interesting Cwhite its reasons like that I dont surf pipe (except maybe oct/april when its not packed) If/When I get burned like that and I see I have nothing so say, I reckon I dont have a place at the table and surf elsewhere.
5 winters and no issues. I stfu and wait my turn, or at least make judgement calls when I paddle around
....was surfing mainland mexico years ago. While waiting between sets, I was approached by a local mexi who looked like a skinnier version of Danny Trejo. He told me to paddle down the beach or he was going to slice my throat... I paddled down the beach and took the next wave in... Not worth it.
Yeah my experience has been that Mex is way worse than Hawaii. And I haven't even been to Hawaii. We got a guy here that paddles around with a dive knife. smh
Puerto Rico and Mexico are those places that when someone says they are going to slit your neck you want to believe them. Who here surfs with a side arm? I think Cali is more dangerous than Hawaii as far as localism goes. Here is a story of Californians beating a Hawaiian pro to death RIP Emery Kauanui Jr May cooler heads prevail https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/us/12surfer.html
I don't always paddle in immediately when instructed to by locals, but when I do I pause for the cause & drop a large turd in the lineup before continuing in.
That's the point, it's not a sucker punch when you've been given the invitation to swing away. Either way, if you're toe to toe with someone you gotta expect the swing whether you give the invite or not. None of that is worth it anymore though, best to walk away when you have family/responsibilities.
I've been to Oahu about a handful of times at least and have always felt pretty welcome there. I even remember going one year and the next year a couple of the locals remembered me. I felt more welcomed on a few of the North Shore breaks than some places in Jersey!
That's how I feel about Rincon. Before I ever went people tried to make it sound like localism was so bad that you'd get hurt just for checking the surf. After 4 trips and no problems, we made lots of "friends" on the Island. Whenever we go back the people at the restaurants, bars, and in the lineup all remember us. It's nice seeing them too, always pleasant people to shoot the sh*t with.
