Rob Mousley

“Oh, dear me,” I thought. Or words to that effect. Rumbly Bay (encouragingly named for the way the boulders crash together when big swells hit the shoreline) hardly ever closes out – but the wave that was roaring towards me looked as though it just might break across the entire mouth of the bay...

Extreme sports and 100% safety are incompatible. When you go to sea in gale-force downwind conditions, sometimes shit will happen. And it’s then that your safety gear and your preparedness in using it become vital…

As Alan remounted his surfski yet again, he realized that it was time to call for help. The wind was increasing, the tide had turned, and the beam-on waves were getting bigger and steeper. He fumbled with his VHF radio, but the cold had robbed his hands of feeling…

My speed surged as I launched down the run, spray flying, the howl and crash of the wind and waves in my ears… and then, crack! “Faaaaaark!” (or words to that effect). The footplate assembly had completely separated from the boat and in an instant, I had no steering, nothing to press my feet against at all. The boat veered off, out of control…

Yeeeeeha! A couple of strokes and the ski started accelerating, 16kph, 20kph, 26kph… Whooomph! The spray deflector threw a mass of water arcing into air… Blinded, unbalanced, keep it going, paddle, paddle…!

My opposition surged past me on the last lap of the Seadog race in Fish Hoek. In desperation, I steered to hook onto his side wash… To my surprise the XT S accelerated instantly, and I sat there with little effort riding the wash for the rest of the leg.

As I watched through the zoom lens it felt as though I was right there: Jasper Mocke’s surfski hung for a moment on the precipice and then plunged down the face of a massive wave.  He hit a smaller cross chop, went airborne and then plunged down, the nose of his ski diving into the green water; he disappeared in an explosion of spray and then the boat shot up without him, spinning, into the air.

There are quite a few how-to-remount videos on YouTube - but once again Oscar shows us the best technique for remounting and he makes it look easy (it is easy, you just need to practise!).  Remounting is one of the core skills in surfski paddling - along with the brace stroke.  Best you don't come out of your ski at all, but if you do, this is the best and easiest way to get in again.

It’s inevitable: sooner or later your surfski’s hull WILL be punctured and it WILL take on salt water…  and over time it’ll get heavier and heavier no matter how much you try and drain it.  Here’s how to get that pesky moisture out of your surfski. 

Hong Kong – With less than a month to go before launch, the Steelcase Hong Kong Dragon Run is preparing to greet some of the surfski community’s superb usual suspects as well as a wide range of local paddlers angling to take home some of the event’s largest-ever purse offerings.