I have never left early/gone somewhere worse/not paddled out because of a friend. If I think of it, I'll text them before the sesh. Don't really care if they show up or not.
Read my "Surfing Where there are No Surfers" tread and you'll see I don't give a fugg. Just let your spouse know where you're surfing so they can find the body and get that AD&D money. My reg spot is a heavy, sharky, place which has nobody out or even on the beach, more often than not. Sherm will tell you. I'm not going to rescue the dudes I surf with, but I will walk the beach looking for their corpse. LOL, the DP IBS. I don't have the discipline to get up early enough, so it's always nautical twilight by the time the kids are swimming. Then I'm scrambling and stressed, because I let a few waves get away.
Yeah, I used to surf alone a lot. Just wasn't as much fun. So I got this huge posse that grew over the past two years. All middle age athletic women, all good personalities, similar skills, fun loving, happy no drama posse. Any given sesh it's anywhere from 2 to 10 who show up. OP, just keep adding buddies to your people to call, and like others said, try to make friends with some of the regulars at your favorite spot, if you prefer not to surf alone.
I'm just all about sharing the stoke. sometimes i'll get caught up watching other people surf for so long that it will suddenly be thirty minutes down the road and I haven't caught a wave.
All my friends are goofy foot so even if we meet up to surf they end up on the left edge of the same peak or a half mile away within 15 minutes. its very rare that we sit close enough to talk. I've been doggin everyone lately and after 30+ years have become the absent surf buddy that everyone hates.
It's good to have friends and even better... friends that surf. When you meet up at the spot it's a good day when youre by yourself it's a good day. Personally I like to surf with someone who is serious but can still have a good time when it's $hitty
Another thing that sucks about surfing with friends, if you drop in on them and ding their board, you have to fix it. It does build a lasting friendship.
In my defense, he blew the first two perfect waves, so I ignored him on the third, that's when he finally got his a$$ around the section and boom! So I fixed it. We went down to CR and had some great times since then, but damn! How embarrassing.
Betty, this is totally you. One of these days we're gonna look up & see one of our own run for Prez. That would be you, B.
I usually surf by myself, but I enjoy having a few cats out there with me - especially during those winter late afternoons. I go to the same spot quite a bit, so I'm recognized. I'm the old guy. Also, not many Mercury Gran Marquis with surf racks. My problem is I can't see faces clearly without my glasses
Become friends with the guys at your local breaks. Those are your real surf friends. Your "regular" friends from school or the neighborhood are a different pact. I have a "regular" friend that surf(ed) and he rarely comes out at all. Multiple times Ive missed DP because of his ass over sleeping or bailing all together. When he did come out one good day in June, we had a peak all t ourselves and it was honestly one of the most fun times I had in the water. It was great to be sharing the stoke with a good friend from childhood. But as said before most of them "don't get it". So, make friends with the faces you see at the crack of dawn - those are the people you will share the stoke with and make many memories with, while the rest of the world is hung over from the night before.. or while your silly ass friends get to the beach at 10am with their coolers, sandals and boxers under their board shorts after sitting in 30 mins of traffic.
The best time to surf with friends (besides always) is when you're going on a surf trip. As a Masshole, there's nothing more fun than taking a trip to NH, RI or the Cape for a hurricane swell with some buddies...waking up at 5 am, strapping boards on the car, drinking coffee, getting high, taking dumps in weird places, etc. It's the best! Except when you get skunked...but with a longboard and some weed you can always have some fun!
ever try and take a dump discretely in the ocean? it's near impossible, your sphincter tightens up like a drum. I heard this from a friend.