Spoons and Leashes

Spoons and Leashes - my experience

Sunset, Pipeline, Malibu at night, 12' Rincon out at the Indicator alone at night, Pt. Mugu directly in front of the rocks - never considered a leash. Never. You learn to hold on to the rail at all times. Death grip. Sometimes your arm will get twisted around while you're holding on. Never let go.

So your riding style includes always holding the outside rail. That is your leash.

I never considered wearing a leash with any spoon until I got an edge board that didn't float whatsoever - it would just sink. So I thought I would be smart and attached a short leash to the nose and to my wrist. It got in the way a few times when paddling but I learned to deal with it. I like a non-buoyant board - makes everything easier. vSo I thought I had it licked - the leash worked. Then one day at Rincon I was riding inside rivermouth, 4 - 5' tubes and some guy on a standup board snaked me and wiped out, causing me to take a tumble. And the board was ripped from my hand(s). When I tried to surface guess what? - the board was held down by water pressure/suction forces and I could not reach the surface! I was tied to the bottom. So with the kind of strength you get when you need it I ripped the leash from the board and made it to the surface and air. Relief.

But wait...where's my board? It never came up. Never found it. Went home empty handed.

Lessons learned: 1. wear a leash only in extreme conditions and make sure you have some kind of release 2. Make sure your board has at least some buoyancy 3. Paint your board with bright colors that are easy to spot in both open water and the inside mix of whitewater and foam.

So on my next edge board, which also did not float, I glued some kind of auto interior foam to the deck to give it a little flotation - no leash.

Now if you think that because your spoon has foam in the rails and floats ok that it won't be held down or pinned to the bottom think again. With the spoon-like shape the resistance to being pulled, pushed or moved against water pressure/suction is tremendous. If a spoon is lying flat on the bottom No force in the world could lift it straight up - both suction and straight resistance would prevent you from lifting it. You could slide it sideways and release it but not straight up against the water.

One day at 2-3' Log Cabins on the North Shore I was riding my spoon. Got wiped out and wound up on my back in a "chamber" in the rocks. My board was flat on top of me - like a coffin lid. It was impossible to push it off of me - I did manage to slide it sideways allowing me to surface. And that board floated!

Last story. One night at Rincon my friend and I were out - it was a pumping, tubing 6-10'. I was at the Rivermouth and took off on a large wave. Before I could get to my knees the wave had pitched out over my head and the lip was coming down in front of me. If you've ever surfed the Rincon Rivermouth you'll know what I am talking about - the wave jumps up and throws out. So I freefell without even getting to my knees and had a nasty wipeout - letting go of my board. Couldn't find the board so I slowly swam in scanning for it, expecting to see it wallowing somewhere in the water or maybe even washed up on the beach.

Got to the beach - still no board. Searching and searching. HINT: BRIGHT COLORS - paint your spoon with bright, highly visible colors as a spoon will wallow in the water and be difficult to see. So I walked and ran up and down the beach from the Rivermouth to the highway and back a few times - searching, straining to see my board. It was my first and only spoon at that time. I had to find it.

And remember its pitch black at 3:00 AM. After an hour or so of this I was devastated - no board. Ready to give up I was standing ankle/knee deep just outside first point when the board bumped into my leg. It was right next to me and I couldn't even see it! BRIGHT COLORS.

So it may come down to a choice - your board or your life?

Just to be clear I will have leash attachment points on all my boards from now on. There will be times and places where I will choose to wear a leash. The leash when worn will have some kind of quick release. And my boards will have easily located BRIGHT colors and some amount of buoyancy. How about a GPS homing device? A pop-up buoy. Dye markers. Audio beeper.

And for night surfing that luminous, glow-in-the-dark paint - or would that attract ????