Negotiating shore break

Yesterday my ski and I parted company after coming in to a small shore break, luckily no damage was done to me and more importantly to my ski. There has to be a better way of doing it!

I try to avoid surf if I can and maybe this is the problem, I just need to get more proficient at it and practice more. I am more concerned about breaking the ski than myself, probably should be the other way around though.

Do you get in front of the wave and go hard all the way in, or do you wait and get behind the wave and follow it in, riding on the back of it?

I tried to wait for a break in the sets and also look for rips where the waves are not so big. The problem was the wave was breaking right on the shore and just pitching up really quickly, not giving me the chance to ride it in.

Some days getting in past the back line would be a problem and then you have to face the shore break as well.

Thanks

The only safe way to come in on a shorebreak is to follow it in onto the beach. You can ride the wave while its further out, but as soon as it starts to stand up before hitting the beach then you need to get off it and chase it in. If necessary drag one or two legs in the water to slow down and get off the wave, then paddle like crazy, because you want to be as close behind the wave as you can to avoid the next wave hitting you as you get out of your ski.

If you get it wrong and end up on the wave which is about to deposit you on the beach, turn the ski sideways and bail out on the seaward side of your ski, trying to keep the ski ahead of the curling wave. This will often save your ski from getting trashed in the shorebreak.

But plan A is definitely to follow the wave onto the beach as closely as possible, to avoid the suckback of the receding wave.

Thanks Nige that makes a lot of sense, I will give it a go next time

Here are some links to some old articles (still no less relevant today!)

Surf Techniques - by Dawid Mocke

Getting out through Surf: Advice from the Pros

There were also some great photo sequences that were taken at the 2011 Durban World Cup that illustrated the right and wrong way to come in through the massive shore break at La Mercy beach in Durban:

Dunlop World Cup 2011 – Carnage in Camera

Thanks Rob

There is some good info there, it is one of those things that looks easy when done well and goes horribly wrong when not - ski's are expensive to replace. It certainly provides entertainment to those on the shore though.