First this is not to do with surfboards but with surfing. I just got back from my first surf trip up to Sauble Beach on Lake Huron. Had 3 good days of waves, with the waves gradually becoming bigger every day, untill they reached 10’ on the last day. Before I ask the question heres the beach setup. The beach has three sandbars, and naturally as the waves come in the biggest break is on the first sandbar, and after that the waves keep getting smaller at every break. Here’s my question on the last day when the waves hitting the first sandbar were 10 feet I couldn’t get past the break zone so as to be able to catch them They broke every 3 seconds and kept either knocking me off my board or sweeping me back. So unfortunately, I’m still pissed, I had to forget about the 10 ’ waves breaking out further and make do with 5 foot waves in closer. How can I get passed the break zone of the bigger waves? It wasn’t like the ocean when you have some time to paddle between each breaking wave, they were breaking every 3 seconds. Help appreciated.
Welcome to my windswell world.
You need a board that is big and heavy and glidey enough to get out over them, or you need a board that’s sleek enough to duckdive under them (easily is nice), and yet still has enough plane in the tail to catch them once you get out there (if they’re big slopey ones like we have here). As far as the longboard approach, I found going over the top on a diagonal, keeping the nose down, helps a lot, versus blasting straight over the top, slapping down and losing all your forward momentum. The shortboard thing is a challenge, but there are various shapes that have a narrowish nose and a wider tail.
Hey Janklow. I attempt the duckdiving approach but found, since they were breaking so close together, that I was spending my entire time under water and getting now where. lol. Anyways, I realize now that was a mistake of me too make my board only 6’8". My next one is going to be somewhere between 7’2" - 7’8". What size of board do you frequently use for waves around 4-5 feet? And there is no majic way to get around the waves easily? I was looking for a rip current in hopes I could use that to get past the waves…?
Couldn’t you have paddled from the third point to the first. I surfed Rincon at 3OH+ back in '98 and had a bitch of a time getting out. I got in the water at the top of the point, got washed a 1/2 mile down to the highway, and then paddled for the next hour back up the top of the point. Perseverence always pays off though. 
Do you have any pictures?
The third point or sandbar is the one closest to the shore just to specify. I was able to paddle out to the first break/sandbar, but it was getting past the breakzone. Had I got past the break zoe I would have been behind all the breaking waves.
PS: I know what you mean I got washed about 1 kilometre down the beach by the waves and had to walk back up the beach.
I’ll post pictures when I get home from work tonight.
You start at shore, and you’re paddling out straight. You have a hard time getting past the inside sandbars, to the outside sandbar, right?
I have way easier time of it with a shortboard that’s sleek, but with the conditions the way I get them and as far out as it can be to the outside, you just have to rest on your way out. Sit up for a rest period here and there, ducking when you have to. Then motor when you get a lull. Working smarter.
The guys that motor fastest with longboards here have flat-rockered ones that glide really well–the shortboarders here are mostly on the inside, pumping and ripping (for 2 turns). Funboards are too floaty and too wide to duckdive very easily so you get tired as hell. If the waves are banky, funboards may still have too little plane in the tail, and/or too much rocker. Tri-fins’ toed-in rail fins drag too. Even paddling. Try sidebites for a paddle and go for a few and see how much difference there is between full-size rail fins and sidebites. Paddling and wave catching with your thruster set up as a 2+1 like that may be a revelation for you–it was for me. Similarly, putting full-size rail fins on a 2+1 longboard is a crazy learning experience about toe-in drag. If you think that doesn’t matter when you’re paddling a thruster or any board with big rail fins toed in, ya crazy.
EDIT: WHat kind of board are you working with?
Ok. Here’s my lame diagram.
Starting from the shore I could get out past the 2nd sandbar, but was unable to make it past the third sandbar since that was where the big waves were breaking. I’ll have to try sidebits instead of normal side fins. What’s the difference in size, and does it make the board more squirelly? But it wasn’t that I found my board too hard to paddle, it’s simply I had no clue how to get past the break zone and behind the waves. They just kept chucking me off my board or washing me back! My board is 6’8" x 18 1/2" x 2 3/4". My tail is 1" thick.
So you’re riding an 18.5" wide thruster shortboard in freshwater windswell? Eh, dat could have somethin’ to do with the difficulties. You don’t say how big you are though, or how far out this outside is, so I dunno. But anyway…
I wasn’t really recommending you ride a sidebite setup all the time on that board, but you could try it after scratching out there for a while with your regular setup and see what a difference it makes, and then maybe you would want to try something more like a singlefin with sidebites. I think that kind of condition is where I want the lowest drag, partly because I would think those waves are kind of banky and would be fun to ride a singlefin + sidebites. That’s where I’m headed anyway. Something Nuggety, maybe.
Yes, that is what I’m riding. Would you reccomend something wider,l around 21"? I am 6’4" and 150 pounds. The outside is about 100-150 meters from shore.
Appreciate the help.
Howzit Freshwater,
I feel your pain. El Golfo de Mexico is pretty much the same deal. I’d like to echo janklow’s suggestions and add what I find essential yet challenging in a surf-starved area: stay in shape. Paddling-shape that is. That means lots of push-ups and lots of pull-ups. High-rep lat pull-downs are even better at maintaining our seldom-used slow-twitch latisimus dorsi fibers. Swimming is obviously also a big help. Breath-holding, too.
How to stay in surf-shape has been discussed at length in the past, so I’m not going to beat it to death here. Point is you gotta be a machine to beat the onshore wind and short-period windswell pounding you relentlessly on the head and then maintain your positioning once you make it to the outside lineup.
Have fun,
Drew
10 feet every three seconds… Give up
Yes, that is what I’m riding. Would you reccomend something wider,l around 21"? I am 6’4" and 150 pounds. The outside is about 100-150 meters from shore.
Appreciate the help.
Something with a narrower nose than a retro fish combined with some planing width in the rear so you can catch those slopey waves out there. 21 sounds a little wide for a 150 pounder to duckdive through a lot of stuff like that , but hell I dunno, if you get it thin.
Thanks for the input. Next time I’ll just have to play it smarter I guess.
I’ve double-checked with wave propogation experts and 10’ @ 3 seconds is simply not possible.
I’m sure it SEEMED like 10’ @ 3 seconds when it’s on your head, but I think you need to re-assess
at least one of those measurements. Either the wave height is less or the period is longer.
If it is a three second period you could duck-dive two waves at once if you go really deep!
Keep paddling,
Mike
I couldn’t get past the break zone… They broke every 3 seconds
(I think he’s numbering the bars in reverse, and shorting the timeframe a bit, but I know how it feels.)
Yes, I am numbering the bars in respect to the waves as they come in. As for the measurements the waves were definitely between 8-10 feet but agreed broke more around 5 seconds, counting 1, 1000, 2, 2000 ect. They were breaking extremely close together.