Injury from Short Leash – Ouch
I used a short leash a couple weeks ago on the north shore and really liked it. I think the leash was 7’ or so and it made the board way easier to retrieve and seemed less in the way. I liked it so much I went and bought one the other day. I measured the 7’ Da Kine leash which turned out to be a tad under 9 ft when stretched out. I thought that length was perfect for my new 8’9” Blair board. I was wrong.
I went for a morning session on the weekend. At 7 am, there was only 2 people out at Old Man’s and both of us were on stand ups. The other stand up was Tony DaKine who I’m glad to say I finally met. Tony was on a Foote 11’er. It was tiny and I was not paying much attention because it was so small. I caught a small wave and sometime during the way out I hit whitewash and jumped over the front of my board because I lost my balance. This is not anything new as I do this all the time.
This is where leash length comes in. I guess the leash wasn’t long enough or it got stuck on something. My foot didn’t make it over the front of the board and I hit my shin hard on the nose of the board. I didn’t think much of it except that my shin hurt like hell and couldn’t understand why it was cut up a bit. Later I found out why. My shin ended up cracking the nose of the board. I noticed it when I was in the water looking at my board and I saw hair coming out of the nose. That was my leg hair. I ended up making a small 1” crack in the nose and after I picked out the skin and dried it out I just put 2 coats of epoxy to seal it up. I also went to get a longer leash.
I have only been Paddle Surfing for about 2 months, but have already had a serious bang to my head, probably in part due to me using too short a leash.
I have a Waterman 10` 6″ board and have been using a 8ft leash that I had spare (big mistake). In small shoulder high surf, I had just ridden a wave when I dismounted my board and was standing in waste high water ready to go back out. I saw a wave break in front of me and I pushed the board into the wave. The next thing i saw was the white water caught my board and launched it into the side of my head.
I found myself with blood pouring from my ear and neck and had to ask an unsuspecting longboarder to help me back to my car (many thanks to the guy, who`s name i dont know but as on holiday from York at my local break of Llangennith, Gower, South Wales).
Any how to cut a long story short, I found myself in hospital having almost sliced my lower part of my ear off and a hole in my neck.
It`s now been a week and a half since the accident and following the dozen or so stitches I received, I am pretty much recovered and looking forward to getting back in the surf.
What I would like to pass on to other new paddleboarders is to use the correct gear for the job and don`t be complacent in small surf conditions.
Evan,
I always seem to get hurt on the smallest days too. I’m a fan of a longer leash just because I want the board as far away from me as possible in a wipeout.
Mahalo again for letting me try the 8′9″. That board was super fun.
Ian – That totally sucks. I hope you’re better now. I’ve been wearing my low profile impact vest when the waves are supposed to be a few feet overhead mainly because if I get hit by my board I will need all the help I can get.
Tony – I agree. I think Blair said your board was done or close to being done.
Evan,
Joe Blair called me today and said the board was on it’s way. He said he sent it to you though. I’m not sure why he did that but if a new 8′9″ shows up let me know.
Tony – He sent 3 boards in the same box to save on shipping. I have one in there too so I offered to help him get the other 2 to you and another person. I’ll call you when I get them.