Surfing Waves

Hey guys, merry Xmas to all.

First post in a little while. While I've gone back to surfinga couple of times, I can't quite explain the feeling I get from paddling of late. I guess it's like when I first started surfing and it Was all new and open to experimentation?
I brought this 8'1 x 27.5 gulliver paddle board a few weeks ago and wasn't sure about it
On the first test. I tried my 8'5 pro afterwards in the same conditions and immediately listed all other boards (I've sold 4 in the past 2 weeks!).
The immediate speed is noticeable and the short rail line is great. So far it's become
My weapon of choice for everything.

I was out 2 weeks ago on our east coast during a hurricane swell- I was the only
Sup. I sat about 20m further out than all
The shortboarders and waited for some
Of the bigger sets. I paddled hard and noticed no other surfer was even going for it. Started to feel the wave push and kept on paddling- making a really steep drop I looked up on my backhand and saw the wave was staring to barrel. I thought this might be my first proper barrel! Let alone on a sup! I curled over and let it go over me- the nose got caught up in it and I got hurled with the wave lip, airborne for a moment or two before being absolutely
Ripped to pieces under the water. Lost my ear plugs, paddle and had my first ever double wave hold down.
I found the paddle and made it back out to the line up. Several surfers clapped and pulled shakkas at me! One dude said I was fearless and another asked if I got in to big wave surfing. My mates paddle over and said it was easily double overhead and about 20 of them had watched me pulling in to a barrel.
The wipeout ended up giving me a serious black eye and mild concussion (must've crashed on to the board) but it's interesting catching a big wave on a sup. It doesn't seem
Or feel big if you catch it early and already standing! I have yet to be scared of Any wave I've paddled in to and this is on the short, flat and thick gulliver board! I had many moments on the shortboard where I was scared massively of an oncoming wave and paddled hard to get further back.

The below pics were taken lastnight in 'small' waves outside my cousins house. It was my 4th day in a row and 2nd time going out on the same day yesterday! By chance a dude turned up to take pics on the beach and have me
His card with these pics.

The funny thing for me is that I would never had done supping if I hadn't snapped my achillies twice. I (probably like most of you) hated the suppers and zero interest in that over surfing. I didn't have a choice in my recovery when I couldn't surf for over 1.5years and this was the closest I could do. The irony is that is has almost brought back the essence of stoke and surfing- getting waves, having fun, learning etc without the hang ups of either a big board or little board. I'm hoping that through each of my surfs I'm inspiring people thAt sups aren't all bad and that they can charge too!

My comment as always , the problem is not the board, it is alway the attitude of the person riding it!

benjl wrote: The irony is that is has almost brought back the essence of stoke and surfing- getting waves, having fun, learning etc without the hang ups of either a big board or little board. I'm hoping that through each of my surfs I'm inspiring people thAt sups aren't all bad and that they can charge too!

I've never been inspired by SUP riders. They're a wave-hogging nuisance as far as my experience goes. Many SUP riders don't know surfing etiquette at all. In their defense, however, I'm not sure there's an etiquette that works for bringing them into a lineup of surfers. (They don't catch waves in the same way as surfers do so they are not in the same position for waves that surfers are in.) I understand that you want to be accepted into a lineup of surfers, but until you can address the problem that SUP riders pose to a surfing lineup, you're not saying anything other than you like SUP riding. That's great. I suggest you SUP at a long beach break where you can find your own peak and avoid lineups with lots of surfers.

If you're going to write posts singing the praises of SUP riding, then perhaps you should actually address the problems that SUP riding creates in a surfing lineup. There's a reason why SUP riding is problematic and frustrating to traditional surfers. You never address any of the valid concerns traditional surfers have about SUP riding because I don't think those concerns really matter to SUP riders. You don't see kite surfers asking surfing lineups to accommodate them, so why should SUP riders expect anything different?

C'mon, benjl, I thought you were all healed and ready to get back to surfing.

You have the accolades of your peers and inspired others but the ocean says "I don't care about that." You have to learn to respect the ocean or it's going to hand you your *** like it just did. For your own safety take some time to consider that maybe you should have been afraid so being not afraid is not a good thing. SUPs are great for people who have trouble catching waves and for people who have trouble paddling and maybe also for people who have trouble seeing a set come in but for maneuverability they suck the big one.

RinkyDink wrote:Many SUP riders don't know surfing etiquette at all.

That's the heart of my beef with SUPs. It's not the board. It's the riders who take decide to take waves from everyone else because they can. At BO, the SUP riders are learning to takeoff from the outside peaks. We get waves while they make the longer paddle and they get longer rides. Win-Win.

Keep charging, Benji, but make sure you don't get laid up again. Shakas are not worth a concussion.

benjl wrote: I'm hoping that through each of my surfs I'm inspiring people thAt sups aren't all bad

If one needs to inspire or change someone's opinion about something "is not bad", then maybe there is some bad in it. Kind of like the gun debate in the U.S.
"Guns don't kill people, people kill people".
"SUP's don't ruin the surf break, people with SUP's ruin the surf break".

It's illegal to own a gun here in Japan. I'm in no fear of being shot by the police here. There's also not SUPs in the surf breaks here. I feel safe.

I figure that one day I might start riding a SUP. When that day comes, however, I'll take my SUP out to one of the many miles of beach break around and I'll surf there. I won't take it out to a lineup of surfers because it doesn't belong there--just like kayaks really don't belong there. SUP riding is a perfectly fine sport, but it is not surfing. I think SUP riders need to trailblaze their own SUP riding spaces and leave traditional surfers to themselves just as kite surfers, wind surfers, kayakers, and other water enthusiasts know not to encroach on traditional surfing breaks.

If anyone has connection to a shirt printer, I have a design that I want printed. Support the Resistance !!

Kook SUP paddler set up on the peak two days ago at a crowded break (50+). Like a pig he paddled for every wave he could and managed to catch 15% of the time more or less. Everyone started to just drop in on him until he left.

Where I live there is all kinds of SUPers. Some are better than most of the surfers, some are kooks, some are wave hogs, some are friendly nice guys. Some ride bigger waves than you or I do and some don't even ride waves. The thing about SUP's is that they are very attractive to wave hogs because they allow you to catch the waves before longboarders or shortboarders even have a chance. Now they have foil SUPs and they will catch the waves before you can then slice you in half if you get in their way. But SUPing is not about performance, if you want to do maneuvers other boards will do more easier and and better maneuvers and foiling is even less maneuverable.

waikikikichan wrote:If anyone has connection to a shirt printer, I have a design that I want printed. Support the Resistance !!

That's hilarious! I should be clear, however, that I surf with lots of SUP riders who are really nice people and a lot them are actually surfers. I'm not hostile toward them or treat them with disrespect. Nevertheless, it seems to me like SUP riders aren't planning on going anywhere. So, I would like to hear from them how they think they fit into a surfing lineup. Should they congregate behind a peak or a point break and swoop in on every set wave when they feel like it or should they congregate somewhere down the line from the peak and take leftovers? Can they just go somewhere else? What are SUP riding instructors telling their students about where and when to SUP ride? Are they teaching their students to go into surfing lineups? Do they agree that SUPs increase the danger factor for traditional surfers? All of those are legitimate questions I wonder about.

This is what i like to think about when the subjects are SUP:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdbCulFgX1H/

...hoping that my shoulder will not force me to join the dark side...

Oldie wrote:This is what i like to think about when the subjects are SUP:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdbCulFgX1H/

...hoping that my shoulder will not force me to join the dark side...

I saw that one this morning and was dying!

I always think of this one or this one

Saw that Kook of the day video too. That's my point about SUP's. It a great cross-training tool for surfers. But given to a newbie, that's never been to the ocean before, can be deadly. Before SUP's, newbie tourist who declined a surf lesson but rented a board ( not from the stand I worked at ), would never make it out to the break. They couldn't paddle a few yards off the sand before giving up or get knock back by the waves. Now somehow, by stroking canoe style on their knees, newbies on SUP's make it out. Then they proceed to end up in the pit and destroy everyone within a 22+ foot kill radius.