Posted by Wayne on July 03, 2001 at 15:57:12:
In Reply to: Please to describe novel surf entry posted by CalDiver on July 03, 2001 at 13:12:24:
In the past I either walked in backwards with empty BCD until I could turn and crawl on the bottom past the surf, or I walked in without fins until it was reasonable to put them on. It depended on how the waves were as far as size and spacing. The former for bigger closer surf and the latter for flat seas or long spacing between sets.
What they do is to fully inflate the BC and install the fins on the HANDS. Then walk out to the chest high and turn your back to the sea and row your self like a boat with your fin covered hands. Of course you time this for a lull and all that other normal stuff expected for a surf entry.
In a couple of strokes (whoops) you are way past the surf zone. It is so incredibly fast of a transition that I was surprised. It makes sense since you are moving about 5 feet for every stroke and then coasting at least another 3-4 during the time your arms are lifted and coming back to shoulder level. So basically you are flat on your back, feet to the beach, and doing a large rowing action with your arms -- which happen to be wearing the fins.
It felt really weird and uncomfortable to me. After a few strokes like that I decided that it was enough and I needed to get my fins on. I guess that is because I always feel naked swiming without fins. So when I paused to install my fins, I looked at the beach and was blown away at how far I had come. I had never done this type of fin-on-arm swimming before. Now that I did it once, I am going to do it a few more times until I feel a comfort level. As I said, the main issue I had is that my legs were doing nothing and that seemed emotionally troubling to me.
Wayne