Surfing with friends is terrible honestly. I mean if they wanna meet me at the spot, then great. But trying to ride together is terrible. They sleep too late, they have to call 10 dudes to see what spots working...but wait those dudes will call friend back in a few. Hold up, friend fell back asleep and missed all the calls, now he can't get ahold of anyone and doesn't know which spot to hit up. Finally go to pick friend up, he's taking a massive dump and then has to cook breakfast and isn't sure which board to bring...he's gonna call Bob to see which spot is working now since the tide has changed from earlier. OK, get in the car and get to the spot. It's just not breaking good and friend is wondering how spot B is breaking, plus the wind now turning sideshore and chopping it up a bit. **** ALL THAT. Wake up before the sun, check buoys, check wind, go to spot you think will be best and surf the waves in front of you. If your friends want to meet you there then great, if they don't show, then so what.
I surf with friends and I surf alone. It's more fun with some friends but if that doesn't happen IDGAF. I have one good surf buddy that I surf with more often than not. We feed each other's stoke and always have a good time whatever the conditions may be. We both surf more than we otherwise would because of this. I have another friend that always talks about surfing together. Good guy, been surfing since he was a kid. He called me again last week to surf. I cut out of work early to meet him. I get to the beach and guess what? No show. I wasn't surprised since I've surfed with him a grand total of one time. I had a damn good sesh despite having been abandonned.
^ bingo ^ esp the massive dump part, which takes one guy I used to surf with 30 mins to squeeze out, brutal waste of time while he's in there massaging his 'roids
The ironic part is my friend that's the biggest offender of sleeping too late, taking long dumps, and just general time wasting, is the one that INSISTS on ONLY surfing when the wind is offshore and is the biggest wave snob. And he's always disappointed by the conditions because by the time he finally wakes up and gets done with his morning routine, and gets to the spot, the wind sucks and it's crowded. 99.9% of the time on the east coast, the earlier you show up, the better off the waves will be. It might not be perfect but it's only gonna get worse later in the morning. Everyone knows this.
Lots of good comments, good tread. I like surfing with a friend or alone, doesn't matter to me, I think a good balance of both is nice, sometimes you just want the solitude, others it's nice having someone to share the fun with and push each other. I'm all business when it comes to getting to and from the beach to surf, I don't jack around, I get my sh*t and i'm there and in the water with quick efficiency, so I don't like when that gets messed with, which means... I meet at the break. That way if the waves are good, I don't have to wait to get in because someone is taking a dump or w/e. Once I get my waves, I can relax and BS and all that stuff, but surf anxiety is real ya'll.
Spot-on. Sometimes 'the magic hour' is all one gets on the right coast. As you said, the earlier the better gives more of a chance at hitting the magic hour or a piece thereof. Unfortunately, my buddy seemed to think 'the magic hour' described flexing his cheeks on the porcelain. Or, worse, he's camped out in the port-o-john while I'm watching guys on the waves & I'm frothing to get going butt since we are going a couple miles down the beach to a better break, I have to wait....and wait.....and wait...for sphincter buoy...
^ Well said. I wait for NO ONE. Learned that a long time ago. When there is a swell I even tell my wife and kids if you aren't ready at whatevr o'clock you ain't going 'cause I'm not waiting.
Surfing with a friend can drive me to surf and laugh harder. It can mitigate an otherwise poor session, whether that means calling each other into closeouts or commiserating about the crowd, or simply sharing the joy. But man ... it's about you and the world. When it becomes about other surfers, whether that's a crowd of snakes, or a friend who's making you miss waves, then the connection is interrupted. In the end, I think the most important part of surfing for me is to commune with nature, and it's hard enough to get my own ego out of the way. Other people just complicate it further.
Only problem with surfing solo is I often get into spot-lock where you have your low tide spot, and your high tide spot. Sometimes a friend will help break the vicious cycle, and although I may grumble about surfing a different spot, usually it's a nice change of pace.
surfing alone isn't such a bad thing..on any good day at my spot it can be really crowded 30 ,40 sometimes more guys out , how ever having surfed this spot for 50 years you can say that I've made a few friends over time , some I've known since they were groms and now they are adults with familys , others are relics like myself that never quit since that first surf . Practically everytime I surf I meet someone new to add to the list of familars that I bump into either checking or surfing my spot . So be friendly ,not a kook or a wave hog and go to the same spot again and again and in time you will know the locals and maybe you will have a new set of surfing buddies .
Surfing solo is the best way to go. A coupla friends?? Sure, but mo betta all by meself--mo waves for me!!!
This is exactly how it is and this is why you should just get to know the guys who are always at your local spot.
I surf with friends most days it's good. Not because I travel with them. We surf the same spots... When there's swell I go to my spot and friends are there. I travel lot for work so I surf all over the state, so I surf alone a lot. I just have more fun with my friends.
I'm old and still surf alot, and my friends my age don't. except for a couple, and they only longboard,and if its big I worry about them. Finally one of my buddy's kid is big enough to go out in OH waves but I worry about him. And I can't burn the jah afterwards if he is there. I have friends who are younger who I see out all the time, but they are not settled down so we don't hang out, except for a couple guys, and they can still shred and I run into them when it gets good, no phone calls necessary. I've had to leave good waves because friends were bummed out they couldn't make it out, so we had to go south to catch smaller weaker surf. It sucked. Favorable winds, tides and swell are magic. Fu(k friends. I'll buy you a drink. After waves.
