Surfing Waves

Ok so I'm paddling out from the beach toward the lineup and I'm in the break area. I'm using an 8' foamie so it's not really maneuverable. A guy is surfing coming towards me having a pretty good ride. I can't get out of the way fast enough, so I turtle roll to make myself as small as possible and hope he can go around me. He couldn't and had to bail off the wave. I apologise even though I don't think I could have avoided it. Everyone says the guy on the wave has the right of way.

Then I'm hopping on a wave, and some girl is in front of me, arms spread parallel to the beach with her board at full extent of the leash also parallel to the beach, so she's taking up as much space as humanly possible. I have to bail, and I miss slicing the fins off her board by inches. And she gets snobby with me about it so I apologise. Not sure what I did wrong but I was trying to be nice about it.

So wtf. How can I not have the right of way both times? Most people at my beach are really cool about this stuff, that's why I go there, but I don't want to screw anybody over either.

Let’s cover some thought,
Foam board not highly maneuverable,you are in spot where a rider rides through,
Did you try to paddle into the white water behind where he was riding or were you paddling for the shoulder?

If you were down the line from the takeoff point on the Wave you were the problem.
Second incident, definitely a total beginner, gently advise what was wrong, potty mouth by her is fear talking.

Yes, first time you were in the wrong (although there are times when you will be in the wrong place; all you can do is paddle for the white water and take the consequences).

But if you are paddling out from the beach then you should have been paddling far wider. Paddle out at the end of the wave, then across behind until the take off point. Dont paddle out straight - the only time you should be paddling out through the 'surfing zone' is after you have fallen off and ended up in the wrong place without time to get back on your board and start paddling out wide again.

(not to jump on you particularly, but people paddling straight out is the 3rd most annoying thing for me when surfing. Well, annoying thing about other people. The most are swimmers who decide to prance about just in front of people trying to take off at high speed on 7ft long solid projectiles and think its safe. The second is back paddlers and wave hogs. Third are people who paddle directly out. All of these put others in danger (or themselves in danger) and can be easily avoided)

Second time she was in the wrong.

Of course, as the person on the wave there is at least a politeness requirement (even if its not a strict surfer eitiquette) requirement to try and avoid other surfers

In any case, dont feel you have to apologise necessarily just because someone else demands it. But to keep the peace you can do it and let it go. Be the water and not the stone.

SnakePlissken wrote:I apologise even though I don't think I could have avoided it.

10 years from now, I hope you remember this post and what you felt at that moment about etiquette, priority, localism-hierarchy, motion of the ocean, etc.

"I don't think I could have avoided it".
Then answer me this: What if you were 5 feet further out ? Five feet further in ? Five feet more towards the shoulder ? Five fit closer in the soup ? If you were anywhere other then there at that moment, would you have avoided a collision/confrontation ? Mr. Miyagi said " best way to avoid punch, is not be there".

Could you have paddled faster ...... earlier ? Could you have gone around the break a bit more ? Could you have waited longer and timed the sets ?

dtc wrote:But if you are paddling out from the beach then you should have been paddling far wider. Paddle out at the end of the wave, then across behind until the take off point. Dont paddle out straight.

Adding to this, Make a point to go around people waiting in the lineup. It's no fun to finally get a wave and to let it pass because someone is paddling in your takeoff lane.

Our waves break in very inconsistent ways. If you wanted 10 minutes they are breaking 75yd down the beach and where you were is totally flat. It's kind of hard to make predictions like that. That being said, maybe I could have paddled at a different area, but I really feel like it couldn't be predicted and should be chalked up to xxxxx happens. But the guy was cool about it and I took responsibility for being in his way. It sucks having to bail on a wave after waiting so long.

Thanks for all the replies. I feel like I learned something, and it will make me better in the lineup

Not sure whether it helps. Things happen. Just don’t let them get under your skin. You will mess up all the time before you advance to the next level. Just try being nice:)
And, don’t get bullied. Even if a good experienced surfer is right and you are wrong he should not yell at you. To say nothing about pushing or other physical contact.

basically what everyone else says... but personally, when I'm paddling out and see someone coming down the line, I paddle out as hard as I can to make it possible for them to make a bottom turn and go around me (I also say "sorry, man!" as they past me to let them know I noticed them and didn't mean to get in the way). That's really all you can do, in my opinion... paddle STRAIGHT out as hard as possible. And on an 8' foamie, with that much volume, you are actually bound to make it. My .02 but really sh!t does happen and you apologized - that's all that matters. The second lady should have apologized to YOU.

There's a great sign in Rockaway (my home break) that says simply "if you drop in on someone, apologize. If someone drops in on you, accept their apology." I really agree with that. Just accept it and forget it, and get your ass back out there.

kookRachelle wrote:

There's a great sign in Rockaway (my home break) that says simply "if you drop in on someone, apologize. If someone drops in on you, accept their apology." I really agree with that. Just accept it and forget it, and get your ass back out there.

I feel like I've gotten some pretty disingenuous apologies out in the Rockaways...

Perhaps the sign should be amended to "Apologize, and be contrite". Serial offenders at some of those spots.

kookRachelle wrote:, in my opinion... paddle STRAIGHT out as hard as possible.

Those who have experience at a certain break and know the ocean might not agree with that. Sometimes the quickest and SAFEST way is not a STRAIGHT line from point A to point B. At some breaks, it safer to go in a bit, wait for the last wave of a set, then paddle back around.

waikikikichan wrote:

kookRachelle wrote:, in my opinion... paddle STRAIGHT out as hard as possible.

Those who have experience at a certain break and know the ocean might not agree with that. Sometimes the quickest and SAFEST way is not a STRAIGHT line from point A to point B. At some breaks, it safer to go in a bit, wait for the last wave of a set, then paddle back around.

Definitely. Depending on the break, it may be appropriate to go either inside or outside.

Tom

Kook,
Don’t worry, I’m still going. In fact, today looks awesome.

All
Just feel the need to say that the reason I surf the beach I go to isn't because it's the best aroun here (it's not) it's because people are usually so cool about this sort of thing and everyone wants to see others have fun. This was just a rare exception and I've never seen her before or since.

tomthetreeman wrote:

waikikikichan wrote:

kookRachelle wrote:, in my opinion... paddle STRAIGHT out as hard as possible.

Those who have experience at a certain break and know the ocean might not agree with that. Sometimes the quickest and SAFEST way is not a STRAIGHT line from point A to point B. At some breaks, it safer to go in a bit, wait for the last wave of a set, then paddle back around.

Definitely. Depending on the break, it may be appropriate to go either inside or outside.

Tom

Thanks guys, I guess you're right... never thought of it like that.

kookRachelle"[quote="waikikikichan wrote:

kookRachelle wrote:, in my opinion... paddle STRAIGHT out as hard as possible.

Those who have experience at a certain break and know the ocean might not agree with that. Sometimes the quickest and SAFEST way is not a STRAIGHT line from point A to point B. At some breaks, it safer to go in a bit, wait for the last wave of a set, then paddle back around.

Well. I went for the shortest route 2 weeks ago and got pummeled hard with the shore dump. Multiple injuries and because I failed badly with the turtle roll, it took my finger nail with it. I don't even know how I managed to do that! I also landed on the rocks with my back. Luckily I was wearing a 3mm. You know it's bad when you fell off and you're trying to protect your head from getting chopped by the fins.

Today I'm watching how easy it is for Kelly to duck dive a 25L board. It's like nothing for him but it is life and death for me on a longboard on overhead waves.

Why didn't I go the long and safe route? Because the waves were too big and I'll need to turtle roll at least 2-3 times. Which I know that it will just be impossible. Whereas if I just paddle next to the jetty directly towards the break, I only need to do 1 turtle roll. Did I catch the waves? Yes I did but it suck me up the face fast and dump the board onto my head.

Keep in mind that while duck diving a sub 30L board doesn’t take that much effort for most people (over about 70kg), duck diving a larger board can require almost as much effort as a turtle roll. So it’s not necessarily a panacea

I do a duck dip or half duck dive on all my boards as all of my boards have a lot of flotation. It's taken me a while to get to where this is really functional but it seems to work very well for me. You don't need to get the whole board or your whole body below the wave because the wave will push the part sticking up down and help you finish the duck dive. The turtle roll requires more effort for me anyway, I mean if I pull it off perfectly then not but maybe I didn't practice it enough? It's way more difficult to do a perfect turtle roll than a half duck dive to me. Anyway another consideration is aerobic conditioning , get yourself more fit so you aren't easily winded then anything you do will work better.

Oldman,
"get yourself more fit" easier said than done haha

Well that might be true but non the less whatever issues you have with getting out through the surf will become much less if you do

The reality is that more often than not, aggressive people have it their way.

As a beginner it can happen that you are in the wrong spot. It still happens to me, sometimes.
But when I'm on the wave, and it's crowded, I spend my time surfing around people and often pointing where I'm going. Not great, but safe and stress free.
And if I can do it, then all the dickheads around me could. But many chose to run over you, scare you with a last sec turn, and/or yell at you.

And yes, if you are a nice person you tend to say sorry even when you are totally right. And you instinctively expect a sorry in return, which is a normal social dynamic and close the incident for both sides accepting that xxxxx happens (because nobody wants to get hurt - there's never intention to be a problem for others).

But no, aggressive people yell at you first, anyway, no matter what.

So I firmly believe that yes, beginners and more experienced surfers sometimes make mistakes and are in the way. But 90% of the time, the drama comes from experienced surfers who are sooo good that can't just make one more turn.

It's hard to give advice that works for every situation, but most of the times, when you're paddling out and someone is about to drop in a wave, paddling out straight will put you exactly on the surfer's line and will spoil their wave. It's counter intuitive, specially when you're beginning, to paddle sideways exactly to the direction of the surfer. But that will usually get you out of his/her way, because they will drop and set the line as soon as they can moving away from you. I linked a small clip below where you can see what I mean. Yeah, that's me paddling out

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2omH9rHtVZ/

If I tried to go straight, I'd probably not have the wave breaking over me but I'd be right on his way, ruining that awesome cutback. Not cool!

The exception is when I notice the surfer is an early beginner that doesn't have much control over their board. They tend to drop in straight and doing that would get me exactly on their way.

Even being careful, it's natural that sometimes you'll just be in a really bad spot with not enough time to react and get in someone's way. Most surfers will understand and be friendly if you showed effort to get off their way and apologized if you didn't, but they are more likely to be pissed if you don't show any effort and don't even say sorry after.