Who Forgot the Seed Potatoes?
OK, you've landed. But unless someone brought seed potatoes, a fishing pole, and an ax to build a cabin and spend the winter, the following morning you'll have to paddle back out through the surf. Launches are more difficult than landings for the simple reason that you're trying to move against the motion of the water. If you make a mistake on a landing, the waves will probably wash you onto the beach, which is where you want to be. But if you make a mistake while launching, then the waves will probably wash you onto the beach, which is where you don't want to be.

The key to launching is to build enough speed to punch through the breaking wave. If you are moving too slowly, the breaking wave will catapult you over backward or wash you onto the beach, where you started. If the wave is breaking far off the beach, paddle out and hit it with as much speed and power as you can muster. But on many coastlines there is a nasty shore break that beats right on the beach. The best technique to combat a close-in break is for one person to remain on foot and to push his or her partners through the surf. Of course, you ask, who goes out last, without assistance? You can play rock-scissors-paper, take turns, or pick the dufus who locked the car keys in the shuttle rig.

Here's the system we used along the Kamchatka coast. We dragged the first kayak down the beach until it was close to the surf, but still sitting on wet sand. The first paddler climbed aboard and I would drag the boat a little farther, until it floated when a wave rolled in and sat on the sand when the wave receded. Waves usually come in sets: three or four big ones, a few medium, and then a set of small ones. We watched the ocean until the timing was right. Then, I grabbed the bow loop and towed the boat into the surf until I couldn't run any more. (It's important to pull from the bow, because if you push from the stern, the kayak can deflect off a wave and turn sideways.) Quickly, as the paddler started stroking, I ducked under the upraised shaft, and gave the stern a huge shove. Generally, the momentum and paddling pushed the boat through the wave into the deep water.

As the last at the beach I was without anyone to help me. I sealed myself into the cockpit while the kayak was high and dry. Then I scooted the boat down the beach with my hands. It is quite common for the waves to hit the beach at an oblique angle. After the wave has washed up the beach, the water recedes down the beach at a different angle, usually perpendicular to the beach. In this situation, as I was scooting along, the boat would float on the wash and follow it down the slope of the beach. Then, the next breaking wave would hit the bow at an angle, turn it sideways, and wash the boat back up the beach. The problem was that the water breaking on the beach was foamy and aerated. I couldn't get any power out of a paddle stroke and I couldn't brace. I tried every technique I knew, but, on average, I washed back up the beach three times before I blasted through the shore break.

Ultimately, speed, power, and luck turned out to be more important than timing. I'd push like a madman, get the boat floating, and then hope that I'd find green water before the break hit me. If I could manage just one or two quick strokes, I'd hit the wave with enough speed to crank a prying, bracing stroke that would pull me through.

Ocean waves are powerful and dangerous, but most of them will carry you toward shore. You might get thrashed and you might capsize, but you'll probably be alright if you wash back up the beach. Bail out the boat if necessary, catch your breath, let your adrenaline settle out, and try again.

In some instances, however, undertows or rip tides carry hapless boaters out to sea. If you're caught in a powerful rip and you're in your boat, relax. You can't fight against a force of nature that is more powerful than you are. Even though this advice seems counter-intuitive, paddle away from shore, into deep water. Eventually, you'll leave the shore current behind you. Then swing wide and approach the beach in a place where the shore current is weak. However, if you have capsized and you're swimming, a rip or undertow can drag you into deep water unless you can move across the current and out of it. Try to get back in the cockpit, bail out, and reattach your sprayskirt. Get underway and move away from the current because your survival may depend on it.

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