At what point do you pull the strap and bail?

Yesterday afternoon was great surf, 3-4' o/h on the far outside break. Was a medium strength ground swell and calm wind, just what I live for...
Sets were far enough apart to make paddling back out fairly painless. A big clean-up set comes through, I pass on the first and second one and as I go over the second wave, the third one is right there (our wave periods are short) and oh crap, I'm alread too late. I paddle to it not knowing if I'm going to do a paddle-out take off or try to paddle over. Looks like it should be easy enough to go over, but turns out the wave was steeper than I thought and the white water at the top had more punch than I thought, so over backwards I go. I worked my paddle into position and eventually made a combat roll. As soon as I'm up, I turn back to the incoming surf and a wall of whitewater hits me and rolls me over again. Now, my adrenaline is pumping and lungs are wanting air. Anxious, I'm too agressive on my roll and as I come up, I over roll it. I roll back up and another wave pearls me down the face and over I go again. This time, I'm really out of air, but make one more roll. By now, I'm pushed all the way to the inside break that's thumping hard. I sit there with both feet out huffing and huffing. If another wave would've hit and rolled me over again, I would've bailed, but one didn't. I ended up having about 15 seconds of heavy breathing, then had to take a late steep wave to shore, no choice it would've nailed me too if I hadn't taken it.
I sipped a little water and rested about 5 minutes, and went back out. This time, I had a bit more respect for the conditions. Funny thing, I didn't have as much energy this time, but managed to surf till dark.
For me, that was a long time to hold my breath, not used to having to roll more than once or occasionally twice. But 4 times, each in white water which takes a lot longer than flat water to roll. In bigger than usual surf conditions, do you think you're better off pushing the limits trying to stay up, or be more conservative and bail earlier? The last time I bailed was last October, but that's not too much fun either getting pushed all the way to shore trying to get back on!

You will most likely know as the nose goes over the top if you will clear it, if you think you will not:
1. Lean back hard on the tail and pike your legs to force the nose high and vertical,
2. Rotate torso to strong paddle side so you face the tail,
3. Take paddle stroke and pivot on paddle pulling nose around and letting white water assist,
4. Continue turn to drive down face so you can watch the boardies s**t their britches.

If all else fails, I bail after first miss. I would rather swim than get in more trouble trying to continue a roll.[/b]

_________________
Dead man skiing.

Steve Riordan
Woodbine, GA.

I try not to bail at all anymore after learning a lesson the hard way. Long story short, kept getting pummeled by heavy surf waaaay on the outside, was exhausted due to a number of factors, unbuckled and then had a cleanup wave rip my board out of my hands (again, very heavy surf), snapping my index finger in the process. I felt I was actually in trouble at that point and had to flag down another waveskier (thanks again Howard!!) to give me a ride in.

One of the lessons I learned that day was, keep rolling if at all possible. That way there is no possibility of getting separated from your floatation device, i.e. your board. The other big lesson I learned is, don't go out on a big, heavy, windblown day unless your energy levels and stamina are totally up to par.

The last couple of posts led me to wonder : Do most of you guys use a board leash , or no? I got to wondering because of the references to swimming and/or losing the ski as a result of releasing the strap.

Lkr

I do not use a leash anymore (haven't for a couple of years). I did when I first started, especially on my SOT's because of the constant bailing. I used one on my skis for a bit too while I was perfecting my roll, but my roll is so consistent now, I don't feel the need. In the above scenario, I'm not sure a leash would have even held. The wave had enough force to break my finger, and I've had leashes pop under less stress.

Bottom line for me is, I was tired, panicked and pulled the strap when I probably should have just rolled one more time.

Getting on my ski takes more time with leash as I have a certain way I like it under my quad stap. Otherwise, my right paddle blade sometimes gets caught between the leash and my board when paddling hard down the face of a wave, which really sucks.
In my case, I go with minimal protection in the winter, usually no bottoms, so if I lose board on the outside break in 52 deg water, I worry about making it in w/no suit and no pfd in that cold water. Plus, our best surf usually comes from hurricanes or other types of systems that create strong rip currents right where I surf, and when it's real big, I'm usually the fartherest one out, so if I get in trouble, no one's there to help.
Even though I feel confident with my roll (except for the occasional adrenaline-induced "over-roll"), I've reluctantly decided to just make a leash part of my gear, even in small surf and warm water so I don't get too spoiled at not wearing it. I like to keep my gear and routine consistent even when I really don't need it.

I use a paddle leash when it's over 5' here in Norcal. I have had the belt release on hard wipeouts enough that I want a back up to hold on to the board. The leash is a pain but so is swimming in. Lannie

I must admit that I never developed a roll ; the short period and cold water is not conducive to inversion hereabouts. I don't like the leash , but I use it in 2 situations : wave size + water temp are such that a swim is a bad idea , or if there are surfers inside who might be killed by a loose ski. Also , I have found that there is no fun to be had swimming in with a paddle. In user friendly conditions I rarely get separated , there being so many "handles" on the ski.

Didn't mean to side track the topic. I have a lot of respect for ski surfers who are adept at the roll. I also have a lot of respect for the getting worked factor associated with the ski ; it's one of my very few regrets for having made the conversion from surfboards.

Nearly ice free Laker.