Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.18/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA090747096; Tue, 28 Oct 1997 19:51:36 -0800 Return-Path: <aoldham@interlog.com-DeleteThis> Received: from smtp.interlog.com (smtp.interlog.com [198.53.145.6]) by hplms26.hpl.hp.com (8.8.6/8.8.6 HPLabs Relay) with ESMTP id TAA03802 for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Tue, 28 Oct 1997 19:51:38 -0800 (PST) Received: from gold.interlog.com (gold.interlog.com [198.53.145.2]) by smtp.interlog.com (8.8.3/8.7.6) with ESMTP id WAA11652 for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:47:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from alex (aoldham.interlog.com [199.212.153.235]) by gold.interlog.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id WAA04084 for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:47:14 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19971028210323.007e14a0@interlog.com-DeleteThis> X-Sender: aoldham@interlog.com-DeleteThis X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 21:03:23 -0500 To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis From: Alex Oldham <aoldham@interlog.com-DeleteThis> Subject: Help... I'm Getting Slammed in Waves! Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I just got back from my first trip to Maui and it was great! It was
everything everyone said it would be, warm and windy for 2 weeks straight!
I loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of going!
I consider myself an intermediate slalom sailor and a beginner wave sailor.
This was the first time I've been in head high waves... and unfortunately
learned a few things the hard way!
My second day out at Sprecklesville I jumped off a wave and didn't hit my
landing. I found myself in waist deep water standing on coral, waiting for
a gust to get me up on a water start. I looked back and saw a 5-6 foot
wave ready to crash on me. Remembering I should hold onto my equipment, I
grabbed both hands onto the mast (just above the boom) and went through the
rinse cycle. This was the first time I've been washed in such a big wave.
Thankfully seeing my rental equipment didn't take any damage, I quickly got
water started and on my way. Unfortunately I felt a twinge of pain in my
knee... looked down and saw blood dripping down my leg. After a few more
runs I thought I better go in a check the damage to my knee.
It wasn't pretty... upon closer examination I had a 2 inch deep gash in my
knee cut from getting dragged on the coral. I was mostly pissed that I
really couldn't go Windsurfing anymore that day and my $50 bucks in rental
equipment for the day were 'wasted' after only an hour of sailing.
To make a long story short... I didn't get stitches... and I had to take a
week off from sailing before it would heal enough to go sailing again.
So in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future I
thought I'd ask for some advice.
QUESTION #1: What should you do when you're standing in waist/shoulder
deep water and you see a 4-6 foot wave breaking on you?
A) Grab on to the middle of the mast and pray you don't get dragged on the
bottom of the sea floor.
B) Grab the tip of the mast and point it into the wave (not sure if I'd
have enough time to do this!)
C) Hang onto the back footstrap and forget the sail.
D) Let go of the board and swim for it after one safely 'dives' through
the wave!
E) Always wear thick neoprene even in 80F+ weather so something 'stupid'
like this doesn't put a damper on an otherwise great holiday. One of the
disadvantages from Windsurfing in just shorts and a harness.
F) Don't fall in the impact zone!
QUESTION #2: Would the answer be the same if you were down in deep water
and a 8+ foot wave was bearing down on you??? Personally I found the 'C)
Hang onto the back footstrap' worked best.
Question #3: Is there a different way I should be waterstarting in bigger
waves? I usually use the easy method of clearing the sail by pulling the
boom over the back of the board. But I found this was a fairly slow method
when you're down in the 'impact zone'. Should I instead clear the sail
from the tip and 'walk down' the mast?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Alex.
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