Owning a wavestorm is actually really good for working on fundamentals, even for more advanced surfers. Most people when progressing through the sport just try and get to the smallest board they can as quick as possible. I did this too, but what you miss by going too fast is learning how to use your body weight and positioning to truly command control of the board. All the joy and style of surfing comes from these subtleties and a wavestorm (because of its over the top bulkiness) forces you to pay extra attention when doing anything but going straight. The other thing I enjoy about riding foam boards is time feels slower while on a wave. They have more drag and usually the conditiwave are worse. Anyways, big foam fan!
Couldn't agree more, from one foamie homie to another! I often go foam when I take coaching, just so I can be sure the board is under my control when working on something new. One of my favourite sessions was one where clean 3-4ft waves just kept rolling in out back (a rarity here) and whilst everyone of us on epoxy/fibreglass got to surf, no one had wave counts higher than a local shop owner on a 9-10ft board. If I could have taken a poll that day it was clear judging by everyone's faces who would have won the vote for happiest person in the water. That to me is what surfing is all about
The Wavestorm sounds like the Raspberry Pi of surfboards: a cheap way to get n00bs on board (no pun intended) quickly and a basic board that even the experienced can get use out of. I hope it fosters a culture of teaching n00bs the basics and manners of surfing rather than making fun of them.
I'm assuming you were being a bit sarcastic here, but these kinds of comments do come across as judging people just because they're trying to learn a new hobby with certain equipment. It can be construed as a type of shaming.
It most certainly is a type of shaming. I am new to surfing, own a Wavestorm, and I suck. I am happy that my board sends the message that I am a n00b. They are judging me and pretty accurately at that. It gives them a heads up as to whether they should help me or stay away lol.
Why care about feeling shamed or embarrassed? You are trying something new and there is a high probability that you are going to be terrible at it and look like a fool. Why let "judgement" stop you from doing what you want to do? I am awful.. and I am going to keep going out there until I am less awful. I aspire to learn local etiquette and become good enough to surf with the "best".
If you are afraid of being judged or shamed, try and find a spot that is less populated. Take a long board and go out on days with smaller waves. Where I live, the experienced surfers mainly come out on days with 4 ft plus waves. The point I am trying to make is that there are options. Just don't stop trying!
As a skier, being able to identify weaker skiers is very important. Collisions are extremely dangerous, I assume even more so for surfing. Knowing to give certain people a wider berth is generally mutually beneficial.
Gotta say, I never really cared or knew much about surfing, but I always still kept an idea of it in my head that it was this solitary, cool, independent, zen-minded thing. This article shatters that illusion into a million pieces. Come to find out it's just another "sport," with everybody obsessing over $$$gear, and grasping for their place in some kind of hierarchy that has doctrinaire douchebags at the top, and way too many clumsy ignorant pretenders at the bottom.
You know, like cycling. Which I actually do care and know about, but I avoid "cyclists" like the plague so I can maintain my illusion that it's this solitary, cool, independent, zen-minded thing. (It is when I do it.)
So of course in hindsight I'm not sure why or how I was surprised by any of this. Humans ruin everything.
I wish there were something similar for kitesurfing. As it is, you basically need to spend 2 grand for equipment, 1.5 if you go second hand but then you need to be knowledgeable. That's a pretty big threshold for beginners that aren't sure about it.
I know, that's why I wrote "I wish there were". I also know you can get second hand cheaply - I never bought new, but most beginners wouldn't know what to look for. Maybe a second hand buyer's guide would go some way.
Some people are working on another way to lower the barrier to entry, if it works out I'll post about it on HN!
The Wavestorm is perfect to catch really bad waves. But the previous Costco chinese softboard, a shortboard is also cult amongst riversurfers. Because it's so cheap, thick and extremely wide it's perfect for small riverwaves, and nobody cares if it crashes into a rock, the most common incident on rivers.
I had a storm blade which is the higher end wavestorm. It was a 10ft!
I was able to catch the tinyest of waves and ride them forever. Although now I have a fiberglass board and a good wave feels better... I miss the quantity.
Unfortunately, there are a finite number of breaks and waves each day. So as the number of surfers increases, it amplifies the tension in every lineup. It's like biker culture -- if there were only a handful of roads.
The only way I've been able to enjoy surfing is by paying an instructor to help me navigate the lineup and actually catch a wave.
I might be able to provide some insight here. I live at one of the most crowded and user-friendly surf spots on the planet. There's constantly hundreds of people in the water fighting for waves.
The one thing I noticed mostly is how many people come here and just cannot get waves, while there's tens of kilometres of empty beach within 5 minutes drive.
They could literally go anywhere and get a few waves but they choose here and get nothing (except annoyed).
It either comes down to not knowing any better or thinking they're better than they are... often both.
My advice is to go exploring and find a less crowded spot. You may not need to go to the most popular spot to find waves.
The problem is - good surfers are like magnets. People see them catching a wave and assume that there is a good reason they are surfing there rather than up or down the coast. Also people get burnt by bad decisions - after a few weeks of surfing I struck out on my own to find new beaches and swiftly learnt the reasons they were empty - and wasted good days at bad beaches.
I also think the 'pecking order' is made out to be far worse than it is. As soon as most people see you in the water for at least a couple of weekends, and know you are trying, they aren't dicks - especially if you talk to them both in and out of the water and ask their advice. If you just barrel around on a board without talking or understanding the beach then there certainly will be stress as people worry they are going g to have to spend their day either looking after you, out for you or rescuing you.
Depends on where you surf though. All these questions and answers are completely location dependent. If you're at a super crowded break (like where I live) it's every man for themselves. Your best friend will burn you if they see you falter for even a millisecond.
This culture sounds like, "at first they wouldn't hire me, because I looked different. But I kept coming around, and they let me start sweeping the floor."
Yes, but it's not as bad as you're thinking. But if you think it's bad on the mainland, try it if you're white in Hawaii. White folks that say racism against whites doesn't exist never lived (or surfed) in Hawaii.
>if you show up enough times and get to know the regulars, you'll be totally fine.
This makes me frown slightly in vague annoyance. Why should I need the permission and tacit approval of "the regulars" to choose to start surfing? It kind of reminds me of those groups, usually of old men, that you see occasionally decide a bar is "their bar" because they've been going there a while, and try to push other patrons out though passive-aggressive behavior.
If that's really how it is, I'd be one of those wave stealers, and I wouldn't apologize for it.
That's not really how it works in the surfing world. Purely from an observational standpoint it's actually quite amusing to watch the natural, land based pecking order get completely flipped on its head in the water. Young punks calling out police men, stoners and hippies telling CEOs to beat it, sponsored kids 'owning' the break etc.
There's definitely a completely separate water-based hierarchy, based 100% on how good you surf.
To answer your question:
>Why should I need the permission and tacit approval of "the regulars" to choose to start surfing?
You don't need anyones permission at all, but you have to remember surfing is not a team sport, you're competing with everyone else out there to catch a limited amount of waves in the time you have. Couple that with flat days, bad winds, bad swell direction, bad tides and limited time, it's not often you score it 'on', so everyone it's out there to get their share.
So you don't need permission, but don't expect people to be happy with you.. and if you drop in or snake someone (steal their wave) then expect to have even less friends.
> If that's really how it is, I'd be one of those wave stealers, and I wouldn't apologize for it.
No, you would not be for very long. You would very quickly hurt yourself and others, at which point common decency might suggest you should apologize. Perhaps you are unaware that surfing right of way is first about safety?
People who respect the lineup almost always get waves, regardless of skill level. Regulars don't just get waves because they are regulars. They get waves because they understand the dynamics of that particular break.
>at which point common decency might suggest you should apologize. Perhaps you are unaware that surfing right of way is first about safety?
I guess that depends. If people are trivializing safety by using it as a token in a game of brinksmanship, I will not apologize. I'm happy to wait my turn, all I want is equal and fair treatment. If I find that other people are trying to place me at the bottom of a "pecking order" at a public beach, then I'm not going to play along. If you let people bully you that way once, they'll do it forever.
I'll wait until everyone else has gone at least once, I'll clearly signal that I'm going to take the wave, and then I'll take it. Try to intimidate me off by committing on the same wave to muscle me out, and you'll find me totally willing to call your bluff. We'll both go in the drink, if necessary. Try it a second time and you'll find I'm willing to do that _every_ time. At that point, the ball is in your court to drop the elitism and start sharing like an adult, or roll the dice enough times that one of us gets seriously hurt. I won't be intimidated by this cliquey highschool shit. It's a shared beach and we all pay our taxes, everyone has a right to equal use.
That having been said, this is all hypothetical, because I don't surf and hate beaches. Fucking jellyfish man.
That's not how it works. Good surfers will just paddle around you without a care. You will just be injuring yourself and other beginners. This happens every day.
A person usually only has two options for getting waves, whether they like it or not:
[1] Show respect, humility, and make friends [2] Be the stronger/faster paddler
This is just trying to elbow your way into an established community of <skilled individuals> without proving your mettle. This is exactly the wrong way to try and earn respect. Whatever you do, don't try surfing. With that attitude, you will get into a fight in the water with people that fight in the water, and you will lose the fight. Or if you don't get into a fight in the water, they will follow you out and fight you on land. Yes, it can be childish, yes it can be stupid. Of course not always, but it does happen. But that's surfing, and that's just the way it goes.
Not every place is hostile, from my personal experience surfing all around the world (Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Philippines, etc) I only experienced hostility in SoCal. So maybe it's just the US thing.
I've been to CR a couple of times the past few years and the beach breaks are great and people are super nice. I've never experienced any hostility in the water there, or elsewhere in the world either for that matter. Being considerate of other surfers goes a long way and should someone act like an ass just move a couple of 100m up or down the beach. There is always another ok break close by.
If scarcity is really the problem than I imagine it is a function of the number of surfers over the length of viable coastline. Is there anywhere in the world that has a higher density of surfers than Southern California?
Not higher density, but Santa Cruz definitely gets vibes depending on the spot and the waves. It gets bad after a dry spell, like during summers. People are jonesing =]
Hostility from other surfers or from local property owners? State ownership of the coastlines is deeply resented and constantly undermined by shoreline homeowners.
The hostility depends on many factors. Some areas are more hostile than others, and individual spots. Here are some things that could lead to a negative atmosphere developing, from the point of view of a non-local surfer arriving in the lineup:
- snaking (cutting in line)
- dropping in (taking off when someone is on the wave)
- sitting at the main take off with the locals (many spots it takes time to earn a place there - years where I live)
- arriving with more than 2 other people
- hassling people, putting on pressure, being too hyped up (chill and wait your turn)
- having photographers if it's a sensitive location
- just paddling out at all if it's a sensitive location
- getting in someone's way (when paddling back out and someone is riding an oncoming wave, paddle into the whitewash rather than paddling towards the shoulder)
- being loud (for many folks surfing is a bit like meditation)
- wasting waves
- being out in waves that are clearly beyond your level of experience
You don't even have to do this yourself. Someone else can and then you cop the flack. It really depends on who is local to the spot and what they're like. If the vibe gets negative then just head in and paddle somewhere else. If there are particularly grumpy locals, other locals will probably understand your position if you're cool about it.
I’m not a surfer, so I imagined that Dylanfm was describing driving:
Here are some things that could lead to a negative atmosphere: –tailgating, –slamming on your brakes for no reason forcing everyone behind you to stop, –swerving in front of someone, –running stop signs, –stopping in the middle of the lane to unload passengers, –turning without signaling right in front of an oncoming car, –driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
If you think folks rebuking people for antisocial behavior and not following simple community norms are “assholes”, I imagine you must find an abundance of assholes in just about every aspect of life.
Taking pictures in public is not antisocial. Not being good at surfing is not antisocial. "Being loud" on a public beach is not antisocial. Being in a group larger than 2 people in a public place is not antisocial.
Believing that you have a special privilege to possess, use, and regulate public lands for your own purposes over those of others, IS antisocial.
Surfers beat people up to impose their rules. This is wrong. They are assholes.
As far as your driving comparison, roads have laws that govern their use. If certain beaches adopted ordinances of "surfer law", then I would have no opposition to them. But the current regime is just privileged assholes imposing a class hierarchy for personal benefit.
There are definitely some unhealthy aspects of surfing culture. Surfers will sometimes grow to feel they have a degree of possession or responsibility for an area. For some this makes them hostile to traveling surfers. But the vast majority will enjoy a chat and sharing waves. Regardless, these are local people who will probably be picking up litter on the beach and help a swimmer who is in trouble. They spend hours every day/week for much or all of their lives in an area surfing its waves. Usually the waves will be average and sometimes good. When it's good you feel like you've earned it... those few days a year. Most line ups have a hierarchy. The structure helps and the pecking order, while strange, means the older crew get more waves and the younger or newer crew get less. If you're new then it's a matter of introducing yourself to the existing structure. That takes time. Travelers usually have a few days or weeks. Sometimes they don't have patience and try to replicate their home environment wherever they visit.
I've been surfing for over 20 years and have never seen a surfer beat someone up. I have experienced bad vibes in the water and that's when I get out or move elsewhere.
Popular surf spots have signs up outlining some of the "rules" I listed earlier. It can help a lot. But things still get chaotic and many of these points also directly relate to safety in the line up.
Showing up to someone’s practice spot (even if it happens to be in public) and doing whatever you want can absolutely be antisocial, even in cases where it’s not strictly illegal.
If you for instance brought a camera crew to a national park and followed a random group of strangers for hours while they hiked through the woods even after they asked you politely to leave them alone, you should anticipate possible hostility.
If you found a group of musicians busking on the public sidewalk somewhere, and you set up a boom box blasting metal music at twice the volume right next to them, you should anticipate hostility.
If you found a few people playing a pick-up game of basketball in a public park and you brought 10 more people and started trying to play your own game on the same court during their game, you should anticipate hostility.
That probably is a truly sensitive location! I mean secret spots. Places that maybe only a few locals know about. It takes years, sometimes decades to learn about these places. Sometimes a photo will appear online and a quiet place becomes popular.
Imagine if somebody built a tow line on a popular break.
Then surfing could be more like skiing or snowboarding.
Snow sports don't demand that you walk up the slope every run, we have machines to do that for us. And you don't have to have great timing and a lot of experience to pick a ski run.
Anyway, I'm terrified of sharks. So I'll stick to the snow.
We use rip currents as tow lines so we don't need those ;) Around 5 times more people die from avalanches alone than from shark attacks each year so sell your skis and buy yourself one of those foam boards instead!
> Imagine if somebody built a tow line on a popular break.
A good rule of thumb is a person should not surf a spot which they could not swim without a board. This keeps people from getting in over their heads and drowning.
