Incomprehensibly Un-Complex.....Food for Thought

Yeah, riding the white water rocked too. There was a time when hitting a baseball off a tee was challenging then a couple years later you're playing against people throwing faster than the speed limit. Progression is the key. No one goes out to be as good as the were yesterday. The stoke was new then but I wouldn't trade it.

 

i remember all through the 70's and 80's not knowing what the swell would be until i got there, there was always a forecast but from the local weather station the night before, its not like todays forecast models and cams...you know what really has screwed up the surfing (and this is just my opinion now)...camera phones, a couple of clicks and the whole world knows there are waves...you hardly ever hear from your friends "you shouldve been here yesterday"....yep, simplicity was where it was at, miss them days...lol

 

Those were the days. I would listen to noaa Report on my marine radio while fishing. Small craft advisory and wait for west winds! That pretty much worked for me.

 

damn. i wish i surfed in the early days, granted im thankful for all the knowledge and board tech we have but the soul is almost gone. every time i watch an older surf movie it makes me wanna surf like those guys, not the new school

 

I remember the ol days, you scored or grovelled - then dialing Surfline for a buck a pop.

Hardest part for me now with all the cams and Family/work stuff - is how painful it is to KNOW you're missing it.

Like sticking a needle in your eye, but I sadistically keep checking...

 

Well I love having enough cash to buy my boards and suits. Anyone I want. I also love looking at what the forecast is so that I can spend time doing other useful hobbies instead of wasting time. I love having awesome websites that let me know what waves are best when, in the world, when I want to go on Vacation.

Back in the day before I started surfing I used to skimboard in so cal and when I first started doing it I never checked anything and just went whenever. I remember the excitement and singleness of purpose and it was great. But time and us move on. The past is gone,and you cant get it back.

 

I remember spending many hours checking the surf as a kid... from my bike... and later, the back of a moped... and finally from the window of a car. I remember having to call the local surf shop for an eyes-on report from school or work, or getting "that feeling" when the winds blew from a certain direction and the sky looked a certain way.. a sort of anxiety about there being waves, and how I just had to get to the beach. Sometimes that meant cutting out of school, walking down the railroad tracks until far out of sight, then hitching to a friendly garage that was filled with boards and suits to borrow. Sometimes, on cold winter days, we'd build a little fire in the dunes and eat whatever we could grift from the corner store. At first, it was single fins... then came the Fish. Then thrusters and the first generation of quads (which kinda sucked). We graduated high school, got jobs, and just kept surfing at all costs. It was genuine... and simple. But time kept ticking, and jobs became careers, girlfriends became wives... and the crowds came. That's when things got complicated.

 

Just wanted to say that this is really good writing, you evoke lots of neat images - - thank you for sharing it. Seriously, not kidding around; this is good stuff.

 

Those where the days.... i remember having the old NOAA radio- listening to it every morning trying to understand what the waves might be like... then driving to the beach with my ol longboard - totally anxious to see what the waves would be like- you know- "that feeling" that lbcrew mentioned. doing everything possible to get out in the water. Wish i never would have sold that ol board- many memories....

Still love having that single board that you can ride everything with... but then you get all the other boards that just end up cluttering your fun- choosing which board to take... then comes all the other 'things' in life...

those where the times

 

An intersting thing. What do you do when age slows or reverses the progression. We will each reach a point where we are not as good as we once were "but as good once as we once were ". Seriously I see a lot of folks drop out at that point but the challenge to just keep going can keep the stoke and challenge alive. Surfing is alot more to me than being "good" or getting better.

 

Do you remember power surfing? There was an article in Surfing Magazine a few months ago about "restoring power." The article made a lot of points that would fit this thread. Surfing is evolving, like everything else. Unlike technology, which will continue to evolve, the future of surfing is in our hands. If we want surfing to be all about airs and fashion statements, then sit back and enjoy the ride. Just like "surf etiquette" is supposed to be passed down by example, surfing roots must be passed down by example. Voice your opinion to the future.

 

I loved it back then. You got skunked more than you scored but the score was so much more exciting than planning your week around a swell info forecast. I remember trying to figure out what tomorrows surf would be by channel nine news marine forecast. They would say 3 to 4 foot seas with west wind the night before and I would be up at dawn. The only problem was that the wind had been been blowing west for 4 days and the 3 to 4 foot seas were going towards Europe, lol. Remember mysto swells? When there was a distant storm or a fetch developed out in the Atlantic we didn't even know about it. You would show up at the beach just like any other day to be greeted by perfection and no one but friends out for the whole day, ahh it was good to be a surfer way back when.

 

Good stuff man, some of my favorite surf videos are those from "Many Classic Moments" in the 70's, watching guys like Buttons is where it's at, that guy did and still does rip. Nobody has his style, it's his own, and it's amazing to watch. He had a good story written about him in Surfer Mag a couple months back, glad he found his way back (those who know what i'm referring to)

 

Equally a solid post. Although I did not grow up watching Buttons, I have a lot of respect for him, based on what I have read/watched. I think I may have even read the same article that you are talking about - the boy with the open smile? What a humble approach to surfing. Buttons surfed like he rode his skateboard, not like other pros - he created his own version of surfing. Today, a lot of surfers are chasing Dane and Kelly, when they should be chasing their own demons. Buttons chased his own demons down while holding up a peace sign & a big smile. That's what surfing is all about.

 

You got it man, that's what i'm talking. Although I didn't grow up watching Buttons (I was born in 81), I came to know of him in the last several years and have since admired him for what he was able to do, and more recently for what i've learned about him as an individual fighting his own demons and finding peace within himself, now he's back in the water and surfing better than ever, and is in the best shape i've ever seen someone of his age in. What a story for those who aren't familiar, do yourself a favor and go watch those films from the 70's