Kotick in the surf
I got bold this morning and
decided to give my Kotick
experiment a try in the surf
near my house. The south
end of Pacifcia State Beach
is normally 'sheltered' with
the breakers subdued. Not
today so much.
Launching into about 2 foot
frothy waves, the bow punctured
the wave cleanly, but the cockpit
combing tossed about 5 gallons of
cold seawater in my face. I was
the only person not wearing a wet-
suit, [among the 200 surfers]
Never-the-less, beyond being real wet,
everything was fine, and I quickly
paddled out of the breaking surf zone.
The sea surface was glassy, and the
rollers came in sets, getting
as high as 4 or 5 feet. 45 minutes
later, my whimpy arms getting tired
I head into the beach.
No problem until I get about 100 yards
from the beach, though with no 'rear
view mirror' you cannot really adjust
to the coming waves. I get caught up
in one comber, and surf for a hundred
feet or so [fun], but begin to get
concerned about the rocky portion of the
beach I am headed towards.
In six inches of water, and getting
backwashed pretty quick, I attempt
to jump quickly out of the boat. Not
exactly a success, I get clobbered
by another wave, filling the
cockpit with much water and twenty
pounds of sand.
I really regret not having a good
bailing device, and I try to get
as much of the sand out as I can
with my hands. The boat now weighs
perhaps 80 pounds, compared with the
dry weight of roughly 60 pounds.
Carrying the think back to my car
is no fun, but I get it done.
At home, I am scratching my head
and cursing myself for not making
the limber holes in the ribs as
big as those shown on PCB's drawings.
I extract as much sand as I can from
the inaccessible portions in the bow
and stern using my shop vac, and the
garden hose. Live and learn.
I will do it again, but perhaps I need
to try again to patch together a
spray skirt.
Also, Kotick's lines are more suited
for cruising than surfing. I think
that a shorter & fatter version might
be a better idea if you want to do
a lot of surfing.
decided to give my Kotick
experiment a try in the surf
near my house. The south
end of Pacifcia State Beach
is normally 'sheltered' with
the breakers subdued. Not
today so much.
Launching into about 2 foot
frothy waves, the bow punctured
the wave cleanly, but the cockpit
combing tossed about 5 gallons of
cold seawater in my face. I was
the only person not wearing a wet-
suit, [among the 200 surfers]
Never-the-less, beyond being real wet,
everything was fine, and I quickly
paddled out of the breaking surf zone.
The sea surface was glassy, and the
rollers came in sets, getting
as high as 4 or 5 feet. 45 minutes
later, my whimpy arms getting tired
I head into the beach.
No problem until I get about 100 yards
from the beach, though with no 'rear
view mirror' you cannot really adjust
to the coming waves. I get caught up
in one comber, and surf for a hundred
feet or so [fun], but begin to get
concerned about the rocky portion of the
beach I am headed towards.
In six inches of water, and getting
backwashed pretty quick, I attempt
to jump quickly out of the boat. Not
exactly a success, I get clobbered
by another wave, filling the
cockpit with much water and twenty
pounds of sand.
I really regret not having a good
bailing device, and I try to get
as much of the sand out as I can
with my hands. The boat now weighs
perhaps 80 pounds, compared with the
dry weight of roughly 60 pounds.
Carrying the think back to my car
is no fun, but I get it done.
At home, I am scratching my head
and cursing myself for not making
the limber holes in the ribs as
big as those shown on PCB's drawings.
I extract as much sand as I can from
the inaccessible portions in the bow
and stern using my shop vac, and the
garden hose. Live and learn.
I will do it again, but perhaps I need
to try again to patch together a
spray skirt.
Also, Kotick's lines are more suited
for cruising than surfing. I think
that a shorter & fatter version might
be a better idea if you want to do
a lot of surfing.