Actually, I don't think so. My experience with wipeouts is that not much in the way of impact loading on any joint happens. I experienced torsional loads and those can be a problem as well, so I'd have to be mindful of that when I fall....that is something you can control or minimize by body position during the fall. Besides...............I am long past my triple or double overhead days.............WAY PAST. I'm thinking I'm probably in the chest high limit age group now....and have been for a while. Frankly, here on the So Cal coast waist high days are good days and chest high days are less frequent. Overhead days are rare and easy to skip. Those are the days I bodysurf. B)
Well..............not having ever been in a true "standup tube" I suppose I really don't know. However, I have been covered by head high waves in a crouched position and it definitely is not silent. Even if you rule out my screaming "frigging yahoo" at the top my lungs
there is still plenty of sound.....mostly a loud "hissing" sound as the board drives through the water and some slight wave tumble/whitewater noise. Not very unlike the sound you get off a boat hull driving at hull speed on relatively flat water. If there are any elite surfers who have spent time in a standup tube they may have a different experience.
I agree with you. It is unbelievable........hard to explain....and why I have been surfing for - well if you include using air mats as a kid - about 60 years. If you limit me to fiberglass and standing its been around 50. The whole experience is something hard to explain. From sitting quietly between sets as the sun sinks into the west, to dawn patrol paddling out just before it gets light, to surfing on strong offshore days when the air is warm and the wind is blowing the top off each wave in a big spray zone, to cooking breakfast on the beach after a morning session....big pan of eggs, bacon and biscuits on the fire, to sitting around the fire in the evening with a few brews and some buddies after an afternoon session. If I couldn't surf.......I don't know what I'd do...............
Yes, sort of but not really. Not only that but time expands. It's hard to explain but those few seconds are burned in to your brain permanently and the memories are still as vivid today as they were 35 years ago. There's a break north of Santa Cruz called Scott's Creek that will deliver freezing overhead right barrels, but you better be at the top of your game and fully committed or it will eat you alive.
