Question: “What your view of proper SUP etiquette?”
Answer (Dave Parmenter): “Its such a new thing stand up surfing - there are bound to be knuckleheads who take them out to traditional surfing breaks, I am a very hard liner on it, I think** there is no excuse for anybody to take them out to somewhere where there is a history of conventional surfing**, (minus Laird and Dave K.) theres tons of other waves, there are always places to take them (even Californis and Hawaii) out by yourself and at this stage its a new enough thing that every single one of us that goes out in the water among other people is an ambassador, and it just takes one person to ruin the reputation or even have it legislated out of existence, so its really important for people to go out and find their own place where they can have their own elbow room, at some places it works really good, in other places it doesn’t, you don’t go where you’re not wanted, basically thats what it is.” (abridged to eliminate stammers and superfluity).
Now I hope we all realize that Mr Parmenter is THA MAN in numerous ways (I hope it is unnecessary to list them) and that he is heavily involved in SUP design / shaping / riding. I like many - have nothing against the things per se, but rather have a BIG problem with their pilots, many of whom have no history of surfing, no understanding of etiquette, safety or danger and thus are generally speaking bad citizens. Whenever I am chasing a peak or sandbar and one of those little boats comes over to say Hi I tell them to shove off. It might be also interesting to know that maritime law classifies them as CRAFT and us as SWIMMERS and specifies they remain a safe distance away. I give respect to bodysurfers and shortboarders (when riding a longboard) and I expect respect from boats, jetskis, kites, and sups.
SUPpers: learn to be good citizens and educate your buddies.
My girlfriend and a few of her pals dressed up like witches and paddled/down winded with the tide through Morro Bay a couple of evenings back. Don’t worry, there’s not much surfing going on inside the bay so they weren’t in any lineup. Afterwards they tore up the town with their shenanigans. They couldn’t care less about what DP (or anybody on this site) says. It was all in good fun. There wasn’t any obsession over board designs, color schemes, or proper ‘etiquette’… they just grabbed their stuff and went for it!
I never had any real respect for “Parmy” even way back when he marauded the Central Coast of Calif. He’s always been a “so-so” shaper, but should have been better considering his " Tutors(JC and Rusty). BUT; He sure can write some $#!t! AND That is really the only thing thing that keeps him Relevant.
I have much respect for Dave and John Parmenter. Both are great surfers, and while completely different are totally intense. Known those guys for a long time now, I even saw Dave’s first real attempt at shaping, and I was as hard on him as anyone I have ever critiqued around here over at Mung’s upstairs; the board sucked, and I could have never imagined that he would become the great shaper that he is today. He pioneered the modern hybrid boards, and is as versatile a shaper as they come. I remember the Rusty shapers years ago poking fun at him, but I think he has had the last laugh. I didn’t think he had in him either back then. Bravo, Dave keep it up.
Someone told me Race signed a deal with the Atlanta Braves, Right On John! Glad you made it back from Cabo alive during that hurricane to see it even though the 200 that Fig reminds me of never made it back; still we had some great times.
Since I happen to be on the Gulf Coast right now Anything resembleing real surf happens at least 3 times a year. Got a SUP to get back in shape. I Have one flat water sup and a surfing sup. No point in keeping the surfing sup around here. If there re waves I,ll grab the 9’6" and play with that.
I will agree with DP that a Sup in the main peak is just rude. As an Opinion on the man? I don’t have one except that he got to marry the woman that just about every surfer of my generation was in love with. For That Mr Parmenter you shall never be forgiven. ;) She was such a joy to watch surf. a beautiful women in everyway.
Dave and the C4 gang started riding at Makaha and outside the Outrigger Canoe Club in Waikiki. Ask anyone who surfs these 2 places and you’ll hear that SUPs have taken over and are quite a problem. Brain and the boyz have made it hard at Makaha, and Todd Bradley and his crew catch whatever they want at Old Mans. Dave moved to Kauai, but places like Hanalei have quite a few SUPs and they have their own pecking order. Interestingly, Dave’s glasser, Kimo Kauihou, is a childhood friend and he still rides shortboards, very short boards for someone over 6 feet tall. Kimo took me out on my first real board ride ever out at Haubush. I was about 2nd or 3rd grade then and he had a longboard, probably a Noll. Kimo and my brother were classmates, and I’m classmates with Kimo’s younger brother Scott.
As far as I can see, there’s little etiquette in surfing anyway. There are pecking orders at breaks, and sometimes there maybe more “crew” than waves. That makes it hard for others to catch anything. Then there are longboarders who will sit just a bit outside and try to catch everything. There are shortboarders who will sit in the break and hope you either fall or they get in your way so you don’t go and then they take your wave. There are always SUPers who go because they can catch the wave before anyone else. A lot of these guys used to ride longboards and did the same back then. The level of surfing ability among the hardcore SUP riders has gotten to be pretty high, many surf better than a lot of the regular board riders. I think we’ll see the day when they have to regulate things and make SUP spots and no SUP spots to keep the peace. We have a couple bodysurf or finless boards only spots now, so making a SUP spot wouldn’t be unheard of.
