasionally intentionally toss my paddle out past the break to surf a wave or two in the conventional lay down position. That only works well with a transitional board like the Jimmy Lewis 11′7″ or the Ku Nalu because they are narrow enough (26″) to hand paddle. If you do this it’s a good idea to wrap a turn or two of flourescent tape on your paddle handle so you can find it easily. I’ve never had a problem finding mine again–they stay put pretty well as long as they are past the breaking waves. You just stand up outside and look for them.

Adding handles and tie downs

From Jimmy Lewis via Linter: meanwhile, back at the ranch, i emailed jimmy about inserts and within hours he got back to me with advice that makes it clear that it’s a job for the professionals and not me; to wit, for any among us who still might want to give it a go:
(JL) “You CAN put inserts in but make sure you follow these instructions. True, you can melt the foam but ONLY if you put the epoxy in VOLUME. It’s not going to heat up unless you have a big gob of it in the hole. So what you want to do is route the hole that the insert goes in VERY close fitting to the insert. Don’t make a big hole where the insert is rattling around.

Then you epoxy it in. Now, the important thing about doing this is that you need to glass over the top of the inserts. If you don’t, there is a better than GOOD chance that it will leak. After you’ve epoxied the inserts in where you want them, sand the insert down level with the deck and sand the paint off in a radius of about an 1″ outside of the insert. Don’t sand too deep; just enough to take the paint and the primer off so you can see the glass. Then put two circles of 4oz glass over each insert with epoxy. This will seal where you’ve cut into the lamination to put the insert in. Make sure you get ALL of the pin air out of the little circles. Then you just drill
through the “caps” to open the hole and you could countersink it a tiny bit too. Then you’d only have to touch up the paint if you wanted it to look better.”

Pretty nice of JL, as well, to take time out of his day to write that kind of detailed response, and it’s that kind of customer service that makes people say great things about a business. well done, jimmy. keep it up!

Getting Up

Pick a day with minimal wind, little or no chop, and small waves. If you’re doing this on a lake–good for you. That’s perfect.

The easiest way to start is on your knees. Get in about two to three feet of water, push the board forward and slip onto it in a kneeling position right about in the middle. You’ll probably be slouched down almost in a crawling position at first–that’s okay. You’ll also fall off a lot even from this relatively stable position. Don’t sweat it, it doesn’t mean there’s no way you can do this. In a few hours you’ll wonder what the fuss was.

Immediately start paddling out towards the waves. Just choke up on the paddle and stroke on either side as necessary. If you can, try to feel the effect of stroking different ways. Initially you’ll be focusing on not falling off and won’t have any concentration left for learning other stuff. But as your stability increases, start trying things. If you paddle far away from the board it will turn more than if your paddle enters the water vertically and close to the board. If you sweep outwards a little at the end of the stroke it will tend to go straighter rather than turning away from the stroking side. As you pick up speed, kneel up straighter. You’ll find there are basically two kneeling positions–hunched and stable, or tall and not. Tall is better, it gives you more of a chance to gain your sea legs.

Once you’re moving along at some forward speed, lurch to your feet. The best way is any way you can do it, but most people who have surfed will find it easy to do a typical surfing “pop up” except that you’re starting from a kneeling position and their feet will come up in an athletic stance that’s suitable for more advanced paddling. At first you want your feet side-by-side, planted wide on the board–almost to the edges. It’s the most stable position. You want to be far enough forward so the board is flat in the water and nose is an inch or two off the water. If you’re too far back the board will stall and be hard to paddle. It will also be very unstable.

Feet centered–side by side position (photo courtesy Paddle Surf Hawaii)

Perhaps you’d like a more detailed description than “lurch to your feet”. Place your hands on the board a few inches ahead of your knees with the paddle in your dominant hand and the blade resting on the nose of the board. Press down with your arms straight and hop to a standing position with your knees bent deeply and your feet planted wide. Get the paddle in the water as quickly as you can–it will help stability–but stay in an athletic, knees bent stance. Look at the nose of the board and start paddling.

Your paddle is your friend–keep it in the water as much as possible. You can push the blade forward or back to keep from falling, and even lean on it or pull up on it momentarily to keep from falling.

If you’re having trouble keeping your balance, look at the tip of your board. It’s even helpful to have some feature there to look at. If your nose is featureless you might want to make a wax line across the tip so you can look at it. If you look at the water you’ll be right where you’re looking in short order. It’s not just target fixation, your body is moving relative to the board, not the water or the horizon.

If you’re in surf or chop, it’s easiest to go straight into the waves. As a larger wave or whitewater reaches the nose of the board, stick he paddle in just past the crest and pull yourself up into it. Before long you’ll be ploughing over good sized waves with no drama–it’s surprising how easy this part is. It’s much easier to get a standup board through whitewater or shorebreak than a regular surfboard because the wave doesn’t hit your body, just your feet.

Special Balance Problems

I suspect that almost anyone that can stand can do SUP at some level. Here’s a dialog with “Linter” about overcoming fundamental balance problems. Linter overcame his problems and is deeply involved in SUP:

Linter: Is anyone still giving any thought to canoe paddle surfing? On Swaylocks, an early Blane Chambers thread on it was deleted for reasons I don’t know (does anyone here?), and then in early ‘06 came back in a new form, under a thread entitled How to Safely Canoe Paddle w/ Pics, which was very informative. Since around then, however, I’ve rarely seen it mentioned. Has everyone forsworn it for stand-up paddle surfing? Is it considered too much like cheating?

The reason I ask is, I have certain neuro-muscular disorders involving balance that’ll make it well-nigh impossible for me to SUP. And making it even more close-to-impossible is that the board I just got is a 12′ softop, a handful even for good surfers. So, at 190 lbs and with certain physical issues, I think I’m going to be “stuck” doing the canoe paddle thing.
If anyone else is doing CP, maybe it’s evolved a little since Blane’s early posts on the subject, along the evolving lines of SUP. Care to share? Got any tips, especially as it might pertain to a softop? Thanks!

Billb: I assume you’re talking about sitting on the board with a standard canoe paddle or a kayak paddle. I’ve seen a few people doing it, including a friend of mine with artificial knees. There’s also a guy in Maui that had a rowing rack mounted onto a Laird SUP board–this is the kind of rack that reverses the oar pull so you can see where you’re going. I don’t know how that worked out.

There’s certainly plenty of people using surfskis and kayaks to surf.

I guess my first request is that you clarify your question.

My brother is very interested in SUP but he has balance problems resulting from a tumor on his auditory nerve. I don’t know the nature of your neuro-muscular problem, but I think SUP might be helpful to my brother, though it will certainly be challenging. With the right board I suspect he’ll be able to do it. But you’re right–at 190 pounds a 12 foot softop would be very difficult for anyone, and impossible for me (at 250).

I’d encourage you to try a suitable board before you give up on SUP. Balance can be improved, if it couldn’t, there’s no way I could do SUP. It may be that you never be Laird Hamilton, but you could be sucessful at a level that would give you a lot of satisfaction, as I am.

Linter: Thanks for weighing in, bill. actually, i do ride a waveski and it’s great fun; but i’d also like to stand-up surf if at all possible. as per Blane’s Swaylocks thread, the idea with canoe paddle surfing is, you’re *kneeling* on the board and using a paddle that’s maybe 48″ long to propel yourself. once you catch the wave, you pop up to standing from that kneeling position.

Yup, it sounds like your bro and I are in the same, er, boat.

And I know you’re right: with practice, I could improve my balance; but then the issue becomes, how do you test and buy the “right” board if you don’t even really have the regular balance skills to see what feels best? Got any suggestions? I live in new england and think several places around here have SUPs for sale, probably Surftech Lairds, though I know how fond you are of your Jimmy Lewis 11′, and I’d sure like to be able to test ride one of those, though maybe it’d be far too much for me given what’s going on with my balance business.

Billb: I’d go for the Laird. It’s the most stable board around with only the JL 11 as a very close second. I would expect that most shops will have demos eventually, or a board available to rent. The interest in SUP is through the roof. The Surftech Laird can be surfed at a very high level, as Teddy, Laird’s right hand guy, has conclusively demonstrated to me. Even if it turns out that you can’t do standup, it would be a good board for canoe paddling.

I’d be surprised though if you could canoe paddle but not standup. Lurching to your feet from your knees is more difficult than standing to begin with. You don’t have a stable platform to pop from as you do in the laying down position of regular surfing and you have a paddle in the way.

As I’m sure you know, balance can come from a variety of senses. When you’re young and flexible it comes mostly from the inner ear. But geezers like me rely a lot on vision to balance. That’s why older people have a very hard time balancing on one foot with their eyes closed. We also have to learn the weight shifts and movements that keep us on the board. It’s amazing how you can progress from falling off in dead calm water to standing comfortably in heavy chop and waves. It’s more than balance, it’s practiced movements.

Linter: Well er ah um — i’m now the proud owner of a jimmy 11! Wow boy did that happen fast! Anyway, it’s a beaut — red on top, white on the bottom and surprisingly light. I left it at the shop to have some leash plug inserts installed on the sides for carry handles. Believe me, given my balance issues and the rocky hilly terrain around here, i need handles.

Linter: Well, got my jimmy-11 out for the first time today and messed around on it for about 20 minutes, which is when the thunder and lightning started. Knee paddling was no problem but there was a mighty wobbling of the legs when i got to my feet. But at least I was on my feet! And making headway! So what I know now, I think, is that I *can* do this even given my leg and balance issues. It’ll take time before I’m wave ready but that’s okay. I’m stoked! And I s’pose if I want to ride some wave while I’m getting my stand-up sea legs in order, I could always paddle in to some on my knees, canoe style.

Pretty cool. Linter’s success has my brother stoked so much that he’s been losing weight and getting in shape to give SUP a shot. I think he’ll do fine and it will be great excercise for him.

Getting Better: Once you are able to stand and paddle on the board, you need board time to improve. Spending as much time on the board as you can will quickly build the muscles you need to do this sport, and give you the subtle balance training you need to improve. Here’s some things to start paying attention to:

Paddling–reach forward with your paddle and put the blade in almost vertically, close to the board. Stroke back, visualising pulling the board forward in the water. Don’t try to extend the stroke too far past your legs, that angles the blade too much and pulls the board edge downwards. Your blade is angled forwards for two reasons–to make the blade more stable in the water (as you’ll see if you try to stroke with the blade backwards) and to improve the release of the blade as you pull it up. Stroking too far backwards defeats that smooth release.

Foot position–You generally want to retain the centered stance for long distance paddling on flat water because its more stable and gives you easier, even paddle transitions from side to side. But when the surface is choppy or you’re in waves you’ll want to adopt a more fore and aft stance with your dominant foot forward just as in normal surfing. If you’re not a surfer and you don’t know which foot is your dominant one, slide on a slick floor with your socks on, or hop up onto a high step. The foot you put forward is your dominant foot. Left foot forward is “Regular Foot” right is “Goofy Foot”. Attach your leash to the rearward foot. You might prefer a calf leash instead of an ankle leash for a board as large as most SUP boards.

Foot forward position–more power, less side-to-side balance. The stroke bias that would normally push the board to the right of the picture is countered by the weight on the left rail (surfer’s right). (photo courtesy Paddle Surf Hawaii)

Happy feet–You need to learn that your feet are not bolted to the board. As your balance improves you can move around the board more. In flatwater you need to initate this learning by forcing yourself to move your feet around. Shift from centered to fore and aft stance. Move your back foot more towards the tail then back centered again. In chop your learning will be automatic–when you master sideways chop you’re bound to be moving about on the board.

Spinning the board. Step back or lean back on the rear foot, paddle hard (photo courtesy Paddle Surf Hawaii)

Turning and Spinning–Initially you’ll be turning the board slowly by stroking away from the board, but this is the slow way around. Fine for flatwater, but too slow to surf. The faster way is to put weight on the back of the board and stroke with the paddle to pivot the board. Once you are in a fore and aft position you can start practicing this by just putting weight on your back leg.
Works even better if you take a step backwards. You need to lean on the paddle a bit to optimize these moves. Once you can spin the board 360 you’re ready to surf.

Paddle Handling (copied from a separate post)

This is a little reptetitive since I copied it into this document from a separate post, but the information is good and I’ve added to the original post.

I’ve been learning a lot more about standup paddle surfing lately, because I’ve been teaching it to some other people. There’s no faster way to learn than to teach someone else. Most of what I’ve been learning has to do with using your paddle, hence the title.

First of all, resist the urge to choke up on the handle and hold it any way but with one hand on the top T, and the other part way down the shaft. I see people holding the paddle like a broom and taking little ineffective swipes at the water. All this does is upset your balance. You need to be in an athletic stance, knees flexed, back straight and arms extended. You use your legs, back and shoulders to paddle when you’re doing it well.

Put the paddle in the water about as far forward as you can reach it with the handle nearly vertical. You reach out with your lower arm most, the upper arm a little less, and you bend your knees some to push your upper body forward. Place the paddle and pull it back close to the side of the board in a straight line. Think of it as pulling the board forward through the water, NOT flinging water backwards to propel you forwards.

Pull the paddle out just as it reaches your feet, when the blade is still vertical. Even with a forward-raked blade, if you stroke the paddle behind you the blade is at an angle to the surface very much like you are lifting a shovelfull of water. This pulls you down as you lift it out of the water, upsetting your balance. Beginners fall into the water at the end of their paddling stroke. This is why.

Yesterday (April 13) I was teaching my nephew how to do stand up and noticed a guy who was flailing away on a Munoz soft top. When he managed to get into a wave he did elegant bottom turns, top turns and cutbacks and cross-stepped his way to the nose–clearly an accomplished and experienced longboard surfer. But when he was paddling for a wave he’d sweep the paddle far back and he was falling into the face of the wave at the end of the stroke. Bingo. I showed him how to reach out to the nose and stop the stroke at his feet. Instantly he was able to catch any wave without falling. A simple change but very important.

To turn, put the paddle in the water way up near the nose, and sweep outwards. Again, beginners tend to put the paddle out perpendicular to the board and sweep backwards. Not only do they not get good leverage, but they upset their balance. Instead, start at the nose and sweep until the blade is nearly perpendicular to the board, then sweep again from the nose as many times as you need to. By doing this you are getting the greatest amount of leverage against the fin, which is pretty much the pivot point for the turn unless you have a very small fin.

Not only does this improve your balance, but also you can turn faster and you’ll be able to get more knee and hip movement into your turn.

Practice changing paddle sides without interrupting your stroke rythym. Canoe paddlers do it all the time, and they’re sitting, so it’s harder. You need to be able to do it fluidly to catch waves. Sometimes accelerating to catch a wave will turn the board, and you need to correct without losing speed or power.

Reverse sweeping the paddle to regain your balance is a valuable move. Anytime during a paddle stroke that you start losing your balance you can reverse your stroke direction with a quick outward sweep. The reverse bend of the paddle creates a powerful thrust that you can lean against to regain your balance. With practice this move becomes automatic, and it will save you from a dunking. This movement and dragging the paddle blade on the face of a wave or in the whitewater are really the only moves you should make with the paddle behind you. It’s no surprise that both of these moves are balancing moves–you tend to fall backwards on long boards to begin with. Don’t exacerbate the problem by making strokes past your feet.

Another handy move is placing your paddle blade in the center of the board and using it as a third leg. Don’t rely on this too often, the best place for the paddle is in the water, but if you need to reposition your feet, or you need a little rest, it’s a handy tool. If you’re going to rest long it’s a good idea to reverse the paddle and rest the T on the deck–a little more stable and easier on the board and paddle blade.

Getting into the Wave

Generally you’re standing pointed out at the waves, looking for one you like and the location of the peak. Once you find one, paddle towards the peak, and when the wave is still a pretty good distance away (unless you’ve become REALLY good at turning around) start your turn. Don’t panic and rush it, get the blade in up by the nose and push yourself around with steady, powerful sweeps. When you are pointed more or less at the beach, switch sides and start paddling. The reason for the switch is that you will almost always overdo the turn, even when you think you haven’t turned enough. You don’t want to switch just as the wave starts to lift the tail.

As the tail starts to lift, move your normal surfing rear foot a good step back, and give a good paddle thrust. As you start down the wave you’ll probably need to lean back on that back leg, or even hop back more to keep the nose up. You can dig the blade in behind you on the inside of the wave (away from the shoulder) to help keep the nose up and start your turn. Unlike conventional surfing, you want to get your bottom turn done as soon as possble. Unless you are a good surfer you’ll find it hard to swing the nose around quickly.

If you don’t catch the wave immediately, don’t just give up. You can paddle a lot faster with a standup paddle boards, and a few strong strokes can get you into a wave that either hasn’t stood up enough to give you good drive, or that’s a little past the center of gravity of your board. It’s worth a try. I’d say that thirty percent of the waves I catch and ride are ones that I wouldn’t get if I didn’t chase them down with hard paddling.

If the wave crumbles on you and you’re in the whitewater, you can often ride past it by letting the nose of the board slide back more straight in to the beach, and rest the blade on the whitewater to brace yourself. Once you’ve gotten past the crumbled section you can swing back and get up on the wave.

These are big boards, they move deliberately, like a big ship. The guys that are good toss them around pretty neatly, but at first you want to make your movements subtle and smooth.

Surfing Stand Up

When you get into surf the liklihood of scaring the heck out of yourself increases geometrically. The fear has a basis–you can get hurt or killed. You WILL get hurt sooner or later, it’s part of the deal. Here’s some things to consider:

Understand the area you’re surfing. I’ve ridden a board way past where everyone else was bailing out of the wave only to find myself in ten inches of water over coral covered lava. Not fun. You need to watch what other people are doing. Know how and where to get into and out of the water. Spend some time watching what the waves do and where the shallow spots are.

You’re going to fall. when you do, take a deep breath before you hit, try to fall into the wave–with the board between you and the shore. If you’re in shallow water and small waves try to land flat (picture not sinking at all). In bigger waves and deeper water tuck your chin down and curl up, cover your head with your arms. Try to punch into the face of the wave so it doesn’t break on top of you. Relax, don’t struggle, save your energy and your air. Wait for the thrashing to end, then open your eyes, find the top, and swim calmly for the surface. When your head breaks the surface get a good breath and look outside to see where the next wave is. If you have time you can pull your board to you and hug it, but don’t do that if the wave is right on top of you. Paddle out of the impact zone. Thank the gods of the sea that they’ve spared your sorry ass once again.

If you’re not scared when you’re surfing you’re either Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, or stupid. And the last time I saw Laird he had fourteen stitches in his face from a little face/board interception incident at Ho’okipa and a cheek that looked like Popeye.

Laird with popeye face modification. He’s as good as they get and he can still get hurt. Of course he got smacked in the face with a 14 foot board and never quit smiling, so there’s that. Photo courtesy Maui Surf/Windsurf Forecast, Giampaolo Cammarota