KAYAK SURFING : Take Those Waves Sitting Down : Paddlers who learn to maneuver their craft as a skill are taking it up as an end in itself. The relatively obscure but exhilarating sport is gaining popularity along O.C. beaches.

It was to be a short ride, as kayak surfing goes--just 6 1/2 feet. But it was a ride that Bill Hays could someday tell his grandkids about.

Hays, a fiberglass salesman from Costa Mesa, was a member of a three-day kayak expedition to the Channel Islands National Park last October. After circumnavigating Anacapa Island and exploring its coves, rock arches and sea caves, the group decided to have fun with a wave phenomenon known as a clapotis.

At high tide, Anacapa Island is three distinct islets, with water and waves swirling between them. The kayakers were between the two easternmost islets, bobbing in their 16-foot craft, when expedition leader Doug Schwartz got Hays into position for his wild ride.

“In a clapotis, one wave comes from the east and one comes from the west,” said Hays, 29. “The first wave was coming from my left, and I’m leaning left into it as it shoves me right. Suddenly I get hit by the other wave, so I lean right and it shoves me 6 1/2 feet in the air--you have nowhere to go but up.”

To keep from capsizing on the way down, Hays leaned right and slapped his paddle down hard on the water--a “bracing” skill he learned early in his kayak surfing instruction last summer.

Although playing in freakish water such as this is a stimulating treat, Hays and other kayakers say they get just as much satisfaction from surfing regular waves off the coast.

“Getting into the surf is a whole new world,” Hays said. “Kayak surfing is a skill builder for other types of kayaking. It’s great . . . to be able to punch through a wave and still be in control.”

Popular Orange County locations for kayak surfing, which can be done in waves as small as two feet, include Bolsa Chica, Huntington Beach north of the pier and Newport Beach, said Schwartz, a principal of Southwind Sports Resource in Tustin, the state’s largest sea kayak outfitter.

Most kayakers learn to paddle their craft through waves as part of their training for camping expeditions.

“They want to know how to take that kayak into the beach to camp and then back out again without getting trashed,” Schwartz said. “Funny thing is, by the end of the class they all want to go back out and surf waves for fun.”

Southwind trained more than 150 kayak surfers last year at San Onofre State Beach, which offers the safest conditions because its waves break offshore, Schwartz said.

About one-fifth of the students go on to buy their own kayaks. Most buy 15-to-18-foot, polyethylene or fiberglass sea kayaks, also called touring kayaks. Some experts own nine-foot surf kayaks or even shorter wave skis, and 11-foot river kayaks can also be used, Schwartz said.

Although kayak surfing is a relatively obscure sport, it has its own world championships. This March, for the eighth straight year, 10 classes of surf craft will appear in the Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival, scheduled for March 17-21 at Steamer’s Lane.

Teams from the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Costa Rica will compete.

Schwartz and his partner, Joanne Turner, instruct about 2,000 people a year in various aspects of kayaking. They are known for their methodical yet enthusiastic training techniques. They organize expeditions and rent sea kayaks for $35 per day, with wet suits an extra $10.

Each year, Southwind sponsors a free Paddle Sports Expo at Newport Dunes in Newport Beach, in which kayak experts give on-the-water demonstrations and participants try out equipment. This year’s event will be held June 5.

“The beauty of kayak surfing is that it’s the fastest and most fun way to learn kayak skills,” Schwartz said. “It also doesn’t require the balance of board surfing. In the first hour (of training), anybody with any coordination can surf. It’s an adrenaline rush that people can get close to an urban area.”

In an urban area as crowded as Orange County, however, kayak surfers need to be extra careful. Kayakers should stay well away from surfers and swimmers, since kayaks are not as maneuverable as other water toys such as surfboards and bodyboards.

Capsizing occurs so frequently that Schwartz doesn’t even list it as a hazard. Rather, hitting other kayakers, rocks and shallow beaches are the most common problems, and Southwind insists that students wear helmets when surfing near rocks or shallow areas.

For beginners, who are more prone to capsizing, Schwartz recommends open-top kayaks, which allow the paddler to climb back on easily. Many kayak surfers wear life jackets, although others say the flotation vests prevent them from diving under waves when they capsize.

Jim Hester, 35, a computer science professor at Cal State Fullerton, took his first kayak surfing lessons in August, 1991, and now has four kinds of kayaks.

“They teach (surfing) as a skill, but you’re basically having a blast while you’re learning the skill,” he said. “It was the most fun I’d had in 20 years.”