Definitely force of habit/must be good there since there are guys out there, guess I'll join them thought process. It's nice to stand back and watch everyone flock to one spot, while the jetty's on either side of said spot are also working, and completely empty. Keep searching, find the empty breaks. I'll take a less quality break with no-one out rather then sit in a zoo.
heres the trick,you need to live on an island(hat island) get hit by a hurricaine loose your road to the outside world,have 4 to 10 foot swell for 4 weeks( as weve had)disregard your swell info report that waves are always bad(usually the report is not today,always negative)do some work to help the community thats been destroyed (rodanthe ,salvo,waves) find some mates of your age( 50 plus) who still ride short boards,appreciate what god gives us and catch some awesome waves till it gets crowded, then leave.
Now I gotta vent....I'm getting old too . I agreed and heavly disagree with you thinking. YES...young kids are losing what surfing is. Crowd the peaks and are generally disrespectful. Naturally the good guys should be getting waves but I'm not volunteering myself to regulate (PUNCH) groms. On the other hand, I think YOU are a kook sir. You claim to have been surfing for 20+ years and YOU seem to congragate to the same area as well. I only have about half of your experience and have at least a handful of semi-secret beaches to choose from if the main peaks are crowded. Especially now that the storm has stirred things up, I'm even discovering new secrets . Now I do agree, these young youtube posers need to take a look at their GOPRO footage and realize they aren't ripping. For example, the other day I saw a kook on a fun board race down the line in the poo stance to try an air....REALLY...YUCK!!!! Thanks Jadson
I am an old guy too 40 yrs been surfing for 25 of those yrs.. Well traveled etc... I was thinking the same thing why dont you move to the other jetty when 40 groms take over?? I love surfing with just a few guys, its better than alone cause I like to hoot for someone who is ripping or catching a nice wave and also its cool to share some waves when the few guys are cool and sharing if they are ****s then I move.. If I am alone and having a great sessions and four guys paddle out and eventually bump me out of my positions then I move a gain.. I am not out there to get aggro if I find I am then whats the piont.. I might as well be at work.. My season just started this month I do not consider summer to be surf season! So now that the waves are actually waves the crowds are more advance experienced surfers and its all good.. Except for a few spots which years round are a zoo which beachbreak named. Quality yes and its a same that they are so crowded all the time I am talking 30 degrees out in feb on a wed morning with 30 ppl plus crowded! Yet some people still want Jersey put on the surifing map and get respect? WTF is that!!! there is enough surfers here already and who needs repsect or recognition that Jersey gets good. I used to love the fact that no one thought there were waves here now seems everyone surfs... Getting old really does makew you more bitter..but when the waves come from the right dir there is no need to congragate let the wanna bee's surf the more known spots to say they did while the standouts get all the waves and at the same time get all aggro that kooks are in there way ill be sharing a peak with 2-3 others with a smile on my face and if not then ill be outa there and not gabbing a long board just to catch some waves in the pack.. not in sept-may at least.
I have a problem with the guys who don't stay on their line-up. I was surfing the other day and there were about 5 of us out on the peak. The wave was a little shifty and so the best take-off spot would shift around in the area we were all sitting. All of us were sticking to our spot waiting for the one that would come to us except for one douche who thought he could paddle over to the peak no matter who it was going to and try to take it. This is the type of behavior that pisses me off more than anything. Sit in the line-up and wait your focking turn. Rant over.
Its not that newbs lost their stoke its that the old guard got puss!fied. Packing up and moving to another spot sends what message? It says that everyone else will move for you! Newbs want to learn but with no-one to help them along how will they. You don't have to get aggro either. Yes, there are times when it is called for but 90 percent of the time just a friendly word does the trick.
I cant agree with your rant. If I want to be aggressive and paddle twice as hard out there than others and go from peak to peak, than thats my right to do so. If someone wants to sit idle at one peak, well thats there problem....not mine.
Amen - perfectly said! I hate that as well, like we are in a heat or something. Ill sit on the shoulder waiting for some even though they are less consistent and someone will paddle over from their spot, so annoying. This is not proper etiquette in my book.
I agree. Its very annoying when you even move to another peak when others paddle out and they're fresh and they jump right in. I think its rather disrespectful. I'm not sure they even realize they're doing it. Its often people I know and I respect their surfing and who they are completely and I love watching them surf cause I always learn or get stoked from a friends great ride. Just changes the vibe. But when theres enough surf to go around they could wait for their wave and not blow anothers.
I don't know about you guys, but I\'m finding a lot of stretches of beachbreaks that used to offer decent scattered bars, still have little to offer lately. Some of these stretches used to provide great escapes from the crowds, and always had people scattered on them, but unfortunately they still need sand to be shifted around to start producing again and no one is surfing there. Perhaps this is factoring in. One good thing about the herd mentality is, if you move, the herd is often resistent to follow. Went out to a peak recently at day break, just me and a few friends initially. An hour later, crowd was 20 plus. Was breaking good, but wave count certainly wasn't appealing given the numbers. Paddled over to the next jetty with my two friends, which was not quite as good, but darn close. The three of us traded waves for two hours, and no one else followed....We were sure after every nice ride, people would start to move, but no one did. Even the guys without the skill to mix in the crowd and get waves didn't move, they just stayed there, doing buoy imitations. It worked out great for us, but was still kind of strange. I find that when you have to start doing the "enforcer" thing in the lineup, it's really no fun. I'd much rather trade waves with a few friends on some random sandbar somewhere. I guess I\'m just getting old. I also find ettiquette in general gets better as the water temps drop, but then again crowds get thinner as well.
It becomes your problem when you paddle over to try to catch a wave that is clearly peaking where I have been sitting for 10 minutes waiting for it. Cause that's when we have words. I'm not talking about a point break or a spot where there is only one peak. I'm talking about a shifty peak that has been delivering good waves across the line-up. I'm talking about the douche bags that don't share or allow others to get their share of waves. If you're selfish enough that you think you deserve every wave that comes through you're a douche plain and simple. Learn to share. It's not called being "aggressive" it's called being selfish. Edit: It's the "not my problem" attitude that is wrong with society today. Screw your neighbor, I want what I want and fock whoever gets in my way. Nothing annoys me more than people who have self entitlement attitudes and don't think about how their actions effect others. There is NO stoke in that.
I think this topic is hard to make a direct argument about. There are a lot of variables that go into shifting peaks...what if the tide causes one peak to become a better spot, I cant go to that peak now? I havent gotten into an argument with another surfer in about 10 years so I dont believe my agressiveness = selfishness. I can understand where you are coming from, but I never get mad at anyone that want to surf with a full throttle mentality...its the competitive nature in me that feels good out there sometimes.
Hey Sniffer, would have finished the race or helped the guy who was screaming? http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/...e-half-mile-to-help-in-?urn=highschool-wp6171 Oh wait, it's not YOUR problem he's in pain and needs help, you need to finish your race, so be aggressive and ignore his pain and go get that win you so deserve.
Exactly... Competition ruined surfing... It should be about stoke, not beating out someone else for a wave. I feel stoke when I see someone else get a good wave.
I dont think we are arguing about the same thing here, you obviously have stronger feelings about this than I do. And just so you know, I have helped 1 swimmer and 1 surfer in distress get to shore through the years.
Completely disagree. if anything the laid back 'soul' attitude ruined surfing and created a sense of entitlement and not earning a place in the line up since it create an atmosphere of no conflict.
I believe that the best things DONT come to those who wait...The best things come to those who work hard!
Agreed again! In most cases I know I can out paddle people and get to a spot but I dont because I share since we are all out there to do the same thing. In fact when I have caught my share I always give opportunities to others so they can enjoy as well. The worst is when someone just paddled out after catching a wave a turns around and goes again...talkin bout selfish.
It all depends. In the winter most of the people out there are pretty chill and everyone goes about trading waves and having fun. In the summer/early fall when it's super crowded I say it's every man for himself. If you can read the wave early enough to paddle around everyone to the peak then you deserve to get it. If everyone were to just wait there turn when it's super crowded you would get about 1 of every 20 waves that come through. It's a whole different mindset and depends on the crowd. If everyone is a competent, chill surfer then just have fun trading waves but if the lineup is full of kooks just getting in the way then I'm gonna paddle around them to the peak.
Ok i agree with Rob here. Sometimes there are people who keep going for waves and miss them, or surfing in a more experienced spot where they don't belong, in which case paddling over and taking the wave is legit.
