Surfing Waves

I've been hitting local breaks for a while now with my dinged up 9'6". Still an intermediate but learning to apply footwork and getting better lines...

What has been a struggle for me is speaking in the local dialect when it comes to conversing with other surfers.

I would like to present a scenario that occurred to me the other day, and ask others how they would communicate using their natural surfing lingo.

You're in the water with your log. A rounded out wave starts to approach, but you can't tell if it's gonna shape up by the time it gets to you... You turn around anyway, anticipating. Then you catch the eye of another surfer, who nods at you, telling you it's a good one. You paddle, and sure enough, you catch this sleeper of a wave, with no contesting parties, and glide gleefully down the line.

You paddle back and find the helpful surfer in the lineup and paddle by them to say thanks. What do you say?

A simple thanks i appreciate that will do.
Surf lingo varies from region to region, beach to beach , .
just be sincere in your thanks, and keep the stoke and etiquette going!

BTW. which local breaks are you talking about?

Oh just checked your profile Nor Cal.

Depending where you are, one of these should do.


You could also add " That was a good one, Thanks " or " That ride was awesome, Thanks ".

Be forewarned, at some breaks, some locals let you go on an easy one to see if you're going to Kook Out and waste the wave. Basically testing you to see your skill. In Hawaii, when a local lets you go and you totally biff the take off and wipe out, you might as well paddle in, since you're not going to get another wave.

But at other breaks, if they know you're a kook, they'll tell you to go on waves that aren't makeable, to clear you out of the line up.

I'm not sure as I rarely surf with others but if I do they all seem to let me get waves , I guess they take pity on the old man or maybe they know I only surf there. So here are some things not to say "I am the king and you should all bow down to me" 'what a crappy wave I get the next one" "hey buddy I bet you couldn't have shredded that wave like me" I never say those things and it seems okay. Seriously "thanks" is probably good enough.

bttf wrote:I've been hitting local breaks for a while now with my dinged up 9'6". Still an intermediate but learning to apply footwork and getting better lines...

What has been a struggle for me is speaking in the local dialect when it comes to conversing with other surfers.

I would like to present a scenario that occurred to me the other day, and ask others how they would communicate using their natural surfing lingo.

You're in the water with your log. A rounded out wave starts to approach, but you can't tell if it's gonna shape up by the time it gets to you... You turn around anyway, anticipating. Then you catch the eye of another surfer, who nods at you, telling you it's a good one. You paddle, and sure enough, you catch this sleeper of a wave, with no contesting parties, and glide gleefully down the line.

You paddle back and find the helpful surfer in the lineup and paddle by them to say thanks. What do you say?

"Got lucky"