" the cup o' tea " brigade

General Discussion
1

mid-morning , i paddled out into a small crowd at my favourite break .

i was amused to see the demographic …

alec , 45 , riding a 6’2 thruster

wade , 47, riding a thicker 6’8 thruster

grahame , 56 , riding a thicker , wider , homemade 6’4 thruster

dave , my neighbour , 55 , riding an 8’er

me on the 9’er [47 yo]

michelle , 47 , riding a 7’6 egg , three finner

glen , 48 , riding a 6’6 thruster

brad , 52 , riding about a 7’4 “funboard”

there was a relaxed ‘vibe’ in the water , we took it in turns .

It almost seemed like a ‘swaylocks-type’ demographic , and board design variety session , to me , today …

glassy , sunny , chest high sets , high tide going out …

ahhhhh

fun fun fun !

my second surf in almost two months …let’s hope , more to come …gotta get strong again

Q. - what is the demographic [age group] that you guys find you most regularly surf with ? [i find it varies here , at various times of the day …

ben

2

dream team…the best sessions are the ones with you’re buddies, that’s for sure.

3

Way too many nubile bikini clad women riding both longboards, funboards and shorties out at my locale this morning.

A hazard of living on the Sunshine Coast these days. Oh, there were a few chubby 40-50 yr old longboarders in the mix as well. Waves were glassy but only a couple of feet. Boardies were the gear for the session. No wetties needed yet.

4

Don’t like ‘groups’. I mostly surf with dolphins, an occasional human on a shortboard willing to try to get to my spot, no particular demographic. Unless its big, if I see more than 5 or 6 people out and my spot isn’t good, I’ll go elsewhere.

5

Hey Chippie…

Yep, band together the oldies…

Give those pesky grommets some ol’ fashioned hell.

Then they won’t even think about paddling out, let alone attempting to dominate the peak.

Josh “feeling my age”…at 37y.o. would I get a look-in at your local?

6

I envy you surfing with your friends.

Over the years all my surf buddies have drifted away.

Now days I surf by myself. If others were willing to ride a

bike a few miles they could surf with me. For the past few years

I’ve only surfed with other people, maybe 3 or 4 times.

It’s really rather funny because on a clear day I can see one of the most crowded

spots on this coast in the distance.

The other day I did see a Cormorant on the beach. Snapped a shot.

He was showing off a little.

Here’s a few more shots from last month.

Enjoy your time in the water with friends.

7

Dont know exact ages, but besides my mate, who doesnt surf early mornings after summer’s gone, my usual surf buddies are a 65 yo who rides a 6’8’’ byrne easy rider, two 40ish blokes, another 40 ish bloke occasionally, and when its good, a few more 40 ish blokes, but there on weekends, the grey brigade comes out sometimes, but they’re cool, no probs. I dont know why, but i dont regularly see many young people ( 20-30 ). However i surf early morning midweek ( dawn patrols ) so maybe that.s why.

8

I’ve heard “grampa” behind my back. I’ve surfed my local longer (37 plus years) than almost all the others have been alive. Doesn’t prove anything, though, does it?

9

one of the best sessions i ever had was when i was 21 y/o, and i was in bali for the first time. The swell had dropped, so people were like taking a breather, adn i walked down padma street one morning to find clean shoulder-high peak on kuta beach… no one out yet. shortly though a group of about 5 comes out … they were aussie gents in their late 50s / early 60s , and we were all working this little peak that was incredibly fun. It was like a carousel for a long stretch, just everyone taking turns catching waves, paddling back… and all over again for a coupla hours. During a lull we’d all broke the ice, shot the shit a bit. Just an incredibly good vibe.

had it been a younger crew, surely it would been cut-throught vibing, hassling, etc.

10

Josh “feeling my age”…at 37y.o. would I get a look-in at your local? "

sure , why not ?

today i was the lone 40+er out

7am

on a break with 15-maybe ?25yo boogieboarders ,

i managed to get four glassy head high rights on my 9’er

fun fun fun

it’s always GREAT to get a good surf to start off the week eh ?

pascal , where WERE you ??

i hope you got some later , mate [i was home by 8.40am ]

 cheers

ben

riddim , THANKS for the shots …i’ll have to send ya some more fins eh ? [were you riding your four finnner lately ?]

11

I was lined up at the DPI getting a vehicle inspection done. It took forever and on the way home I stopped briefly to watch a set roll in. It looked great but I was already 1.5hr late for work. So I didn’t get a wave in but I did get in trouble for being late.

It’s a great time of the year for sure. Looking forward to a few more days with swell to go with the conditions.

12

You know you’re getting old when a grom paddles up and says, “Sir, could you tell me the time?” Sir??

I was up visiting my mother a while ago and saw one of our neighbors, Mrs. G… She asked me, “Are you still surfing?? Isn’t that for kids?”

I thought about it. I started in 1973. The surfing boom was in the '60’s. Back then most surfers were really young. Maybe what no one expected was that a lot of those who started back then would continue to surf. Someone who was a teen in 1965 is now (wait while I get out my calculator)… is now in their 60’s. My generation is now in their 40’s-50’s. My local spots have a lot of 40-50-60 year olds.

Like Onuela said about Bertleman or someone…just a big kid who loves the ocean. That’s all of us.

ps don’t know about any of my local crew drinking tea…we’ve got this phenomenon called Starbucks.

13

Last week I paddled into a group of thirty-something year old “groms”. I got some respect for being the more experienced “old guy” - at 50.

My inner surfer thinks it’s still possible for me to join the tour… reality hits when I get out-paddled by 14 year-old girls.

Soul Surfing has a whole new meaning :wink:

14
Quote:

"…on the way home I stopped briefly to watch a set roll in. It looked great but I was already 1.5hr late for work. So I didn’t get a wave in but I did get in trouble for being late. … "

if you’re going to get into trouble for being LATE for work , then maybe …

take a sicky …and let’s go surfing , mate !

you and martijn are up this way quite often yes ? …so , how about meeting up for a surf sometime , eh ?

cheers

ben

15

I’ve got your number. It’s usually such a spur of the moment decision though. If you see a guy on a compsand up your way one day it might be me, so say g’day. The probability will increase over the next few weeks as (hopefully) it becomes more consistent and the banks settle out. Last time I was at Brighton Rd they were pretty straight, in fact all along the coast there it was shutting down.

16

yep , you gotta be patient , and pick your waves for sure !!

i videod a guy on a 9’2 ‘sunova’ on thursday . he got some good ones …

17

I’m out in the glassy, crystal clear 1 footers today. Mucking around on my new 2nd hand 9’4" glider and start talking to Robbie who’s looking after one of his surf school students.

Robbie is a past Qld champ (shortboards) and is at 43 a couple of years younger than me.

I ask him…“How’s your body holding up after all the years of surfing?”

Classic answers.

Bung knee (same for me)

Upper back problems (same for me)

Except I’m sitting on a 9’4" for the trim and glide and he’s on a 6’1" and still fast and fluid. Both stoked.

18

today WAS a couple of turns and a wipeout

and the random tube , too

same demographics, grahame , alec , neighbour dave , and i .

‘young pascal’ paddled by , too ??!!

…hope ya got some paz .

the 9’4 came in handy on some of the smaller ones today .

i could have done with G6 sideys on the earlier bigger ones , though !!

glassy autumn days …aaaaahhhhhh ! nice

[today would have been a great day for water shots …maybe next week , when my brother is in town , eh ?!]

cheers !

ben

19

" …dave , my neighbour , 55 , riding an 8’er "…