Surf Kayak Level 3 Clinic + free-surf
| River: | Other |
| Skill: | Novice |
| Trip Date: | 09/03/2011 |
Surf Kayak Level 3 Clinic.
Ft Fisher, NC. 9/3/11
Participants :-
Paul Scrutton (Instructor)
Jon Godwin (Assistant)
Daniel Richardson
Sharon Price
Frank Ladd
Maria Gibson
Saturday:-
Mother nature was quite kind to us this weekend, great sunny weather, and a forecast of 2 ft surf with a 7 second period; just about perfect learning conditions.
The L3 surf kayak class is a relatively new course offered by the ACA (it's 4 years old). This was my second time teaching it. I offered the course to the Carolina Kayak Club, and the Carolina Canoe Club. It is intended to familiarize paddlers with the surf zone, so that they can build skills in paddling out, taking off, wave-riding, and learn safety and the special rules of the surf-zone. Daniel and Sharon signed up from the CCC posting about the course, and Frank and Maria were from the Carolina Kayak Club.
We started off at the Ft Fisher basin area; this area is a muddy flat sound area, protected by rock jetties. The parking area was recently renovated, and now features a paved road, traffic circle and boat ramps. After some introductions and discussion of the particular equipment suited towards kayak surfing, we went to the sound to practice strokes and surf strategies. The forward stroke, and different speeds of stroke rate were emphasized and practiced. We next practiced edging, and the strategy for driving along a wave. We had a discussion of two take off strategies (standard drop and bottom turn, and the diagonal take-off), and then practiced simulating a take off followed by a bottom turn simulation. Finally, backstrokes and pulling back off of a drop were discussed and practiced.
We then paddled back to the vehicles and drove to the Ft Fisher state park (beach access area). We had a leisurely lunch under a canopy set up on the beach. Surf was near high tide at this time, which turned the waves into dumping shore-break, so we took our time over lunch, and then moved into more discussion regarding the aspects of the surf environment, while waiting for the waves to calm down. We discussed wave-sets, and wave periods. I demonstrated how the shoulder of the wave moves, and discussed bottom turn/top turn wave-riding and running down the line as strategies for riding the wave. Daniel was curious about exit strategies, and we discussed building speed to generate enough momentum to turn and break through the foam pile to end a ride.
Jon and I then gave a demo of surfing so that the others could have an idea of what to aim for. When we came in from giving the demo, lifeguards on ATV's came down the beach blowing whistles, and everyone was told to exit the water. Three or four sharks had been spotted by the park rangers near the rock wall on the North end of the beach. The water environment went crazy. Bait-fish were running through the water, and jumping out of the water. About ten to fifteen pelicans were circling and dive-bombing the water to catch fish. We saw 6 fish, approximately a foot long jump straight of the water in unison. This went on for a good 30 minutes.
The park-rangers came over, and they said that all swimmers and surf-boarders weren't allowed in the water for a short while, and they looked at our boats, and said that we could go in, as well, we were inside our boats, and thus safer from shark attacks. Thoughts of M&M's candy went through my mind – crunchy on the outside, soft inside, and lamented that my boat had more carbon fiber than Kevlar in it's construction.
We watched the churning marine environment for another 5-10 minutes. The waves were looking excellent; there were no pedestrians in the water, and eventually we couldn't take it any more, and had to go out for a second session. Sharks are out there normally anyway we reasoned. As we entered the water, the crowd stood around and watched. Jon and I had some great rides, and Daniel and Frank made it out also. Daniel started working on some rides, and after some observation, Frank got a good successful first ride. Jon saw 8 fish fly out about 5' away from my boat at one point.
Twenty minutes later, a whistle was blown, and the shark-warning was called off. The marine activity had dropped considerably. The pelicans had flown south. The crowds re-entered the water. More wave-riding was had, and Jon and I helped Daniel and Frank with getting their boats positioned correctly for taking off on the waves. Daniel was getting some good runs down the line going during the afternoon, and getting some successful exits without tipping over his boat on exit. Later on in the afternoon, Daniel managed to bend a paddle while surfing, and eventually it snapped into two pieces. We surfed until about 4pm that day, and then went for dinner at the Ocean Grill and Tiki Restaurant in Carolina Beach.
Sunday:-
Jon, Daniel and I tried some dawn-patrol surfing at about 7am in the morning on Sunday at Shell Island. This early in the morning can be a great time to go. The wind-thermals generally set up later in the day when the land and water heat up at different rates. Today, it was quiet, and cool. There was no wind to affect the waves, and small wide rolling sets came in. Unfortunately the waves weren't quite large enough to surf on with small boats. We ran into local paddler Kris Whitmore in the inlet, she was paddling a Mega Cyclone IC surf kayak. We got a couple of small rides in at the inlet, just North of the hotel and bailed for the beach. We met up with Sharon, who was taking a spin on her SUP. Jon tried out Daniel's SUP, with Daniel paddling Sharon's. Eventually, as the tide changed, the waves improved and we had another decent surf session. Jon and I called it a day at about 11am, and hit the road. All in all, a very fun trip.