Duckdive dilemma

Hahahahaha!

 

maybe he wanted to wear two. Alot of big wave guys are wearing two leashes now, Dorian, Healy etc. In case one breaks they have a 2nd, or it adds breaking strength to both.

 

So true! Guys who surf the biggest days here know that paddling into a macker isn't the biggest challenge... it's getting to the outside without getting hammered, and when it's big and cold, that hammering can bring you to either tears or panic. Then, once you're outside, you gotta get into postion, and stay there 'till a set comes, with all the current and wind that always comes with the biggest days of the year. That's what's so hardcore about the Northeast, IMO. It' ain't no Tres Palmas!

 

No doubt! I have had that debate many times on the west coast. A lot of guys who have surfed OBX etc would agree, but some of the San Diego guys think that a 15 foot day at swamis is like surfing big pipeline or something... The only thing south of Santa Barbara that is gut wrenching to surf is huge blacks... That is comparable to big NC or NJ... Ive been trying to tell guys that for years... They will see 10 foot OBX and be like, ohh thats not that big and Im like, ohhh yes it is... The east coast has currents, winds scattered sets and detonating closeouts. No big fat channels, no easy way out. There is only one way back in... Completely different. I would compare the difficulty of surfing 15 foot Sunset Cliffs or Swamis to about a solid 8FT+ day back east... Just way heavier on the east coast when sh** goes wrong... The east coast can only get so big, but when the size maxed out, the intensity level and the overall ugliness of what can happen out there starts to multiply.

 

You are not the only person I have heard say this and many friends I know that have moved out west say the same thing. I've surfed 10 foot Sunset Cliffs and it was a breeze. All the time in the world to drop in, bottom turn, nice well planned cut backs...no wonder surfers have so much style in California. 8-10 foot NJ/NC beachbreak and you are hanging on for dear life most of the time....freight training. If anything 10 foot beach breaks is more like pipeline than 15 foot swamis. However, neither even come close really.

 

I think you proved our point. It looks like a closed out beach break, with one mudskipper on it.

 

I learned on the west coast and have been up and down the east. I now live on the east side and I will just say that all the east coast guys have a bad case of envy.
Me included.I would make the move to San Diego in a minute if my career allowed.

 

when guys surf big waves,with long boards(guns),they ditch their board and spend a lot of time underwater.there is no duckdiving.i don't care what anyone says,but beachbreaks are the most challenging wave their is,not reef breaks.reefs have a designated channel,like in Hawaii,u can paddle out at pipe and sit their for 2 hours just watching the waves,but never in harms way.there is no channel on beachbreaks.all we have is sideshore and rips,and they usually take you out 25-30yards just in time for a solid hollow 6fter breaking on your head.i dive deep,no point trying to duckdive if your not in the face yet.some people like to sprint paddle,i find it best to go slow and take your time,so u can delay when u have to dive.kids waste their energy sprinting,then mistime the dive and wash up on the rocks.

 

In big surf, I'll hop off the board, grab the rail saver (Velcro end of leash closest to the tail) pull it down hard while swimming for the bottom. Got out in Irene on a longboard that way without getting beaten too badly.

 

thank you to all the guys, especially zach, who have posted meaningful information in here. really has helped me understand this issue a lot better for when i get a chance to get into bigger surf. the biggest ive ever surfed is probably 6ft solid hatteras. that lighthouse can get dumpy as f.u.c.k.

 

Just for the record. My comments were not a shot at what I still consider home, San Diego. I moved there from the jump because the waves there are hands down the best in the nation. They are world class, year round.

I am just saying that I have had harder times in 7 foot dumping OC MD than I have on sizes double that out west. That just how the waves are. And that is why the QS and ASP go to places like San Diego. There is wave after shred able wave. Not fighting close outs and fighting currents all day. Granted, I have been worked far harder in San Diego many times than I have back east, but that I just a numbers game. U go out all the time as big as it gets u get ****ed up now and again.

I'm just saying, If u know The Whales Vagina, u know if the Ob pier is 10 feet, u, me and everyone else will drive a mile south and have a field day on the reefs. If that was the east coast, we would all paddle out there cause there are no reefs and points. And if u surf 10 ft Ob pier on a north swell, brother we all getting ****ed up at some
Point of the session

 

Matapalo in Costa is a place you don't get your hair wet getting out. Rock bottom point break. Back before the landslide of 99, there was a natural jetty that made it so you would hardly have to paddle. It was like a machine made wave. the second just like the first. long pealing rights. duck diving unheard of except you could be out in head high perfection for over an hour, then be way in to far for triple overhead sets, the second like the first, like the 5th. There was a house sized rock at the takeoff spot. I was there when it happened. I tried to duck dive under the lip, but first wave hit me in the back and pulled my trunks off. 2nd and 3rd held me under the 4th blew up just outside and washed me ashore. I still had my trunks in my toes and was pulling them on when this guy walks up and says, "I couldn't belieeeeeeeeeeeeve you went out there." well yeah I went out. Getting reamed is part of the game. at least they way I surf seems to be.

 

I don't know if there is a way to prove this- but I believe if you position your board parallel with the wave before you bail and dive- you can prevent a board breaking...

 

Never in harms way at pipeline? LMAO...you just watch the waves! The same as 6 foot beach break? No one calls this guy on this B.S.? Where do people come up with posts like this. So desperate to make themselves(east coast) sound hardcore.

LOL....Certainly told by someone that has never attempted pipeline. You do realize that all those guys that are riding that have ridden 6 foot beach break right? The tough part of pipe is not paddling out. It's the ultra heavy/hollow bomb detonating on the reef jacking up faster than anything you've seen. The wave comes out of nowhere. It's not called a proving ground for no reason.

 

Sometimes I go to duck dive and my leash wraps around my ankles. I end up being back on the sand before I can get my feet untangled.

 

I have surf OB pier at 6 to 7 ft and got taught a lesson! LOL

 

Yeah but did you shot it?

 

I think I shot my pants a little

 

Hehehe, I hear ya.