SURFSKI SAFETY: Winter WARNING for Reverse Millers (#88)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- Conditions can change very quickly and forecasts can miss the mark by a big margin. When this happens on a regular downwind, when one is being blown towards the shore, it is generally manageable. When it happens on a Reverse Millers, and the wind turns offshore and starts to crank, the stakes get very high.
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0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Passing lighthouse
2:11 - SWIM front camera
3:09 - SWIM rear camera
05:03 - leash review
05:48 - heading for shore
Rob Casey: Note to you: thanks for your recent comment. For some reason I am not able to respond to you (when I click on your comment I am not taken to a response option for you)
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Thanks for posting. I think there are a few lessons here: 1 helmets, a blow to the head that stops you for even 30 seconds is fatal in water as you go face down and once you take a lung full of water its game over if you are alone. 2 Exhaustion, once things go wrong you expend energy at a huge rate, the water is cold, you may be gulping water and each attempt to climb in takes huge effort. We used to do survival training and very few could manage more than 3 attempts to right a life raft and climb in. The key was to plan and practice to get in first go. 3 Always go with someone else. We have now got a culture of being alone in dangerous activities, our forefathers would think this madness.
Thanks Rob (?). Yep, going with a buddy is indeed the way to go but as you know, there is little they can do to help you in a situation like this other than to raft up with you once you have decided to call the rescue services. However, keeping you out of the water could indeed save you in a cold water situation. (Fortunately, even in winter, the water temp in False Bay seldom goes as low as 12 degrees)
Wow, thanks for sharing. Yeah, funny how any confidence you have, goes right out the window, and you just want to be done and go home, at least for me.
Yep, confidence, or self-assurance, at least, is one of the key ingredients
What an excellent video, thank you for posting Richard. Was good to see you get back on the horse and keep your composure to the end. What doesn't kill us, makes us better paddlers, eh!
Thanks Owen ! Had another run today in an offshore wind but took my XTS to be safe(r) !
Excellent explanation. Mahalo!
Thanks John (sorry that I missed your contribution at the time you made it)
Well done Richard! Yep, the ability to remount from both sides is very important! And, as you say, the awareness of how quickly conditions change. Great video.
Thanks Rob
@@ForbesRichard I used to have a favorite remount side too but after so much practice of remounting both sides, I don't remember anymore which one it was...
@@d1427 Yep, I think that is what is needed as one should not be restricted in any way with all options being available to one. I too hope to forget which used to my favourite side👊
THANK YOU for sharing this. Respect and appreciate your thoughts on the situation and realities of what can & will happen.
thank you, your feedback is greatly appreciated
“Legs in a tangle, knickers in a knot” 🤣🤣🤣
Paddle blade in the water you shouldn't fall over. Water is your brace.
For sure !
I'm a surfer so it is very interesting to me to see the different dynamic of having a (relatively) giant canoe being windblown into the Indian ocean with 6,000 miles of nothing between you and Melbourne, irrespective of the direction you'd like to take. A bit scary, but if I had been there on a surfboard I would have been comfortably sure of making it to shore. Yet I had a moment once on the other side, at Noordhoek beach near the northern corner, large swell, when I got out the back I discovered I was in a rapid Northerly current, faster than I could paddle most of the time. I was already in line with the rocky coast, with violent waves bashing it. My options were to paddle like hell towards the rocks and hope the current weakened and then turn South to try and make it to the beach around the rocks, or to paddle out to sea in the hopes that the current was local, or to go with it all the way to Hout Bay where the sharks love their fish and seal dinners! Needless to say I tried the first option first and just made it in.
At the risk of boring you another time has just come to mind, near where you were, at Muizenberg. It was a big storm wave day, the waves were 14-16', and I took 2 rips to get out. I was all by myself on a 6'2" board and could just see into Vishoek Bay. A big wave came and I caught it but it broke over me before I could reach the bottom and when I finally came up and the boiling stopped, my board was gone. I was surprised my leach broke because I have never felt the tug so I reached down to my ankle and started pulling it up to inspect the end, and after a couple of reelings in it went taut! Taut! The sea was relatively calm, so I could not imagine it was a current. The wave was long gone by now. I pulled on it. It stretched a bit. I pulled again, a little harder, scared it might yoink up and hit me. Nada. So I pulled as hard as I could, going under with the effort. Nothing!!! I pulled 2 more times, more desperately, but it did not budge. Then I pulled again and suddenly it was released and shot up into the air, not next to me, but about 6 foot away. I honestly cannot believe that there was a current holding it down, it took so long, and the water was so quiet. I literally checked it for toothmarks, nothing, got onto it and caught the next wave in, lying down so as not to fall off for any reason!!
Couple of very scary incidents there ! Glad you made it out safely in both instances.
I suspect though that after paddling in from 3km out (had you been in my situation) that you might have been a tad exhausted !
@@ForbesRichard Actually you get so fit and experienced at paddling through bouncy water, partly because some days the waves are so good you just don't want to come in (I've had several occasions of 7 to 8.5 hours of virtually non-stop surfing and paddling - it takes a massive effort to lift each arm by the end when you're out of carbs), or there is no rip and it takes 20 minutes of hard paddling to get back out after each ride, or because there is a strong current and you have to paddle constantly while waiting for a wave, or because the ride is long or the break is far away, that 3km is literally a nice walk to me. (Not trying to boast or anything, just sharing. I think most experienced surfers would feel the same way.) With the wind and bumpy swell though it would've been more like 5 or 6 km, I think, and that would certainly have been tiring as the paddling would have had to be more rapid. I would have enjoyed it though. It's one of the reasons I loved your video, I love the sea and when it's rough, even more so. But my main point is I could've angled much better than you could with the canoe.
Sounds like you are in the super-human surfer league !
Sounds like the equivalent of the Bolton Strid at sea.
Scary because I can feel my own confidence slipping away as the video progresses. Yikes! Best advice I ever got was: get used to paddling broadside to breaking waves (small ones!) in shallow water. Best help ever. Remount either side. Never even try the remount without paddle already oriented, under my hand, against the hull. As soon as I sit up, even sidesaddle 90 degrees to the hull, blade in the water bracing and/or stroking. Love the nylon web leash. Attach mine to a nylon web belt around my waist. Got a sore jaw once when I attached a regular leash to the PDF shoulder strap and the tension snapped so suddenly and tight it pulled me underwater by the head. If only it had been wrapped around my neck!
hi David, very glad that leash was not wrapped around your neck ! I have also been pulled and dragged under water by my leash in white water (see Avalanche - Buried Alive) - very scary !
Really good point about marking right and left on the paddle. Using slightly bumped tape you can more easily find the correct, centered hand positions but a more visible fluorescent tape on the right (or left) hand position should be both helpful and bolster confidence. Adrenaline and cold water dunks can play havoc with problem solving in dangerous conditions. Videos like this serve a very important role and I appreciate you posting and the very clear commentary. 😅
Thank you Tommy. You may note that in my subsequent videos I have my paddle marked with some red tape (have not had to make use of the marker yet !)
Richard - obviously you have to figure out what works best for you and that you are most comfortable with. Glad to see you came in safe and sound.
1) I like your idea about marking your paddle for easier orientation ID
2) One of the reasons local paddlers where I live like waist leashes with boat end anchors (we favor rear anchors, some seem to use front anchors) is they make the boat line up with the wind after a huli, so the initial jerk is less and the sustained pull is much less while you get yourself straightened out in the water before orienting your ski for remount. But rear anchored leashes generally do not work well with rear deck mounted cameras.
3) Was the forecast for no wind anywhere near the bay, or just no such wind on the bay? One of the mistakes some paddlers make where I live is they assume accuracy in location of moving or unsettled systems. We are often somewhere near or on the edge of moving weather systems and I have learned not to assume that the forecasts will get the edges and exact margins or potential for shifts sideways correctly for unsettled weather anywhere near our neighborhood. Or was your weather change totally out of the blue?
Paul, good to have your considered feedback again, thanks. I have an front end anchored custom surf leash (with 1cm thick rubber bungee) for when I am doing breaking wave ski-ing outside the surf zone. (think I will include that in a future video)
Forecasts: You are spot on with your questions/observations. The wind direction is hugely impacted by the low mountain ranges that we have on the bay. One of the paddlers in our group subscribes to a weather service that models the impact of the mountains but in this instance none of the models predicted an off-shore swing. The bottom line is that we have to be prepared for an offshore blast regardless of what the forecast may predict !
Way back in the olden days of the 70s when I was 16 I went out on a super light double ski in 8 to ten foot breakers in a strong south easter. I only had a speedo. No fancy stuff. The minute we got past the breakers we flipped and the wind took the ski away so quickly that we had no choice but to swim back to the beach. We ended up about a km down wind of milnerton club where the lighthouse is
ABSOLUTELY exhausted. I really can say that I nearly died. The water is cold like 10 degrees. The ski was found weeks later in saldana bay.
Hey peter Simmons. Remember that..?
That is HECTIC !! Milnteron to Saldanha without a driver !
Thanks for uploading and sharing. It's a precious life experience.
I appreciate your feedback, thank you.
Great video, nice shots and some hairy moments! When you need some extra stability hang your legs one on either side of the boat. Then you can orient the paddle and yourself a bit easier.
Thanks very much Michael. Good points, noted, thanks.
Many thanks - valuable insight/lessons and appreciate your humility in sharing them.
thanks Eric.
sorry, for sp. Erick !
Thank you for the video! You did a great job getting back into your ski. I have a Fennix Swordfish S and find it difficult to remount because of its narrow, deep entry. And that's in conditions less extreme than yours. The other thing that could improve the Fennix would be an aft leash attachment point like the Epic surfskis have. I have broken leashes while surfing and have gone to a belt leash with a thick (and hopefully unbreakable) spearfishing bungee.
Thanks for the feedback. If you look at my most recent videos you will see that I am now using a Boost LV as my big water boat and am loving the confidence the stability gives me. Leashes: watch out for a product review in the next 2 weeks as I will be testing the new SeaArc leash system that looks brilliant to me.
Great video. I'm glad you're safe.
Thank you !
Really powerful video, thank you for creating and sharing. I'm dying to try surfski despite being landlocked in Montana. I still find plenty of outdoor activities with steep risk/reward tradeoffs, especially when you have to keep your head while self-rescuing in a worsening situation. I was always taught that's the biggest danger of open ocean activities: conditions can turn from green to double-black diamond in minutes.
I do hope that you get a chance to try it out !
Your reference to "double-black": interestingly, about 6 months ago I was in huge conditions when I drowned my gorpro7 and lost the footage of some runs on very steep groundswell that had "moguls" on it so my runs were an insane descent in bouncy, spray-filled mayhem ! Hoping for a repeat.
Awesome video, lots to learn from. Much appreciated from Lismore NSW Australia
🙏 Thanks very much for the feedback !
I have been using stern waist leash attached to the handle (Epic V8), it makes it much easier to remount as there is no mess in the cockpit. Thanks for posting.
I like the ideal. What about the fact that the boat is leash is not attached to the centre of the ski - does that cause any issues when trying to keep ski in place downwind of you, at 180 degrees to the wind ?
Back in the 1980's we used sea kayaks. I liked 'wearing' the boat with knees under the sidedeck. Did 1000 mile expeditions and never went swimming. Good to learn to roll it !
I wish I could indeed Captain ! I have seen a couple of paddlers who have modified their cockpits to enable a roll. Me - no chance of doing one !
@@ForbesRichardLate to the conversation. You could borrow a kayak, it could be a seakayak, white water boat, polo boat or similar. Learning to roll will imprint a few certain moves which can save your butt in the ski as well. At the 2:12 mark it is shown that your upper body and your head is leaning towards sky while the ski is not. This is what made you swim in the first place. (Sry, I’m sure you already know this). Having a basic roll will engrain the habit of leaning down on the paddle face with your upper body and angling your head down towards the water, while sweeping to create enough lift to right the boat under you center of mass. A few counter-intuitive moves (at first) that will make life on the water much more relaxing. Great video, thanks for posting.
@@Uhmm485 thanks for the feedback ! Yesterday I was chatting to a paddler in his 70s (I am in my early 60s) about technique and of the difficulty of mastering the multiple movements. After he said "and I have all this noise in my head" (the many voices of well intended instruction) we (laughingly) concluded that it is impossible for us "old-baalie-late learners" to get on top of it all ! 😆
@@ForbesRichard Yeah, I know. I’m hearing that noise too. I’m in my fifties and started to kayak again after many years away from it. I’m in Norway, big water, and the noises I hear are primarily the echo of my own voice, as well as those of my kayak mentors from back then, about always training self-rescue for the worst conditions. However, bracing, high and low bracing, is pretty straightforward to train in a surfski and will take the edge off of most of the sketchy situations :-) Like the clips of your waters.
@@Uhmm485 Thanks for the interest and feedback. Appreciated !
Glad you made it back safe. The surf can be a stern teacher.
🙏
Wow that looks scary to me. Glad you're ok. Definitely not showing this one to my wife
know what you mean Geoff !
My wife has been driven to "resigned acceptance" !
Thanks for posting & especially making / illustrating the comments about psychology of self rescue situations, this isnt taught or coached nearly enough.
thanks Graham
Thank you….
I always have a piece of coloured insulation tape around the shaft where my left hand goes so that I never grab it the wrong away around. Black tape on the right.
Panic is itself dangerous. Good video👍
thank you !
How you were able to keep the camera bit in your mouth throughout is an impressive feat. It's a great POV though.
hi Tom, I use a snorkel mouth piece for the GoPro. I also have a short leash from it to my life jacket. I did in fact drop the front camera at one stage whilst in the water (dont recall if this is evident in the published video)
@@ForbesRichard Ah, I see now. Well, you got the shot! I've only done a little paddling on a ski and never in swells that big. It looks both incredibly terrifying and a blast all at the same time.
yep, it is thrilling indeed. I also do adventure motor bike riding and for me, surf skiing provides the same level of thrill/rush without the constant danger of injury (yes, you could drown, but that is very unlikely esp. since I carry a satellite "save me" device, a PLB)
Great video, great points made! I can hear the borderline conditions in your breathing! What communication devices do you carry?
So i carry my cell phone with my first option being to activate the Emergency Call on SafeTrax. My 2nd option is my PLB (I have the rescueME PLB1) that sends out a signal via satellite (picked up in South Africa by the Marine Control Centre who then notifies the NSRI). When I was rescued over a year ago, I was out of cell phone range and did not yet have my PLB. I owe my life to Zach Preyser who stayed with me, the NSRI and a 9 year old boy, Alex Rumble, who had seen the orange flash of my spinning ski; his dad, Chris, then contacted the NSRI.
and I use a snorkel mouthpiece mount for my GoPro - hence the heavy breathing !
Thanks for your after action review. Plenty of teachable moments. Why no XTS instead?
Had I known that it was going to be 30-40kts then I would have been in my XTS for sure !
I have a long term ambition of achieving a 45 minute Millers run (am a long way off now) so as part of that plan I need to be competent in the fastest ski that i can handle. I am betting on the SFish in the long run but currently am probably quicker in the XTS...
@@ForbesRichard Skill level goes up to handle 30>40knos winds. Watch Oscar downwind. Lol.
@@Master-di4di For sure Oscar is one of my on-line coaches !
Listen and learn
4:40 THAT PAUSE.. a breather.. before the heave into seat. Perfect. I am shocked by a muzzled go-pro design -- a restriction of your energy, mind, balance movement - !. Your bodies need for free “Wave Breathing” ... inhalation and exhalation is profound. A gentle nudge: do a few of Shi Heng Yi's training [YT]...tell me is wont change that cam system
You have got my attention now as you are the 2nd person who has suggested that the breathing restriction (it is a snorkel fitting) might in fact impact my actual ability and performance. The reason I use a snorkel mount is that the camera is then easily accesible to, for instance, point behind me or capture an underwater shot. You have got me thinking at least......thank you 🙏
De nada, jinete del agua. I'm certain you wil intuit the waY... ;) @@ForbesRichard
don’t put your leash around your leg.
put it around your waist
thanks for the suggestion Mike. However, my leash is not attached to my leg. It is attached to an additional waist belt that I have fitted to my life jacket.
I usually capsize in calm waters but it’s always garnished with a lot of swearing be it zero or 50 knots.
Here is to zero remounts, for both of us, for the rest of the year !
Can the wing be retrofiited to Fenn Fennix Bluefin S
hi Chris, what "wing' are you referring to ?
on 2nd thoughts you are probably referring to the "wave deflector" that minimises water intake into the cockpit: yes, that can be fitted to any ski
Well. it's a lot safer than submarining to the Titanic.
pfft, I'm gonna make a sub from carbon fibre, fibreglass and some DIY piping and charge 250k for the journey. You wanna come? You'll have to sign a disclaimer because sometimes my zx spectrum control system plays up.
First thing I learned to do after getting my Palm surf ski was to roll it %100 of the time no way I would surf my northern uk beach without having that technique off pat
what a bonus for you ! Previously, on a wave-ski, i have tried to learn to eskimo-roll, but gave up as, besides nearly drowning on each attempt, I had zero perception of orientation once upside down !
Hi Rastus I found it easy after being told to forget about trying to visualise every movement and just concentrate on the sweep down then the hip flick ( which I think is the secret)
@@john-wq8kf thanks John, will wait for summer and give it another go on a waveski
Good video Richard. Were you with someone else or solo paddling?
Dean, there were approx 20 people on the run. I was 2nd last to leave a few minutes behind a group of 5 or 6. I had planned to buddy up with the 3 from my group but as I was running late they left ahead of me. Typically I plan to leave in the first 1/4 of paddlers on a reverse run.
Can you do an Eskimo Roll in a Surfski?
Nope. Can you ? But I do know someone who can and have briefly met another paddler who had his ski set up for rolling.
@@ForbesRichard It works in a 17 foot ocean kayak but then again there is much better bracing support for a roll.
whee is this worldwise? hawaii?
JJ, it is the Millers Run, False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
😱🥶
fortunately not cold. I was wearing only 1mm and did not feel the water temp....but maybe because I had other issues on my mind !
Lets also remember that this is great white country. That point I'm sure was considered though not mentioned.
Fortunately David, there have been very few GW sightings over the last couple of years due, it is believed, to the Orcas, a pod of which was active in the bay a few days ago giving dolphins something to worry about
@@ForbesRichard Yes, GW 's and Orca's are not friends. If a helicopter is hovering above you, you may find a Shark circulating around you deciding if your scared enough to bite.
not sure if you saw that approx five days ago, a presumed GW took out a surfski off East London. Unlike in other instances where the shark leaves after just one investigative bite, in this instance, the shark kept munching !
Here is the link to the full story:
surfski.info/latest-news/story/1728/it-just-kept-munching-shark-destroys-surfski.html
Had me worried. Should you out by yourself? Learn to use your paddle, bit late to learn when your in trouble. Keep paddling and you keep your balance and moving ahead. Biginners mistake is to stop paddling when in trouble, lose balance and overboard. Then you have to self rescue yourself? Oh well, I am sure you learnt something. We all do one, way or the other.
There were about 20 of us on the run. Normally I would leave earlier with my buddies or the less experienced/slower paddlers to ensure that I am not on my own.
@@ForbesRichard You were on your own? I did not see anyone close to you.
I left 2nd last of the 20. At the beginning of the video you can see a group ahead of me but they were faster so not evident later in the video
They should be called expensive imitation log ...I HATE kyacks there almost like a bad joke
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