During the past few weeks the gulf has seen a lot of action and I have been having a blast, unfortunately, I have had to defend my home turf more than usual. I have been off of work all week, surfing Ikes swell, I show up at work this weekend sun burnt and peeling with bloodshot eyes, and my coworkers want to know whats up. Im still super stoked about the last few weeks with ike and gustav so i tell them where i have been all week. Then I get the looks I am used to getting being a gulf coast surfer, "you can surf here?" yeah, you can. --thats not what bothers me, Im used to it, what bothers me is the follow up, ---I from "insert random surfable location here" and you dont know what waves are because the waves here suck and they are awesome where im from. ---, and then I say, do you surf? or have you ever surfed here? only to be answered with a no. This has happend to me 4 times tonight while at work by 4 different people. Even worse, my garbage man, who i have never met before in my life, saw me loading my boards into my truck thursday morning and said to me, Im from cali and your best day on the gulf is worse than our worse day on the pacific. I told him he should go out this week it would be fun and he said he would rather just not surf on the gulf. My garbage man!?!? Does this happen to anyone else. I know that this isnt a prime surfing destination but I am proud of it, and think that it does get pretty good here sometimes. I never put down anywhere else, as a matter of fact I would love to go to some of those places. I guess i should be happy that they dont want to surf here, its getting pretty crowded as it is, It just gets to me when people act like they are too good to surf here, espically when they have never surfed.
ya it gets good for like 3 hours and drops off like a rock though. but then the rare hurricane helps out it would still suck to loive there though
Remember, no matter where you are surfing, there is always someplace in the world that is breaking better. If you dont believe me, just ask someone. I have always found it ironic that no matter how much fun I have had on some 2 ft day in the Gulf, there is always someone who would rather not surf. Well, good for them. When I was in college at UCF and surfing NSB and Cocoa, there were guys would tell me how the surf in Florida sucked and thats why they didnt surf here. I am sure that at Pipe when it is firing, there is some jackass complaining about how it is probably bigger at chopes and that is why he is not going out. Its real easy to sit on the beach and ***** about the conditions. The moral is just go out and surf, have fun and let the whiners keep whining.
FlPirate, What I say is who gives a *@!% about what anyone else thinks. If you are having fun surfing 2ft slop or 6ft sick hurricane surf, then do it because you are enjoying it and only that reason! Isn't that why you surf? When some people get older, they seem to forget how to have fun. PS. I've seen the photos over on the gulf over the past couple of swells, and you guys may have been scoring!
YES EXACTLY!!! because it's fun & relaxing & when you sit out there in the lineup you can feel the stress leaving your body. All you gotta think about is that next wave comin. Man don't ever forget how to have fun, that would be just too sad. Surfing should be a great source of joy and peace. And it will if you let it. The point is not to grab every wave that comes along, the point is to relax, encourage all your brother/sister surfers and enjoy each other's company out there. When we take ourselves too seriously (and I've been guilty at times too) we totally ruin the vibe for ourselves and sometimes others as well and that's a shame. I had the greatest time with this Ike swell, and the wave riding action was only a part, the company in the lineup (for the most part) was great, the joy of teaching young people how fun it is to ride a wave, man have you ever seen a kids wide smile the first time they stand up & ride the shorebreak?? It'll just light you up inside. They look at you like you're Santa Claus or something. Next time you're out and a kid is gawking at you, ask em if they'd like to try it (then ask the parents of course) & give the kid that first surf lesson for free. Sure you miss a few waves but there will always be more.
I now live on the Gulf after living in places with much better waves, and I'm still out there for just about every swell; I even take precious vacation time from work to do it. If someone doesn't surf because the waves aren't 'good enough', or some other lame excuse, then they aren't real surfers. I know several of these posers. A true surfer will be out riding waves no matter what, because it is who we are. So keep on riding and forget about the fakers!
Dumb ****s, thats what i like to call them. But you got to love um because thats one less asshole in the line up.I lived in cali for six years and surfed from Hunigtion to Montery Bay and now i live on the gulf and though the surf is totaly differant i get what i came for,PIECE OF MIND, isnt that what its really all about?
I just like to agree with them and say "Yeah, you're right. There are definitely no waves here. I just bought all these surfboards and drive around with them in the back of my truck so people think I'm cool." Not that I have a problem sharing waves or anything, but the way I see it the fewer people that think there are waves here, the fewer people there are clogging up the breaks. Let the hate flow!
