santa cruz - the hook - first bad SUP experience

[northstoke]

Was the guy that yelled at you named Shannon with an all red wetsuit? If so report it to the police. He already has a restraining order against him with another local stand up guy.

you'd be grumpy if you had a girls name too.

[northstoke]

I was tutored that until you have been yelled at, been told to f--- off . . . you haven't really graduated to intermediate SUS status.  I am sure your experience was painful but welcome to sophomore year.

As a parent, of 3 young kids, you realize that your only job is to acculturate your children to train them to do everything that is NOT instinctive, or emotional.  They will attend 15 to 20 years of school to learn the rules, to be honest and to use reason over rage.  

Then we go and surf with wild, untrained pit-bulls.  These animals should be put down.  Who were their parents?

This is one of my favorite shots capturing the stink wafting from one such emotional beast.

hahahaha this picture is amazing. thank u for posting

[JakeSupTX]

It amazes me that knuckleheads like the one in Beasho's pic are so comfortable running their mouths to complete strangers who stand five feet above them holding a six foot stick. I'm curious if it is their false sense of entitlement or some magical bad@ssedness that keeps them safe when they run their mouth to the wrong cat with said six foot pole?

It is a truly amazing thing (if you appreciate that kind of stuff) to see the look on a bully's face when a bigger bully informs them that they will, in fact, NOT be taking any of their sh!t that particular day. I'm hard pressed to believe that the bigger bully only rides a shortboard.

Just sayin'

[starman]

After reading the story I thought what I witnessed Sat was a bit ironic. It was a bit busy as we got some surf Saturday that was much better then expected. As we were bobbing in the lineup a couple of guys on short boards were getting into it. The usual F this and F that over something stupid. So as the one guy who seemed the most pissed off paddled by, my SUS buddy managed to talk the kid off the ledge and calm him down. I thought at first he was going to get an F U for saying something but size has it's privileges and they had a nice talk. I thought it cool to see as opposed to the scene in SC that is the subject of this thread.

[capitolabeachco]

The Hook is more of a surfing spot. Starting at Capitola Beach is fun and going South towards the cement ship or north towards the hook is fun. it is good to try and give the surfers some space and the Hook is a big surf spot. Check us out if you ever need more info, rentals or lessons. http://www.capitolabeachcompany.com/news/

[capitolabeachco]

The Hook is more of a surfing spot. Starting at Capitola Beach is fun and going South towards the cement ship or north towards the hook is fun. it is good to try and give the surfers some space and the Hook is a big surf spot. Check us out if you ever need more info, rentals or lessons. http://www.capitolabeachcompany.com/news/

[Tom]

riding  waves  with  a  SUP is surfing !

[newton333]

go out there when the sherif is out, by law he has to protect you.

[supdiscobay]

If Hook is worth riding there are usually way too many people out there.  Some belong and most don't.  If you watch the Sheriff, he is always picking up the non set waves and gets a lot of waves.  His bright orange L41 stands out pretty good too!  So you can't say you didn't see him, after you drop in on him.
And that place is drop in city.  10 guys paddle for a wave and four catch it.  If it is really good, you will have the same 2-4 guys get 99% of the set waves.
Why would you waste your time with all that.
Paddle up to 38th (or south) on bigger days or up towards sewer peak.  The only problem there are all those 50+ yr old longboarders.  You know the "entitled" crowd.

I used to be one, but now I can't figure out why anyone would waste their time on a longboard when you can SUS.  I did get back into shortboarding again.  A lot of work at 54 yrs old, but it is fun change. 

[PonoBill]

I'd be a lot more open to the stink about SUP if it were as one-dimensional as longboarding is, but it simply isn't. I don't have anything against longboarders and would certainly never tell someone else what they ought to be doing, but I couldn't just sit there all the time and do the same three basic moves, which is all I see 99% of longboarders doing. The 1% of actually good longboarders are a thrill to watch. And of course they are generally the folks that never give anyone any crap.

[surf4food]

Unfortunately this is just something that goes with the territory.  Some areas are better/worse than others but as I see it (I guess I'm just pessimistic) if you are going to SUP surf then you better has access to a good lawyer and good insurance     Yeah it shouldn't be that way but that and a dime will get you a cup of coffee.

I love SUP but for me it's flat water only and hopefully in the future it will include downwinders.   For the surf I'm sticking with prone.  Not at all suggesting this is what everyone should do but I just don't' want to deal with the hassle. 

[JP4]

Unfortunately this is just something that goes with the territory.  Some areas are better/worse than others but as I see it (I guess I'm just pessimistic) if you are going to SUP surf then you better has access to a good lawyer and good insurance     Yeah it shouldn't be that way but that and a dime will get you a cup of coffee.

I love SUP but for me it's flat water only and hopefully in the future it will include downwinders.   For the surf I'm sticking with prone.  Not at all suggesting this is what everyone should do but I just don't' want to deal with the hassle.

From what I've seen and heard this seems like mostly a California phenomenon anymore.  I think it just comes down to how many people are in the water there and the long tradition of localism.  I'm not a good surfer, but I do know the rules and try not to be a kook (unless it's in front of Covesurfer;).  I don't mix it up with short boarders or a break full of local Hawaiians.
I've never been hassled ever on Oahu or Maui, nor Mexico or Costa Rica, and certainly not home in Oregon (there's really only one break with some wanna be local punks).
I'm a pilot and when I fly over some of the popular breaks in California it's totally shocking to see how many people are out at some breaks, even when the swell isn't that good.  I can imagine that tensions get pretty high in those huge crowds.
Another thing I've noticed traveling to the islands quite a bit is the ratio of SUP's to prone seems much higher in Hawaii than anywhere I've seen on the mainland.  I think people there are more diverse in their watersports and open to more ideas and innovation.  I might be totally off base, but that's my observation.
This whole SUP versus proner thing is reminiscent of the ski vs snowboard thing that went on a while back.  I still have friends that hate snowboarders, but none have tried snowboarding. I've done just about every kind of snow sliding and guess what, they're all fun! Nobody really blinks an eye at snowboarders anymore, totally integrated.
Same thing is going on at a low level in mountain biking with the traditional cross country riders versus the shuttling enduro folks.  Now as technology improves, there isn't that much separating an enduro bike from an XC bike, and even the trails are becoming more alike.
It would seem to me that California might be the last place where SUP has not yet integrated with prone surfing.  Eventually the grumpy old men will die off, and a few young kids will discover how fun SUP surfing is, and then it will spread. Who knows, maybe it will become the dominant form of surfing someday.
JP

[SUPcheat]

Maybe  we can get Sheriff Joe to post his surfing schedule at the Hook and go out then when he is already out there.

I think that SUP is becoming more integrated around Santa Cruz.  My neighbor and another guy had an incident of being cussed and cursed by an older proner last week at Sharks, where SUP has been pretty integrated for a long time.

  I little over a month ago, I heard a completely off the wall screaming and yelling Asian guy at Sharks, heard him all the way to Privates going berserk at a SUP on and on. However, there are so many whackos in Santa Cruz, I am surprised more of them don't make it onto the water.

In the year and nine months I have been standup surfing, it seems to have gotten better, and, yes, the younger people seem very interested in SUP and don't seem to think it is a refuge of senile wave demons.

It has actually been the middle aged demographic that is most vocal, the very group that will likely wind up on SUP themselves in a couple of years.

SUP does have a strange body language that implies dominance, with SUP standing and towering over the proners.  Maybe some of it is body language and animal behavior aka perceived, in your face dominance as well as territoriality.  So, SUP guys, no chest beating or Tarzan yells.  Jane Goodall would not approve. You don't want to upset the proner wildlife.

[southwesterly]

The Asian guy at Sharks Cove is a person to avoid. He's whacko and possibly violent. It's not that big of deal as he is not out there very often.

I have surfed there for over 40 years and I do not know who the guy is, but he's trying to make a statement. I have been giving the "you're invisible treatment" and it seems to be working so far.

[covesurfer]

I think paddle sports in general are an integral part of the culture of Hawaii and maybe because of that, people don't seem to get too hung up on using a standup paddle surf board. It's also a relatively small place and it would be hard to ignore the fact that many of the very best watermen and women ride stand ups in the surf. Not because they can't surf prone, but because it's fun.

There are plenty of great surfers in HI. Chances are, most people's aunties and grandmothers surf here and are probably way better than you. Some of the best prone surfers train on standup and/or in outrigger or ski for the fitness bennies. It's all part of an ocean-based sports lifestyle.

People that live here and that surf often (regardless of what they ride) recognize that there are certain breaks (like Honolua or Freight Trains) where SUP is not so compatible.  So they don't go out there and mix it up. It seems like there is little animosity between different types of surfers based on what you choose to ride.