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Injuries: not many.
friend of mine lost a finger. he's not 100% how, but grabbed his leash to pull board back after a wave, thinks leash got wrapped around it his finger, next wave took the board, pulled the leash tight, felt a sharp pain and when he surfaced his middle finger at the first joint was gone!
I'll agree to some extent on SUP surfing, you have valid points. The points you raise we already know about because we've been doing it for years, it's the newbies that don't understand the etiquette or inherent dangers SUP surfing can inflict on other water users.
Whilst not impeaching surfers, they too can be the nasty in the line up.
What we do and I do is try to educate all my SUP surfing mates, and newbies, I see out there as to the general etiquette and board handling. It's an uphill struggle sometimes but we'll get there one day, like kitesurfing BITD when most people hated them, now we all get along fine.
If this thread starts to get nasty I'm out, shame because we've all got stuff to say, we've all got experience(s) we'd like to hear about.
If this thread starts to get nasty I'm out
Sorry not tying to make the thread nasty, just saying that often the biggest danger in surfing comes not from waves, water conditions or wildlife but from other water users, SUP's, Kayaks and yes all too often often other surfers, as a mate can testify (all too well thankfully) after by being knocked unconscious in the water by a runaway longboard that another surfer was riding unleashed. Surfing by itself in an uncrowded lineup is a pretty safe sport really provided you know what you're doing.
Cool, all good then.
We, SUP surfers, are trying to encourage our surfing in the less crowded and quiet areas of the beach. We understand only too well the issues with newbies, and some rather arrogant types we already have in our sport, to just go somewhere else and play. Fistral for our lot is never used, none of my mates go there because mostly it's a "surfers" zone and we're not that bothered to go play there and leave them to it. We have plenty of other places, Crantock around the headland for instance is mainly ours, hardly any surfers go there and those that do know exactly how to surf, likewise our lot who go there know how to surf too. We get along, we play nicely.
Sadly for us we are at the inception stage of SUP surfing I general, this means we're the bad boys, those guys to have a go at.. we're fine with that hence we go elsewhere.
I'm off up the North East Coast to do a Tour of the beaches again tomorrow, I'm hoping I get some decent surf, being winter means only the hard core surfers will be out which means they know what they are doing, I likewise know what I'm doing. I'm looking forward to some less crowded surf, some wide open spaces and the epic ness that the Northumberland and North Yorkshire coastline has to offer.
I'll post a pic or two..
Your attitude matters more than your surf craft (kayakers excluded ;-))
If you respect the locals in a line-up, take your turn, don't hog the set waves and don't drop in on people then generally you will get on fine whatever you're riding.
What people don't like is non-local SUPers taking all the set waves as mentioned above. Dropping in on people on any craft. Paddling for waves so everyone else leaves them and not taking off so the wave goes unridden (on any craft)
I have a particular dislike of people who turn up with a "city" attitude and are aggressive or discourteous in the water, often with a lower level of skill that doesn't match their attitude/ opinion of their own importance.
"Give respect to gain respect" goes a long way!
We have a lot of SUP's descend on us each summer. Those that know what they are doing are a pleasure to watch and trade waves with.(I ride one myself in tiny waves quite a lot) It would be nice if those who aren't used to actually surfing their SUP were happier to choose a less crowded end of our long beach and remember that wielding a sharp edged paddle and a bigger board is much more dangerous.
That's down to attitude not class of water user again though
and are aggressive or discourteous in the water
what about locals who are like that. because there are plenty....
Anyone remember Beefy from Aberavon? 🙄
theres no excuse for that either unless you've done something to p++ them off.
Round here its generally mellow unless you are getting in the way or being an arse but I know its not like that everywhere.
Interestingly, Hawaii, for all its much vaunted aloha spirit is the least friendly place i've ever surfed and ive never seen locals here behave as badly to visitors.
In the 90's at a surf comp at fistral.
Paddled out alongside David "Poto"Vetea. He caught 3 waves in and out before I hit the line up. That's was pretty scary!
Problem I have as a relatively new surfer is all this etiquette that you are supposed to magically know and apply. I am crap and stay very close to shore and away from the main body of surfers usually to avoid getting in the way, but how can you learn all this when nobody explains? Maybe it's just where I go but I find people, even one of the main local shops - and not as if I haven't given them business, unwilling to advise/ give info.
Maybe as it's so different to mtb where I have always found people keen to help and advise but I find I'm not progressing as the 'herd' seem so unapproachable and etiquette bound. Just my opinion, I could be wildly wrong, or just going to the wrong beaches!
what about locals
if you respect the locals you won't take sh@t from them. quite simple really.
when i did all my travelling it was way back in the 80s when you really would get beaten up if you mucked about, but in all the places i went to, and many of them ferociously territorial, i never had an prob... ok, i did once get chased by a car load of hawaiians waving guns but that was my mate's fault.
anywhere in the world, just respect the locals both in and out the water.
and thats what surfing has lost, the respect.
We used to stay at Treyarnon Bay when I was a kid aged about 7 or 8 and we would fearlessly and recklessly hit the biggest swells at Treyarnon and Constantine on our polystyrene boards, alone, while our parents sat around in the little cottage drinking wine..
We used to get regularly smashed to pieces and end up limp and exhausted on the tideline, coughing up lungfuls of water amongst the debris of our obliterated boards..
Lucky to be alive really 🙂
We got pretty smashed up bodyboarding up north on NZs North Island last spring too..
Scariest I've [i]seen[/i] was when we stayed in Ericeira years and years ago, mid 80s? watching folk surfing huge waves late into the night
Gav with respect that doesn't always work. I could tell you about a few trips to Langland where you could of been Mother Theresa and the moron crew would give you plenty.
and thats what surfing has lost, the respect.
and what defines a local? been there a week, a month, a summer, a couple of years or born & bred? are you only a local at one beach?
i've seen plenty of 'locals' acting like complete dicks thinking they have a right to snake and drop in.
the sooner surfing loses the mystical 'respect the locals' bullshit the better.
If this thread starts to get nasty I'm out
ll this etiquette that you are supposed to magically know
It's all just playing in the sea, so proceed on the basis that everyone hates everyone else. Shortboarders hate longboaders hate funboards, single fin retro whatever, spongers, locals, learners, pros, tourists, get in the way swimmers, ****ing seal bastards, great whites, waveskis ? goatboaters, jetskis... (actually I think we can all agree about jetskis),. kite surfers (estate agents last seen proceeding face down at speed across the beach, nose making a small rut). The list goes on, get out there and feel the love...
. double post.
It's this respect the locals shit that makes me laugh too - I take it you concede to locals on cycle trails too? Or the road when your driving? Because, you know, they deserve it.
Need get over yourself, as others have said, if everyone respected each other and not be a dick then there's plenty of sea/ ocean for everyone.
For the ignorant, please define 'respect'. Definition of the term 'local' is an exercise left to the reader.
http://www.surfthecoast.com.au/Surferscodeofconduct
There's plenty of stuff on the net to help you northshoreniall
It doesn't matter how long you have lived there. It's about being part of the community that exists around each break and putting the time in to have a place in that community. It's the same as moving into a new village somewhere and keeping a low profile and being friendly and meeting people, not expecting to turn up and chop down everyone's favourite tree so you can park your car in the middle of the village green. Or something!
And may I say Niall, it's attitudes like that that upsets people.
The oddest thing would happen during the day though, I’d see 6, 8 even sometimes 10 people in the surf all bobbing around, enjoying themselves, then in the evening we’d go to the Kings Head Pub and there would be dozens if not hundreds of lads stood about chatting about surfing, wearing all the clobber, hanging out of the back of rusty microbuses. I often wondered where they’d been all day, the beech was empty.
😆 True dat!
Problem I have as a relatively new surfer is all this etiquette that you are supposed to magically know and apply.
It's pretty simple. Don't drop in on someone (the person nearest the curl has right of way), if you can (or it's appropriate), paddle round potential take-off points and generally don't act like a dick.
i've seen plenty of 'locals' acting like complete dicks thinking they have a right to snake and drop in.
Speaking of dicks, a friend and I were enjoying an off-season post-surf pint in The Watering Hole on Perranporth beach, and a bloke neither of us had ever seen before walked in and called us both 'c**ts' before walking off to join his mates. Friend's wife joined us and we mention this, and she predicted he was someone that has lived here for a year or two and now is 'local'. The irony is that friend's wife can trace her family history back through the area, and her great-Grandfather managed a local tin mine.
Unfortunately there's dicks everywhere. There's one at my local break who was previously a reasonably competitive surfer who now SUPs; he's a local face, but treats the place like he owns it and has little respect for visitors in the water. What he seems to forget is that these visitors are having fun in the water and actually contributing massively to the local economy; his behaviour could potentially put people off returning, not to mention off surfing as a sport.
Wait, I need carry an axe/ saw for chopping down trees now too! Nobody told me that in the lessons 🙂
Cheers for that link, am hoping spend more time surfing and just need spend the time as you say. Sure will get there, obviously once I don't upset the locals with my lack of respect.
Edit - sorry what attitudes? I'm confused, as above I stay well out of way as I know I am a hazard due to my lack of skills. Until such time as someone shows me how to identify these righteous locals I will treat all with respect and would expect the same in return.
I'll post a pic or two..
Please do!
Sorry not tying to make the thread nasty, just saying that often the biggest danger in surfing comes not from waves, water conditions or wildlife but from other water users, SUP's, Kayaks and yes all too often often other surfers
It's a fair comment.
I don't surf particularly regularly, but I've had slices cut out of my board as a French lass took off into me at Cromer pier, and earlier this year, while paddling out in head-high surf, a lass in front of tossed her board aside to dive through a wave. When she surfaced I pointed out that it nearly took my noggin off and I received a sarcastic 'sorr-ee!' in return. I get it - she's being bashed about by the water and now has a guy who's in the water with friends pointing out that she's done something daft, which is pretty initimidating - I just hope she learnt something from it. She got out shortly afterwards.
Ok I paddle a kayak and agree with all of you that surfers get in the way. Fortunately I can paddle faster than you and catch waves earlier so its not a problem.
😉
erm, erm,
nah...
Ok I paddle a kayak and agree with all of you that surfers get in the way. Fortunately I can paddle faster than you and catch waves earlier so its not a problem.
😆
Back on topic: had a few hold downs and one magnificent bail at an overhead Woolacombe many winters ago, where I realised I was completely out of my depth and concluded mother nature is a particularly brutal and unforgiving mistress. Very much prefer waves chest height and under these days.
Seen more scary beasts while diving, including sharks and barracuda.
I should also add that I don't consider myself a 'surfer', more someone that likes to surf.
I lived in North Cornwall in the 80s and also experienced the Crackington Seal, safe to say seals live in the Crackington area!
surfing is nothing to admire from afar any longer, its a burned out cliche that whored its soul to the mass market way back.
Yup, I stopped surfing in the mid 90s as the magic was fading rapidly, I am amazed but not surprised by how its become.
Not as bad as the guy I found floating face down out back at Llangennith.
That made me wince! Not a surfer, but my girls body boarded there many times as we stay close by. I always thought it was a very safe surfing beach and certainly so huge (3M), you can't imagine anyone getting in others way there, if you can be bothered to walk down from the car park a bit.
My only addition to this story was when I was wind surfing in the Maldives in the 80's and a huge Manta ray sailed right under my board. It was a breathtaking moment and one I'll never forget.
surfing is nothing to admire from afar any longer, its a burned out cliche that whored its soul to the mass market way back.
Bullocks, surfing (the actual surfing part) is the same and just as much fun as its ever been. Okay so it's a bit busier our there now but it's still just a board, a person and the ocean. Yet there's still new breaks being discovered all over the world and you can often find complete solitude and exploration if that's your thing.
What's changed is the industry off the water, the marketing and sponsorship behind it. The industries built around selling branded clothing to people who've never ridden a surf board in their life. But no need to get sucked into this if all you want to do is ride and not get paid for it.
It's the same with pretty much every outdoor sport these days, biking included, particularly since the advent of the GoPro, and Red Bull viral stuff has made these things more accessible. I mean just look around any high street - there's more hi-tech mountaineering clothing being worn on an average shopping Saturday than on a winters day up Ben Nevis!
surfing is nothing to admire from afar any longer, its a burned out cliche that whored its soul to the mass market way back.
surfing is the source man, change your life, swear to god...
Yet there's still new breaks being discovered all over the world and you can often find complete solitude and exploration if that's your thing.
you can find complete solitude on the north coast of cornwall in the height of summer. just not within 500yds of a car park...
you can find complete solitude on the north coast of cornwall in the height of summer. just not within 500yds of a car park
Same car park mid week in October though when the waves are much better . . .
i'm getting lazy, only surf in summer now on nice 2-3ft clean days. waiting for my boy to get old enough to learn to surf and it'll make the 45 min drive to the north coast more appealing...
What's changed
Is webcams and wetsuit technology,
had a few hold downs and one magnificent bail at an overhead Woolacombe many winters ago, where I realised I was completely out of my depth and concluded mother nature is a particularly brutal and unforgiving mistress.
Woolacombe beach seems prone to sneaky sets that suddenly start breaking 50-100m further out than everything else. Have suffered there several times, usually at the end of the day when I've no energy left to paddle out or in.
There's a part of Tynemouth beach (Longsands) where you occasionally see refracted waves joining up, so two three foot waves randomly generate a 6 foot "thing" which can wander around like a mogul in front of you.
I learned two important lessons from surfing: 1. Water weighs shed loads. 2. drowning isn't the scary bit, concussion and hypotehrmia are.
well I'm just back from a very pleasant little surf at a local beach for local people (joking) and in a jolly mood.
Actually this particular place doesn't really have "locals" and as long as everyone is considerate its a safe and fun place to surf.
I was thinking about trying to explain the locals thing. The best way I can describe it is this.
Say you have some great trails in the woods by your house. There's a group of you that live nearby. You all ride there 4 or 5 times a week come rain or shine, dry trails or muddy, summer or winter. You take your kids there at the weekends. You know every tree, every rut and many of your happy memories involve the wood, the trails or the people you ride with. Whatever time you go you will see someone you know. Belonging to that crew of riders means something to you in your daily life/ community
Now lets say the bbc forecast a super dry sunny weekend. You're excited to go ride there but its so busy theres no parking and your normally quiet empty wood is full of people, standing on blind corners, stopping randomly causing dangerous obstructions. Maybe they are bailing off that bigger jump that's there and their bike is flying off towards bystanders. They are probably not waiting their turn at the tail head either, just pushing in and then being rude to you if you politely suggest they wait their turn or move out of the way from where they stopped on the blind corner.
It would wind you up a little wouldn't it (honestly?!)
surfing is the source man, change your life, swear to god...
I caught my first tube yesterday. Anyway, I'm not sure what level of irony's attached to that PB quote, but I have seen more lives changed by surfing than by any other sport/outdoor activity by a factor of loads. Probably including mine.
I mean, climbing say can be a pretty all embracing thing that people build their lives around. But the climbers I know who've done this to whatever level (and I live somewhere well known for it's climbing) are a minority of the climbers I know. Whereas for most of the guys I know who surf I'd say it's pretty much their main thing in life. And that's not counting those I know who've buggered off to live by the pacific/indian/atlantic oceans.
It would wind you up a little wouldn't it
I'd graciously accept that if it wasn't for the tourist money, most surf towns would be screwed and there wouldn't be any employment.
and then go surfing at dawn or dusk.
and then go surfing at dawn or dusk.
I like nothing better than seeing the sun rising over the dunes/hills and there's half a dozen of you in the water, getting out at 9 just as the rest of the world going down the beach.
Bringing money into an area is no excuse for being rude or dangerous.
Also lots of places are less reliant on the weekend surfer spending cash than you imagine.
It's often just as busy at dawn and dusk now too.
edit- as mentioned above, most decent surfers are obsessive to a level rarely seen or understood outside substance addiction . Theres a test of questions ( do you allow it to affect your job prospects/ financial arrangements/ interfere with personal relationships etc )about whether you are addicted to anything and most decent surfers qualify on this.
It's hard to explain to those outside and its hackneyed but it is much more a lifestyle than a sport for most. As such it matters more to people too since they have built/ rearranged their life/ income/ family or lack thereof around it
living in an area is no excuse for being rude or dangerous either...
Bringing money into an area is no excuse for being rude or dangerous
Nor is living locally to a break.
Respect, Gav, is earned. I've been the local living at the beach and cheesed off at high summer, but getting narkey and stroppy only serves to make you look stupid, erasing any respect that might have been earned in the small amount of time you had to make an impression.
No-one owns those waves, so get over it. Considerate surfing, yes. Not dropping in (it does happen by accident) helps and not monopolising every wave on a longboard/kayak/SUP helps too.
Now if those 'out of town' surfers start littering and wrecking the area I lived in, they'd find their rubbish back in the car or be invited to procreate elsewhere. But 'localism' is only displayed by bell ends.
I see we've been down the "locals" for locals route whilst I've been working 😆
We all have our favourite spots, I've 3 local breaks near me that are within 20min drive. What we've seen over the last 4months is a total lack of waves, it's been pants really pants. This has lead me and my mates to head to North Cornwall more often, more regularly and more often than not at odd times. We tend to run on forecasts or mates eyeball check, if it's looking bumpy we'll head off there. Over the last few months I've seen more folks surfing, more guys on the water and more guys enjoying it. I don't think this is a trend, I think it's just some folks returning to the sport who've had a lay off for a while, like we all do.
Another really neat observation is that I've seen more folks/kids learning to surf via PGL or recognised surf schools, than ever. This means kids are learning watercraft from an early age, it'll stay with them for life.
I go to Westward Ho a lot, back in Sept on that really warm spell we had, I'd been out all morning, gone back for lunch then thought I'd go back to the beach for supper... it was still warm, great waves and it was packed with locals enjoying a surf, must have been 40 of them... it was half 8 in the evening and the sun was starting to go down..
Fabulous
living in an area is no excuse for being rude or dangerous either...
No it's not (see my comment on Hawaii above), You might also want to google the frankly bizarre and shocking behaviour of the palos verdes locals in LA.
I can only speak for my own beaches but my experience here is that the locals are open and welcoming unless you cross them. I can honestly say that the only time i've seen unpleasantness in the water its been initiated by the actions and attitude of a visitor.
The thing is, localism (tribalism) to a certain degree is part of surfing right back to the Polynesians who invented it so it no matter what people think, it isn't going to ever disappear. It's been worse in some eras and it varies from place to place but its always there.
Fundamentally if you are a grown up nice human being, when you visit somewhere/ anywhere you should be polite and respectful of the local population and their customs and seek to fit into the environment in the least impactful way possible. Grown ups should treat visitors with respect if the visitor acts in this civilised way since we all visit places sometimes. Do unto others etc
Perhaps it's just me but I really don't see a lot of negativity and I've been at it for more tha 30 years. Maybe it's because most of my surfing is north east rather than south west, and the vibe is still pretty chilled up here. When I'm surfing in Europe, basically staying away from the very small number of breaks with a really bad rep and I've had not problems with the locals.
I reckon I've got another 6 months before I get really fed up with work and jack it in in favour of surfing again - nice empty mid-week breaks!
I've been surfing for 20 ish years and although i don;t get out much any more (once a year if I'm doing well) I have surfed in a few places around the UK and Australia and NZ.
Scariest experience was getting asthma attack in good size surf in North wales, that wasn't much fun. Also on teh same trip I pulled in to my firs wave at porth ceiriad (google it for images of lovely blue barrels) and stuck the nose of my long board into the sea bed, no idea how i didn't snap my board.
Never had a real problem with localism (aside from my wife's company car being keyed when it was parked in a back street in woolacombe) but i'm quite respectful in the water.
I did get a vibe at Back Beach new new plymouth in NZ. Almost everyone on the small peak were Maori, and then there was me and another older white guy on longboards. We stuck to a small shoulder and hopped on that trading waves and having fun. Can't say there would have been an issue paddling into the main peak but there was an obvious group of locals and not a lot of space so it seemed pointless testing it out. Besides the shoulder was quiet, clean and stress free.
PMJ may be able to recount a story involving me and a kayaker who dropped in on me and threatened to ding my board. she survived though. 😆