Surfing Waves

Wow—I had my first run-in with a leash-less flying board today, and it was an eye-opener! Every list of do's and don's for newbies reminds people to always surf with a lease. I'd alway thought that was a given. Who would surf without a leash??

Well, this one woman at Hanalei Bay did today. I'm sure she was a nice enough person, but when she fell off her board, it came whipping towards me. And although I held my stick up in front of my face to stop her board from colliding with my nose, I was still thinking, "Well, it cant get too far away from her. It's on a leash."

Nope.

Not at all.

She was on a big, wide, beginner longboard with no leash anywhere in sight. And after I was done fighting this board off, the board went careening toward shore, with her following, swimming in its wake.

Dude. So not okay. Id' been riding a foam board, so it was impossible to ding and not that expensive. But I would have been *pissed* if that happened near an expensive board. And if her board had broken one of my teeth? Dude. Not sure what I would have done. I dont know what she was thinking. Probably that the surf was small. But that doesnt matter. One should NEVER allow their board, especially if it's big or long, to go flying off in any direction. Seriously. What if I were some little kid?

So thats my rant.

Leashes.

Use them.

Because if I'm too close, maybe I deserve to get smacked in the face. But if I'm 20 feet from you, I shouldn't be worried about your board giving me a concussion.

Hahahaha welll.... I learned to surf without a leash so perhaps that colors my perspective but leashes break and you need to be aware of your surroundings and hopefully have a better plan than holding your board in front of you to protect yourself. But also if you are a beginner without a leash then you need to stay away from others till you learn to control your board. Every surfer before the advent of leashes learned to hang onto their board mostly because it meant you had to swim in to get it if you lost your board. These skills take time to develop so do it where you aren't going to injure anyone. The more stories I hear from Hanalei the more it seems like a zoo.

1) What if the leash cord snapped and the board ran you over ?
2) What if the tiny leash rope frayed off and the board ran you over ?
3) What if the leash plug pulled out and the board ran you over ?

Like Mr. Miyagi said " Best way to avoid punch...... NO be there ". If you were paddling back around in the channel, you wouldn't have gotten hit. If you rode the wave to the side and not straight in, you'd more closer to the outside of the churning white water and less in harms way. If you're in the white water then your in the zone to be hit.

Leashes, learn to surf like your not wearing one.

oldmansurfer wrote:Hahahaha welll.... I learned to surf without a leash so perhaps that colors my perspective but leashes break and you need to be aware of your surroundings and hopefully have a better plan than holding your board in front of you to protect yourself. But also if you are a beginner without a leash then you need to stay away from others till you learn to control your board. Every surfer before the advent of leashes learned to hang onto their board mostly because it meant you had to swim in to get it if you lost your board. These skills take time to develop so do it where you aren't going to injure anyone. The more stories I hear from Hanalei the more it seems like a zoo.

Ahahaah there are some french dudes in their late ages that surf and grapple onto their boards, you sound just like them.
The kind of person that bearhugs their board and goes over the falls with it because of old habits

By the way OP did you confront the person?

wait till you have your leash act as a rubberband and fling your own board back at you

pmcaero wrote:wait till you have your leash act as a rubberband and fling your own board back at you

Hope you aren't using a surgical tube as a leash, or you'd end up with an eye patch like Jack O'Neil.

I had a similar experience the other day. My local break was really crowded and the waves were really small pretty much everyone is riding straight to the shore. There was a pretty skilled dude on a longboard without a leash. He wiped out and the board flew away. Being a nice person that I am, I thought to hold the board for him. Then the wave pick up the board and flung it toward me. For a split second I debated on using my board as a shield but I really didn't want to have to repair it later... and the board hit me on my neck I couldn't turn my neck for a few days. Good thing I didn't get hit by the fin. I should have ducked. Or, not try to be so nice. I've totally learned my lesson

icetime wrote:
Ahahaah there are some french dudes in their late ages that surf and grapple onto their boards, you sound just like them.
The kind of person that bearhugs their board and goes over the falls with it because of old habits

By the way OP did you confront the person?

You sound like the kind of beginner who bails on their board because they don't care if it rams into other surfers. I don't know about Morocco, but that habit doesn't go over well in most lineups around here.

RinkyDink wrote:

icetime wrote:
Ahahaah there are some french dudes in their late ages that surf and grapple onto their boards, you sound just like them.
The kind of person that bearhugs their board and goes over the falls with it because of old habits

By the way OP did you confront the person?

You sound like the kind of beginner who bails on their board because they don't care if it rams into other surfers. I don't know about Morocco, but that habit doesn't go over well in most lineups around here.

I do bail my board but bearhug it if there's anyone nearby, lineups here mostly have 3-5 people on the outer sand bar peak where I surf not really anyone to worry about my board hitting, by the end of my session the surf schools pop in with 20+ kids on shortboards, that's when I leave
Well neither does it here, Morrocan lineups are known for fist fights in the water and on the beach

icetime wrote:
By the way OP did you confront the person?

Nah. I acted like a good former Pacific Northwester and made note of her so I could be super passive aggressive next time we saw eachother. Maybe I can get in front of her in traffic, and go 5 miles lower than the speed limit.

#revengeisadishbestservedcold

icetime wrote:I do bail my board but bearhug it if there's anyone nearby, lineups here mostly have 3-5 people on the outer sand bar peak where I surf not really anyone to worry about my board hitting, by the end of my session the surf schools pop in with 20+ kids on shortboards, that's when I leave
Well neither does it here, Morrocan lineups are known for fist fights in the water and on the beach

That's cool. I do my best to control my board as much as possible. It doesn't always work out, but I try to follow the golden rule when it comes to surf etiquette. In other words, I give other surfers the benefit of the doubt and assume they're doing their best to protect everybody else. There are reckless surfers, but I just try to steer clear of them (those surfers are just one of the hazards of the sport).

ManicDaisy wrote:Maybe I can get in front of her in traffic, and go 5 miles lower than the speed limit.

Now that's just vicious.

waikikikichan wrote:Leashes, learn to surf like your not wearing one.

And check your equipment every time before paddling out. Case in point, I switched wetsuits before my last sesh and didn't notice that one of my boots velcroed to the old suit. It was POPSICLE FEET for me!

ManicDaisy wrote: I acted like a good former Pacific Northwester and made note of her so I could be super passive aggressive next time we saw eachother. Maybe I can get in front of her in traffic, and go 5 miles lower than the speed limit.

#revengeisadishbestservedcold

Question: if you were not in front of the board, would you have gotten hit ? If you were paddling around the break safely to the side in the channel, would you have gotten hit ? Do not rely on the other person's leash to keep you safe ( and don't really on your own leash to keep you from drowning ). Learn the skills and ocean knowledge to lessen the probability of getting in front of other surfers and their boards.

REVENGE ? Now that you moved to Hawaii, try to do like the locals do and "share the Aloha", instead of taking revenge. That type of Haole attitude is best kept back on the Mainland. Give Aloha, get Aloha. Give Respect, get Respect. Maybe next time when you see her, give her smile instead of a frown.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” - Yoda

Wax her windshield!

Actually, let it slide, sounds like an honest mistake.

Here is a no leash horror moment

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMPzh5wDTax/?hl=en

Ha ! My wife almost did the exact same thing to Wingnut, when he was teaching her how to noseride. He was behind her on the same wave, and she fell forward and shot the board back. Luckily he blocked the board with his hands in time.