How to exit a dangerous wave!! By Damien King

Well after a somewhat crowded session yesterday we spent all day searching for more "exclusive waves". The aim was to side step the crowds and Jet Ski to some islands to find something which no-one had discovered.

We woke at dawn and it wasn't till lunch till we found something that blew us away. It is an island off the south coast, about 1 km out.

As we came around the island on the Jet Ski, I could see the wave in the distance. A right hander about 6-8 feet (15 feet faces) and some solid tubes were thundering down the almost dry rock reef. If you see the photo here you will be able the see how shallow the wave is, you can see the rocks it's draining off. No-one out and big empty tubes, perfect!!!

As took this photo of the wave and got ready a 10 foot set closed out the whole reef. One of the riders got cleaned up in the channel and lost his board for good. Was it bigger than we thought??

Nope. In between these big sets there were quality, world class waves.

Fortunately for the big sets there is a technique I have learned over the years - how to exit a dangerous wave. Pay attention, I'm about to impart some words of wisdom...

You let the tube come over you. As the lip hits the flats you dive into the zone were the lip meets the water (know as the shock wave). This forces you straight under the water and usually spits you out the back of the wave. The down side is that sometimes it might be too shallow and when you dive off, you dive onto a rock. Try not to let that happen...

I used this technique to get out of the big waves I was on, and luckily it worked well.

I got a few more waves but the swell kept getting bigger. I continued to attempt to ride more waves, experiencing the same thing. After a few close calls and losing my board up the rocks, I retired from the session before something bad happened, which as you know, happens to me quite a bit!

I didn't get a cracker, but it was a good rush being scared. The thing about stepping outside your comfort zone and getting scared is it makes you feel so alive once it's over.

Tomorrow should be fun... thankfully.

Fonte: Clica aqui