CRESCENT BEACH, Clallam County -- Man-eating sharks do not prowl the sea here. So all you have to worry about while learning to surf kayak is not ticking off the locals. That means don't let your boat become a wave-launched projectile, don't get tiddlywinked by a breaker on the way out and don't wipe out while riding a wave in and get your skull screwed into the sand.

You'll also find out that saltwater up the nose stings -- but sure helps clear the sinuses.

"I think I actually really like the feeling of taking off on a wave and not being sure you're going to make it or not," says Ken DeBondt, a skilled surf kayaker from Seattle. "Those are the waves you always remember -- taking off and thinking, 'Oh, man, I'm going to eat it!' and then riding it well."

This is a guy who once broke his arm and shoulder in big nasty surf at La Push. Yet he rides on.

The compulsion to surf is easy to comprehend by anyone who has been mesmerized simply by watching the endless push and pull of the sea. Waves are compelling in any fashion, whether on a surfboard, a boogie board or your belly, or in a kayak.

"It's kind of just the energy of the ocean," explains Ellen DeBondt, Ken's wife and a fine surf kayaker, too. "It always feels good afterward, the exercise, the feeling of what your body can do, the connection with nature."

Oh yeah, there is that connection with nature. You will be pushed by it, immersed in it, sluiced by it -- and you'll probably love every second.

The surf ski evolved into the surf kayak, and in the Pacific Northwest it suddenly is becoming more popular to surf kayak, just as regular surfing did here several years ago. It is not unusual to see surf kayakers alongside surfers year-round at several breaks along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as on the ocean at Mukkaw Bay, La Push, Westport and down into Oregon.

"It's gone from almost nothing to being really popular," says Gary Korb, author of a white-water kayaking book, "A Paddler's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula" (self published, 242 pages, $14.95), and resident of Joyce, a few miles from Crescent Beach.

"Any weekend here now there will be at least four to six surf kayaks. Two years ago there might be one or two."

Knowing how to kayak the surf is a necessary skill for any sea kayaker who wants to paddle the open ocean, and it's a natural place for white-water paddlers to express their passion.

"When I started sea kayaking in Bellingham, I don't know how many years ago, everyone was sort of terrified by the surf," says Chris Mitchell of Long Beach, my friend and kayaking guru. "When you start paddling in the ocean, you have to go in and out of it, so through trial and error you find out, hey, this can be pretty fun." You can paddle the surf in a regular sea kayak or a regular white-water kayak used in rivers. But neither rides the surf as well as a surf-specific kayak, which comes in two basic designs. In shape, both resemble a surfboard, with a low profile and flat bottom, but you sit on top of one, while the other has a cockpit you sit inside, generally with a spray skirt.

Sit-on surf kayaks are usually longer and used by paddlers who mostly want to carve on the wave for a long clean ride. Sit-in, or decked, surf kayaks can do that too, but are used more by white-water-oriented paddlers who enjoy doing tricks such as spins, bow squirts, flips and "wave wheels." For decked sit-in kayaks, the ability to do an Eskimo roll is almost mandatory; with a sit-on-top kayak you can climb back on it easily without the fuss of a skirt.

And you will get rolled.

"You need a real intense focus," says Korb, who surfs almost every day the waves are breaking well on the strait. "It's fun, it's scary, it can be big, but it's forgiving."

The basics of surf kayaking are no different than surfing. The best wave is one that breaks from one side to the other as it approaches shore, as opposed to crashing down all at once. The idea is to paddle ahead of an incoming wave and catch it right at the break, where it begins to curl downward. To surf it, you angle diagonally along the wave and stay ahead of the break.

"Ideally, you want to get one that starts breaking on one end and you surf away from the break," explains Ellen DeBondt.

You can get some serious speed in a surf kayak, even more than in a white-water boat in a fast river, says Korb.

To turn, you lean, which causes the edge of the boat to initiate a change in direction. The paddle is used not only for propulsion, but also as a brace in the water for stability, or even as sort of a rudder that can increase your speed.

"It's all about edging," Mitchell says. "The natural tendency is to lean back, but that slows you down. You want to lean forward to stay ahead of the wave. When the kayak goes up on edge, it goes faster. It's gravity that makes you go."

It takes some practice, but if you have some paddling skills, you'll start picking it up in about an hour on the water. Mitchell loaned me his sit-on kayak, a 10-foot Wilderness Systems Kaos, on a recent day when strong northwest winds were pushing nice 3- to 5-foot waves into Crescent Beach.

The first order of business was finding a spot on the beach well away from more experienced paddlers and especially the local surfers.

Some surfers don't care much for kayakers, because surfers in general can be overbearing about their local breaks, and because surf kayaks have a distinct advantage over surfboards: the paddle.

"I actually had a kid drop in on me and hit my boat and then start swearing at me," says Mitchell, referring to an incident at Oregon's Short Sand Beach.

One time at Westport when the DeBondts showed up with their kayaks, a group of surfers began chanting for them to go away, instigated by one local surfer with a reputation for bellicosity.

"Once they see you know how to ride a wave, they usually shut up," Ken DeBondt says.

Why the animosity? It's easier to get out in the surf with a boat and paddle and it's easier to get ahead of and catch a wave. Surfers spend a lot of time sitting on their boards waiting for the right wave, while a kayaker can paddle and catch more waves, and have fun on a greater variety of waves. Plus, a loose kayak being shoved around by a wave can be a hazard to anyone nearby.

Conscientious surf kayakers give fellow wave travelers plenty of space, usually yielding to surfers trying to drop in on a wave and never dropping in on a wave a surfer already is riding.

"The rule in any kind of surfing is that the person who is closest to where a wave is breaking owns the wave," Mitchell says. "The biggest no-no in the world is to drop in front of them when they've already got the wave. That's absolutely taboo."

The best breaks at Crescent are on the east end of the bay, so we stayed more toward the middle to avoid the crowd. Good thing, too, since I rolled the Kaos three times, once on the way out and twice riding the white water of a broken wave.

There is a fairly steep initial learning curve in surf kayaking. But the DeBondts say once the basic turns begin feeling intuitive, it comes to you more quickly.

Toward the end of the session I could keep the boat fairly straight on a wave and turn it both ways, even though I never did catch a classic break and ride the sweet, green part of a wave.

I did get a good sense for the thrill of this sport, which is not the most accessible activity for those lacking paddling skills and equipment. For a sit-in kayak, you must first master the Eskimo roll. However, there are surf kayakers who use only sit-on boats and become proficient without knowing how to roll.

You can hire a paddling instructor such as Mitchell to teach you how to surf kayak, and the DeBondts are members of the Washington Kayak Club, a group dedicated to all forms of paddle sports. Korb gives surf-kayaking clinics during the annual Port Angeles Kayak Symposium.

However you approach it, you must have the proper equipment and a healthy sense of caution. This is an activity that can beat you up or kill you.

In the Northwest, the first essential gear is a thick, full wetsuit, with hood, gloves and booties, or a dry suit. This will keep you from suffering hypothermia in waters that rarely exceed 50 degrees. A Coast Guard-approved life jacket, and one specific to paddling, also is considered mandatory. It's also smart to wrap a full kayaking helmet around your brain, even in small surf, since waves come in a variety of shapes.

"I've had my bell rung by 4-foot waves," says Mitchell, "and I've had 7-foot waves that were perfect."

At the same time, it's only as dangerous as you make it. If you stick to moderate surf, it isn't generally so daunting and dangerous.

"What I love to do is carve back and forth and move up and down on the wave," says Mitchell. "There's a dynamic there in that zone that is really pretty amazing."

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