I never paddle far from shore unless absolutely, unavoidably necessary, and I certainly would never do so if I expected big waves.
I would prefer not to, but into a headwind I will angle “close hauled” in sailing terms (not that I’m using a sail into a headwind), side slipping the wind and wave a bit rather than taking it head on, chop splashing over the bow.
I will venture further from shore than I would generally like, but my route angles often become a zig zag. At some point I have to execute a turn from / outbound to \ inbound, back toward my intended destination and the comfort of nearby land. That turn is when things get trickiest.
Beware too close to shore.
Reflecting waves=clapotis
It's educational
OnSuperior we are usually 300 feet out
And not just clapotis.
The bane of my paddling route existence on coastal bays is the long skinny peninsula. I like paddling in the wind and wave shadow of a long peninsula, more and more the closer I get to that protection. But I’m not routing around a half circle inside some 5 mile long deeply embayed shore.
Plus I want to hit the tip of that peninsula at least 50 or a hundred feet off the point. Even on “flatwater”, with little or no river or tidal flow, there can be a lot of wind driven water streaming around the tip of that projection near the point.
And of course once I clear that wind and wave swept point dammit there is another long embayed shore and distant peninsula to deal with. Back at it, further and further from shore once again.
With a non-threatening tailwind I just head out as far as I dare, put the sail up and go point to point, even it does put me a long ways from land.
