Stand Up Paddle > SUP General
what to do when you find yourself on the reef
toolate:
yes, I know, the right answer is " dont find yourself on the reef"
but shit happens.
the other morning at high tide, the sun came up over the mountain and was right in my eyes. Add to that a perfect wave that made me greedy and not being able to see reef due to tide and sun and next thing you know i was in the reef. surrounded on all sides.
i bet it has happened to many here.
I got lucky. I fell as easily off my board as i could, tried to fall shallow, tried to float shallow. fortunately the next few waves were not huge ( the day was overhead) and 3 or 4 waves later and a few bumps and scrapes to my feet and chest i was able to extricate myself. My board escaped with only minor fin trauma.
It could have been MUCH worse.
I know that in these particular conditions of poor visibility venturing near reefs edge is not smart.
Just wondering if and when the worst happens you all handle it?
nalu-sup:
My only piece of advice is one that I know a lot of people will dispute, but it can make a huge difference if you know that you might get caught on a shallow reef; wear booties. With booties you can safely push off the reef to get back on your board, you can push you and your board in whatever direction you need to go, and if it too shallow to swim or paddle, you can walk your way out of trouble.
I used to surf and windsurf a break on Kauai that had an inside reef that we called the 'penalty box'. Without booties, you flopped around in a few inches of water trying to float above the coral and sea urchins; with booties, you could push or walk you and your board off the reef with minimal damage.
One of the places that I wavesail regularly traps people on the reef in a few inches of water. With booties, you can stand up and manage the situation; without booties, you are in for some good coral cuts, and more likely damaged equipment.
One day while surfing, my wife made one to many turns, and ended up washed into a rocky area, by the time she got her and her board pushed back off the rocks, both of her feet were peppered with dozens of sea urchin spines, so she was pretty miserable for a week or two; booties would have meant no problem.
I realize that they are not considered cool, but after enough infected coral cuts, that starts to matter a lot less. Many have thin enough soles that you can feel the board plenty good enough.
Badger:
It's like that where I surf but it's not coral, just basketball sized jagged rocks. The wave often ends in a foot or two of water. If you fall, it's hard to get back on your feet as every passing wave tries to knock you down. My first year there, I sustained lots of injuries to my feet and legs. Over time I learned the technique of avoiding injury. It just takes experience. With practice you learn.
.
eastbound:
it's not just about coral--you simply dont want to be getting cut by rocks, coral, barnacles, urchins, anchor chains or anything in the ocean these days
and i live in running shoes--my feet are like butter--so i always kook out with booties--good ones grip pads well and they protect the tops of feet from getting shredded after several days of kneeling in big surf
surfed 7 consecutive days in CR and knees and tops of feet were deep scabs for weeks----tough paddleouts, no break to heal
TallDude:
Usually feel some or a lot of pain, and cry about the board damage :'( It always happens after long sessions and I've forgotten where the tide is. Where I surf there is a long reef, but there are some channels to get you near shore. The times it's caught me off guard, I had paddle to at break a 1/4 mile away. After surfing there for a number of hours then paddling back, I'm beat and not paying attention to anything. I'll just paddle towards shore and catch any wave in. As soon as I hit the bottom to make a turn, I realize I'm in 12" of water. Then the "OH SHIT!" moment???? Sacrifice board or body? On my first memorable moment, I didn't turn thinking about the board. A few seconds later my center fin hit, I jumped forwards feet first. My left foot hit a slippery rock first, and slid to the right tweaking my left knee. ACL pull. The next time it happened I sacrificed my board. Made the bottom turn and blew a side bite right out of the board. I was able to do a star fish flop into the white water with no injuries. Still a painful walk out.
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