Pardon me, Iʻm a newby kook on Sways but a very interesting thread disappeared and I found it on “Errors and Bugs”; I assume it got too controversial and heated for the moderators [it was about SUPs] and was yanked; I guess this is standard policy and has happened many times before; unfortunately what we were discussing is a real problem for some of us and the rest of the surfing world in the days to come; but then again itʻs probably been talked about before and the same thing happened; history tends to repeat itself…
From your photo, I’d guess that you are Buzzy, a very well respected long time surfer. The threads get yanked if they get out of hand.
SUPs here on Oahu are sort of in between a problem and OK. Cool guys don’t get crazy, but the a-holes do.
As you say history will repeat itself and the SUP will do what the modern longboard did in the 80’s and 90’s. We are lucky here because of the number of breaks. When the swell is on there are enough breaks to spread things out. But as the riders get better and better, they move into the popular surf spots on bigger days.
Waikiki has choke SUPs these days, and Courts, my favorite town spot is also over run.
E howzit Sharks, Iʻm usually not one to go on a crusade about my personal pet peeves but the SUP issue here on the Valley Isle has raised the frustration level for the non SUP users to a new high; I just read Oneloaʻs thread about his magic day at your name sake, Sharkcountry; he mentioned Hau Bush and 2 sups and 35 longboards; how would he [we] feel if it was 35 sups and 2 longboarders out…not very happy is my guess; this is the level of invasion we see at our favorite winter spot and itʻs bumming the long time users big time; there seems to be no end and no solution to the problem and its only a matter of time for a complete takeover statewide…auwe no hoʻi…and I got good friends who sup!!!
i think in the beginning it wasn;t so bad as most of the SUP’rs were outsiders or newbies or pros. But with more and more of the core top guys in the lineup converting over to the darkside its getting harder to police the lineup. Haubush being the notorius place it is for drugs and crime if you cause a problem don’t expect to come back to the beach to your car in one piece of expect to to get home from that beach without some type of problem from some wild drunk or iced-out unemployed moke.
sometimes homeless, tweakers or drunk people wandering the parking lot looking in cars or watching your car get trashed by a bunch of punks driving off in a monster truck while you helplessly sit in the lineup are good for keeping a break “in line”. The worse breaks seem to be the family friendly breaks like what has happened to white plains.
The problem is when the super hot local crew convert over, the guys that were already catching all the waves on their little 6’2"'s anyway. That’s when it gets to be a real problem.
Saturday I went out in the midst of a lightening storm with a converted hot shortboarder and although he said he also didn;t understand why the SUP guys didn’t paddle and surf the outside reefs all by themselves he still hung out on the inside break catching waves like he was riding a short board just 10 times more waves. To these guys they don’t see the difference between as up and a shortboard even though the consequences are worse.
in the end if you know how it goes in hawaii it’ll take some one getting killed by a SUP and then a suit against the City and State for millions of dollars that’ll lead to legislation to ban them. That’s just how the system works here.
But then again there are days when I’m sitting out in the line up at haubush watching crazy locals blasting through the lineup right by me jumping waves or destroying waves on their jet skis jusy to cause trouble.
Hi Alamoana, Oneula is my brother.
The longtime Courts surfers (30+ year regulars) have been trying to keep the SUPs under control, but it’s not easy. I have seen shortborders I don’t know go off SUP surfers for being greedy at courts, but it doesn’t change what is happening. Sometimes I just take off on them and go, but most of the time I’ve been lucky that the guys are OK.
Different story in Waikiki, where they rule.
One day a few years ago, town was going off and I went out to Courts. I looked over at Big Lefts and it looked like there was an island over there with all these guys on standups. They were shredding solid 6 foot waves out there. Then when they came in I noticed it was Robbie Naish and his boys. It was scary to see guys with that level of ability on those boards. Nothing left for regular surfers, not even the longboarders. That day I saw where we were heading.
Have you guys seen the bumpersticker " Blame Laird", ha, what a good laugh; him, Robbie, Dave; they are all invested in the sport, read: they get money, so they like to maintain high profiles in the lineup; helps them but not us; anyway, Iʻll stop bitching and try to cheer up; this whole SUP issue is so frustrating sometimes itʻs easy to slip into darkness; my saving grace is I have a couple other ocean activities I do to keep me wet and happy and summers here pretty lean on consistant waves… anyway keep up the stoke in Ewa Beach…was good connecting…a hui hou
Heh heh, if Phyllis D is who I think she is - the chatterbox sponger always out at Right Hand or Cliffs - she won't shut up even when she isn't PO'd at somebody/something. Ye gods, that girl can talk. All by and to herself, if necessary.
But yeah, I was at Old Man's on Sunday and it's only because I brought a 10'3" (thought the waves were bigger is my excuse) that I got any at all. Several SUPs there, I won't mention names. It got really inconsistent and they left, but what did that leave me?
Hi Alamoana, I was out at Diamond Head one day last year and Phyllis Damron was out on her boogey board. She was fuming and just going off screaming to anyone nearby. She came by me and started telling me how she was out at Big Lefts that morning and was getting dropped in on by a SUP on every wave. She was swearing and acting pretty bizarre but I guess she was really upset. It was funny because I’ve seen the video of her from the late 70’s and early 80’s dropping in on guys at Sunset and Waimea in huge surf.
You take care and keep surfing even if the SUPs are out there.
I’m beginning to be real thankful my local is a hollow close-out beach break. All the vermin go to the reef breaks nearby and it is rare to see one here. Yay!
Yeah, Phyllis is out there. Maybe too many free falls on her sponge.
I bet Todd B was doing his thing at Old Mans. Seen him be quite an A-hole out there.
Hah, Maybe that’s why Dave Parmenter left Oahu… all the mess that SUPs are doing here. I heard Makaha is a problem as well.
[quote="$1"]
Have you guys seen the bumpersticker " Blame Laird", ha, what a good laugh; him, Robbie, Dave; they are all invested in the sport, read: they get money, [/quote]
I remember reading that Laird owns "Blame Laird" - he gets money for the stickers and t-shirts too. Got it covered on all fronts.
Ah Huckleberry; thatʻs a really good one about Laird; could it possibly be true? what a good scam; cash in on all the people who are down on SUPs; got that cash flowing from both ends; fucking yankee ingenuity beats all!!! Speaking of Laird, my buddy from Kauaʻi sent me a video clip of Laird out at Hanalei on his massive SUP in macking,overhead waves and just just working it; very impressive on that aircraft carrier he was riding; hope the sickness has not spread to your break… take care
You can buy a variety of "Blame Laird" products on LairdHamilton.com
http://www.lairdhamilton.com/search.aspx?searchterm=blame+laird