INTRODUCTION TO SURF ETIQUETTE FOR DUMBSTERS, NEWBEES AND BUTTHEADS WHO JUST DON’T SEEM TO GET IT

1/8/2019

by Corky Carroll

I was going to save this one for closer to summer when more people are getting ready to learn to surf for the first time, but then this morning there was an incident in the water that inspired me to open up this discussion now, ask for feedback for anybody who might have an opinion on the subject, and then revisit it in the spring with an update. The much-debated subject of proper surf etiquette, or “rules of the reef” as we used to call it.

What happened this morning was a girl surfer took off in front of a guy surfer and the guy surfer pushed her off her board. Then the two of them got into an extremely spirited debate that went on for quite a while, and somehow got into the subject of “woman bashing.” If you were there seeing and hearing all this it was pretty entertaining, if you are of the mindset to see humor in things, or pretty disturbing in the case you take all this stuff more seriously. On the surface this looked pretty cut and dried, but there was more to it. The guy had been taking way more than his share of waves and had paddled around the girl a couple of times to “snake” the wave. So, the girl decided to drop in on him on purpose because, in her words, “he was being a butthead.” The guy saw her start to drop in and told her, “hey, I got this one.” Soooo, it was kinda one of those cloudy deals. Fact is both of them were being a tad over aggressive in an otherwise very mellow surfing scene. This kind of thing happens a lot in crowded spots and those that are known for aggressive surfers, not so much in easy spots and those known for having a lot of beginners, intermediates, longboarders, families, et. But, the fact that these run ins do happen there should be some sort of protocol for right of way. With that in mind I am going to state a few ideas that I hold to be true and open the floor for discussion.

There is a basic rule in surfing. The person closest to the curl has right of way. This is almost always the first person to stand up and/or the person deepest in the wave. There is a gray area where a person will turn and paddle for the wave and stand up first while someone deeper will take off a second or two later. That happens mostly when the person taking off in the front is on a bigger board and can catch the wave sooner. This is where it gets gray. The person deeper still has the right of way 90% of the time. It’s only when the person in the front had clearly staked that wave out and was going for it clearly before the person deeper, and the person deeper saw clearly that the other one was going for it before he or she decided to go for it. But, for the most part, it’s the rider in the back who has priority. To make this more unclear there are those surfers who are known to “snake” people all the time. They will see somebody all lined up to go and paddle as hard as they can to get on the deeper side of them and take off. There are a lot of snakes in surfing. That said, there is a lot to be said about just getting in better position. One common comment, normally from beginners or intermediates, is, “I was sitting there for an hour waiting for a wave and that guy was riding over and over.” Well, whose fault is that? The person getting in good position or the person sitting in one spot expecting that he would get the wave just because he had waited longer? This is a good question, and one that I am sure would be answered according to how experienced the surfer is who is answering it.

At this point I realize that it is going to take more than just one column to address this subject as I am already out of space and still have a lot to talk about. So, I will get back to this next week.

I would, however, like to put out one question for you. In the case of the guy pushing the girl off her board, do you feel that this relates at all to if this was a male or female? This is a really good question for a number of reasons, and I would love to hear opinions.

7 Comments

Jeff Spencer

1/8/2019 05:13:44 pm

Aloha Corky,

Two comments, all of us that grew up in the era of etiquette and had the great fortune to call a point break our home know the issue you're describing has a few components.

In my mind being in the line-up meant being in line. You go in order, move into the take off zone and paddle into the critical part of the wave when it's your turn. That means, in today's world of surf vehicles, SUP riders don't get to paddle around the pack, hang out 50' outside the normal take off zone and grab waves others have waited for. Likewise long boarders can't ignore short boarders who have to sit further inside.

I'm from the Ventura area and lived at a fabulous point a few miles north for many years. I'd give anyone a wave, help learners move more toward the peak so as not to be a frustrated shoulder hopper, and more but when it was my turn I'm going. Wanna snake me? I'll just fade back a bit.

And that leads me to the 2nd comment. I'm 6'6" riding a 10' board, nobody pushed me off or gave me shit but I saw lots of kids and women get intimidated to the point that we'd spend part of a session just blocking for them so they could drop in and catch a wave. End of day, the rules of etiquette have little meaning if they're not grounded in aloha. Maybe an even better Hawaiian word for this issue is Pono, do the right thing. We all know what that means in the water. What the villain in your story did was simply not pono.

A favor please, an old friend, Daniel, who I have not seen in years is one of your neighbors. Please give him my warmest regards next time you cross paths.

Rik Rodriguez

1/9/2019 10:44:29 pm

Where were you when I was tring to learn to surf in ventura. Most of the surfers I ran into were punks and would run you over.

Jim Fitzpatrick

1/9/2019 07:14:06 am

My parents were woking class heroes, so I was more or less raised by my grandparents. I was taught to respect women. I had two younger sisters. I still open doors for women, and my wife, too. But I was also a first-generation gremmie at Topanga Beach in 1960 and I had to work my way into the lineup if I wanted to catch a wave. I was tiny and skinny and too. If anything I sometimes got waves out of sympathy. It took years. But I never pushed anyone off their board for one simple reason, EVERYONE was bigger than I was. At the same time Miki Dora pushed plenty of people off their boards, I'd smile at him as we paddled back out to the point. I gave him waves. He gave me waves (OK, he came through our house to get to the beach). 25 years later living close to Rincon I was 6'+ tall,100 pounds heavier, I still opened doors for women, and my wife, and my daughters, and I rode my longboard as fast and as aggressively as I possible could. If you took off in front of me I'd roar past or beat all to try. I didn't spray people with cutback water, I made the wave, I trimmed and blasted and ride forever. I didn't slow down or cut back to accommodate anyone, except for women (and there weren't many). And that aggression was related to the quality of the wave. Screaming right point Rincon calls for speed and more speed. Relxed beachbreak, 'Hey, it's all good. Let's play. Have some fun.' Today, I sit in Austin, TX and think of the possibilities. Thanks, Corky.

John Beattie

1/9/2019 08:03:02 am

Hi Corky, I think wave hogs deserve to be dropped in on once in a while. Especially when doing what you described. I don't blame the girl. But personally what I usually do is play their game and go a little further outback and get the wave. Unfortunately the snake that you described would probably drop in in front of me. In which case if he was way bigger than me I'd probably avoid getting myself a beating. lol But thank God that never happened. If you are a good surfer usually what I've found is the wave hogs and snakes pick on someone else. I don't think this guy would care if you were a man or woman. He probably does it to anyone not his size. There's another option. Be friendly say hi and ask if you can have the next wave. The guy just might say sure. Being friendly has always worked for me. I usually say hi and give a compliment about the surf spot. Let them know I'm visiting from NY. It's never failed for me.

Rob Baker

1/9/2019 04:48:08 pm

Hi, Corky. Like the way most things go in life, the answer is..."It depends." But, I think there is never an excuse for a dude to push a girl off her board. End of discussion.

Stephen P Drew link

1/9/2019 05:16:45 pm

It should always be closest to the peak,with a no contest / no snake rule....frankly contest surfing and priority in contests,really ruin surfing. A surf contest is not a time , when anyone likes seeing waves go un ridden....anyway our time tested respect of wave priority, mixed with respect to locals, and top performing surfers, IS how it is and how it will / should be.Snaking is rude and only demands respect in a contest.As far as girls....hands off, and communicate.

Rob Beedie link

1/10/2019 01:17:55 am

Mostly the negative vibe in the water is more MIND GAMES than anything else.

Sometimes the tribal attitude is enough to clear the break; especially, if one is thin skinned.

Most of the time there is no physical contact but on occasions there are close encounters.

One should show respect, be it, at your local break but especially when you are traveling.

CLUE #1 :
If you paddle over into the deepest takeoff zone the only real way to gain respect is when you get your turn and you take off do it with confidence, commit yourself and DON't WIPE OUT & BLOW IT..

You will find that earned respect in the critical take off zones will open opportunities for you when you are taking off deep.

Many times no one will take off or snake you by dropping in down the line because they are in awe and wished they were in the same spot.

The Majority of surfers know the unwritten rules of surfing and most know their abilities and where they belong.

Even the shoulder hoppers and others that purposely know that if they continue to drop in on others that heated friction will take place.

Their is no cure for this because it is just an underlying part of surfing so the next time you enter the water when it is firing try paddling over to the pack in the take off zone and smile, nod your head to the crew as you grab position and test yourself.

Some will never know that sweet spot that is the best teacher of all.

As far as the female/male aggression in the water that has nothing to do with the lifestyle of surfing.

Most of the time people that act like that will be weeded out and sent packing to the beach because they just screwed themselves in the lineup.

Having three grown daughters myself ages 21-30 I'm kinda lucky in that regard because I have trained them well to run interference.

They all drop in late, hit their bottom turns hard, smile while coming out the tube, as they then go into a horribly hard cutback that sprays people like that guy mentioned in the blog.

Ha, my daughters two older brothers watch carefully after their sisters just in case some a-hole gets aggressive with them for getting a good ride.

All the while everyone is smiling except the jerk.

They normally leave out of embarrassment because the girls can shred and handle themselves in the water better than him.

I'm fortunate that I was taught by some good elders in 1962 and I shared the unwritten rules of surfing to my children so they can share them with others along their journey.

Yesterday is but a memory that most can never know and in today's climate most will miss out on the pure fun of chasing and riding waves with family or new found friends.

Their negative attitude and aggression in the water ruins the joy for them more than it does for others.

KARMA IS A BITCH.....

My Wave hey don't take off....

Hey buddy we do ding repair sorry I put that huge ding in that great looking board. It looks like it'll cost about $50.00 dollars to fix that one.

You may want to get out of the water before your board is ruined.

Next time when you see somebody coming down the line instead of taking off in front of them just back off and give the rider a thumbs up or a hoot.

Soon if you do that everyone will be hooting for you.

Accidents happen when one has heavy spray in their eyes but as I turned around I was amazed he took my advice and paddled in.

Luckily no one was hurt and those remaining were riding each wave alone as the unwritten rules of surfing were put on an awesome display for the remaining part of the afternoon as the waves started to build and get better.

Share Waves Often with your friends every chance that you get.

Occasionally a stranger will drop in so stop and give a thumbs up and a hoot and welcome him or her into the zone.

Corky so sorry I rambled on but I'll blame it on to much coffee or it could be to many Miller Lights.

INTRODUCTION TO SURF ETIQUETTE FOR DUMBSTERS, NEWBEES AND BUTTHEADS WHO JUST DON’T SEEM TO GET IT

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