Surfing Waves

After another nightmare day in Bondi I feel compelled to create this thread, Even if it just reaches one of these P****s I will be happy.

Please grow some manners and learn some etiquette....

Just because you can sit out back on your 10 inch thick boards and take every set does not mean you have to, Have some respect for the guys who have to sit inside and take turns its really not that hard, being the only short boarder in the line up today for around an hour and a half, I got sick to the eye balls of high volume riders on every single damn wave screaming "woooo", 45 seconds later after a effortless paddle back out they jump on another wave screaming "wooo",

Lucky really I learnt how to get green waves and stop them in their tracks but it didnt stop the arguments in the water...

Rant over.

Wooooooo!! but I try to share the waves a bit

peazz wrote:After another nightmare day in Bondi ... being the only short boarder in the line up today

Why should they? You really think that the line-up, en masse, is going to let a set go through so the guy who's arguably on the wrong board for the conditions (in which I include crowds and what everybody else is riding) can get one?

It's extremely frustrating when it happens, but it's not their etiquette that's the problem, it's where and what you've chosen to surf. On a day when there's a few of you out there on a peak, and there's a mix of shortboarders and longboarders, then, yes, you may find that the longboarders will let one pass every now and then or back off when they see you going for it. But in the madness that is Bondi, that simply won't happen. Even if 90% of the guys were to let a set go through, there'd be a guy who also thought that he hadn't got his share and that this was his wave.

If you're not getting waves because of the longboarders then change spots, change boards, or learn to manipulate the right-of-way by sitting right on the peak. Don't expect the line-up to do you any favours, it just doesn't work that way and never will.

Better still, pop round the corner and surf Bronte, which is much more suitable for shortboarders.

etiquette

1. Dont keep paddling straight out the back and catching every wave.

One of the first things I ever read, Also, I was not on the wrong board, they were 2-3ft, moving fast and hollow on the inside.

So, What your trying to say is im the only decent person in the line up not paddling for every wave and should stop doing it yes?

Yep. Hustle a bit my boy!

Just drop in...

Don't get mad, get even. I traded in my modern fish for a retro fish, mine is an epoxy, super floaty, 3" thick, 22" wide, 6'3. Why so thick, long and wide? So I can sit outside with the longboarders and paddleboarders and catch their waves. I don't ride it too much, but always show up with it in my car. Sometimes I take it out even if the wrong conditions when I see a lot of longboarders, and I have gotten barrelled in my fish, just not as easily as my shortboard.

When in a gun fight and you are out there with a knife, trade it in for a stubby pistol. You might not have the biggest gun, but should have a more fair chance of winning. Food for thought.

This is how I hope to respond to high volume riders someday, specifically around the 2:00 minute mark (video from Malibu, which happens to be one of my favorite spots)

gd6 wrote:This is how I hope to respond to high volume riders someday, specifically around the 2:00 minute mark (video from Malibu, which happens to be one of my favorite spots)

http://youtu.be/RmdGqL_uZwU

that was funny - although the risk I guess is that one of the longboarders loses control and you get a board flying at you.

I tried to get a board from proctor ( specifically the li'rascal ), but after 3 emails and no replies I gave up on them, they dont like giving advice to kooks it seems.

dtc wrote:

gd6 wrote:This is how I hope to respond to high volume riders someday, specifically around the 2:00 minute mark (video from Malibu, which happens to be one of my favorite spots)

http://youtu.be/RmdGqL_uZwU

that was funny - although the risk I guess is that one of the longboarders loses control and you get a board flying at you.

And that my friend is how to get yourself KTFO if your not a local!

Good in principle, bad in practice for most.

Hey guys it is not about the board, you'd have to have the skills and the attitude to do that level of surfing, the "lil Rascal" rider is out surfing a lot of very ordinary surfers, he doesn't care either way, dropping in or being dropped in on. Maybe he had a brief the advertise the board by hanging all the turns between the other surfers.
But like Bondi, Noosa and Byron Bay, Malibu is a is now a surf kook zoo.
The difference is more the difference between good surfers and ordinary surfer
Have Miki Dora on that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhEkf368i28

Malibu is a zoo, but there are 2 breaks just north of the more famous break you see in the video that are rarely crowded, and have really nice waves a lot of the time (although they are a shorter ride and a little more suited to shortboards). Those 2 breaks (not seen in the video) are my favorite, and its never been crowded at those on any of the weekdays I've been there. The break you see in the video is always crowded and is probably one of the longest rides in the world when the conditions are right.

The thing that can get really frustrating at Malibu for me is the paddleboarders. They tend to do what Peazz described and just catch wave after wave without caring about anyone else...and it barely looks like they are having fun because they just stand there riding the waves without even moving or doing anything. You do have to get adjusted to the rules of Malibu, which is basically try not to let your board hit anybody and thats about it...if you can drop in without physically hitting anybody then go for it, lol. I actually think all those people getting passed by in the video were probably stoked to see somebody who was a really good surfer.

Oh and I actually do have a proctor rascal II in my quiver...still a little beyond my skill level, but happy to have it waiting for me when I get a little better. I obviously don't expect to surf like that guy just because I have a rascal though, but I do except it to be a fast board for small waves.

Paddleboarders with no etiquette are a world wide problem, I have ranted about it before, but anybody who is not working with the other surfers (no matter the craft) is just downright selfish.
My usual ploy is to be somewhere else, but if I can't be somewhere else then with full sense of entitlement and self righteousness I do everything as a game to burn the selfish ones.
When do I choose to do that?
When there is overly selfish surfers endangering learners and young people at the break.
If the person is genuinely unaware then a quiet word is usually enough.
If not then there are usually enough of our older guys looking after our young ones to have a word with the person together.
The turn around on this is our youngster when they go elsewhere have some manners.

There is also a fair bit of calling people into waves and calling people off waves if they are being greedy.
Doesn't always work here but most times it does and fun is shared all around.

I got called off a wave today by some prick, must of been around 35 on a wide high volume fish, it was breaking right and I was on his left..that means I had right of way any how, got called of the wave.

I have built up some confidence over the past few weeks and lets say he got a mouthful from me when he paddled in and did it again.

No the next time, I snaked him and took off right in front of him

There you go...

jaffa1949 wrote:Peazz you just passed assertiveness training 101.
Congratulations.

I surf on a very popular beach! I've been crowded out, dropped in on, kicked, shouted at, have shouted at, dropped in on someone else, got in the way, found myself in the impact zone etc. etc. The bottom line is you're there to have fun, and if you're not then its up to you how you react. Its easier to find a less crowded break: go elsewhere, or get there early or late! I get a good 3 hours surf before it starts to get crowded or if I'm late I go to another beach where less people go. In crowded beaches all you can hear is mine, mine, mine, mine so react different!

Greg