Bodysurfers face the discrimination at all breaks when boards are present. I just can’t figure out the reasoning by the boards for taking advantage of us. Is it a question of us and them? I think not. We sometimes share the same wave zones and to put it quite simply, there is a real lack of respect. I suppose it’s human nature for assholes to take advantage of someone if you can. Crowded line ups don’t help. It’s dog eat dog out there. I got cut off by several teenage board riders last night, at my home break to boot. If I had been riding a board it would have never happened. Blatant cut offs with the kids looking right at me. I even let them know that I had the wave. But the opportunity for them to rip me off presented itself and well… What do we do? Verbal reprimands, verbal education or physical violence? Bodysurfers in most cases are a bit more evolved than the average board rider. Perhaps an awareness program aimed at clueless board riders is needed. Media such as Surfline and others like it could possibly help spread the awareness that bodysurfers have the same rights to the waves as board riders. We follow the same unwritten rules all must follow to keep some kind of order. We can share and all have fun. I’m willing to share… how about you?
You got the fins on? Take the disrespecting bastard down to the bottom and hold him there for 40 seconds. Or body surf at the Wedge or Boomers where you don’t have to worry about boards, but then the vibe there can be just as bad sometimes. There is just no place too hide nowadays
hb, i have had similar problems- what i have donr in the past is not violent by any means, but can sometimes incite anger in others. what i speak of, is to grab hold of their leashes and just yank. yeah, i have had some very heated moments but usually, the snake will paddle IN from sheer frustration. 1 less surfer in the water. in no way am i edorsing any violence,the reference i gave was what has happened to me in the past and finally i gave up gettin pissed and resorted to my action. if its gonna be dog eat dog, sometimes you just got to bark.
I grew up before leashes and the way we got to our boards was body surfing. I LOVE to body surf. Hardly anyone today even knows how. I’ve ridden Pipeline, the Wedge, many others. In the late 60’s Sebastian Inlet was new and somewhat undiscovered. I gotta tell you guys, that is by far the best body surf wave I’ve ever ridden. It’s got a wedge on it but it’s longer than the Wedge in Newport and real hollow. Good luck on EVER getting a wave in this day and age.
Yo Greg … I remember surfing before leashes too… and thats how I learned to bodysurf also… and it’s still fun on days when it’s to small to suff… But I think body surfers could do their thing where it’s not so busy with surfing . You don’t have to have a great breaking wave to bodysurf . Why can’t we all just get along???
For the most part I would agree. I like body surfing shore pound about as much as anything. But you can’t believe what that inlet peak is like body surfing. It’s so hollow and the wedge actually pushes you along as your going through this tube. It’s amazing. Quite unlike any other body surf wave I ever ridden.
Fact is most body surfers are not even going to come close to making the wave anyway alot of the time. Yes there are some skilled body bashers but they are few and far between. If you want to body surf you might have to do what surfers who want to get a few waves to themselves do, which is go and find an uncrowded break. I had 2 unreal days of surfing on the weekend mainly by myself. I was surprised that 2 other guys paddled out to where i was even though it was breaking on sandbars all down the beach. Dont be a sheep, get out and find a wave to yourself, your bodysurfing will improve and you will have heaps more fun.
Am I missing something, or is the yellow flag with the black ball a figment of my imagination? When was the last time you saw a lifeguard tower without a swimming only area next to it? Well, at least in the summer. I think surfers cut off bodysurfers because 99% of the time they drop, go through the base, and swim out the back, or they ride straight to the beach. I cannot recall watching a bodysurfer actually angle and stay ahead of the curl or even stay in the curl. They always seem to get passed up by the wave. But, it’s a great activity, very pure.