Kayak Surfing in N. California!
Back in January I had the *most* fun doing some kayak surfing on the Mendocino Coast (Fort Bragg) in Northern California with my friends Jeff and Cate from Liquid Fusion Kayaking! It was actually a Christmas present from Brandi, and a mighty good one at that! I’ve been meaning to tell you about it! OK, here goes (note: if you just want to see photos, go check out my Facebook. This post will have fewer photos but more kayak info).
Before I go on, I just want to say if you ever have a chance to go to the Mendocino Coast and/or do any kayaking with Jeff & Cate, you totally should! They are great people, great coaches and truly love what they do and the area they call home.
About the Mendocino Coast:
Getting there: I flew into Santa Rosa, CA and drove from there. It’s about an hour’s drive closer than if you flew into SFO. It’s a tiny airport but quite functional, and actually it makes everything really easy. The drive: don’t expect a freeway all the way there. That’s part of what helps preserve its qualities, that it’s a little hard-to-reach. But if you love driving curvy roads, you’ll be in heaven. And you get to pass through some amazing sights on the way, like vineyards, a Redwood forest and along the Pacific Ocean. It’ll take about two hours to drive to Fort Bragg, and most of it is 2-lane road — only the first 30 miles (to Cloverdale) is freeway.
Lodging:
I stayed at the Harbor Lite Lodge. Had a great view of the Noyo Harbor and bridge, and there’s an easy path down the hill. Room was nice, clean, had a microwave and fridge, and a nice shower rail to hang-dry gear!
Food:
Piaci Pub & Pizzeria. ‘Nuf said. There’s also a Safeway close to the hotel. And I also ate at Silvers at the Wharf, which was good too.
Locations:
While I was there we scouted and surfed a few different locations. They varied in difficulty & features, even over the course of a normal tide cycle and depending on the different wavesets. Even on little waves, it’s amazing how much difficulty you can have in 1-foot waves (I kept getting side-surfed / pushed over).
Features: while I was there primarily to learn surfing, we had some time to check out some cool features in the area including pour overs, caves and arches!
The Goal: Learn Beginner Kayak Surfing
I am a self-confessed newbie to surfing and kayak surfing. I’ve tried what they call downwind surfing in a sea kayak, but that’s about it. So the goal of this trip was two days of instruction from Jeff (& Cate) on kayak surfing basics. And I learned so much!
LFK / Jeff & Cate:
Jeff & Cate own and operate Liquid Fusion Kayaking in Fort Bragg, CA. I first met Jeff a year ago in Oregon at BCU Week (Jeff is a certified BCU Coach). It’s such a pleasure to see them in their element and join them in doing what they love to do. They’re both talented paddlers and surfers — Jeff used to teach board surfing for years before getting into boats, and Cate is impressive in her own right too, winning intermediate at Santa Cruz last year. They love the sea, they love the surf and they love sharing their passion and knowledge with others.
Short Boats:
My boat for the mission was LFK’s Jackson Zen. Most of my experience is in long boats, so this was a fun challenge. The Zen has a planing hull, good stability and rolls easily. And did I mention it can turn on a dime? The idea is that longer boats take longer to turn, and it’s a good place to start.
Some things I learned:
I could probably write a paragraph on each of these, but here are some high-level things that we discussed and that I learned.
- Trim!
- Rolling in dynamic water and a different boat (i.e. I was upside down a lot)
- Wavesets / Hanson Plots, influencing factors
- Finding safe areas (versus impact zone)
- Holding X/Y position while waiting for waves, reference points
- Breaking through
- Wave shapes (box/closeout/dumper, cone, A-frame/triangle) & wave selection
- Catching the wave / timing
- Paddling techniques (trim, stern rudder)
- Edge control
- Surfing Etiquette
Summary:
Kayak surfing: try it! Mendocino Coast: go there! LFK: paddle with them!