I surf a lot of shallow reefbreaks and am unable to paddle my foilboard out traditionally. Instead I resort to having it on it’s side and I do a one-arm paddle/kick like a lifeguard rescue. It’s not very efficient. Whenever I try and flip the board over and paddle it I just slip off.
Are people actually waxing the bottom of their boards? Anyone putting a little grip on it? I’m worried about the drag effects. Any other techniques?
I put a few of the RSPro hexatraction stickers on the bottom. They provide some minimal traction for an easy paddle out, but if its choppy or if I need to get through whitewash theres a high probability I’m going to slip off. Its pretty awkward to paddle a short board like this because you aren’t really centered.
A couple small pads for grip around your chest area then i put the mast next to my shoulder neck for support but it all depends on how big your foil is.
I bought traction tape online and did two strips where my ribs are touching the board. Its stayed on longer then my traction pads.
I have no idea how people do this, I put hex traction stickers on my board thinking it would make it fine and I still could barely do it. I have to do the same thing lol.