Reprise: getting over whitewater

[Badger]

This Dave Kalama video helped me. 00:58



But I agree with Kayadogg. Point breaks or reef breaks are the way to go. So much easier.

[Caribsurf]

I have and routinely do get over large amounts of white water, but I also routinely fall off in the confused and turbulent aftermath.  Pisses me off to get over the worst part and then fall in the innocent looking white wash.

can't beat a Caribbean reef or point break, effortless paddle out.

[stoneaxe]

Hey....DK and I actually have something in common besides our rugged good looks and surfing skills......

It's funny....I almost feel like I'm cheating when I'm surfing a reef or point. You don't get a 10th of the workout. I attribute the balance therapy that SUP provides me to working hard in tough conditions. In the first few years I used to often stay and hang in the whitewater for 10 or 15 mins at a time. Not big stuff but whitewater from short period 5-6 second waist high surf is awesome for practice/workout. Worlds most fun treadmill.

[Biggreen]

surf a point break, dry hair paddle out no matter how big. problem solved 

Haha! That's great, kdogg!  Why I'm headed south of the border for a few weeks in May. Easy paddle out, one to three strokes and you're cruisin'.  Life is good!

[SuppaTime]

I have and routinely do get over large amounts of white water, but I also routinely fall off in the confused and turbulent aftermath.  Pisses me off to get over the worst part and then fall in the innocent looking white wash.

The white wash has so much air in it, it doesn't provide much buoyancy. I have an easier time getting over the initial white water with a lower volume, thinner board. It just knifes right through. But I have an easier time in the after-wash with a higher volume board that doesn't sink into the foam.

[stoneaxe]

surf a point break, dry hair paddle out no matter how big. problem solved 

Haha! That's great, kdogg!  Why I'm headed south of the border for a few weeks in May. Easy paddle out, one to three strokes and you're cruisin'.  Life is good!

It does make it fun. There's a spot near me with a long jetty that makes what would otherwise be a beach break easy. You put in behind the jetty in a fast rip that takes you out quickly. Get in line, wait for yours and a couple of strokes and your in a bomb all the way to the beach. It drops you right into the rip taking you out...conveyor belt.

[Ake G]

Bob that sounds Nice! Where's that

surf a point break, dry hair paddle out no matter how big. problem solved 

Haha! That's great, kdogg!  Why I'm headed south of the border for a few weeks in May. Easy paddle out, one to three strokes and you're cruisin'.  Life is good!

It does make it fun. There's a spot near me with a long jetty that makes what would otherwise be a beach break easy. You put in behind the jetty in a fast rip that takes you out quickly. Get in line, wait for yours and a couple of strokes and your in a bomb all the way to the beach. It drops you right into the rip taking you out...conveyor belt.

[Ake G]

I fall most when I'm all aggressive and tensed-up (and straining) to get out through the beach break.

It's difficult to do for me but When I'm relaxed and breathing evenly it makes a world of difference.

[PonoBill]

I don't know about that, I see a lot of people getting their ass kicked at Kanaha, Tavares, and Ho'okipa, so I'd leave reef breaks out of the point break solution.

For pure laziness it's hard to beat Short Sands at Oswald West State Park in Oregon. There's a rip tide on the south side that hauls you out like an escalator and shoves the surf flat. Zoom out, two strokes and you're in the lineup, Jump into a wave, get yelled at by the surfers, lather, rinse, repeat.

The Point at Seaside is just the opposite--the rip will run you up on the jetty. When it's really rolling it's treacherous. Why am I thinking about Oregon surfing? Must be short-timers disease. I only have about two months left to play in warm water.

[robcasey]

I agree with PonoBill on this one.. I get almost as much kick out of making it through tough whitewater as a do in catching a good wave.

Really fun to be standing while going over a hill or mountain of water, interesting experience. 

My tips for going over whitewater:
-Gain speed, don't stop paddling (use short cadence) or having blade planted in water over crest.  One thing i see a lot of is folks putting their paddle above their heads like a touchdown on the crest, then either fall over or get shot backwards down the falls. 

-As the ww approaches, bend knees, and depeneding on thickness of foam, step or jump back on your board while still paddling short quick strokes to get the nose over. often the surge of water holds you in place - but keeping your blade planted in the wave/foam anchors you thus preventing from falling over, even after the wave has passed. 

-After wave has passed, keep paddling you may have another one (or few) waves coming.

Pointed nosed boards really slice through easier than round nosed boards.  The latter require getting the nose higher to get over the foam pile. 

one thing we used to do in surf kayaking which sometimes works with SUP is to push a rail into the wave face to deflect the energy off to one side. 

[eastbound]

I confess to ending up on knees at times, here in short period waters NE. I always try to paddle out standing, but in the interest of quickly getting moving again, i will hop up to my knees and paddle like a mofo. i have made a note to tell myself to stand the hell up--the extra time to pop up to standing should be offset by stronger paddling when standing.

[stoneaxe]

No question....there are times when you don't have the spare second to jump up...I can also paddle faster in a sprint from the kneel so when you're making for the shoulder and beyond it can help. Sometimes if my head is really bothering me the short period stuff doesn't leave me with enough time to get up and get going and forward speed is what its all about in whitewater. I'll wait for a smaller one to do the kalama hop getting up so I can get going quicker.

Building on what Rob said about burying a rail. In big stuff I don't try to go completely up and over. I try to shift the nose down just at the last second to bury the nose and get the board to go through the wave perpendicular to the energy of the wave. When you do it perfectly you get slapped on the knees by the top of the whitewater but the board just slices through.

[PonoBill]

I bet that BigFoote is going to change your technique some. It has mine. I don't pre-jump as much anymore. I power straight in. The funny nose makes a little scoop, first ducking down and then lifting. In mid-sized whitewater you don't have to do anything--just keep paddling. In the bigger stuff I build speed, reach out to plant in the whitewater, let the nose do it's thing, and then extend the stroke all the way back into a rear brace. Easy-peasy. At the size where I'd need to do something dramatic the Big Foote is just hopeless. Fall in and get it over.

But what I've found for the most part is that ignoring the whitewater or the breaking waves and doing nothing special at all is the best approach. But only for that board. I had my 9.0 out a few weeks ago and was stunned when I paddled merrily into a knee-high breaking wave and got the board yanked out from under me.

I think that tricky tighter rocker on the rails at the nose makes the nose stable when there's water rushing over it. I don't know if that's by design or accident. I'd ask Bill but he'd just mumble something at me.

[stoneaxe]

It's definitely been easier than I had expected with the Foote. Your description of getting through is exactly what I do in bigger stuff now anyway and I don't really have to start preparing for whitewater much until it gets above thigh high. I had a couple of bigger ones that I fell off the back on that I really could have and should have made. I so expected that I was going to get knocked off that I LET myself get knocked off. Once I got a rythym and speed going and knew what to expect they were fine.

[PonoBill]

All this stuff is in our heads. I fall on downwinders when I think I'm going to fall. Duh. Same in surfing and punching whitewater.