HH - DOH Waves

Have the right board. We are not Kelly Slater, so don't be on a board shorter than 6'

 

At DOH, perhaps not. But HH-OH?

 

agreed. my personal fav is bacon, egg, and cheese with a hashbrown on a toasted bagel and a tall glass of oj. usually satisfies me until a lunchtime break

 

can someone explain why u want to avoid caffeine.i always drink coffee before a surf except if its summer then its water or vodka.

yea nj beachbreaks,its good training grounds for epic waves across the world from pipe to teahupoo.u need to paddle fast and take off right in the barrel.u never have to look for the rip because the rip will find u,gaurenteed.yea taking off on the first wave is never a good idea unless ur surfing with bigmoneyt and his posse of 40 kooks.

I always like to analyze the waves before I paddle out.some days the waves break perfect,some days its sectioney as hell.iv witnessed a few winter storms where the waves break like a point break,where its dumping 7foot boardsnappers and to the left or right its calm water..i feel much safer in those conditions.

 

+1

 

oops...

 

why are south swells so much powerful with turbulence and water moving around?

 

Yeah, DOH. I don't consider HH-OH to be big. I'm either riding a 5-9 or 5-11 then.

 

Yup.

 

My biggest tip for surfing heavy conditions: As soon as you get out the back take off on something. Don't wait around. Go no matter what even if you go over the falls and get drilled. Once you come up and realize that that wasn't so bad it will get much easier.

 

Excessive caffeine is the issue. It's dehydrating you from a number of mechanisms, one being its diuretic properties. You're going through a ton of water in your body anyway on a bigger day of surf. Caffeine itself, for most, is not the concern. It's the excess of it.

 

Head high to 2 or even 3' overhead is a completely different set of circumstances from DOH... at least around here. You can pretty much go for it at that low end of the scale, and I'd say I do my best surfing in that range. As you approach the DOH mark, the game changes significantly, in terms of both board selection and wave selection. I really start to focus my attention on wave selection, trying to get fewer waves, but picking the waves offering up makable tubes. Dropping in on a DOH closeout just for the rush of the drop isn't something I'm interested in any more (how many big drops do you really need?) and you can do that on just about any board. But if you have the right board, and have confidence in your equipment, you can be more selective, pay attention to your position, take fewer poundings, and make more waves that count instead of getting a higher wave count.

I think we get our best surf in the 6-8' range, and you can really get your ya-yas out. Once it gets 10-12', you start paying for your mistakes, so taking a conservative approach is wise.

 

Since swells that big are rather rare on the EC, keep an eye out at all times for semi-floating debris.

Put a little extra wax near and on your rails so it's easier to keep a grip on your board when the inevitable happens and a bomb breaks 5' in front of you.

If you've been ignoring an extra long string attaching your railsaver to the board, make sure to shorten it so your tail doesn't get flossed.

Tail Flossing??? Should that go in the glossary?

Try to use any texture on the water to your advantage when paddling for the wave. Realize that a small amount of chop on an 8' wave could easily be rideable on a small summer day so use that little pocket/bowl to get into the wave earlier.

The barrels will be bigger so don't be afraid to charge that backdoor coverup. You just might make it...but realize until you do make it on the reg some folks will drop in on ya.

Sometimes the big ones will be breaking like crap. Don't get stuck just sitting outside after a cleanup set if this is the case. Work you way back in and catch some of the better formed ones. Let everyone else paddle battle for the funky ones.

 

Very good reminder!!

 

yea that makes perfect sense the dehydration,even tho I drink water and still have cottonmouth for some reason.I cant drink a lot of liquids,one of the main reasons why I don't drink booze,a 16oz bottle of water lasts me all day.its hard for me to finish a can of soda,let alone drinking a six pack I don't know how people do it.

 

What happens is your mind is doing all of those calculations automatically in your head. That voice that says, "don't go" is saying that because your taking in a lot of information... visually and kinesthetically... that you're not really conscious of, but your subconscious has figured out the odds are not good.

The "go" voice is doing the same thing.

Listen to the voices...

 

theres no better feeling in the world than paddling out on a crowded day for a 15 minute session,wait for that one wave,take off behind the peak backdoor it and get spit out and ride to the beach and call it a day.thats how most of my sessions are I don't have the time to spend hours in the water,wish I could but not with my schedule.

 

DOH has turned into a term that gets tossed around without much thought these days. Everybody and their brother will drop "DOH" referencing wave heights and sessions surfed here on the EC without hesitating. A 12 foot wave unloading on a sandbar is not something an average joe encounters, esp on the EC. Sorry. Be honest.

 

I've surfed a ton of overhead/double overhead waves on the east coast. Problem is when ever I see a picture of me surfing them they turn into chest to head high waves for some reason.