Australia: Tasman Sea surfing in a 16 ft OC

Pea Pod · Post by **Pea Pod** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:27 am

While it's winter here at present, the combination of a warmish spell with warmer-than-normal sea temperatures, has allowed us to take our open-boats to the NSW coast for a spot of surfing.

The Mad River Legend 16 is pretty competent in such a setting, but once the waves get steep/tall, things get dangerous.

There are two short videos here:

1. Surfing a few small waves in messy conditions-- http://youtu.be/_mfa4AcWV6k

2. Getting dumped big time (please note, this video is a satire of Australia's approach to refugees that arrive by boat, but there is some great canoeing footage)-- http://youtu.be/oartCeruNNw

Longboatin · Post by **Longboatin** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:10 pm

Nice

leave it to the aussies to show some big boat action...thats not a canoe...this is a canoe lol

Pea Pod · Post by **Pea Pod** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:25 pm

Sir Adam · Post by **Sir Adam** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:37 pm

That really does look like a lot of fun:)

I saw some folks surfering their Ocoee's and Viper 12's one time in Maine (I was in my Viper C1 I think, or the Groove). Lots of fun had by all. The water there is a bit, ah, *brisk* though, and the waves weren't as good that day as you show down your way.

Pea Pod · Post by **Pea Pod** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:56 pm

Sir Adam wrote:That really does look like a lot of fun:)

I saw some folks surfering their Ocoee's and Viper 12's one time in Maine (I was in my Viper C1 I think, or the Groove). Lots of fun had by all. The water there is a bit, ah, *brisk* though, and the waves weren't as good that day as you show down your way.

Yeah, I can't wait until summer, although I'm sure that sea temps in NSW in winter (15 - 20 Celsius ) are warmer than Maine in summer!

That day was actually very messy compared to a few days earlier where the waves were small but perfect for a long board or long boat! We had runs of 50 - 75 metres that day, and the kids were keen to ride in the bow because it was mellow and fun.

There was a day we took two Legends out without flotation bags and both of us shipped too much water over the bow whilst paddling over biggish whitewater. We almost abandoned our boats as we got sucked out and repeatedly hammered by dumpers. Once we gained our footing we were able to bring the boats in. I'll never paddle in surf without bags again!

Longboatin · Post by **Longboatin** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:24 pm

lengthys old man used to surf big boats in the ocean, he retired after tearin his OCA in half