Article #3

Learn To Surf - Conor Mihell, Paul Mason

Rating: *****

This article is great to read if you want to learn how to surf kayak, or even if you're just wondering what it is.

The first thing you need to know if you are going to try surf kayaking are the parts of a wave; there is the shoulder, the spilling surf, the dumping surf, the soup and the rip current. The first step to surf kayaking is paddling out. Find a spot where breaking waves are less common to paddle out. Next, catch a wave. Position yourself behind the line of breakers and when you see your wave, go for it. As your rocket down the waves face, you have to slow yourself down by performing a stern rudder. If you have a surf kayak or a shorter sea kayak, you can turn on the waves face like a surf board. If the tip of your kayak's bow goes underwater, this is called broaching, try to catch it early and lean back aggressively. If you don't catch it early, you must side-surf to get out. You can spin on the face of a wave by alternating between forward and reverse sweeps and shifting your weight - this is another way to get out of a broach. You can dig your bow into the wave on purpose to perform a loop where your bow is in the water, the stern is out and you're standing on the foot pegs. You can perform a pirouette to get out of this, or get ready to crash land. Then the article gives some examples of good clothing to wear while surf kayaking.

I enjoyed reading this article because my uncle surf kayaks and I've always wondered what it really was and the article gave me a good idea of what he does now. It's also a good article because it's very informative on how to surk kayak and the manoevering you have to do to not end up going for a swim. It is laid out well to be able to read through the steps of what to do first through to the last step. If I were to go surk kayaking today I would be confident that I would have an idea about what to do, even though I probably wouldn't be able to do it since I don't have much experience kayaking. This article has inspired me to want to go out next summer and learn how to kayak like this; be it surk kayaking or whitewater kayking. Maybe I'll get my uncle to teach me some moves.

I would recommend this article to anyone who wants to learn about how to surk kayak, or who is wondering what surf kayaking is.

Mihell, Conor , and Mason, Paul. "Adventure Kayak - Summer / Fall 2009."Adventure Kayak Magazine. page 26. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.adventurekayakmag.com/adventurekayakmag_fall09/>