Things to do when there is no surf

[FormosanSurfer]

With summer getting nearer, the swell is starting to die down (though today kicked ass). I am looking for some summer water sport ideas.

I was thinking that spear fishing sounds pretty cool, so I picked up a snorkel and spear - gonna try on the next flat day.

What else do you do in the summer to keep sane between swells?

[orbital]

Wake boarding.

[surfinforlife]

the pub drinking lots of beer!

[libby]

Dont go fishing- there are not plenty more fish in the sea!

[Stone Fox]

the pub drinking lots of beer!

Seconded!! (And play battlefield 2)

Dont go fishing- there are not plenty more fish in the sea!

........? Unless you're talking about North sea cod, I think he'll find plenty of fishies! (and I don't think anyone is going to try spear fishing in the north sea!)

[Naomi_10]

i actually go on a real long paddle, with the sun shining it can actually be quite nice. but i do get real frustated when i see these little waves, and sometimes wonder what the hel i'm doing!!! but i agree, do go and drink some beer!

[tube man]

dont really do any water based activities but basically anything steep rocky and dangerous ill be hittin it on my bike or out on the quad, there doesnt seem to be much surf here either lol.
dave

[dondiemand]

i've always wanted to try skimboarding

[libby]

I'm not just talking about North Sea cod, thats just one example of many, many, many over exploited fishes. Not every species is in trouble but a hell of a lot are. And whilst recreational fishing seems benign there is increasing evidence that its actually having a pretty big negative impact. Nothing like as bad as the commercial fisheries but still not good.

[PapaW]

It depends what in the area but the options are endless. from frisbee with mates to mountainboarding. Its all good :D

[oslo]

Pray, wait or get on the road.

[Whoops]

I havent been surfing that often but last time i was down in Conrwall satying with some mates i took a foldaway frisbee with me just in case...
turned out the surf was a load of mush so i brought out the frisbee and we started the coolest frisbee game ever
we played on the beach (surfboards at the ready) and had a really good game going with loads of other bored surfers joining in. Got very competative. One team had to get it past a line of surfboards and the other past the lifeguard flag.
Good times good times...

[surfinforlife]

When ever we go surfing we always chuck the skaties in the car just in case, pretty much 99% of the time the waves are okay, but the odd occasions you leave the skate boards at home the waves are crap!! Its Murphys Law!

[orbital]

Skateboarding is always nice.

z-boy style.

[FormosanSurfer]

There are plenty of fish in the sea where I live. I seriously doubt me and my mate spearing a few of them is going to cause their extinction.

I'd like to do some skateboarding but the pavement is a little less forgiving than the ocean (though the place I surf is rocky as hell and my legs and feet are shredded from my session yesterday).

[jennie]

yer you cant beat a bit of a skate, i prefer the longboards tho......smoother and you can sliiiiiiiiiide

[libby]

I'm not saying it will but it does depend on the species....think about it Fish are pretty much the only thing western societies still actively go out and HUNT in the wild by neccessity (i.e. not just for kicks) you and your mates go out and catch a few but then so will tens of millions of people around the world. I'm not saying a bit of spear fishing is going to do any harm, but its the attitude of recreational fisheries in general of 'oh no we are not doing any harm im only catching a couple- its all the commercial fisheries fault' that needs to change. Even catch and release fishing results in a pretty high mortality rate among most species.

Sorry this isn't meant to be a personal attck at all, and you're right you probably arent doing any harm. But be aware just because it looks like there are still lots of fish where you live doesnt mean anything, maybe there were twice as many there 60 years ago.....maybe the sub population where you are is OK but one 100 miles away is crashing....I know it doesnt look like it but there really are not plenty more fish in the sea and if we have that kind of attitude then North Sea cod will just be the first of many...

At the moment you would be shocked at how many species are being fished unsustainably. People need to realise that marine ecosystems are just as just as fragile as terrestrial ones and just because everything looks OK doesnt mean it is.

[FormosanSurfer]

Libby, I am going to eat fish either way. I think fish are damned tasty. So why not kill them myself? Are there less fish than 60 eyars ago? Probably, does that mean they are all at risk of going extinct? Not at all. Nature is very resilient and there are a lot of environmental protections in place limiting the number of fish that can be commercially fished. Local fishers catch very few in comparison to commercial fishers so I think you are being a tad extreme over the whole thing.

[fcssurf6]

when the surf is bad, i skim cuz usually when the surf is bad, the skim is good

[Phil]

Libby, I am going to eat fish either way. I think fish are damned tasty. So why not kill them myself? Are there less fish than 60 eyars ago? Probably, does that mean they are all at risk of going extinct? Not at all. Nature is very resilient and there are a lot of environmental protections in place limiting the number of fish that can be commercially fished. Local fishers catch very few in comparison to commercial fishers so I think you are being a tad extreme over the whole thing.

im all for catching and eating your own fish and suporting your local fisherman by buying fresh fish from them, but fish stocks are geting dangeriously low and some species may never recover, the enviromental protections in place are complete BS limiting the number of fish that can be caught does nothing becuse normaly they just dump the fish they catch over that quota when targeting specific species

Its not just the damage done from catching fish they also completly destroy the sea bed, its like catching cows with a helicopter by draging a net, you dont just catch the cows you catch the trees the, fence the barn roof the farmers wife, beam trawlers drag huge great steel beams along the sea bed that just destroy every thing in there path. but sadly its out of sight out of mind to most politicans and countrys like france and spain just dont seem to give a xxxxx. give it a few years of the current rate of fishing and some speices will be driven to extinction, we seem to be good at doing that