How do you find the right spot to paddle out on big days?

On Monday I could not see a visible rip in my vicinity. It's often invisible in the near shore lines of whitewater but can easily be noticed once you are outside. Sometimes on a particularly difficult day I will stop paddling and sit on my board for a bit and watch to see which way the current is pulling me in relation to the beach and then paddle in that direction. That can sometimes bring you to an otherwise hidden rip. Yesterday the outer drift was to the south but on the inside I was being pulled to the north. It wasn't until I was pulled a ways north that I felt like a channel was appearing and sure enough, when I finally got out I ended up right ###### of a big bloom. Sometimes you just have to guess and sometimes it's just all about luck.

Watch someone else have at it first. If they get destroyed, paddle out at a different spot. if no one else is around watch it for a long time and then paddle out.

My tried and true method is - after suiting up - I walk down to the beach, close my eyes and start spinning around in circles for exactly 78 seconds. I then hop up and down seventeen times on my right leg and then 33 on my left while the entire time screaming "Oh mighty powerful wall o' water, please show me the way to the other side. Please! Please! Please, show me the way to the other side." I then stick my right arm out with my index finger pointing straight ahead while saying "nahnahnahnahnahnahnah, Danny Noonen!" and wait as the water gods draw my finger to the precisely the right spot. I then open my eyes, run to where my finger is pointing and start paddling. Of course on a couple of occasions this did lead me to paddle across Great Hwy, but eventually I got to the Penguin enclosure at the zoo and it was all good times.

Easy peasy. I wait for someone here to say it suuuuuucks today. And that I suuuuuuck. Then I paddle out.

Dorcas watches Monty Python. I know it.

In Soviet Russia, WaveJet paddles you!

Piss, what kind of man are you that you'd say "newt" to a lady? Definitely a Monty Python fan, though there is actually a quote from Caddyshack in the post above.

oh sorry, I just thought that level of redic was original, but from an MP fan :) but Caddy Shack...I need to brush up on :)

Joby at the risk of sounding like a free range rolled granola oat, paddling is an art that is learned and done by feeling. You read the beach, and the technicalities aren't empirical. It's not a tried and true formula, but instead something from within. Your will, your desire, your read (yes let's keep that part nebulous), sometimes will get you out. And nothing else. I choose to remain ignorant on the technicalities and rest on my reads, my gut feelings, and my ability to choose, not on some tell tale checklist.

i dont care about rips. I just push the button on my wrist controller and my Wave Jet takes me to the line up.

@ shivs- your hippy wisdom would have come in such handy for a poor soul i witnessed today...
OBSERVED: kook over the falls. face plant to scorpion, heels on his shoulders. Props however, he did hang on to his board, at least until impact. Sonny, you're lucky that board didn't split your nuts in half.
and i know i shouldn't be laughing, but hands down, the funniest shit i saw all day.
happens to the best of us. y'all better be laughin when i eat sand, cause i'll definitely be laughin at you :)

More often than not, the rip at Oh-B isn't that well defined. If it was, wouldn't everybody gravitate to it? You can scope out your plan of attack from atop the dunes, but (from my experience) the minute you jump in, the plan goes out the window. From there, it's a combination of grit, strength, perseverance, timing, and luck. Rattling a necklace of chicken bones at the water might help too. Let's hope for some nice long-period swells this season...

This reminded me of another post off another surf blog, I don't remember the vignette really, but it started with hey that looks nice and ended up with a shocker. It's a common theme, apparently. Not to take away from this post, but just sayin.

I'm always surprised at how many surfers don't bother to wait for a lull between sets before they paddle out.

Hey joby1, nice crap tranny post.

Thanks to Joby1 for some actual information.

Joby- i got your back. even if you are mistakenly in to trannies ;)

Your style is very familiar. i sense something, someone....that i haven't sensed in a while...

Always brutha. they've ben hatin on my jokes for a few months now. humor always wins. especially when the surf sucks, it is the only thing that will medicate . keep postin, dude!

You can go to your IPhone uploaded with the new IOS , then go to the new maps, and switch to Satellite, then scroll over to ocean beach SF , and you can see the rips in the ocean. You then proceed to set a waypoint at the rip, then get on your bike, with your board, and wetsuit, and maybe a sandwich if your hungry, and don't forget your iPhone , and you get complete turn by turn directions to the rip! Easy.

one thing i like about ob is that it separates the men from the boys

The bigger it is usually the longer it takes to decide the point of entry. Over the winter, I always find pretty consistent spots but always keep in mind the tides as a fast moving tide also throws in that variable and it really is like hopping a freight. Never work very hard the first hundred yards. You will need the gas for the last hundred. After I think I made it out I always paddle a bit more. Too many times I thought I made it out only to get the shit beaten out of me by the next bomb. There is definitely luck involved.

although I look....and look, and contemplate, and consult.... and when I step into the water I wait for a lull. But it seems desire and luck make 90% of the equation bigger most days.

only thing that matters is being determined. just put your head down and paddle, paddle, paddle. if you arent blind you should see the channels when its on the 2nd bar. if you are asking this question, my guess is that you are NOT surfing the 3rd and outer bars.....................................

1. True desire. You gotta be down with getting bitch slapped, rolled, and ragdolled and still paddle hard into it. I can tell people who aren't going to make it out right on the beach.

2.Pick the right board size. You've gotta be able to duck.

3. Luck. Some days you are simply not going to make it out. Anybody who surfs size and sez otherwise is lying.

4. Lot's of intangibles. It's taken decades to acquire them - why would I want to crowd the lineup?

I will give an honest opinion with no BS

1)watch the ocean for 15 minutes or more and breath deep and slow. Look for the rips, the channel. If you don't see one and its huge that is a problem and means that no one is probably out anyway so it doesn't matter.

2)Time the sets. Are they coming in constantly, not too often etc.

3)If there are usually 8 waves or so to a set, I generally do something that seems odd but I time it to where I start paddling when I see that about the 3- 4th one is unloading. You want to time it so that you can make it out at the end of one set and not get worked constantly by many sets. So I start paddling ###### of a set but I never paddle full strength EVER. You always need reserves for getting really worked so you are not gassed. So its at 60% of what I can do.

4)which way is the rip going. Paddle so that you can get through the keyhole, like a river going out you are trying to make it in the channel. That means at the very southend of the channel (or beyond) if the rip is north and visa versa.

5) After taking a few and maybe even bailing on a few (no one behind you) you are out/ OR

6) If you are not out and didnt make the channel at this point I swim with the current till I find another keyhole . I dont go straight out and fight through 12 plus foot bombs and I never EVER WANT TO BE WHERE THE LIP IS FALLING . I should repeat that but its in caps.

If its pumping and you cant get out then it probably sucks - you may make it out catch one wave and that is it ---- getting caught inside.

If I make 3 waves in a session when its big thats usually good. Unless Neptune lets me have an easy time of it.

Having a big board for me 7ft.- excellent equipment are a given, why bother on something that will get you launched over the falls - its not worth it. Make sure your wetsuit is on good Frozen water down your back like a firehose is no fun.

Good solid info @THE DUDE, I especially like this:

"So I start paddling ###### of a set but I never paddle full strength EVER. You always need reserves for getting really worked so you are not gassed. So its at 60% of what I can do."

And the hint about your wetsuit being-on-good is a great suggestion. I once had forgotten to carefully secure my neck velcro and dove off a wave which instantly unzipped and inflated my suit with about 80lbs of water rendering me sunk and helpless in the face of more waves. Not a good situation.

I know I've posted this once before but I feel bad for you guys...

The OB paddle should be seen in phases and after years of practice, sometime it still just comes down to luck. This strategy has always worked for me.

First Sprint:

The first section of the paddle is very important. Its crucial that you punch through as quick as possible and not waste your energy with endless duckdives. Wade out as far as you can, around chest hight. Bounce under the whitewater until you catch a lul (sometimes no more than 15 sec). Use those few seconds to punch through a wave or two and out the back of the inner bar. If you start getting destroyed - try again - no sense wasting crucial energy.

The Middle:

Once you've punched through the inner bar, it's time for some recon. It will probably look entirely different from the water than you expected from the parking lot. Feel which way the current is pulling and how the peak are interacting. Start to move forward at 70 - 80 percent. Keep a pulse on the consistency of the sets. As you approach the beginning of the outside whitewater, pick a line.
Sprint 2:

Wait for some kind of lul and start paddling more aggressively. Use the current to the best of your abilities. I almost never paddle straight out, always zig zag until you see a break over the outside sets and then gun it for the horizon. This is where luck comes in, and, occasionally, you just have to go with your intuition in picking a line. It can feel counterintuitive, but sometimes its better to paddle against the current, towards the outside. Paddle full tilt until you know you're well outside the zone. Float back into the lineup.

Catch some bombs.