Meanwhle, here's a photo precis of how to surf a large wave in a long boat, from setting up to bracing out.
Note that in each photo Brad wears a helmet, pfd, and sprayskirt. Brad shot these photos with a digital camera attached to his foredeck. There, set on autoshoot, his camera shot a candid every ten seconds.
First, Brad sets up by looking back to assess the size and shape of the wave coming in:
Second, he takes off by paddling hard. He needs to match the speed of the wave. It's too bad that the surfing term dropping in has such a negative connotation (barging in on someone else's wave) as the sensation of taking off is one of falling:
Third, he uses a low brace to hold his balance while he accellerates down the face of the wave:
He uses a stern rudder to stay in the wave:
Finally a high brace to stay upright when the wave dumps out on the shallows:
In this eight-part series (this is the overview) we took a look at Brad's photos in sequence. All parts of the series are listed below. Each is a clickable link.Digital Camera in the Surf: Brad Gwynn
Surf School Part 1
Surf School Part 2: Setting up and Taking Off
Surf School Part 3: Staying in the Wave
Surf School Part 4: Bracing Out
Surf School Part 4: Bracing Out/2
Surf School Overview: From Setting up to Bracing Out
Kayaking Surfing: Local Wave Height and Period Forecasts
To read a review of the current version of the waterproof digital camera Brad uses, go to Digital Photography Review.
Text copyright 2006 Sea Kayaking Dot Net
Photos copyright 2006 Brad Gwynn
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3 comments:
Hey Brad
Great photos from one view looking at you; but, what about another view looking into the water ahead of you?
This was a really cool series of posts. I didn't even realize there was such a thing as kayak surfing till I saw this. The link to the camera review was also helpful.
Suggestions:
- The description of the camera rigging sounds really ingenious. Is it possible to include a photo of that?
- What does kayak surfing look like to an observer who sees Brad from the shore (or from another boat)? Maybe I've seen kayak surfing but just never realized it. So additional photos from that vantage point would be good.
- How does someone learn to do this? Are there clubs? Schools?
Anyway, a great set of posts. Now that I know there's kayak surfing, I'm going to look into.... kayak gymnastics ;-)
Brad's camera is busted and in the shop right now. He says that once he's got is fixed he'll send me some pictures of his mounting rig.
Also it's likely he'll shoot more photos from a different vantage point.
There might be some schools to learn how to surf. Most often your local kayak club sponsors a surf class with local ACA or BCU instructors.
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