After a year of SUP surfing I thought I’d have more of a clue when it came to proper wave sailing, but there I was at Ditch, mystified. Certainly I’m better on the waves than I was a year ago (a year ago my wave sailing was more in front of the waves than on them) but how the heck do you spot the sets in the first place?
You’re probably laughing. And you should be. My strategy for wave sailing has been to sail out aways, jibe, and then look over my shoulder for an oncoming set. Jon Ford finally straightened me out at the end of yesterday’s sesh:
“Jibe on the set. Don’t turn until you’ve spotted the waves”.
Duh. Oh. Oops. I am so thick. OBVIOUSLY!!!
I did catch one wave that I’m proud of, going down the line on a well-formed six-footer that granted me bottom turns and cutbacks and everything. A nice, long down the line ride by my standards, I thought “I’m having a relationship with this wave!”
I must confess to my wife.
Aside from my lame antics, Jon, Jeff and Fisherman all had a great day. Fisherman was picking them up off of “Dirt Road”, moving on to a Ditch wave, and then sliding into Kamikaze to finish again and again…a pleasure to watch. Jeff proclaimed that he’d maybe had his personal best wave day ever, and Jon Ford was all grins as he left the water.
Me I’m just happy to have learned the obvious about spotting sets.
(Top: We had Ditch Plains to ourselves. Middle: Jon Ford works "Kamikaze". Bottom: Fisherman and Jon try to get it through my head to sail all the way out to the sets. Photos by Jeff.)
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