Surf's up, Dude!

For anyone who needs a laugh at my expense... This is an extract from an email to my surfing mates sent in Jan 2006 when I had been paddling for 2 months...

"So the idea was to paddle out last evening from the slipway at Kommetjie, exit the safe area, ride a couple of swells for half an hour and gain some experience, turn around and go for dinner with the chick.

The actuality was somewhat different.

What safe area??? We paddled out in the lull, did not look too swak. I committed to a run and was almost through when the set arrived. Waves were a LOT bigger than when I checked from the parking lot. Had a moment (funny brown stain on kayak) when I punched through a massive curler and dropped about 2m on the other side with a large cracking noise from the boat that did not sound great. Eventually got out at the back, probably ?bout a mile out. Funny thing, but from the height of the water its kinda hard to see too far. I lost my line back to the slip. The sets were enormous, closing out white right across the line with no apparent weak spot. My partner in crime is a surfer and reckoned that between outer kom and the slip is a rip with a calmer area. We paddled round and with much trepidation I committed to a run in. I totally miss-timed the lull, taking off right at the end. I got ? of the way in, checking out the surfers and thinking how lekker the calm spot at the rip is. I turned around and saw a f***ing MONSTER creaping up from the agterkant. I slowed down thinking that if I could brake enough it would slide under me, but fat chance. I got a running klap from hell and as I fell I grabbed the boats rudderlines. BIG MISTAKE. The wave took the boat and almost ripped my arm out, the lines snapped and then once again I was in the water, lekker romantic with just me and my paddle, and a long swim against the rip in some freezing water. Some irritated but generous surfers paddled over to check I was ok and offered to tow me out of the rip. I gave my paddle to one of them (very embarrassingly who I happened to know) and said I could swim in. The only worry was that I could not feel my right hand. After a long (30min) swim I got to the shore to find my completely trashed boat. This is one toy that will have to go back to santa?s repair yard. Under the mirth of several young surf rats and with the help of my partner who had managed to ride in unscathed (but thoroughly shaken) we carried my collection of fiberglass shards to the car. The rudderlines caught on my wedding band and I damaged the nerves in my fingers, hence the wooden hand. What a chop!

Lesson learned. PADDLE WITHIN YOUR LIMITS and leave the really big surf to the surfers!!!"

Regards
Jean.

You're so right...

I'd been paddling for about 6 months on my trusty Wedge (around 2000) and a friend & I decided to paddle out from Hout Bay to check out the break at Dungeons.

We were very conservative, kept well away, but could see the massive swell working... when my paddle hit a piece of kelp. "Hmm," I thought, "big waves & kelp maybe not such a good idea" and we turned to get out to deeper water.

And at that moment a set came in on a different line and started peaking in front of us - but this is like 15ft or more. I changed gear and paddled for my life. Over the first wave, over the next, then I looked back for my buddy - to see him breaking through the wave behind me through the feathering top just as it was about to break.

Since then, talking with a big wave surfer, he said that Dungeons is particularly nasty because you never know where the waves are going to break. You can sit in one spot for 30 mins thinking you're behind the break when a set can come in from a slightly different angle, hit a different part of the reef and break in a totally different spot. Freaky.

Check out the article where a group of mad guys actually surfed dungeons on skis: surfski.info/index.php?option=com_conten...iew&id=157&Itemid=67