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Surfing, Surf Playing and Wave Walking
With Your W Kayak
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How to enjoy the ocean and surf with your W Kayak
Video: Walking On Waves (2 minutes)
-Click to play video (Watch more videos)
For most sea kayakers
and kayak fishermen the surf is an unpleasant and sometime daunting
environment. In fact, even native kayakers of the arctic regions used
their kayaks mostly in protected waters, and tried to avoid staying too
long in the zone between the shore and the breakers - and for good
reasons.
But things change, and although we won't recommend that you start surf
fishing we offer you to possibility to have some surf fun, or at least
to go kayak fishing in the ocean without worrying about launching or
beaching.
Board surfing, Kayak surfing and W Kayak surfing
Board
surfing is a lot of fun and it's considered to be an extreme
water sport since not too many people are capable of practicing it.
Traditional (sit-in) Kayak
surfing is even more difficult and more extreme, and a
traditional kayak surfer often has to protect his/her head with a
helmet.
SOT kayak surfing
offers limited fun but in order to achieve acceptable control over your
boat you need to strap yourself to your kayak.
W Kayak surfing
combines some advantages of board surfing (i.e. the ability to stand)
with advantages of traditional kayak surfing (i.e. a higher degree of
mobility and the ability to surf in other positions). It also
offers totally new experiences and ways to enjoy the surf as well as
what's beyond it.
W Kayak surfing does not require that you be attached to your kayak in
any way: No spray skirt or straps are required.
Since the W Kayak is stabler, faster and easier to paddle than other
surfing kayaks it enables most people to enjoy the highest degree of
mobility and have a lot of fun in the surf, including children and
people with less than average athletic, paddling or surfing
capabilities.
To the more athletic and skilled users the W kayak offers new possibilities for fun while roaming the surf zone, and a better use of their time
since you don't necessarily need big, 'perfect' waves to get some good,
real 'action'.
Wave Walking
('wavewalking') -Simply paddling standing in your W Kayak in the surf
zone and beyond.
Surfing
with
a twinhull kayak?
What could be more natural? -The
Polynesians, who
invented the surfboard, also used twinhull boats (catamarans) for
sailing and paddling.
Is it a coincidence? -Not when you live in islands scattered
across the
Pacific Ocean where big waves are part of your everyday life whether
you're traveling, fishing or having fun.
How do you
W kayak surf?
You surf either in
the Riding or Standing position, and you can switch between them. Obviously,
surfing standing requires some real practicing while surfing in the
Riding position is easier and almost intuitive.
Can you
W Kayak surf in big waves? -
Yes
but that depends
on your personal skills, and you must make sure your W Kayak is
outfitted with floatation in case you capsize, since this makes it
easier to recover the boat.
How do you
cope with side waves?
It's actually part of the fun of
surfing with a W Kayak! You paddle in parallel to the beach and let the
lateral waves roll under you: You lean into the incoming wave and once
it passed under your boat you lean to the other side... Watch Movies.
Never
surf alone or too far from shore and make
sure the beach is safe for surfing - Practice in smaller waves before
you tackle big ones.
What
happens if you capsize?
If you bail out
swiftly enough the boat is likely to stay right. In
such
case you can hop back in or crawl inside from the back. (Learn more in
the User
Manual section).
If
your W Kayak it's overturned close to shore the easiest thing to do
would be let the waves
wash it to shore and drain it simply by overturning it out of the
water. It takes little time to do, and you can be back paddling
immediately after. If your W Kayak is overturned far from
shore you can turn it
back but when you do so one of the hulls scoops water
and you'd want to pump or scoop it out (or at least part of it).
We recommend to
outfit your boat
with floatation for the surf - All
our models come equipped with side floatation.
Do you
need a spray skirt?
With a W kayak spray isn't that much of
a problem:
You are protected with a much higher freeboard than a kayak's, and when
you launch or go back to sea you can "climb" even big waves by standing
in the back of the cockpit or Riding there and leaning backward -This
way you're lifting the bow
in a steep angle and the wave normally passes under you.
When surfing you get relatively little water in, and it is
drained to the bottom of the hulls where even if several gallons are
accumulated they would be unlikely to be a noticeable problem.
You can also outfit your W kayak with a cockpit
cover that will protect you from spray. All our 2008 models come
equipped with a preparation for cover. You can use can waterproof
fabric or plastic sheet for this matter.
Is it hard
to launch in the surf?
Much easier than launching an ordinary
kayak, and even children find it easy and fun (Watch videos): You get
the
boat in the water and hop in. If the waves are keeping your boat
parallel to the shoreline you ride in the front of the cockpit and lean
into the turn so that the wave action will make your boat face the
ocean. Then you
paddle riding in the middle of the cockpit unless the incoming waves
are big and you need to climb them by sitting in the back of the
cockpit and lifting up the bow.
Can
you roll a W Kayak?
You can't,
but you
don't need to since bailing out is easy and in most cases so is
recovering the boat and getting back in.
What makes
the W Kayak so easy to maneuver?
1. The W1 is just 10'
2" long (310 cm).
2. You can create a powerful rudder effect by leaning into the turn
with nearly all your weight.
3. You can activate the boat from the front, middle or back of the
cockpit according to your need.
Do you need
a spray skirt, straps or bindings?
You don't. Such accessories that
attach you to your boat and prevent you from bailing out on
time can be risky and
are not required in a W kayak.
Safety: Watch for bathers and other surfers
When W surfing you may go
overboard, especially when you learn the sport -
Before you catch a wave you need to check and make sure that in case
this happens and your boat gets washed
ashore it won't hit anybody.
Possible solution:
Attach the middle of your paddle to an eyelet inside your boat (there
is one in the front of the cockpit and
one in the back) with a long bungee leash, and don't let go of
it if and when you're in the water. This will help you stop the
boat from hitting people in the surf zone.
Please be courteous
Good
surfing beaches are sometime crowded. Board
surfers have neither boat nor paddle, so they are both less protected
and less mobile than you. A collision between you and a
surfer may be harmless to you but it could be painful to the surfer
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Always leave
surfers enough space for surfing and maneuvering, even it means you're
losing a big wave - there will be others...
If you cross paths with surfers let them pass before
you.
When launching make sure no surfer is being thrown
against your boat by an incoming wave.
Always wear a PFD when using your W
Kayak!
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