Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 21:12:17 -0800
From: "Gerald Foodman" 
Subject: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

You are surfing a sea kayak straight down a wave with a bit of stern rudder
here and there to maintain direction.  The wave begins to break.  Is it
possible to continue straight ahead with stern rudder?  I always have to
switch to a high brace and broach.

Jerry



Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 08:50:19 -0500
From: "Richard Culpeper" 
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

If you are heading straight down a breaking wave, you'll have to avoid
pitch-poling (your nose digging down into the trough and your tail pointing
to the sky, somersaulting  your boat forward).  Rather than going for a
full broach, try feathering your stern rudder into a stern low brace.  This
will slow your boat's descent down the face of the wave and give you a
chance to settle closer to the trough without first having been pitchpoled.

Richard Culpeper
www.geocities.com/~culpeper



Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:56:01 -0500
From: "Sisler, Clyde" 
Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

I've never been on a wave large enough to pitch pole (and desparately hope I
never am) but doesn't shifting or leaning your weight towards the stern
alliviate the problem a little?

Doesn't a steep wave have to be somewhere near the length of the boat (or at
least more than half it's length) to be pitch pole threat?



Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 12:00:22 -0600
From: John Somers 
Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

Clyde, leaning back is indeed a way to prevent the bow from pearling, but
try it and see how you feel about your readiness to brace from that
position.  And if you're trying to pull up the bow of a long sea kayak you
will have to lean pretty far back, depending on the steepness of the wave
and the buoyancy of the boat's bow.  When you do this while surfing a wave
it becomes extremely easy to capsize.  The boat can broach and turn over in
a hurry.  Been there, done it! 
	About your second question, pitchpoling can happen too if the bow hits
something underwater, for example the sandy bottom in relatively shallow
water, or submerged objects like rocks.  So it can happen in waves that
seem relatively small.

	John Somers



Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 15:37:36 -0500
From: "Richard Culpeper" 
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

- ----------
> From: Sisler, Clyde 
> 
> I've never been on a wave large enough to pitch pole (and desparately hope I
> never am) but doesn't shifting or leaning your weight towards the stern
> alliviate the problem a little?

Yes, it certainly does.  I should have mentioned this.
 
> Doesn't a steep wave have to be somewhere near the length of the boat (or at
> least more than half it's length) to be pitch pole threat?

I don't know.  That's a really interesting question.  I'm not good at
telling how big a wave is.  In general, I'm more concerned about the
steepness of the wave than its height.  But I don't know how to tell how
steep a wave is either.  I just know when I see a wave if it is too steep
for me to front surf without having to worry about pitchpoling or digging
in my bow.  (BTW, digging the bow down into the water in the trough can
lead to pitchpoling even on waves that are not that big.)

Cheers,
Richard Culpeper
www.geocities.com/~culpeper



Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 14:07:22 -0800
From: skerries@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

Here on the Wet Coast, we call that moment when the bow begins to bury
itself "submarining" because it looks like the view from a sub's conning
tower as she dives while underway; a moving wall of water creeps
relentlessly along the deck toward your cockpit. If a desperate backward
lean and backpaddling do not cause the bow to pop free, the only thing that
will save you from pitchpoling is if the wave collapses as it hits shallows.

Cheers, 
Philip T.
N49°16' W123°08' 
"The opinions expressed in this posting are not necessarily those of my
employer, or indeed, of any sentient being."



Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 23:53:18 -0600
From: "Robert C. Cline" 
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surf Technique Question

>> Doesn't a steep wave have to be somewhere near the length of the boat (or
>at
>> least more than half it's length) to be pitch pole threat?

Good question.  I've got an 18ft. Falcon.  It has pitchpoled in far less
than 9 ft. waves...even with me leaning back.  Things got a rough when the
bow hit the sand.  Me thinks it better to broach...and ride the wave in
sideways than risk a pitchpol.

Robert