Eating sand!

With the big swell me and Jelly decided to go try and work on our surf skills.  It was COLD, big and messy.  We both managed one good ride and a LOT of spectacular wipe-outs that had Leah and the girls laughing their heads off.  The girls were smart and stayed dry and built a beach fire.  Good time, and good practice, but I still suck at yak surfing.

Which yaks were you surfing?

right on sound s like fun you in some circles sand in good for digesting you food
chef

We tried a few "regular" yaks, but it was too messy.  We ended up in a Cobra Revision.  I had a couple of good take-offs turn extra sour when I pearled the entire bow and got jackpole end over end...Oh yeah...smack!

Still fun, but I was dog tired after 45 minutes of getting my butt kicked.  I also forgot my booties and my feet where freezing.

you guys wear helmets?

I want video!!!!  

Were you able to get up or just kneeling?
Sometimes I just want to try standing up 'cause then when I take the inevitable roll, I'll look like just another beginning surfer (instead of beginning yakker).

No helmets, but that ain't a bad idea.  I was actually going to bring a video camera...thank god the battery wouldn't charge.

We tried a few "regular" yaks, but it was too messy.  We ended up in a Cobra Revision.  I had a couple of good take-offs turn extra sour when I pearled the entire bow and got jackpole end over end...Oh yeah...smack!

Still fun, but I was dog tired after 45 minutes of getting my butt kicked.  I also forgot my booties and my feet where freezing.

All these larger boats with the hard chines surf don't surf real well.  The sots that surf well are small.  The one that's real fun is the Wilderness System Chaos (sp?).  It has skegs like a surfboard and can crank a bottom turn real fast.  That's the key to yak surfing....getting a bottom turn off early in the wave so that you're running parallel to the wave face with your paddle on the inside, between you and the lip.  Also important is to lean into the waveface so that your outside chine doesn't "hook" into the stream running under the boat.

Another small sot that surfs reasonably is Ocean Kayak's Yakboard, but not nearly as well as the Chaos.  That's my 2 cents worth.

oops, that was me.

Only yaks with significant rocker do well in the surf zone, especially when you're forced sideways and must brace into the wave. Most flips occur in this situation "broaching" That's were the "recreational" has an advantage over the "expedition" designs.
Practicing when to exit is also very important and worth an hour of practice.
The paddle leash should be unstrapped when launching & landing.

Just curious ... were the waves you were practicing on  the typical beach break we go through?  Even these aren't really surf-able to surfers.  All this talk about chines is meaningless when you are on these steep crashers.  In this scenario, it pays to stay as far in front of the wave as you can ... what I mean is just PADDLE LIKE HELL.  The moment you try to rudder or position yourself, you'll drop back on to the top of the wave, which will then proceed to dump you straight down.

-Allen

The lack of success is directly linked to my lack of skill.  The waves were surf-able (and the surfers next to me were really rubbing it in) and the Re-Vision is great in the surf.  I, however, am not a good yak surfer.  Hopefully that will change after a bunch more trips to the surf.