I was just reading a post on "being stoked" and it got me to thinking about how many "surfers" there are these days. What is it that brings people from miles away (some cases hundreds of miles ) to the beaches? Growing up by the sea, allowed me all the benefits of utilizing all its resources. Surfing, skateboarding, boating and fishing was a daily way of life for most of us. When there was no surf we skated we fished. When there was no surf or fish, we would get in a boat and fish. Of coarse we were always broke but we always had the ocean for our entertainment. Many friends made their living on the water. When I started surfing which was in the early 70's, it was considered anti-social behavior. For the times, it was a perfect outlet of expression. Surfing was around before us, but the times were changing fast. Long boards became short boards. Single fins became twins and quads and triplets opening up our world to expression and aggression. Same for skateboards. It is such a marvelous thing to witness and to be a part of. The media has always been part the "frenzie" and I see surfing going into the "mainstream". Always, advertisements for surfing, commercials, billboards, posers...surfschools! Nowadays it's all up in your face. What happens and what made you, get into it?
we're all always tryna climb back into the womb...especially dudes...unless your name is wayne and you don't buy into evolution, then you're divinely conceived
That would suck if everyone was evolving into surfers bro! Think about that. I guess all the hate comes with it?
Moved to the beach 3yrs ago to get away from all the problems of city life up north, needed a healthy hobby cause I was getting out of shape. Bought my bosses board a year ago and traded an unhealthy habit for a new obsession. Surfing has consumed my day to day activities, surf before or after work, even take long lunch breaks for a nooner if the waves are right. Planed my last vacation around if I could surf there or not. I am grateful for surfing!
There is just something about the salt...can't explain it...surfin...fishin...just floating aimlessly without any boards...where life started...don't know...I was surfing yesterday am in weak thigh high at best, but clean and was just stoked being out there...light offshor...felt so good and didn't want to go in and Iam not that great of a surfer...once the wind jumped on it, I left...not sure why people do drugs. It's amazing how good it can make you feel even when your not that good. And one more thing...something about be encased in salt after a session...or just sitting on the beach...don't want to take a shower.
I know why surfers have (had?) long hair now... Today on bodyboard I took a wave kinda late part of it crashed on top of me but I continued the ride.. I have been growing my hair out for a lil while and the crashing wave soaked it was in my eyes a flick of the head to throw the hair out of your eyes and spray fling salt water while still riding the wave... Well that's awesome
I hate long hair I cut it because I s*cked ass and was annoying all the time. Especially when surfing.
Seldom and I would call the surf line at the crack of dawn. There was no forecast. We lived 1.5 hours away. We had our pre-pubescent arses driven to the beach. We suited up in the rag suits we could afford. I went in in April in a 3/4 springy and a red baron looking hood. Teeth chattering through my skull. No Zumiez. No skate parks. Just street. A CCS catalog and a shop 45 minutes away for boards. Street meant, getting chased out of parking lots and coming back after a lap around the neighborhood, the smell of concrete in summer, the clicking of sidewalk cracks underneath your wheels. Teaching ourselves tricks based on our recollection of a borrowed VHS skate video and the intoxicated demonstrations of a skate mentor turned junkie friend up the road. There were no teams, no uniforms, no schedules. Just stoke. We pushed it on our terms, to our own standards and limits. And we weren't a fashion statement--we were oddballs for doing it. Bros, everyday of my life I strive to be a person that 14 year old skate/surf punk me would be proud of. If I met me at 14 in a parking lot tomorrow in some DMT time vortex, I would want him to say "you're awesome". "No young grommet, you're awesome............... Stay away from Jewish girls..." "What?" "Yeah dude, like 3 of them fu(k up your life pretty bad. Its not a racist thing, just a coincidence..... And you're awesome." "Thanks tired old guy."
Fockin A. To all of the above. We grew up by the salt, but our waves are blocked by an island. We were corrupted at a young age by the bounties of what we found in RI. Thanks to Ma Dukes, we were able to nuture the stoke. Different times for sure, glad I got to experience it while it was still 'not cool'.
Moving on a board, any kind of board, is awesome. Street skating, snowboarding, wakeboarding, surfing, sponging, doesn't matter, I love being on a board and moving. Surfing though is a different kind of hook. Streets don't move and change shape while you're on them, and neither do mountains. It's the hardest and most frustrating sport I've ever done but I love the challenge. Some days I walk off elated, some days I want to smash my board. But soon as I drive away I start thinking about the next session. That and being in the water is my happy place. Seven days without waves makes one weak.
+1 I both love and hate the fact that every time as soon as I feel like I've had a breakthrough when it comes the progression of my surfing or just otherwise have an excellent session, without fail, the very next session goes absolutely terribly. In a way, it sucks, but it also makes those great sessions that much better.
This^^^ I still skate a bit. I was a decent snowboarder. My brother, who is pushing 70, Hey I'm looking at 52, is a top notch skier. He was kidding me about some wipe outs I had and I told him the mountain doesn't change shape when you're skiing, and he agreed and shut up... lol I always loved the ocean but never even saw one until I was 12... Landlocked and poor... My kids have been to ocean every year of their lives for extended vacations, and we moved south to get more beach time in. I never thought about surfing until my son renounced his athletic scholarship at UNCW to pursue "this ridiculous hobby." He then majored in "getting a house at WB." His only phone calls to me were "send money," or "you won't believe how the waves were! or I had the best ride of my life." So I bought a board... Then I bought a condo at the beach... Then I bought some more boards... Then I bought a beach-mobile to enhance my surfing experience. I believe a heroin habit would be cheaper. I'm still a kook but I'm a professional addict.
