Greatest Surfing Invention

An old surfer guy I used to work with (Chucky Cheese - old Riviera Beach lifeguard and convicted teen age girl molester - he liked them aboot 14 years old) told me the ancient code -

When surfers going in opposite directions up and down the coast with big wooden boards strapped on to the roofs of their Nomads or '56 Chevys or Bel-Airs or better yet their Woodys wanted the scoop:

The guy heading to the north looking for surf would stick his arm out the window with his thumb rotating up and down. The guy returning from up coast would give him a 1,2,3,4, or 5! digit signal back, indicating size, or a thumbs down if it was flat or blown out to shit. Back then 5 fingers up meant DOH, 3 was solid HH, 1 was knee to waist and rideable.

Now all you get is the middle finger.

 

Forecasts help knowing when to check the cams and buoy data for those of us who can't live less than 15 min to a break. So yeah, I guess they are exactly the problem Riley noted.

I'd guess social media is worse than the forecast stuff. Some dipsh t is going to film your local spot and post it and that's it. Parking restrictions are the last saving grace of most spots now.

 

And that is exactly what I sign back if anything.

 

So very true.

 

In the 90s I used to think the cell phone was the worst invention ever for surfing. I'd be so pissed at the guy standing on the steps on his cell phone checking the waves calling his buddies to come down. WTF!!!! If I was going to burn someone that session it was going to be THAT GUY. Don't be THAT GUY.

These days, hands down the worst invention is the surf cam and forecasting. In my little town there are at least 30 surf cams that I know of covering some breaks from more than one direction.

I really do miss the days when the only way to really know if the waves were good was to go look at it in person and to be in tune with the weather and the ocean. Now even mid week swells in the dead of winter are crowded.

 

Exactomundo!!!
It is because of what you describe that I answer to those inquiring, "No, I do not plan to surf much longer--I am happily at the end of my surf "career".

 

I understand it completely CJ .I moved here 40 yrs ago and our local break was well known but not often surfed. The cams show up and presto instant crowd with an attitude.

 

Worst surf inventions:

webbed gloves
pink and yellow wetsuits
GoPro
"extreme sports" commercials geared towards urban hipsters

 

This thread is about the "Greatest Surfing Invention" not "Let's cry about our once empty but now crowded break".

 

GoPros also terrible. Especially rear facing. NICE HAIRY LEGS DUDE.

Hey, what happened to the go pro mouth piece dude? Probably a billionaire now.

 

rear facing always looks like they are trying to squeeze out a difficult crap.

 

Agreed. I also call BS on the breaks getting crowded due to cams. Sort of. 100% people know where to go due to cams. BUT given this information, why don't you go else where. Like i don't know, maybe a spot without a cam. Long beach here.... the cams on Lincoln. Literally go one jetty over and it's empty. I generally avoid long beach all together because of crowds

You can't complain about crowds if your going to the spots with cams. That's just poor decision making. Granted there's not many cams on LI. At least that i know of. I don't use cams so not 100% on that.

 

So I went down to The Wall this morning to see if it is worth going out. I pull up to the Wall, park, and in front of me this masshole is exiting his BMW stationwagon, all suited up, with a GoPro on his head. Waves were thigh high, with a rare waist high.
I was so tempted to make the dude feel like the moron he is, but....I said naw....go have coffee with friends, not worth it. Contain thyself, the urge is strong, just STFU......
I must be mellowing out........
BTW, it was NOT worth going out--winds once again howling at 30-35 mph.

 

I dont know. its like the dipsh!t who keeps dropping in. do you roll out to another break, accept it or change it? Same applies here. Why should people move off a break they have surfed for years or decades?

 

Solid point. But a guy dropping in is bad etiquette and possibly dangerous. That guy needs to be told what's up. A crowded spot though is diffrent. I mean if they dredge and the spot you'v been surfing for years goes to crap, do you stay there because you'v surfed it for years or find other spots? I see crowds as a sort of "condition". Tide, wind, swell, and crowd. All four come into play when choosing a spot. My main spot iv been surfing for as long as iv been surfing. Almost 20 years. I know when it'll be crowded. I havnt abandoned it. I surf it consistently. But i always have another spot or peak down the beach to resort to if things get too crowded. Sometimes it's a decision over what's worth sacrificing, wave quality or mental health.

I do see your point though and it's a good one. I will openly admit, i think im pretty lucky. Not a lot of cams. When it does get crowded it's generally pretty easy to navigate as it's mostly bouys. And outside of long beach and one other spot no jetties so the crowd does spread out pretty good.

 

The Wall in NH about 2 miles long--it has 4 cams that I know of, perhaps more. It is amongst the most crowded surf break north on Boston. There are plenty of better surf spots, with no cams, so there is no one there surfing. People want to be "seen" surfing; if they are not "seen" surfing they will quit the sport and join another activity. Surfers aggregate in spots with cams. That means where I go, I will usually be alone or with one or two of my friends. Works for me. The more cams along The Wall the better; they are bait for stupids.

 

That's insane. 4 cams in a mile and a half. I am lucky. But you bring up agood point and it's what i experience here.....

Surfing population grew. Which means crowds. I have 3 beaches with 10 min of each other, all with multiple peaks. One beach has a cam and it gets crowded. But the other two will literally be empty. And depending on conditions are just as good or better then the camed spots. Now imagine no cams.... the surfing population still would of grew. But now they aren't told where to go. I bet there would be crowds everywhere instead of just one beach. And on top of that, when the camed beach gets funky.... those kooks still go. Because they are told it's the best spot and don't realize sand shifts. Leaving the other spots wide and clear. Just another perspective and food for thought.

 

I think you just educated the kooks on where to go

 

You shoulda gone barry. Waist to chest when I went out, fun racy walls with the fish.