The Surf Zone.. Good site

The surf zone can be the most intimidating part of yak fishing.  Ran across this site while looking for some info on high and low bracing.  Has some good info in it.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://yakabout.com.au/home/images/stories/articles/surf_wave.jpg&imgrefurl=http://yakabout.com.au/home/content/view/829/97/&usg=__DP00eTITpcwnYvcnGcrILHJokJE=&h=358&w=500&sz=23&hl=en&start=12&um=1&tbnid=BNlHJsimC0SBHM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkayak%252B%2522high%252Bbrace%2522%252Bsurf%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Check this out:
http://watermanatwork.com/KayakFishing/KayakFishingVideo/OceanFishingVideo/PunchingThrough.wmv

Nice overview P.P.!

Nice article! That's great stuff!

I will throw my $0.02 on one thing the article touched on though. I don't completely agree with the statement:
"as a general rule the waves are higher at high tide, and lower at low tide."
I have found that it really just depends on the bathymetric profile of the beach you're looking at. I know the article states this as a "general rule", but I think it's important to scout out a beach before hand if possible and not assume what the conditions are going to be like based on where the tides are at. Since tides can swing pretty far in OR, even further in WA, and holy-crap-far in AK, a beach can be a completely different place from high to low. And since you may be out there long enough for the tide to completely go out or come in, best practice would involve being familiar with the beach both high and low. If you're not familiar with it, make sure the conditions are forgiving enough to compensate for your lack of familiarity. OK, that was way more than $.02.  Sorry!

Other than that, I think that's a great resource! Bookmark that for sure!

There are a lot of variables that will affect the size of surf at a given beach on a given tide.  Also, keep in mind that there will often be multiple breaks before a wave terminates on the beach.  Quite often whats breaking big and mushy (fun) on the outside will drop in size but throw out in front of itself on the inside.  Did you know that you can ride out being pitch poled with a good pair of knee straps?  Yeah, like Wali says, don't ask me how I know....   

From my experience, waves tend to gain a little size with the push of an incomming tide.

From my experience, waves tend to gain a little size with the push of an incomming tide.

Generally, a west or southwest swell gets a little push on an incoming tide, northwest swells get a little larger on an outgoing tide. A lot depends on which direction the beach faces and the bottom contour. Sandbars have more juice on an incoming tide, reefs are more powerful as the tide goes out.