Before You Go
Learning how to stand up on a board is not an easy thing to do. In addition, simply learning to paddle out through rough breaking waves, sit on a board outside, and then paddle into a wave takes considerable balance, strength, endurance, wave knowledge, and patience. Since these techniques take time and practice to learn, and the beginner should not be expected to have success the first time out.
Usually by the second or third time out, beginners will start toacquire some balance and be able to catch and even stand up in a shorebreak wave. From this point on, the more you surf, the better you get. This section is intended to outline a basic learning approach for beginners who are somewhat athletic, but have never surfed before.
...
Big Wave is a relative term. There are waves, big waves and there are huge waves. If you are a huge wave rider, this article isn't for you. You've already got it figured out. But if you are a wave rider that wants to graduate to bigger stuff, or you are already on big waves, then these tips might help you endure. I use the word endure because no matter how much experience you have or how good your physical condition is, on those occasions when you eat it on the big one, you are in for a rough time of it. That said, there is plenty you can do to lessen the impact.
...
Most weather and swell conditions can appear random, though with a good eye, regular patterns can be predicted, In much the same way as you would watch the sea for sets of waves. Most surfers no when there will be a good swell at there favorite surf spot.
Watching weather charts will give you up-to-date information and with practice you can even predict the coming swells. The Lines on a weather chart are known as isobars and represent areas of equal pressure.
...
Greg Redgard and his surfing mates took some unusual equipment with them to the beach in February last year. Instead of twin-fins or bodyboards, they arrived with a 30-ton Kobelco SK 200 industrial excavator. When low tide exposed the huge boulders lying just off the beach, the surfers attacked. Within weeks, they had smashed the rocks and reshaped the rubble into a reef. Queensland's Bargara beach was once scorned by board riders as unsurfable. Now, as high tide rolls in over the reef, small but surfable waves result. Says the delighted Redgard: "It blows people away."
...
We surfer's call them "rip currents" and many lifeguards call them "run-out", but by any name they can be terrifying to the uninitiated or weak swimmer/surfer. They consist of a rapidly flowing current running from the near beach area, inside the breaking waves, out to sea. In most cases they flow faster than a person can swim, even with swim fins on, and they carry one out well beyond the surf. But this is only part of the problem!
...
Dingfixing demystified Dinged stick is a particularly annoying condition... not only does it affect the ride, but it makes both you and your ride look deeply tatty and the poor innocent grom you want to flog it to next won't fork over as much. So it's got to be fixed... whether it was rocks, your mates, your ex, or airport security. follow these tips and you should be alright.
...
In the equatorial waters of the Pacific, the interplay of sea and sky produce a dramatic climate fluctuation known as El Niño. Fisherman on the coast of Ecuador coined the term, which means "the child," a reference to the infant Jesus. In some years, a warm current appears off their shores and the fishing turns bad. This typically becomes noticeable in the Christmas season, thus the reference to the coming of Jesus. Sometimes, the warm current persists well into the spring. And it does more than make South American fisherman go hungry; it can also affect global weather patterns.
...
The moons gravitational force produces a 'bulge' in the sea exactly in the line with the moon itself, which is why oceans experience. What is not so well know is that's there's an equal bulge on the opposite of the earth. The two bulges are the low water.
The earth spins around on its own axis underneath these two bulge's and every point on the ocean's surface will experience at least one of these bulges every day.
...
Here's a very brief look at the way in which waves and surf are produced.
A wave coming out of deep water into the shallow water of a beach or reef will be traveling at about 15 to 20 mph and will start to 'drag' on the sea floor. This shortens its wave length, which in turn increases the steepness of the wave, tending to make it less stable. This is the prelude to the wave breaking, which will eventually occur in water that has the depth of about 1.3 times the wave height, so you could expect to find a 6ft wave breaking in water just over 4.5ft deep - in theory. This may may not always be the case.
...
Recent Articles
Recent Comments
