Thanks for posting. I think there are a few lessons here: 1 helmets, a blow to the head that stops you for even 30 seconds is fatal in water as you go face down and once you take a lung full of water its game over if you are alone. 2 Exhaustion, once things go wrong you expend energy at a huge rate, the water is cold, you may be gulping water and each attempt to climb in takes huge effort. We used to do survival training and very few could manage more than 3 attempts to right a life raft and climb in. The key was to plan and practice to get in first go. 3 Always go with someone else. We have now got a culture of being alone in dangerous activities, our forefathers would think this madness.

Wow, thanks for sharing. Yeah, funny how any confidence you have, goes right out the window, and you just want to be done and go home, at least for me.

“Legs in a tangle, knickers in a knot” 🤣🤣🤣

What an excellent video, thank you for posting Richard. Was good to see you get back on the horse and keep your composure to the end. What doesn't kill us, makes us better paddlers, eh!

I'm a surfer so it is very interesting to me to see the different dynamic of having a (relatively) giant canoe being windblown into the Indian ocean with 6,000 miles of nothing between you and Melbourne, irrespective of the direction you'd like to take. A bit scary, but if I had been there on a surfboard I would have been comfortably sure of making it to shore. Yet I had a moment once on the other side, at Noordhoek beach near the northern corner, large swell, when I got out the back I discovered I was in a rapid Northerly current, faster than I could paddle most of the time. I was already in line with the rocky coast, with violent waves bashing it. My options were to paddle like hell towards the rocks and hope the current weakened and then turn South to try and make it to the beach around the rocks, or to paddle out to sea in the hopes that the current was local, or to go with it all the way to Hout Bay where the sharks love their fish and seal dinners! Needless to say I tried the first option first and just made it in. At the risk of boring you another time has just come to mind, near where you were, at Muizenberg. It was a big storm wave day, the waves were 14-16', and I took 2 rips to get out. I was all by myself on a 6'2" board and could just see into Vishoek Bay. A big wave came and I caught it but it broke over me before I could reach the bottom and when I finally came up and the boiling stopped, my board was gone. I was surprised my leach broke because I have never felt the tug so I reached down to my ankle and started pulling it up to inspect the end, and after a couple of reelings in it went taut! Taut! The sea was relatively calm, so I could not imagine it was a current. The wave was long gone by now. I pulled on it. It stretched a bit. I pulled again, a little harder, scared it might yoink up and hit me. Nada. So I pulled as hard as I could, going under with the effort. Nothing!!! I pulled 2 more times, more desperately, but it did not budge. Then I pulled again and suddenly it was released and shot up into the air, not next to me, but about 6 foot away. I honestly cannot believe that there was a current holding it down, it took so long, and the water was so quiet. I literally checked it for toothmarks, nothing, got onto it and caught the next wave in, lying down so as not to fall off for any reason!!

THANK YOU for sharing this. Respect and appreciate your thoughts on the situation and realities of what can & will happen.

Well done Richard! Yep, the ability to remount from both sides is very important! And, as you say, the awareness of how quickly conditions change. Great video.

Richard - obviously you have to figure out what works best for you and that you are most comfortable with. Glad to see you came in safe and sound. 1) I like your idea about marking your paddle for easier orientation ID 2) One of the reasons local paddlers where I live like waist leashes with boat end anchors (we favor rear anchors, some seem to use front anchors) is they make the boat line up with the wind after a huli, so the initial jerk is less and the sustained pull is much less while you get yourself straightened out in the water before orienting your ski for remount. But rear anchored leashes generally do not work well with rear deck mounted cameras. 3) Was the forecast for no wind anywhere near the bay, or just no such wind on the bay? One of the mistakes some paddlers make where I live is they assume accuracy in location of moving or unsettled systems. We are often somewhere near or on the edge of moving weather systems and I have learned not to assume that the forecasts will get the edges and exact margins or potential for shifts sideways correctly for unsettled weather anywhere near our neighborhood. Or was your weather change totally out of the blue?

Thanks for uploading and sharing. It's a precious life experience.

Many thanks - valuable insight/lessons and appreciate your humility in sharing them.

I have been using stern waist leash attached to the handle (Epic V8), it makes it much easier to remount as there is no mess in the cockpit. Thanks for posting.

Great video. I'm glad you're safe.

Back in the 1980's we used sea kayaks. I liked 'wearing' the boat with knees under the sidedeck. Did 1000 mile expeditions and never went swimming. Good to learn to roll it !

Really powerful video, thank you for creating and sharing. I'm dying to try surfski despite being landlocked in Montana. I still find plenty of outdoor activities with steep risk/reward tradeoffs, especially when you have to keep your head while self-rescuing in a worsening situation. I was always taught that's the biggest danger of open ocean activities: conditions can turn from green to double-black diamond in minutes.

Really good point about marking right and left on the paddle. Using slightly bumped tape you can more easily find the correct, centered hand positions but a more visible fluorescent tape on the right (or left) hand position should be both helpful and bolster confidence. Adrenaline and cold water dunks can play havoc with problem solving in dangerous conditions. Videos like this serve a very important role and I appreciate you posting and the very clear commentary. 😅

Scary because I can feel my own confidence slipping away as the video progresses. Yikes! Best advice I ever got was: get used to paddling broadside to breaking waves (small ones!) in shallow water. Best help ever. Remount either side. Never even try the remount without paddle already oriented, under my hand, against the hull. As soon as I sit up, even sidesaddle 90 degrees to the hull, blade in the water bracing and/or stroking. Love the nylon web leash. Attach mine to a nylon web belt around my waist. Got a sore jaw once when I attached a regular leash to the PDF shoulder strap and the tension snapped so suddenly and tight it pulled me underwater by the head. If only it had been wrapped around my neck!

Awesome video, lots to learn from. Much appreciated from Lismore NSW Australia

Thank you for the video! You did a great job getting back into your ski. I have a Fennix Swordfish S and find it difficult to remount because of its narrow, deep entry. And that's in conditions less extreme than yours. The other thing that could improve the Fennix would be an aft leash attachment point like the Epic surfskis have. I have broken leashes while surfing and have gone to a belt leash with a thick (and hopefully unbreakable) spearfishing bungee.

Way back in the olden days of the 70s when I was 16 I went out on a super light double ski in 8 to ten foot breakers in a strong south easter. I only had a speedo. No fancy stuff. The minute we got past the breakers we flipped and the wind took the ski away so quickly that we had no choice but to swim back to the beach. We ended up about a km down wind of milnerton club where the lighthouse is ABSOLUTELY exhausted. I really can say that I nearly died. The water is cold like 10 degrees. The ski was found weeks later in saldana bay. Hey peter Simmons. Remember that..?

Great video, nice shots and some hairy moments! When you need some extra stability hang your legs one on either side of the boat. Then you can orient the paddle and yourself a bit easier.

Glad you made it back safe. The surf can be a stern teacher.

I always have a piece of coloured insulation tape around the shaft where my left hand goes so that I never grab it the wrong away around. Black tape on the right.

Thank you….

Wow that looks scary to me. Glad you're ok. Definitely not showing this one to my wife

Thanks for your after action review. Plenty of teachable moments. Why no XTS instead?

Thanks for posting & especially making / illustrating the comments about psychology of self rescue situations, this isnt taught or coached nearly enough.

Great video, great points made! I can hear the borderline conditions in your breathing! What communication devices do you carry?

Panic is itself dangerous. Good video👍

I usually capsize in calm waters but it’s always garnished with a lot of swearing be it zero or 50 knots.

How you were able to keep the camera bit in your mouth throughout is an impressive feat. It's a great POV though.

Can the wing be retrofiited to Fenn Fennix Bluefin S

Good video Richard. Were you with someone else or solo paddling?

Can you do an Eskimo Roll in a Surfski?

Listen and learn

whee is this worldwise? hawaii?

First thing I learned to do after getting my Palm surf ski was to roll it %100 of the time no way I would surf my northern uk beach without having that technique off pat

don’t put your leash around your leg. put it around your waist

4:40 THAT PAUSE.. a breather.. before the heave into seat. Perfect. I am shocked by a muzzled go-pro design -- a restriction of your energy, mind, balance movement - !. Your bodies need for free “Wave Breathing” ... inhalation and exhalation is profound. A gentle nudge: do a few of Shi Heng Yi's training [YT]...tell me is wont change that cam system

😱🥶

Well. it's a lot safer than submarining to the Titanic.

Lets also remember that this is great white country. That point I'm sure was considered though not mentioned.

Had me worried. Should you out by yourself? Learn to use your paddle, bit late to learn when your in trouble. Keep paddling and you keep your balance and moving ahead. Biginners mistake is to stop paddling when in trouble, lose balance and overboard. Then you have to self rescue yourself? Oh well, I am sure you learnt something. We all do one, way or the other.

They should be called expensive imitation log ...I HATE kyacks there almost like a bad joke