I have always had the peddles in with the bungee on to keep them against the hull. Done this on my revo and now on the PA14. Walk it out to waste deep water, wait for the right time and go for it. Leaving the bungee on til I'm in the safe zone. Same for coming in, put the bungee on before arriving to the RED zone, just in case something goes wrong your drive will go flat on the hull.
My landing technique: I come in with no paddle and head in at a 45 degree angle. If a set starts coming, I can easily turn back out and wait for a better moment. That has worked for both boats and have still not tipped the navy ship yet.
