Landing through a Surf with Oars - The most important consideration for the inexperienced coxswain is remaining outside the breakers for a long enough time to study the surf carefully. Care must be taken to ensure that the boat is kept far enough outside the outermost line of breakers to avoid being caught by a sea. One will find that the large seas come in a more or less series, usually three or four in a series. Then follows a period of smaller seas during which there is another build-up. It is during this time that the entrance into the line of breakers must be made. Having determined the period of the seas and decided on the run in, it is necessary to wait until the last sea of the large series breaks just inshore of the boat and then turn so as to present the bow seaward and back in. As each succeeding wave overtakes the boat, it may be necessary to go ahead to meet it . The coxswain may make the best use of them to control the speed and direction of the boat. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the full use of the oars in steering the boat. It is possible for the boat to be kept headed directly into the seas by having first one side and then the other give way as may become necessary. As each sea passes, it is necessary to "stern all" and gain more distance toward the beach. With each overtaking sea, the boat will be carried shoreward a considerable distance, even though the oarsmen are pulling against it. If even the smaller seas are of dangerous size, it will be necessary to get a great deal of way to the boat in order to give it sufficient speed to overcome the power of the sea and avoid broaching.
Broaching is most apt to occur when the seaward end of the boat is lifted by an onrushing wave, depressing the shoreward end in the relatively calm, motionless water immediately in front of the wave. Under these circumstances, one end of the boat is deeper than the other and embedded in stationary water whereas the other end has a tremendous force acting on it. It is apparent that this force applied to one side or the other of the seaward end of the boat will create a powerful turning moment, one arm of which is equal to about the length of the boat. It will also obvious that a great amount of power is necessary to overcome the forces that tend to cause broaching.
Considering the weight of the boat, since buoyancy is also a factor, this power can be met only by rowing strongly against each oncoming wave. Weights should be located in the bow (seaward end) of the boat, but not in the aft end. Oarsmen should use a short, fast, powerful stroke so that they may back-water with as little delay as possible as each sea passes.
it should now appear that the seaward end of the boat is the most important and the one on which adverse forces are apt to be most dangerous. Now the problem would be less difficult if there were some means of holding the bow steady while the overtaking seas pass. In practice, there are two very handy devices for this-the drogue and the surf-line. Both of these should be used only by experienced surfmen.
A drogue is a conical-shaped bag about 2 ft wide across the mouth and 4 1/2 ft long. It is towed mouth first by a 2 1/2-in. line, which is secured to the mouth by means of a bridle. A small line known as the tripping line is made fast to the apex, or pointed end. When towed mouth first, the drogue fills with water and offers resistance; when towed by means of the tripping line, the resistance becomes negligible, and the drogue passes through the water easy.
When a drogue is used in a boat landing through a surf, it must be carefully tended by men in the bow so that there is always a strain on the towing line when a sea overtakes the boat. When the sea passes, it is desirable to "stern all," and the tripping line is hauled taut so that the drogue passes easily through the water. The coxswain and men tending the drogue must be alert to slack the tripping line well in advance of the arrival of the next wave in order to allow it to fill with water and exert the greatest resistance to keep the bow pointed seaward. A drogue is especially recommended when any current is setting parallel to the beach.
A surf-line consists of a 2 1/2 - or 3-in. line made fast to an anchor just beyond the outermost line of breakers. This line should be about 150 fathoms long. The line, coiled in the boat free for running, is payed out by men in the bow so that there is always a strain on it when the boat is overtaken by a sea; as the sea passes, the line is again payed out.
A surf-line exerts a more positive force on the bow of a boat landing through a surf, but it is not recommended when there is any appreciable current setting parallel to the beach. The reason, of course, is that the farther the boat progresses the more it will be carried down by the current. There will actually come a time when the boat will be carried broadside to the waves or nearly so and be in grave danger of capsizing. Another disadvantage of the surf-line is that it actually stops the progress of the boat toward the beach each time the men in the bow hold it to permit a sea to pass under the boat.
