I've been waiting three days to see if anyone else would point this out. thank you.Originally Posted by dave
I've been waiting three days to see if anyone else would point this out. thank you.
that's not true at all...the rider has the right of way. people who think you like you are part of the problem!
lol @ full blown investigation, good times! maybe this will help a few people...
BTW green has right of way, red does'nt
the paddler is responsible to head towards the whitewater and take it on the head unless they are far enough down the line and can easily make it over the shoulder or duckdive without interferring but in the case that the paddler is unfortunately caught in "no man's land" the surfer up and riding must avoid the collision because they have far more control of where they can go and are covering ground (or water I should say) much faster.
the rider always has right of way. that's not to say that, in "no man's land" situations that some mild evasive action isn't called for...there's no reason to plow straight on through w/out making some effort to avoid a collision like an asshat.
in the situation described by the OP, the guy on the shoulder didn't even make an effort to avoid the collision. that's entirely on him, not the OP, particularly if the OP had already committed to completing a maneuver.
long story short, it's each individual's responsibility to keep themselves out of harm's way. there's no need to sit back & say, "oh well, i'm in no man's land...it's not my responsibility to get out of the way now. he has to avoid me." get your own ass out of dodge! most (competent) surfers are aware of their surroundings & if you, as a paddler, pick a direction & stick to it they will avoid you.
then we more or less agree- etiquette calls for the paddler to avoid being in the way of the surfer if at all possible and in the case that he cannot the surfer needs to avoid him for safety's sake. A surfer (on a shortboard) is moving at a speed up to 26 MPH on a wave that is also moving- I don't know the top speed of a paddler but it's nowhere close.
Last edited by Bronze Whaler; May 17, 2012 at 01:52 PM.
Funny how this discussion is blowing gray matter when the facts and conditions are simple: it was a 2-foot wave and the rider had his back turned while executing some advanced maneuver? Does not compute. What ever happened to being aware of your surroundings... and again, a 2-foot wave??? Jeez, that is 4 fingers over knee high!
maybe it was 2 foot Hawaiian
Perhaps we can take this a step further...you are the surfer and the choice is 1) barrel though a line of guys out there together with the intention of keeping you off of the wave or 2) too bad, so sad. I notice a great deal of indecision in heavily surfed areas regarding this. My guess is suck it up and surf elsewhere.
The wave was 2 foot...
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