Dealing with aggro in the water.

[nickyb]

Hi guys, I'm not sure to how many of you this will apply, but the beach I surf out gets extremely crowded, not just with surfers, but swimmers, kayakers, boats, it's a bit of a mind field out there.

There are certain rules in place to keep people safe - ie swimmers stay between the flags, no fibre glass boards at the north end, no surfing soft tops in the flags etc. (See beach flags guide)

Anyway this morning my friend and I were out at the one breaking bank had flags in the middle of it, so we went to the side of it - this is allowed in north bondi, as long as you're not on a fibre glass board. And just to be clear we were not in the flags, nor were we drifting into them. Anyway I'm out back and I hear my friend being abused by this geriatric swimmer - who's calling her a blow in and saying she can't have her board there, and "I've lived here all my life and don't you tell me what the rules are" - she's very placid, had just pointed out she wasn't in the flags and was just sitting there while this guy goes off.

I am not very placid and I hate localism at the best of times, but on my own beach! (I've lived there for ten years, sadly I'm not 923 so yeah, the old geezer did have some years on me) I paddled over to defend my friend and pointed out that we had every right to be there and that having lived there for 10 years I was as much a 'local' as he was.

At this point he told us both to 'fleshin' off back to North America or wherever you came from' - if either of us hadn't been white I would have punched him at that point, but instead I just told him he was about 8000 miles off, slowclapped him and paddle away.

But it rattled us and ruined the start of the session, I surf to get away from aggro bull not to get embroiled in it. It' s not the first time, I've come across these guys as a group - most of the time it's laughable - a group of them hung out the back once, treading water, just so they could heckle surfers! Seriously don't they have anything better to do with their time?

So rant over, how do you guys deal with aggression in the water?

[drowningbitbybit]

Ah, bondi...

I think the slowclap was about right

[IB_Surfer]

Depends, is this girl a girlfriend or girl friend? if she's not your girlfriend, you should let ladies take on geezers, they can handle themselves just fine. If it's your girlfriend then I would have been meaner to him and not try to figure things out, like "that's no way to talk to a lady, you watch your mouth assnugget!" or something like that

[jaffa1949]

Agggggggh, Bondi, the most publicised beach in Australia, touted as the epitome of all beachs, can have over 40,0000 on the beach on summers day, smack in the middle of the largest city.
In over 50 years I have only surfed there once. Old leathery silver backed gorillas who have body surfed it since surf bathing was allowed in about 1904ish, and then every self entitled east suburb person,+ every visiting tourist who wishes to have the surfing experience adds up,to aggro ignorance,aggro localism etc.
How to solve this, head south give you and your girlfriend, the south coast and far south coast surfing and tour and natural experience. Escape from the Zoo.
BTW your surfing won't improve much while you have little freedom to do stuff

[nickyb]

Yep Jaffa that just about sums it up

She's a mate, not my girlfriend (my gf hates surfing) but I'll always back my friends up - especially when they're not doing anything wrong.

There are times when Bondi's relatively chilled - super early in the morning, and in the summer from like 7:30pm onwards.

Basically when it's still/getting dark

I am thinking of starting to head down to Maroubra instead though - am I right in thinking that if you're not a complete c***head, are polite, wait your turn in the line up and apologise if you do something stupid (it happens)- you'll be fine.

[jaffa1949]

Most times that's true, but there guys who are permanently afflicted with bad attitude, I've seen some guys be aggro even when there is only a couple of other surfers. Some can't physically back themselves and rely on mouth, others well they have friends to give them courage they up their aggro.

Karma will get them in the end, stay stress free you'll win, surfing is supposed to be fun.

The Bra may be a little daunting, some of the guys like to think they have reputation.

With good guys an apology will work. The other sort

I've been known to give serve but usually after I've explained what was going wrong and people continue with dangerous surfing.
We protect our grommets and female surfers down here,!

[drowningbitbybit]

I am thinking of starting to head down to Maroubra instead though

The 'bra is my local - and it's no better than Bondi. The crowds aren't quite as bad, but make no mistake - unlike Bondi, everyone in the water can surf insanely well (except me, obviously) and they take no prisoners. Any hesitation whatsoever and you simply won't get the wave, and when you do, make sure you can get off it, because there's a good chance someone on your inside will have taken off where you thought was impossibly deep.

If you want to escape the crowds, cronulla is your first port of call (still crowded, but nothing like Bondi) or better still, make a day trip to the 'gong

[drowningbitbybit]

Oh, also the wave at the bra is a lot heavier and faster than Bondi
Snapped boards are not uncommon.

Not trying to put you off - give it a go. Actually, I don't like maroubra much, but its 2 minutes down the road...

[nickyb]

Not trying to put you off - give it a go. Actually, I don't like maroubra much, but its 2 minutes down the road...

Ha I already have one of those beaches

Funny you should mention the gong - my gf is away for two weeks so was thinking of heading down to Thirroul - but no idea what it's like?

[jaffa1949]

There are couple of good spots accessible from Thirroul, Sandon Point is one and either side of the headland there is something for all levels. Pick a small to light medium swell time, big swells get serious down there. Nice spots there covering all levels of ability, still some aggro from some. Take care, this time of year unlike Bondi they are not patrolled.

I you wanted to venture further there is Mollymook which can be kind to beginners.

[drowningbitbybit]

Funny you should mention the gong - my gf is away for two weeks so was thinking of heading down to Thirroul - but no idea what it's like?

The whole area is fantastic for surfing... once you're below the Royal National Park, there's dozens of beaches, and you can usually find somewhere quiet. Even in the 'gong itself, there's plenty of room. Well worth a day trip.

[dtc]

There are couple of good spots accessible from Thirroul, Sandon Point is one and either side of the headland there is something for all levels. Pick a small to light medium swell time, big swells get serious down there. Nice spots there covering all levels of ability, still some aggro from some. Take care, this time of year unlike Bondi they are not patrolled.

I you wanted to venture further there is Mollymook which can be kind to beginners.

Bulli Beach (next to Thirroul), Corrimal and Towradgi also have some good spots and I've seen a few people enjoying Stanwell Park and Coalcliff, both of which are a little bit isolated so I suspect rarely get too busy. You will certainly find something in Wollongong and there are usually two or three spots per beach that are worth trying, so you can almost always get away from the 'crowds'.

Mollymook might be a bit far... Not usually crowded, but on the weekend there were at least 10 people at one of the breaks. Very annoying for the south coast! Actually, the main problem was that 3 were on SUPs, 3 on long boards, a couple of mid sizers and some grommets on shortboards flying all over the place regardless of what was going on (plus the usual bodyboarders and geriatric swimmers) - no matter which way you turned there was someone coming toward you or sitting behind you. The fact that there was no swell meant everyone wanted the same wave when something finally came past. Made me realise that Sydney (and UK and Calif etc) would probably drive me crazy.

Yes, I'm both spoilt and a whinger.

[nickyb]

*sigh* 10 people on the break is quiet for me.

South coast this weekend it is - I'm guessing it will be quieter than Sydney's northern beaches, which was plan b?

[drowningbitbybit]

I'm guessing it will be quieter than Sydney's northern beaches, which was plan b?

Good grief... down south is nothing like the northern beaches!
Drive far enough or pick the right spot and you can surf on your own
It's going to be small this weekend, so you should be able to find a nice little break to yourself.