# Surf landing: How to?



## Theumage (Oct 13, 2010)

Question for the wisened kayakers out there... Once you've finished for the day what are the techniques for successfully landing a 4.2M kayak on the beach.
By successful I mean not getting rolled my the incoming waves.

I manage to ski down the first wave, but don't have enough pace to outrun the following wave.
What are the techniques, rudder position, angle etc to stop the kayak from turning at the last minute and rolling on top of the paddler?

Oh and it would be nice if the landing was controlled, not a random mad dash with fingers crossed and sphincter clenched.


----------



## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

The biggest problem you will be up against is that most fishing kayaks are crap at surfing, and there's not a lot you can do about that. Leaning into the wave and bracing works for some, another good thing to try is to just keep paddling (even when you catch the wave) to keep the kayak from breaching - DO NOT lean back and try and ride down the face of the wave, just keep paddling until you feel the sand under the hull, this has worked for me, but what has worked even better is to try and avoid surf launches and landings unless they are absolutely necessary ;-)

Another thing to do is practice one day with no gear on the yak, you don't want your first surf landing to be with a fully laden craft.

There has been a lot of discussion about surf launch and landing on here previously, the search function is your friend.


----------



## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWQpozhkAABBfgAAQQIODQBEiGEo//7/gIABkNSegp6NEPU9T1MniR6NQ8phqnpG0gBkAAAaaNCSNR3ud0kHwKEo0PleSIBEHP+t2tHveVISSOgCjJwAee5G7dKvGwE80KipbGblknS1l+nrrN5Uq45ufhnLMeLZMHAG1QjSz4mi4yMAqkgOpQsBWKJ3Bor/F3JFOFCQCmjOGQA==


----------



## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/drupal ... -launching


----------



## Theumage (Oct 13, 2010)

RedPhoenix said:


> Following on from Squidder's comments - here's launch and retrieve on a 5m adventure.
> 
> Red.


Thanks heaps Red! The part about digging the paddle in the whitewash is new to me. Awesome tutorial.


----------



## noidearog (Jan 18, 2012)

Great video!! at Xmas I played on a small river bar break, and was surprised the yak did not behave like a surf ski at all, went all over the place, but I was pleasantly surprised that when pushed sideways down the side of a wave, it didn't roll, maybe that was because I just closed my eyes and prayed.


----------



## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

Most important tip is to ensure you have a video running so we can l get a laugh at your misfortune if you stack it.


----------



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Theumage said:


> Question for the wisened kayakers out there... Once you've finished for the day what are the techniques for successfully landing a 4.2M kayak on the beach.
> By successful I mean not getting rolled by the incoming waves.
> 
> I manage to ski down the first wave, but don't have enough pace to outrun the following wave.
> ...


Lots of good advice given already, but I might add that you will often not be successful in outrunning the wave, so technique when caught is paramount to a successful landing (_without_ fingers crossed and sphincter clenched). Expect as the norm to get caught by the following wave, and to be turned sideways (broached).

To make it easier, you can tell the kayak which way to go by leaning to the side you want to go. Then you are ready to brace. Alternatively, if you try to keep the kayak straight, when it does broach it will do so very quickly and you may not get the correct lean early enough, and it's all over Red Rover. To make the yak go left, lean left AWAY FROM THE BEACH.

My advice is start on small stuff, and by small I mean less than 30 cm.

Here are some videos.

This one is not so much instructional (though there is heaps of advanced skills here if you know what to look for), but somewhat entertaining.





Enjoy
Trevor


----------



## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

Good footage I have loads to learn !! Never too old to have fun


----------



## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

As an older yaker I totally admit that I have a lot to learn but that it is easier to learn from someone who knows more than me and with that in mind I took some lessons this summer from a sea kayak instructor. What I wanted to know was how to roll but what I got was how to stay upright... after a 4 hour session on strokes and balance he left me paddling parallel to the beach so that EVERY wave was catching me side on. From riding a surf ski I didn't have the hassles encountered by some but the trick is to lean INTO the wave with the right timing and the right amount of lean. If/when you broach while entering the wave zone, lean towards the face of the wave and lean on your paddle and though its not classic "riding" a wave like a ski or a board it is a bit like landing a plane - every landing you can walk away from is a good landing...

If, however the waves are all big and all dumping - your on your own :shock: :shock: :twisted:

cheers

John


----------



## Artie (Dec 19, 2011)

Ive got to say that surfing a (small) wave in is an exhilerating end to the day, a few more trips and Ill be willing to try a bigger lump of water.... good info here... of course, I had it easy because the Quest surfs better than most boats.... 8)


----------



## labrat (Jul 25, 2008)

I have 2 sit in kayaks - 1 is slab sided and paddles easily but rolls in surf, the other has a rounded hull and plenty of rocker, so it's slow but stable.

Coming in on Sunday there was small surf at Moana with the swells very close together so I was overtaken by 3 or 4. Coped with the first few by paddling backwards just as they reached me so I fell of the back. The last took hold and I went in sideways. It just seemed right to do a low brace, leaning into the wave and it worked - just as Trevor advised.
It was a much better day for surfing than fishing - I had no bites and the guy on the surfski was having a ball. Maybe we need to add kayak surfing to the other activities section.


















The main thing wrong with this boat is the bow is too sharp - if it was a bit more rounded I reckon it would surf straight reasonably well.


----------



## Theumage (Oct 13, 2010)

I like the look of that kayak labrat!


----------



## Guest (Mar 31, 2012)

.


----------



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Not a surf landing, but carving it up! Enjoy...






Trevor


----------



## wetbeaver (Nov 26, 2011)

a good thing to get use to is to pick out your banks and notice your channels (rips) you have your parallel channels where the wave is developing back up and the retreating water channels (rips). if your an inexperienced surfer you can 
enter and exit without much problems. you have to learn to notice your right hands to your left hands as depending on which way the swell is coming from. you have your points at each ends of the beaches that will protect you from swells normally

e.g your beach is facing due east and the swell is a 1.5m and coming in on a south-easterly, your south end of your beach is going to be protected from the swell and the waves should only be like 0.4 of a metre 
if you choose to enter in the middle, most of your banks will be right handers. there is a starting spot and a finishing spot for the wave, that normally is your (rip) or channel. on the entry either enter through the channel or if you choose to ride the wave stick to a slight angle leaning on your paddle, and using the same concept to a trick ski leaning back to try use the back of your kayak as a keel, but i cant guarantee that to work properly. anything without a rudder or a keel needs the to adopt the same concept to a water ski a snow ski a trick ski a snow board a wake board. you need to create an edge, but easily said then done. but practise makes perfect


----------

