There's fifty people out.......

There are a couple guys that are frequent posters. I think one of them specifically always gets you wound up. But I will not disclose their names. They know who they are. PMs are sacred my friend. You know this.

As for heroes. Many. You might even be somewhere on that list. It would take a lot for you in real life to live up to your SI bravado. I would hate to meet you and be disappointed. Because if there isn't cheap Vodka, Philly black tar, and dosing off in an Alley way, in and out of old tales from Havre De Grace, followed by a brief surf to clear the senses again, and get all the **** out of our underwear, I would be disappointed. If I were to meet you, and you weren't homeless, or at least something exciting like that, I would be let down. SI would never be the same.

There are many heroes on SI. Many.

 

Yeah I’m not sure why so many feel they need to hide, maybe they’re just afraid that if someone finds out who they truly are or what they’re really about we’ll reject them or won’t like them etc. But in my own experiences, I just flat out do not care what any one thinks of me anymore. I used to spend too much time and energy obsessing over that crap until I realized I just gotta do me and enjoy my life. There’s going to be people that love me and people that don’t and I can’t control any of it. I’ve got no problem sharing who I am to people, especially online haha. I work a 9-5 at a corporate office in the cube farms, living paycheck to paycheck, currently trying to figure out how to get some bills paid off so I can get back in school and find a career I enjoy instead of a job sitting behind a computer 8 hours a day with no windows. Me and my girl live with my gmom cus we’re both trying to get ourselves in better financial standings to get our own place and such. But I keep a good perspective on things and enjoy life, I’ve got a good (but very crazy) family with love, a nice ass car that I still can’t afford that I was a moron to agree to the payments, and ton of awesome people in my life. I like to build and tinker with sh!t and surf whenever there’s waves and I have the time to get out in the water. I could b!tch and moan about a million things, but I know there’s always going to be people out there that have a better life than me, and people who are much worse off than I, just finding acceptance and gratitude in that makes me a happy camper.

Same goes for my surfing, I’m not going to claim I’m a huge barrel rider or can do all these crazy airs and top turns because I can’t. After all my injuries I’m somewhat limited to what types of maneuvers I can do but seriously just going down the line with a couple carves, cutbacks, and head dip barrels, along with crazy wipeouts and getting thrown over the lip down the falls puts the biggest smile on my face. Don’t have to talk up a bigger game than I can play, there’s no need to. Especially when push comes to shove and people find out you can’t surf for sh!t like Zack was saying.

And SJB, in your ventures today don’t go and inadvertently OD lmao, you can’t bite the dust before I get the opportunity to surf with the living legend haha

That would be epic, we need to make this happen.

 

Well said, but expectations man expectations... I've been let down plenty of times too, but more expectations I've let go of, the less opportunities to be disappointed

I feel ya though, I've talked in person with many people whom claim they can "surf" only to find out they can barely paddle. My car salesman was a prime example. Told me he surfed in sea isle all the time and I actually ran into him in the water. He claimed to have a 6' foot thruster and loved doing turns and hacks more than getting tubes. I humored him to get a decent deal on my car (still too much for me to pay...) but needless to say when I saw him in sic he had a 9' foot soft top that he could barely sit on...

 

I guess it just depends on where you are and how good the wave really is, and how often you've surfed in crowds.

For example Honolua Bay, always a crowd. But if its goin it can be worth it to sit out there with those 100 of your closest friends, cause just one good wave there is worth it.

At times you can sit and watch the crowd and you'll notice out of the 100 only about 10 are actually catching waves. The rest are kooks or tourists and wont catch anything anyways. They just wanna post on their facebook that they surfed the bay on vacation.

Now all that being said, i to hate crowds PJB, i guess its from growing up on the nor cal coast. I have left the bay many a time after looking at 20-100 goons waiting for their ride. Although livin out here (maui) theres very few empty spots. So you tend to have to share no matter where you end up. Its just do you wana share with 5 or 50.

 

It was the advent of the renaissance of longboarding, with the addition of the longboard leash, that has caused a lot of the cloggage in today's lineups. It is now far too easy for the untalanted and the out of shape to paddle out without penalty for blowing waves. People who should have given up the sport long ago have recaptured their youth at the expense of the young. Granted, there are those who have enough etiquette to paddle out and let a few waves go by unridden, but between that and the SUPs who are generally clueless, it can be a zoo out there.

As far as surfing prime spots in a crowd, it all turned to crapola after the surf predicting sites and webcams and now social media make it far too easy to gain what was once strictly local knowledge. I still go out on good days at prime spots and rely on my knowledge (and pool time) to get me a nug or three. It's like solving a puzzle, who to avoid whether they are the alpha or the kook, where the slot waves are, which ones won't closeout, etc. It gets fun if there enough waves in a set ,and the lulls between sets are not too long. And defending ones prime spot during prime swells is a prerogative of the local. That smack being said, I usually go to an uncrowded 7, rather than the jam packed 9, if it's going off that day. I know I'll get lots of fun time without the hassle. But if it's closing out everywhere else, it's on.

 

I totally understand SJB and I'm the same way... I like surfing with a few friends.. But when it comes to crowds- no way!
I don't know why anyone would paddle out into a mob scene unless it was literally the only 'rideable' wave around.

I got two new spots I have been surfing alone for the most part- it's been great! One of them really starts to go off at the right tide- I don't know why no one else surfs it...

But I do go to the extent of not catching any waves when I'm out and I notice ppl checking to surf.... Lol

 

You got a good perspective there Zombie. Gratitude man, gratitude. Every day is a gift, and all life is miraculous. We have similar career situations but you don't take that sh!t with ya when you go so if you're happy and riding waves you're good.

I might not ever get to Indo...hopefully I get to travel somewhere. But ya know what, the 15 days a year my spot is firing I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. What's that saying..'locals are guys that didn't get their sh!t together to travel'. Maybe that's me, but when my time comes I guarantee you my quality of life on a day to day basis is beyond compare to these sheeple that live a life lacking in substance and full of consumption. And f**k, if I don't get to travel to surf, there are wolf hunters within driving distance I could go have some fun with(that was for you sweetheart ).

I gotta get some f'n work done. My name is Ben, and I'm a SI-holic.

 

Zach I can't throw huge revo's but I get shacked silly and do little boosts.

 

Hahahaha dude you have me cracking up at my desk right now. And right on! I appreciate it, gratitude goes such a long way. When I was in a bad spot in my life wallowing in self pity I would always tell myself I wasn’t a good surfer, I should just quit, what surfer hasn’t gone on a crazy tropical trip and gotten all these insane barrels blah blah blah. But seriously, I just flat out love being in the water no matter what I’m doing, surfing is my preference and a board is my craft of choice. I’ve never surfed on the east coast and only ridden the waves of the atlantic. But as long as I’m not being a little b!tch about it and being open minded, I know I’ll go on a trip soon enough when it is supposed to happen and I’ll make it work out Until then I’m just going to keep living and not merely existing. I’ve been through a lot of crazy sh!t in my time on this ball of dirt, and probably safe to say way more that the cattle in the cubes adjacent to mine. Guess you can say I’m a farm cow with the aspirations to be a free roaming bull? Idk it’s been a long week at work and I’m starting to go crazy and surf hungry. And I need to get some work done too, it’s hard today cus it’s soooo fcking nice out right now, I don’t want to do anything but chill outside lol.

Oh and my name is Justin, and I’m and addict and my drug of choice is everything under the sun lmao

 

You guys are great. I've almost given up on the idea of productivity today.

 

ditto x2.

Sorry all you folks in various accounts receivable departments around this town. No check for you today.

 

Since starting, everytime I've been going, I walk a bit, spot where there's a group (they know what to look for, I'm still clueless), and paddle out maybe 50 yards down away. I'm new, don't want to ruin anyone's set, still not good enough to be confident that my overall lack of experience will come off as lack of etiquette.

Also, it's kind of nice just chilling out there. I'm bombarded with info all day, it's nice to unplug from the social stuff for a bit.

 

yeah man don't overthink things too much. just get out there in the water and unwind. For the first year or two when I started surfing I didn't even bother going to spots where anyone was out. Didn't want to be in anyone's way or have anyone in my way when I actually got an opportunity for a wave. I just walked up and down the beach and found a sandbar here and there where if there was an ankle to knee high dribble coming in I would go out just to work on the pop up and standing. Fine tuned my mechanics, then started surfing at actual spots more and learned more etiquette and how everything worked out. having respect for others goes a long way too, I've dropped in on many a people in my learning days, not specifically on purpose, but because I was learning the ropes. I'd apologize and they knew I was learning and just let it go instead of getting all b!tchy. Some acted like a$$ clowns to me, and others gave me some pointers. but like I said, don't overthink it and just have some fun out there! that's what it's all really about anyway.

and seldom, I feel ya, I'm chalking today up as a productive loss lol. At least when it comes to the paperwork I'm pushing lmao

 

Zach, these are definitely your best thread posts to date. very entertaining. now lets hear some names of the volcom riders and lets also hear the sam adams story.

 

we could meet at the star bar and each publicly insist the other go first. you first; no, i insist…no, please….(!!).

 

I shouldn't name the names, as they still represent the company. That turns a fun story into an internet thread that could attach negativity to his name. I wouldn't want that. That is a less than honorable way to treat even an enemy.

Sam Adams story is simple.

I think that half of the north east, at one point about 10 years ago, all moved to Southern California. And not just people from Boston. I mean, every scumbag from Vermont to Western Mass all claimed "Boston".... So anyway, 6 or 7 years ago, I am spending an evening at a bar, with about 10 of the most obnoxious Patriots fans in the world that I called "friends". After many beers, we got into the pissing match about Baltimore sports and Boston Sports, the curse, spygate, etc. etc. I went on a tirade about anyone that lives north of New York. I said they had the worst, ugliest people, the worst city, the worst food, the worst accent, the least amount of intelligence, the least amount of culture in the entire nation, and that generally, Boston and it's people are an embarrassment to the rest of the United states. After I ran out of insults and anything else to say, I looked down at the beer in my hand. Since these a-holes were buying the buckets, I looked at my, until that point, beloved Sam Adams beer. I walked over to the trash can, poured out my Sam Adams and slammed the bottle in the can. And then I yelled "And Sam Adams tastes like sh**! It is the absolute worst beer on the fu**ing planet!" Then I walked up to the bar and ordered an IPA. When I returned to the group, they were very quiet, my friend Craig said, dude chill, are we all good? We were all just joking. I said, yeah, me too, we are all good, but mark my words, I will never drink that revolting, piece of sh**, Boston Lager ever again.

And to this day, I have not wavered. And I face this monster all the time. The awkward moment, when a complete stranger offers you a Sam, at a party or at that neighbors house that you really don't know that well. And I always decline the Sam Adams. Then they say, ohh, you don't drink? Nah man, I do. I just don't drink that disgusting, sh** beer.

Again, this was another rage filled incident that was induced by about 10 Sam Adams and WAYYYY to much sports talk.

 

See the Sam Adams story is a noble one, but the climax is rather disappointing. It is a tale of discipline and sacrifice, even when that sacrifice is Sam Adams. It wasn't their fault. I used to love that beer. They just got caught in the cross fire. Wrong place, wrong time. If I had a coors light in my hand, that never would have happened.

 

lol sam adams was my favorite too, I loved their seasonals too, but alas no more...