HH - DOH Waves

Never take a clean up set for granted. Paddle your face off.

 

go with a couple of buddies so you can take chances and i prefer to exit the wave a sooner rather then later to shorten the paddle back out

 

To add to the conversation... the buoy was reading 11' at 10 seconds at the time that vid was taken. There's not a head high face in that vid... overhead the whole way down the line in every shot. If you see something differently, point it out.

 

1:58, 2:11, 2:21. Keep in mind too in most of the footage the camera is looking down into the wave. It makes the wave look a little bigger cause your seeing more water above the guys head.

 

If you remember nothing else, this is the single best piece of advice so far^^^

 

good point... I wouldn't argue "head high" for the three waves you pointed out, near the end of the vid, as the swell is fading.

 

this.
also;
tattoo: its head-high!
shaq: its (only) knee-high.

 

Know your limits
Check equipment
Watch and observe, get an idea of what's going on out there and have some what of a plan/strategy.

Most importantly I'd your mental state though, in my opinion. If you don't belong out there don't go, but if your capable it's important to remind yourself that you belong out there. Confidence. It's easy to get intimidated in big surf, I find I doubt myself but when I get tired of being scared and just got it's like what was I so afraid of? That was a blast. After that first wave it's much easier to push your self over that ledge. After experiencing this a number of times I try and get that confidence before I even paddle out so that first wave comes sooner than later. Thing is you got to be honest with yourself, there's a thin line between pushing yourself and stupidity.

By the way never been in DOH, but been in OH+ plenty.

 

I haven't read the remaining 6 pages of this thread, so forgive me if others have already responded to this. But for me, when I knew the swell of the season was on its way for the next day, I could barely fall asleep the night before. Half excitement, the other half anxiety. So, for me again, when I pull up to a spot and its huge out, I have already been on the edge of my seat while driving to whichever spot I am at. And then just watching it for a few minutes gets the heart rate pumping and you break a sweat just looking at it. Then you are anxious, heart pounding a mile a minute on the paddle out. usually in a channel. Then as you work your way to the front of the lineup, the anxiety and rush gets bigger and bigger and it's really not until you get a couple of waves under your belt that your nerves calm down.... And if you get in a sketchy situation and survival mode kicks in, again your heart rate jumps and the nerves are unreal.

So in summation, the entire act of big wave surfing gives your entire body and every system in it so much adrenaline and anxiety that if feels like you just drank 7 cups of coffee anyway. And if you actually add a ton of caffeine to the mix, it makes it that much harder to stay calm (which is the name of the game) and it will just magnify the natural anxieties that go along with it....

DISCLAIMER: I would usually take advantage of proposition 215 when I live in CA on my way to a big day. It just gets the nerves right and in my opinion, I surf just as well if not better under that kind of influence. So, yeah, the exact opposite of coffee is what I prefer when challenging yourself to your highest level.

 

Oh and surf smart, if the inside section is worth it, go for it ofcourse. But most of the time I find it better to kick out, have a much easier paddle back out, and get another

 

i just charge...see a closeout charge it..see a a-frame...charge it...weather it b 2 feet or 12 foot imma charge it like the energizer bunny. make sure you mean mug everyone in the line up so they know all the waves are yours and your the numba 1 charger. #eddie rothman would go

 

I would call that a couple feet over head. Maybe 6-7ft. And I am not trying to get all Hawaiian on the wave heights, but to me that is a nice set wave on a OH+ day.

Trust me, I disagree with the way waves are measured, but it is what it is. The logical approach to this is: A Basketball hoop stands 10 feet tall. As the lip is pitching, if you could fit a basketball hoop under the lip from flats to the lip, then it's 10 feet. In reality, most people would call that 6-7. I don't make the rules, I just try and follow them =)

But it's funny, in Hawaii, they use the machismo system which to me complicates things and makes them unsafe. There is too much variation on a 5-6 ft Hawaiian day, where in true feet, the sizes will fluctuate 5-6 ft on the faces of set waves.

But then in Big wave surfing, the use my basketball hoop method and measure it in true feet, like if you put a measuring tape down in the flats and held it all the way to the top of the wave, that is how they judge it. But again, to this point, I think most of the "rules" were developed in Hawaii, so who am I to argue?

 

If that was in Cali, I'm sure you would call it DOH, lmao. You do realize if you are calling it 6-7 feet in that video, the wave in your avatar is much smaller. You do realize that right, maybe 4 feet.

 

Idk man, imho the waves in the video in question are easily 8 ft, and I'd say that the sets were pushing larger. Just one man's opinion.

 

I drink shots like 16 oz bottles, eat raw bacon and figure if I die surfing at least I was charging!

Seriously, the f*cking paddle out is the usually worst part for old farts like me.

 

That is the "California Way". I mentioed this before and someone also said they had never heard of it. Hawaiians make it even more difficult, but the "old heads" in SoCal all told me that you measure a wave by the size of the barrel, and when you are dealing with huge sunset cliffs and other spots that get so big, they break on top of themselves, like detonate half way down the wave face, they always said, make sure when regarding their size, you state that they have "XX ft FACES". There is a difference between a 6 foot wave and a wave with a 6 foot face. That six foot face could very well end up being a 2-3 foot wave.... If that makes sense. But yeah, that is what the wise men told me that were the first to ever pioneer sunset cliffs back in the 50s. Lance Morton and Mouse. I used to work for Lance's brother. They said it. It is law in southern CA.

 

i'm no expert, but having been to all the storm swells this summer i can say to keep on the lookout for the out of synch/out of set bomb that sometimes comes through..say you just missed a good sized one and as you are trying to get back into position out of nowhere comes this huge rogue one

 

Yes, you love that avatar don't you. And no, I would absolutely NEVER call that DOH in CA. And as for the avatar, as I have said before, that is the very end of the wave, the face as I dropped in and before it barreled was easily a 10 foot "face".... But yes, the picture in my avatar, I would call a true 4 foot wave by the photo, but I was not crouching until about that point, that was about a split second before I made an exit.

But again, have I ever stated that my avatar was a "big wave"? Nope. I just think its one of the best barrels I have had that was caught on film. I am not saying that the wave is big. But the swell was big, and when I posted all the session photos that day on here years ago, guys that know the area knew where I was for that, and they know its probably the most difficult wave in San Diego and that photo doesn't do the size justice. It was actually HUGE that day. I got destroyed more than half the time. Everyone did. There were just a few gems. That was just one of my only clean exits all day and I had to squat a little to get out dry.

 

The truth is, there is no answer really. This conversation always turns into a debate. Because no one will crack and just make a standard. I honestly think that the EC is the most reasonable of forecasters and recounts. So, yes, technically, the face of that wave is 8-10 feet, so most of you are right. I am not disputing that. Its just a matter of where you are from and the culture in which you surf. Its like, thats 10ft solid EC, that is 6-7ft CA, that is 4-5ft HI. It doesn't make sense. No one is right or wrong.

 

this... Like I said, its all about location and the culture that you surf in. The wave in that video would be considered a minimal winter day at blacks.