Techniques to landing a kayak in the surf.

One of the best get togethers i have attended. Cambria slam 3.

 I was so motivated to attend and all the campsites were booked. After the safety meeting when they asked if anyone had questions. I stood up and asked if anyone had room for one at therir site? Of course a fellow yaker came through. 

Action starts at 10:10 .

I leaned into a surge that pushed me in slightly sideways for at least 15 ft. Really long surges up the beach. Good times!!

Now i mostly drive a boat. LMAO

https://youtu.be/kdHdDlqFdRs?si=kPriISjZqP6pAoaY

Wow - I just got to watching that video. Now I feel better about how I've been doing! It looked shallow enough that people could have jumped out of their boats at that point. Why did they try to paddle all the way to the shore?

It almost felt like one of those practical joke videos where someone gets everyone to do an event where they crash at the end.

If you have time to paddle into shore without the wave over taking you, I do it.  But if I need to I do jump out early, and let the kayak go forward, and try and grab on to the rear and just keep it steady as the wave passes.  I think the kayak is way more stable without me on it, so jumping off can prevent a "yardsale" on the beach.

One of the best get togethers i have attended. Cambria slam 3.

 I was so motivated to attend and all the campsites were booked. After the safety meeting when they asked if anyone had questions. I stood up and asked if anyone had room for one at therir site? Of course a fellow yaker came through. 

Action starts at 10:10 .

I leaned into a surge that pushed me in slightly sideways for at least 15 ft. Really long surges up the beach. Good times!!

Now i mostly drive a boat. LMAO

https://youtu.be/kdHdDlqFdRs?si=kPriISjZqP6pAoaY

Wow - I just got to watching that video. Now I feel better about how I've been doing! It looked shallow enough that people could have jumped out of their boats at that point. Why did they try to paddle all the way to the shore?

It almost felt like one of those practical joke videos where someone gets everyone to do an event where they crash at the end.

Lol.
Not quite. I think the surf you described was quite low with your yard sale. I believe you mentioned launching out of New Brighton beach, one of the easiest launches in the Monterey bay.  This surf was much more considerable and at some points surging up the beach up to 20 feet. What you may not have noticed with the few people who jumped out or fell off that they were pulled down with the outgoing surf and having to crawl upwards too stand.

Not to worry. Keep up with your launches and you will get a chance to experience the more challenging ones. 

One of the best get togethers i have attended. Cambria slam 3.

Action starts at 10:10 .

https://youtu.be/kdHdDlqFdRs?si=kPriISjZqP6pAoaY

 Now I feel better about how I've been doing!

[/quote

 

Maybe this puts the surf surge into a better perpective for you. I actually was fortunate to ride that E ticket.

There two many types of surf landing conditions to mention. The thing about this surf was that it had a huge draw back that would pull you out quickly and turn you kayak. Many of these kayakers are experienced and still were flipped.

I stored all my essential equipment before landing. The lean in to wave technique was a life saver, which i learned from a video i received from "Spike" only weeks before attending. Learning to read incoming surf height is critical in launching in high surf.

Yep those long surges will get you. My last trip to Ft Ross, the waves looked small, I didn't take it seriously and got done in by a small wave and the surge. The surge was pushing kayaks that had been stored on the beach over into the creek area. Meanwhile a couple miles up the road at TC, reports were of a super easy launch.