Baja - swell

[tylerdurden]

Originally Posted by Tman

Good advice...another option when the sets roll in is to do a Superman.
Hold on to the back handle and let nature take its course. The added weight in the back (you) keeps the bow up.
Have had to do that a couple times...

In some spots that might not work. You might go over the reef and get banged up, or the undertow can pull you right back out. On these beaches the waves often break in water >6' deep. Look out.

I was still out when that pic was taken
I took a panga ride in

[esdees]

Panga through the surf! That was fun.

At least on that day, if you were not paddling to shore you were not getting any closer. That upside down kayak sat there for over half an hour getting beat up by the surf and then sucked back out. Our diver friend had to swim out and drag it in, along with the kayaker.

[rastrev]

Yeah, the crazy thing about that break is it was a fairly easy(by baja standards) launch at high tide, but at low tide the reef on the outside was breaking making it very tricky indeed. It's really important to pay attention to how a break changes through out the day. Baja will definitely improve your surf launching and landing skills whether you want it to or not. This is still one of my favorite Baja pics.

[madscientist]

That's a cool pic Trev. I still have nightmares about the Colonet reef breaks. I'll never forget the one that ate Forrest.