Is surf etiquette dead?

General Discussion
41

I’m not here enough to earn all the cool tricks like how to embed video links. Thanks for putting clip in.

Not sure what the etiquette solution is… too many surfers and not enough waves? We’re all completing for a limited  resource? But I do drive the freeways if SoCal everyday… millions of cars on only a few roads. Rules seem to work, cuz there’s proportional not as many accidents per driver as there are hassle/drop-in fights per surfer in the water. The DMV and Police do a good enough job keeping drivers in check… how do we keep the masses of new or thug surfer types in line. 

I am disappointed that Surfer ran a piece  showing such blatantly disrespectful behavior.

 

See ya in the water, Byron

42

Ah I see what you’re saying - the guys who try to slip in behind you just because you’re charging faster down the line… I was more thinking the guys (sup) who catch the wave before its a wave, well off to the shoulder, and then get pissed because someone else caught it at the peak where they’re supposed to… that’s what I was thinking - I know there are lots of guys who will backdoor the peak, but they still get it at the peak and get around to the clean section, which means they still have priority… once the wave is already being ridden by someone who caught it at the peak though - well, yeah, you’re right… that’s a pretty clear case of priority. However, if you’re (collective ‘you’re’ not you personally) a shoulder-hopper you can take that “first up” rule and shove it… I know guys from florida who have tried to use that on me here to justify them getting the shoulder drop before I caught the peak and thus stealing the wave… sorry barney, just cause you stood up first doesn’t mean you get the wave if you’re out on the shoulder

43

Well here’s a start… figure out why common sense doesn’t apply to surfing and snowboarding like it does to other sports… you wouldn’t go drop into a downhill run at whistler without knowing how to ride a bike, you wouldn’t tear ass down a rallycross trail without knowing how to drive a car… so why is it people think it’s acceptable to just go out, buy a board, and paddle out wherever they please without learning how to surf safely and properly first? Hell, a better example is that you wouldn’t drive a car around if you didn’t know which side of the road you’re supposed to be on… I think more people should be encouraged to take a lesson, I think more retailers should be responsible for ensuring their rental customers have at least a basic knowledge of water ettiquete and safety, and I think that more surf schools should start teaching about priority rather than just shoving their kids into waves in front of any moke who happens to be surfing it at the time

44

 

That dude got posterized!! That was awesome.

45

We don’t have crowds, wetsuits, or etiquette problems a whole lot in cocoa beach!.. I can certainly attribute that to our smaller population and small waves.

46

what does this have to do with building surfboards?

I feel like its the surfer’bb all over again

probably best to stay away from the subject

we got better things to discuss and share here I’m sure

PPK/Bill/Kokua/Ambrose tell me a story

don’t want to focus on the bad stuff here

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47

 

 

This June I took my family for a ten day holiday on the Gold Coast of Australia. My local area in NZ is very uncrowded and thus I was a bit apprehensive about surfing in one of the most crowded surf zones in the world. In the end I was pleasantly surprised by the good manners of the local surfers in the water. The surf was mostly about shoulder to head height, and it was a quiet time of the year so the crowds were (for the Gold Coast) relatively small. I wasn’t snaked or dropped in on for the duration of my holiday.

The highlight was surfing perfect shoulder height Snapper Rocks early one morning with only ten guys out. I struck up a few conversations with the locals and they were all friendly and even called me into a couple of set waves from behind the rocks. Another day I surfed pretty epic (by my standards) South Stradbroke Island with about 150 guys spread out over about several miles of beach. Everyone just sat about 15mtrs apart, and due to the shifting nature of the peaks it was possible to get plenty of waves. People were friendly and smiling and there were plenty of hoots for the numerous good rides that were going down. I also surfed Burleigh, Duranbah and down in Byron Bay with similar results.

I guess a lot of the good manners I experienced go out the window on those uber-crowded days on the points when it’s pumping, but nevertheless I reckon a lot of people could learn something from Gold Coast surfers. They are so used to surfing crowded waves that they seem to take a more mature attitude to surfing with other people. 

 

48

Oneula, Spudups, thank you. BTW Oneula, I have that pic of the guy flying down the line in a soul arch on the multi colored board pinned toy wall in my shaping area.  Dreamy 

All the best

 

 

49

TL;DW version:  I’m not good enough at shortboarding to hack it with my peers and that fucking douchebag Joel Tudor taught me that I should go drop in on everyone and dry hump them on the beach if they don’t like the constant burning.

50

 

Nice story…

you forgot to mention that you are a bombshell blonde and you were surfing topless.

:wink:

51

That is super lame. Guy seems like an asshole.

52

talk about getting burned.

53

like those landscape photos

lots of good and beautiful things in the world 

you just have to take the time to see them

and GT most of those shots are screensavers or desktops on my computers, laptops, tablets, iphones, etc etc

pardon the lousy surfshots but that was Sharkcountry’s first day in the water after his 5 bypass open haeart surgery and I was still recovering from my near death appendicitis experience the year before.

We had a great time with just 3-4 other friends that morning 

me riding one of Sharkcountry’s homemade “mistakes” (he drew the outline backwards) and the big red 10’ surflight i bought and had shipped all the way from Hilo so he could surf with his chest scar.

like I said,

there’s allot of good in the world and here (just like Charlie’s post)

be nice to do our best  keep it that way

especially us semi old timers

 

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54

Ha ha, no, I’m just a hairy middle aged bloke like most of us here! There were lots of women surfing on the Gold Coast though. A lot of them were wearing these spring-suit wetsuits that were basically hot pants at the bottom. This sort of thing tends to mellow things in the water from my experience! The water was 23 degrees Celcius or about 73 Fahrenheit, (and this was in winter!), so the women weren’t wearing much.

If any of you out there have small children I’d recommend considering a holiday over there some time. May-June would be the best time for crowds and surf. The weather’s still pretty much perfect at this time of the year. There’s heaps to do for families and the accomodation’s pretty cheap. I’d head off surfing super early each morning and be back by nine to do family stuff. The kids had a ball.

There’s four million people in New Zealand, and there’s half a million Kiwis living in Australia. It’s not hard to see why. 

 

 

 

 

55

shushka420 touches on something that I often refer to. More than once, I’ve had a beginner give me the lame excuse that they got in my way because they’re “just learning”. I then ask them if this: If you were learning to drive a car, would it then be OK to drive on the wrong side of the road, not stop at red lights, and never use a turn signal?

The decline in respect at most spots comes from both ends of the spectrum. Young, skilled guys who think they’re too good to wait their turn and deserve a wave because they surf well, contrasted with clueless beginners who never got the word about what’s right and what isn’t.

When I learned, we got yelled at, shoved, dunked, and verbally abused when we messed up. Plus, there were no leashes so lack of skill set a pecking order all on its own. You swam a lot until you got proficient. That kept a lot of noobs out of the rotation.

56

Says it all. Back in the pre-leash days you’d end up being a really good swimmer before you become a really good surfer. Quite a few of the breaks in Hawaii are way out and a swim can be several hundred yards.

I think another problem is that there aren’t the small isolated communities we used to live in. Everything is overdeveloped and people jump in their car or catch a plane and surf anywhere they want. In our little community there were a more than handful of good breaks, and each one had a small group of regulars. The older surfers passed on the rules. I occasionally go home and surf there, and these days there will be 3 generations of locals. We are all born and raised or grew up from small kid time in that community. The 20+ to thirty something kids still rip it up, but they give us older guys, who happen to be their parents or parents age, a chance. Seems to always be a mellower place to surf.

57

58

surf with  a circumspect respect.

ipatched a board for a chick who was on

a gripe about a kuk who dropped in on her and caused damage .

I composed a poem that entreated her and those who who would read the poem

to realize that the kuk that whopped her board was simply her former self.

forgive yourself for believe you have been blatently wronged,or denied your long due fullfillment.

priority,wave priority,AKA  my wave-my turn based on a constantly morphing set of nebulous set

of rules of ettiquite proffered by the self appointed is just numbing to a sensitive.

surfing with people who appreciate just paddling out through junk closeouts

is way more fun than watching self agrandizing narcicists photo documenting

experiencing a beautiful act that goes beyond their comprehension.

In my 52 year of concious surfing

I made a really bitchin board

pollished the shit out of it

skipped  the anguish of surfing the 1st

winter swell,and had fun introducing

two couples from accross the globe

to the wonders of becoming weightless

as a n human being riding a wave.

mean while back at the flat rock

some unidentified self absorbed

‘‘twenty something’’ was telling off

the uninitiated at the bowl … 

the day after the twent was seen giving

a surf lesson …

!1.never take off on me taking off back door

no matter how many times I fall off.

… ambrose…

I’m hot and you’re not.

oh wait I am a senile fossil surf freak

haole asshole motherpuker washed up

kook,or so I have been told

by an anointed enlightened

photo journalist.

really I am a father of five

and an inspiration to many.

where’s my go pro?It whent gone.

 

thirty years ago .

59

I tried to transfer this comment to errors and bugs

‘the thrill of swaylocks is gone’ thread.

but couldn’t.

my friend who passed away this last year

would always gripe about people taking off in front of

him at pedro or wander-inn.

Soon after he decided,well if they are gonna do it to me,

i’m gonna do it to everybody ,leaving his self rightous 

‘‘I never drop in on anybody’’ attitude behind.

another good one is -‘they always kook out,so I’m going’

my favorite one is ‘I’ve been out for so long and not caught a wave’

or ‘there are so few waves we gotta have a party wave’

living with these guys dropping these attitudes

while justfying dropping in on me and others

made me wanna surf elsewhere and alone

where the good waves are rare and the difficulty

rating is not overcome with a jetski.

Kele Oda told me about the zen of surfing

an act with no residual material gain

no trophy,no photo,no paycheck

the iraqi chick from london

asked me to go back out an 

surf to demonstrate

I refused.

…ambrose…

I was there to make sure

she caught three waves.

on the 12’3’’ board I made in 2004.

I hope she will become a better swimmer.

 

60

the kid that drops in on me

and I say  GO KID

Is me 1962

at kuhio beach

on a rental surfing for the first time

with my 40 year old mom

who learned to swim from eddie ehukini

at fleishaker pool in the late 1920’s-early 1930’s

lives fullfilled before I ever saw a surfer magazine.

…ambrose…

jack  london was a hopless kuk.

that introduced surfing to the world.

he probobly dropped in on somebody too.