Surfboard leash

I've seen suggestions to use a surfboard leash to connect yourself to your boat.  I can see the utility of this particularly in windy or open water current conditions (but not a fast moving river).

Do any of y'all leash yourselves to your boat?  Why?  Why not?

I don't... I used to surf a 9'6" longboard and hated being leashed to it since it had enough floation to be troublesome in a rough surf bailout.  I'd either get tangled in the long leash or I'd get pulled akwardly when the board and I were going in opposing directions.  A knife could fix this issue, but then why bother with a leash in the first place  I can only see leashing my kayak to me being more troublesome since there is much more mass involved.

I don't, I think the risks outweigh the benefits. It's been discussed from here:

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,2473.0.html

If you are going to leash, make sure it's something you can easily release from under pressure. A surfboard-style leash around your ankle can be amazingly difficult to reach in some situations.


Brian

something i'm taking to heart after reading numerous articles across a variety of yakking and yak fishing sites; NEVER leash in the surf zone. but DO attach a bow line of at least 20 feet that is easily grabbable if you go for a swim.. i've actually read of guys who use both a bow and stern line just in case.. and stay between your yak and the surf.. not in front of the boat.. that one i re-learned last year during huli #2 @ PC. [ nothing like 1st hand experience]

this is not to say do not hold onto your boat if you capsize, huli or whatever. staying with that big float may be your best bet at making it home alive if you cant do a self rescue and post remount bailout
[WR]

Sometimes I tie myself to the kayak in the Columbia River. If I go in, being attached to the boat is a help(the kayak is essentially watertight). I would never wear one in the ocean. If you dump it in the surf, both you and the kayak are going to wind up in the same spot on the beach. If you are attached to the kayak in the surf, you run the chance of being hit by it. It's bad enough being hit by a 3 lb surfboard, getting hit by a 60 lb kayak is going to leave a mark.

Sometimes I tie myself to the kayak in the Columbia River. If I go in, being attached to the boat is a help(the kayak is essentially watertight). I would never wear one in the ocean. If you dump it in the surf, both you and the kayak are going to wind up in the same spot on the beach. If you are attached to the kayak in the surf, you run the chance of being hit by it. It's bad enough being hit by a 3 lb surfboard, getting hit by a 60 lb kayak is going to leave a mark.

What about after launching through the surf when you are in the open water?

I tie everything I own to the boat when I go out....'CEPT MEECE ELF!!!!
 as others have stated before in this thread.
 I have been broadsided by the Yak in the surf , and I have had it land on top of me to finish off a very nice "pearl" as surfers call it. Ouch on both counts, I am near 50 ya know.
 The last thing I want to do now, is to have my Happy Ass drug to shore by the Yak!!!! 

Sometimes I tie myself to the kayak in the Columbia River. If I go in, being attached to the boat is a help(the kayak is essentially watertight). I would never wear one in the ocean. If you dump it in the surf, both you and the kayak are going to wind up in the same spot on the beach. If you are attached to the kayak in the surf, you run the chance of being hit by it. It's bad enough being hit by a 3 lb surfboard, getting hit by a 60 lb kayak is going to leave a mark.

What about after launching through the surf when you are in the open water?

the only reason you would not be able to swim back to your boat if you did end up in the drink, would be one of two things my friend....you have hit your head on a power boat hull and are unconscious...or, you have had waaaaaay too many beers on the water and are unconscious.

the only reason you would not be able to swim back to your boat if you did end up in the drink, would be one of two things my friend....you have hit your head on a power boat hull and are unconscious...or, you have had waaaaaay too many beers on the water and are unconscious.

How about a 10kt wind?

the most i'd suggest would be thigh/knee straps..

the only reason you would not be able to swim back to your boat if you did end up in the drink, would be one of two things my friend....you have hit your head on a power boat hull and are unconscious...or, you have had waaaaaay too many beers on the water and are unconscious.

How about a 10kt wind?

if it is that windy...I do not paddle the Ocean.
 "discretion is the better part of valor"
 

What about after launching through the surf when you are in the open water?

Never. The kayak is only going to wash into the beach. In the surf zone, I don't want an upside down kayak anywhere near me.
We used to launch and come in regularly in good sized surf. Most fishing kayaks are slugs when it comes to riding waves; the round hulls do not hold an edge on a wave face very well. If I thought I was going to have trouble coming in, I would slide off the rear of the kayak and let the boat kind of drag me in like a giant boogie board.
In the river, if I fall off and can't grab the boat, it's going to wind up at the Bonneville Dam, about twenty miles or so downstream. The water is cold around here, I don't want to swim that far.