The basic principles in surfing

The basic principle of surfing is simple. You merely get the wave to pick up your boat and carry it in toward shore. The wave is a constant hill which recreates itself at about the same speed you slide down it. In beginning surfing it is best to run the waves “straight off,” that is-with the boat at right angles to the wave and heading straight to shore. There is a very definite tendency for the wave, as you surf in, to cause the boat to broach to. This action can be controlled by using a stern rudder applied on the side of the boat opposite to the side to which the boat is turning. To be effective the rudder must be applied before the boat has turned very far.

Once the turning motion gets well started you may not be able to bring the boat back to the desired right-angle position unless your boat has a large amount of fore-and-aft rocker, and you may break a paddle in trying to do so. You must also be careful not to oversteer. If you turn past the 90-degree point, quickly change and apply the rudder on the opposite side. Actually it has been found that the easiest position to hold is with the boat just a hair off center. If you hold it properly you can go all the way to shore without having to change your rudder to the other side.

To drop the wave you merely remove the rudder and let the boat broach to. If that isn’t fast enough, remove the rudder and apply it vigorously on the side to which the boat wants to broach.

There is another problem you may encounter in surfing. Just before the wave breaks, the tendency to broach is magnified and you may find yourself almost parallel to the wave and just at the point where it will break right on top of you. This can be a disconcerting experience the first few times it happens, but is no cause for alarm. All you need do is paddle brace, or if the wave is pretty big, dig your paddle into the ocean side of the breaking wave. If this is done properly, the deck will roll toward the ocean and the bottom will be exposed, with no sharp edges to catch in the water, as you gracefully ride the wave all the way to shore sideways. Experience will show how far to paddle brace. If you roll over toward the ocean, you have braced too hard; if you roll shoreward, not hard enough.

Going in sideways in front of a wave that has broken raises another problem. It is difficult, often impossible, to drop the wave. You may be able to drop it by using a strong combination of paddle brace and draw stroke on the ocean side of your boat, and at the same time shaking (as in a hula dance) and repeatedly rolling the bottom of your boat out of the water. Using these tactics, you can sometimes climb to the top of the crest and eventually lose the wave. If you cannot, and especially if the surf is breaking against a cliff or rocks, don’t try to be a hero. Roll over and bail out of the boat before you are too close to shore.

If you feel yourself starting to capsize, particularly in a sideways roll, do not try to fight it. Throw yourself forward on the deck, with paddle held parallel to and on top of the deck, and stay there to minimize the resistance to rolling. In this way, the wave can roll you at will (probably 2 or 3 times) but you avoid the possibility of twisting your hip or back. When the turbulence subsides, merely complete your Eskimo roll and continue surfing.

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