Re: Optimum length for a leg leash

Seems like the classic compromise situation. Needs to be secure enough to keep your ski with you but.... easy enough to get off if you have a tangle issue.Also imho all the talk of lines to bow or stern seems might create more tangle times and you remount at the cockpit which is what needs to happen toute suite so why plan for the boat weathercocking with you as the sea anchor at the bow or stern when you need to be at the cockpit ? I guess you could work your way up your "deckline" but unless it is fixed at short intervals you again have line flopping about. IMHO rough water/swimmer/lots of cordage = recipe for a problem.If you have lotto line maybe you better carry a knife!(or better a hook knife) For myself I'll stick to the simple , unobtrusive, and securely attached at the think anchor, coiled lead velcro calf strap. If that ain't enough than I don't wanna be there.(inspected and maintained of course, almost crimped mine in the sunroof the other day !)

...but the leash broke.

Where did it part?
Spiral cord?
One of the twist joints at either end?
Where the flared-out rubber is sewn into the cuff?

The spiral cord its self broke.

Caught in the surf (beach break) I once saw my coiled leash turned into a straight leash... but it didn't break. Now I've learned : unleash yourself from your ski when paddling in the beah break.

This article was posted by Mark Lewin of Custom Kayaks under his popular "Mark's Diary" on 24 March 2008:

"WHY WEAR A GOOD QUALITY LEASH ? ? Along the KZN coastline surfski paddlers tend to take the usually very favourable paddling conditions for granted. We have warm water, generally onshore wind and the area is not prone to gale force winds. On a recent downwind paddle from the KZN North coast back to Durban on single surfski?s a few friends were approaching the Durban Beachfront about 1km out to sea from Addington beach. The area is protected by a limestone reef that runs across the bay. It is not visible and the surf very rarely breaks on this reef. From offshore you cannot really tell whether it is breaking or not, and 99% of the time it is no threat at all.

On this occasion the reef was breaking and a swell broke right on two of the ski?s in the group. One of the paddlers was wearing one of our Calf leashes, which kept him attached to the ski, dragged him a few metres, and stretched the leash almost two metres long. (See picture). He was able to remount his ski and paddle the last 1km to the beach. The second paddler was not wearing a leash. He was faced with a 500m swim to reach the shark nets and a further 500m swim to the beach. When he got back to the beach he could not find the ski. After a long search he eventually found the ski which had drifted South until it reached the vetchies reef and for some time been rolling around in the surf on the reef getting bashed about.

Although the calf leash was stretched it was interesting to note that the couplings and quick release carabina did not fail at all and kept the paddler in contact with his ski.

Apart from eliminating the risk of a long swim from way outside the shark nets, the additional saving of potential damage to a lost ski is well worth the cost and effort in wearing a good quality calf leash while paddling in the open ocean.

See you on the water.

MARK"



If a calf leash doesn't slip down and off your foot in those conditions, it probably never will.

From very recent personal experience (i.e. today!), the calf leash saved my bacon in a big way. I was on a downwind run off Durban, and for some reason I managed to fall off while at top speed on a run (still not sure what happened). As soon as I was off the ski, it started to "cigar roll". The calf leash was the coil kind, and because of the force, it was stretched out straight. The leash got wrapped around both my legs in the process, but I was able to sort that out without too much fuss. If faced with the options of either being tangled up or a 1km swim in big conditions...I'll take the tangle!

I have no doubt, that if I was only using a paddle leash, the boat and paddle would have been ripped out of my hands. With the wind gusting hard and big swell running, I'm not sure it would have been that easy swimming after my ski.

I think some people may be under a misconception about the purpose of the leash. It would be asking a lot and it may even be a bit dangerous to expect a leash to cope with the effects of coming off in big surf at the beach. This is also not a particularly dangerous area as at worst, you just swim back, collect your ski and hope it is in one piece.

The real purpose of the leash is the scenario described above. 1 or 2 k out (or even further), you come off on a run and the wind starts to roll the ski away from you. You are a long way from the shore with no hope of catching your ski.

Maybe it will never happen - but only once will be enough to make you wish you had one.

As far as optimum length goes - the shorter the better makes most sense to me. Just long enough to reach from the tether point to your knee when you are in the water. The curly type is best.

Stuart

It would be asking a lot and it may even be a bit dangerous to expect a leash to cope with the effects of coming off in big surf at the beach. This is also not a particularly dangerous area as at worst, you just swim back, collect your ski and hope it is in one piece.Stuart

Depends on the beach.

The joker in the deck is a beach where there are bathers in the shorebreak and/or surfers/swimmers inside.

In those cases, one needs tb able to control the ski if/when one gets ejected coming in or going out.

Haven't tried it in actual surf yet, but it seems to me like the calf leash can also function as a temporary paddle leash if the Velcro is wrapped tightly around the paddle loom a few times.

If the paddle gets pulled out of the user's hands.... Oh well...

But in the remaining instances, the user can keep the ski from washing in through swimmers/surfers.

Sorry to be a smart a... but not withstanding an emergency the joker would be the paddler planning on launching or landing through surf crowded with swimmers and surfers.

...not withstanding an emergency the joker would be the paddler planning on launching or landing through surf crowded with swimmers and surfers.

Not "crowded with".

Just "used by".... which describes virtually 100% of the New Jersey (USA) seashore.

The next pandemic may mitigate that somewhat - but I don't expect to survive said pandemic..... and for now lot's of people are a fact of life around here.

Maybe $12.00/gallon gas..... -)

One would expect there to be sections of beach where nobody's playing in the surf - which are accessible to somebody carrying 32# of surfski on foot.... but I've been coming "Down The Shore" for 30+ years since moving here from Oahu and I haven't seen that beach yet - except in winter.

One might launch and paddle out with nobody in the shore break, but coming back there can very well be somebody's kids playing in the water.

Anybody got a "secret spot" along the Jersey shore?

Care to share?