Leashes

With the recent discussion on the velcro failing on leashes I've started using my kitesurfing leash on my ski. Details on the blog: Surfski Baja. surfskibaja.blogspot.com/

The Epic leash has a double velcro closure and a carabiner attachment to your leg.
It will also break the leash before it pulls your bloody leg off or drags you along if you forget to undo it before coming through the break zone.

I also have an Oceanpaddler one that is only a single closure, but I cannot see that coming undone either.

The sad fact was that the talked about incident used a known worn out piece of equipment.
I don't believe there was really anything flawed with the design.
There was an unfortunate error in judgement to use a known worn out leash in conditions where it would have been stressed.

Breaking leashes, rudder cords and having bolts come out of fittings can be prevented by simply inspection in most cases.

I would make my personal leash using ideas coming from other products. Idea is use a rope, carabiner with fast safety release to PFD or a velcro strap for ankle anchor point (to the sky you can use many things: another carabiner, a simple knot, etc.) and a small bag (as for throw bag).

Pros:
- rope lenght as you want
- simple
- strenght
- safe

Cons:
- you must wrap the rope into the bag every time you fall off (for experineced paddlers this should not be a big problem!)
- possible tangle of rope if non properly set in the bag

What do you think about?



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Only on the sea you are really free (Eugene O'Neill)

I use a leash when ever conditions warrant it, and always if I go out by myself.

I hate the dam things flopping around in the footwell, blocking up venturies, getting caught under my feet, I just bloody hate them.

I would like a boat leash that simply hooks to the boat a couple of feet behind the cockpit.
Far enough back that the ski will turn and point away from me and also out of the way for remounts and never annoys me in the footwell.

I think your rope in a bag would be a major pain in the arse.
On the ski in 2 seconds, mess with silly rope for 2 minutes.

Be careful with the carabiners you choose, as some can come undone very easily if loaded and twisted.

You only need a release on your person, simply girth hitch it to your boat, simpler, cheaper, lighter and won't rattle against the boat and won't scratch it as well.

Interesting. This holiday in mozam I have been using a surfboard leash. But it snapped quite easily after bailing on a wave. So looking for something safe and strong.

RAB, I like the sound of getting the leash out of the footwell. They're certainly annoying.

You get my vote on that, and the rear of cockpit attachment concept.

Not sure if a belt-type attachment to the body wouldn't be too cumbersome, though.

jo.rademeyer wrote: Interesting. This holiday in mozam I have been using a surfboard leash. But it snapped quite easily after bailing on a wave. So looking for something safe and strong.

I thought it but I was afraid about strenght. And you confirm. Surfboard leash is quite long but not so strong for a ski.

AGA wrote: RAB, I like the sound of getting the leash out of the footwell. They're certainly annoying. You get my vote on that, and the rear of cockpit attachment concept.

Yes, it’s a “concept”. But usually skis are not so strong in the upper side (deck) that does not support heavy loads. Now I don’t see where/how put an anchor point in this area. Perhaps deckline should be a good idea. For skis without deckline I’m referring to Didier’s mods: www.surfski.info/getting-started/tips-ot...-their-surfskis.html.

Coming back to the intial idea to put somethingh around in the footwell I found very interesting the brillant idea of … Didier! His blog (dplouepic.skyrock.com/) is a real mine of learning for all surfski’s mods. I sought a kind of roller leash (www.epickayaks.com/news/news/didiers-epi...nce-part-2--ouspoun-) but I don’t know how has been made and especially I don’t know if it works well or not. Do you have previous experience with this roll-up leash?

AGA wrote: Not sure if a belt-type attachment to the body wouldn't be too cumbersome, though.

If you have a PFD is not a problem, you tie on it. Otherwise a belt-type attachment remains the solution.



__________________________________________
Only on the sea you are really free (Eugene O'Neill)

As long as my leash is quick and easy to clip on and off that is the only pre-requisite I have as if a wave is strong enough to break a standard weight coiled leash it is strong enough to drag me along under water if I was attached by something less likely to break like rope, also the coiled leash is less likely to inadvertently wrap itself around a leg/arm/neck and cause extra damage. a ski can be replaced, a life can not.

I prefer to use a paddle leash ( leash paddle to ski)although you do need to make sure to hang onto the paddle when you come off. The advantages are: you dont get tangled , its easy to swap sides on the ski when remounting and you can let your paddle go and not have it drift off which can be almost as bad as losing your ski. Finally if you need to disconnect yourself just let go!

On my last trip there was verys trong wind and I did not want to trust my leg leash alone. So I also clipped my short rescue tow-belt bungie to the rear bungies of the ski behind the seat. This way I would be close to the boat and would not need to swim after it to get next to it in case of a capsize... No surf expected, just very strong winds and pushy wind waves... I did not get a chance to test the setup "for real" as I did not fall off, but having a plan B to backup the leg leash seemed like a good idea (either/both leashes can be disconnected quickly, so there is not much of an entanglement danger)...

I always use a paddle leash - it's just habit now. It comprises 4mm light rope connected to the paddle with a loop which is held in place with a small piece of duct tape. The other end has a loop made of bungie which goes around the foot strap. The bungy is there to give a little shock absorption - so that if I do a wild lunging brace the paddle isn't plucked out of my hands...

Offshore in big conditions I use a belt connected via a coiled leash either to the leash anchor if there is one or to the foot strap.

I've come off a number of times in fairly hectic downwind conditions and never had a tangle that I couldn't fix in seconds.

My thinking goes like this:

- I'm connected to the boat via the belt leash.
- My paddle is connected to the boat, which can be useful if I need to do something with both hands.
- My paddle leash is a backup to the belt leash when it comes to not losing the boat.

I used to use a leg leash until I came off crossing a reef in Mauritius and badly wrenched my knee.

I've had a leg leash fail on me once resulting in my losing the boat. (Cut the corner at Melkbos to fine, got taken out in surf, leg leash snapped, boat was wrenched out of my hands although I was holding with both hands onto the footstraps story here .)

So for me, I feel safest in big downwind conditions with both leashes.

Rob,
belt is better and is practical if you don't have a PFD.

But waistline of PFD could be safe enough too?
(I tie there...)



P.S. I follow evolution of your "cool kit" (with leash updates!): www.surfski.info/reviews/surfski-gear/it...80%93-episode-3.html
but why {mosimage} has been removed?
Idem here: www.surfski.info/getting-started/tips-ot...-their-surfskis.html
What a pity, I don'd understand very well all the tricks...



__________________________________________
Only on the sea you are really free (Eugene O'Neill)

I forgot to mention, I found that the belt chaffed me around the hips until I kept it off my hips by tucking the belt from my Mocke PFD under it to keep it up.

ie I put the belt on, then take the left hand velcro strap from the PFD and tuck it under the belt and fasten it.

Hmm the {mosimage} thing was a mechanism in the older version of the website to display the images. I'll have to go fix that manually.

A photo could be better to understand (also as update of your cool kit).







__________________________________________
Only on the sea you are really free (Eugene O'Neill)

I got rolled heading out the river mouth the other day.

I tried to get back in but my leash held me and put me off balance and fell in again.
I swung under the boat to try again, but realised I was still wrapped up.
I tried anyways, with the intention of undoing the clip once in to sort things out, but couldn't undo the clip to untangle myself.

There were three wraps around the ski in all, and the waves kept breaking on top of me so I didn't really get a good look at the details until the river current carried me past the break zone and the set finished anyways.

Once untangled remounting was easy.

Having my paddle leashed to my leg at the leg leash attachment didn't help, it wasn't tangled, but it made things more difficult to see.

I'm liking the sound of the paddle leash as a backup to the boat leash.

But I really do like having the paddle connected to me.

I really don't know what the best setup is at this moment.
Most times I hit the drink there is simply no requirement to have a leash and in those situations, it's just a pain in the arse really.

I'm really starting to think there should be rear deck line, it makes the most sense to me.

Summarizing (for my comprehension) skileash nice to have should be secured to rear deck line and a body belt (eg. to PFD). Due to most skis doesn't have stern handle it's not so easy make a rear deck line. Many people would have a solid anchor point on the sky at the bow (www.surfski.info/forum/1-general/6914-v1...ml?limit=20&start=20) and at stern (rear) but now you have to strongly modify your ski.

Very interesting the idea of Didier Plouhinec for bow (perhaps usefull also for stern):
here: www.surfski.info/getting-started/tips-ot...-their-surfskis.html
o directly on his blog: dplouepic.skyrock.com/



__________________________________________
Only on the sea you are really free (Eugene O'Neill)

RAB, what happened to the 7 second remount.

Not normal circumstances and no ski would have kept me on.
The river was flowing quite strongly outwards, there was strong wind and a good swell coming down the rockwalled mouth.

I had been told to head out to the left and then go left as the rock wall provided shelter once around it.

I was third in the water and just waiting for the ones who new this place to show me the way and I would follow.
Nobody came past, the bastards.

The river slowly took me out and no one seemed to want to go first and show me the way.

a decent set came through and really, if I was by myself, I would have simply turned around right then.
But a ski come up on my left, so I figured it's just scary looking and these guys have seen it all before.

Now having a ski on my left also meant that I couldn't go left and miss the big stuff and before I could commit and get some speed, some real big ones come through and pretty much left me in the impact zone with no speed.

The wave was very steep and lipped over 3 feet from the top so as my ski stated up the face I was left suspended by either end and the ski just rolled and I did nothing to stop it, the ski beside me also came to grief but he was just on the side of the main wave and quickly remounted and took off left.

I didn't realise that the ski rolled a couple of times, went to remount before I discovered that the leash was holding me, fell of, took another wave and then tried again after going under the boat only to find the leash still tight.

I leaned over on the ski for a bit and the waves died down and I had a look for my now lost new hat and at the tangle I had.
The current also took me out of the biggest waves that had also settled down now.
Jumped in, dropped the leash and untangled it and went to head out to catch the others that were now some 50-100m in front of me, and saw that my paddling partner had bailed so I turned around.

So I spun the ski and headed back, we drove over the other side of the headland and went from there.

The leash did nothing for me but make for grief.
After I and the ski rolled I grabbed the foot strap as usual.

Had I not had a leash, I would have been on after the second wave come through.

With hindsight, I should have dropped the leash off immediately, but I find the small Epic biner a bit fiddly in the water for my hands.
It looked reasonably rough and quite windy out, and that's why I had it connected as I headed out, I thought it may have been difficult to stop paddling and connect it once out there.

Live and learn, follow when in doubt and watch instead of providing the entertainment for others

Another case of just commit and go for it and I probably wouldn't have had a problem if I headed to the left as advised with speed.