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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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