How can locals deem a spot closed to sup surfers?

[seadart]

I am not sure if you have noticed but surfers in the Santa Cruz area have a reputation for being a$$holes.  I have seen friends' tires slashed for surfing Davenport  and watched surfers deliberately trying to injure an out of town kook trying to surf  the Lane on a really below average day.  I'm not sure if it's compensating for low self esteem, or just behaving like chimps without parents but there seems to be a real strong tribal reward for acting like a d__khead in Santa Cruz.  In LA the problem got solved by law suits and massive police action.  In the meantime I would just surf somewhere else.  Life is too short.  Eventually the spot will be overrun by SUPs and foils and god knows what ,  the surf industry makes much less money off of tiny shortboards and the central coast tweakers who ride them. 

[LB Surper]

One can sense the insecurity in people as soon as they boast how they have grown up in the area or they have surfed the area for 40 years, blah, blah blah,. as if that makes any difference.
It's planet earth, it doesn't matter where you are born, where you grew up and how many of the locals and their parents you've known over the decades. It's irrelevant.
I just got back from a trip to Panama and met another surfer on the plane home. Right away he was boasting about how he lives in San Clemente and surfs his local spot all the time. Who cares? I just wanted to talk about the fun waves in Panama but right away he had to ramble on about his home break. Too funny!

[PonoBill]

It always seems like the baby wave surfers are the most territorial--people scrapping over knee-high slop. I surfed the Harbor this morning because everything else was such a mess. The biggest wave all morning might have been head high. It was fun early--just a few people out, and a generally pleasant vibe. a few foilers (Dave K, Shep, Kathy, etc.) and a few really good longboarders, one pretty good shortboarder, and me--wobbling around trying to get my knee to stop popping. There was a steady stream of foilers coming, but then about 9:00 a bunch of longboarders paddled out and sat right in the middle of the break--too far in for the bigger waves, too far out for the little shit. Just blocking.

First of all, I think if you show up at the crack of nine, you get what you get. Second, the blocking stuff is so lame, it ruins their surf time too. I just boiled through the pack a few times, just to practice my slalom moves. I think it's pretty stupid to get in front of a 230-pound moose on a barge of a SUP (my 10'4"), but I'm willing to play. Most of the foilers moved down, but I had enough of the dickheads and headed in.

While I was tieing my board down I was laughing with Shep about the idiots blocking the break, and Kalama said one of the longboarders got into it with Junya, who was foiling. I can't imagine getting on Junya's case about anything. First of all, he's one of the funniest, nicest guys I know. Second, he looks like a terrifying Hawaiian warrior complete with shark-tooth haole bopping club stashed in his car. I'd rather pick on a tiger shark.

So yeah. Dumbshits.

Better surf in better places will solve the problem for me. I'll leave the baby waves to the morons.

[lopezwill]

  I've had a coupe of days to think about this.  Thanks for all the responses.  How much do I owe the contributors for my counseling session here? He he.

   I think Southwesterly nailed with, "Some things are what they are.  If you want to play the game, thats the way it is."  This spot has always had Ass_____ surfing there...probably always will.  I certainly didn't want to bring down the good vibe of sup surfing that for the most part always exists.  Truth is I sometimes choose to go for an exercise paddle away from surfers just because I don't want to battle with the crowds.

  I'm fortunate that there a a few other places with less quality waves but areas that I can sup surf.  This place, "Is what it is."  I'll continue to sup surf there on occasion, try to remain positive and just deal with it.     

[stoneaxe]

I just smile....and since the left side of my face doesn't really work all that well and I'm kind of ogerish looking to start with it looks like I want to rip off your face....works a charm...... So they leave me alone for the most part.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Is this localism a west coat thing? I've never seem anything like this out east. Not that I'm a serious surfer or anything, but I've never even heard of this happening. I suppose there might be a few places where this happens, but I don't know where. I once got the stink eye from a surfer girl in Cape Cod, but she probably thought I was perving on her, me on my dorky 11' board.

Maybe it's because our waves are pretty small and you don't get those dramatic breaks, so there's nothing to fight over.

[Tom]

Yes it's a So Cal thing. I was called out in Costa Rica and I told the guy "you're from So Cal aren't you". Hawaii and Aus have issues too, but not like here

[ospreysup]

Being an jerk is never okay but at the same time don't want the jerk to ruin my time so I have developed some strategies when going to the better breaks.

1. Dawn Patrol... I will be the first one in the water. Locals tend to show up at the same time (8:00 in the summer maybe a little later in the winter) Get my 45 minutes or so of the waves to myself or with very few people. As the break gets crowded, I earn my stripes. I let a lot go, wait for the last wave in the set and mostly chat with the top dogs. Little by little they have gotten to know me. They know I will give up most of the waves and as I have become a better surfer they have respected my growth. Best part is I already have gotten my fair share because I'm in the water before the sun comes up.

2. Hang a little inside and just off peak.... If I can't get to dawn patrol or conditions won't permit I'll position myself in a spot I can get a late take off.  I find that even the locals miss a lot of waves. I'm not on the peak but not far off. A quick turn and I'm not fighting anyone for a wave. There is an occasional pounding but I get a lot of waves this way even in the most crowded line-up. Nobody cares because i didn't take a wave from anyone. And the locals appreciate I stay out of their way.

3. Find a good local Sup shop....This has been my best strategy. On those really good days that fall on a weekend, I have two shops close enough by that have fought the good fight for me. I travel a little further but they have established SUP at their local break for me because they are SUP only or SUP priority shops. Except on the very best days the proners tend to find different spots.

I'm not sure I buy the whole territorial thing but it was obvious very early on for me that I didn't want the stress. If my choice is the best break dealing with  crap or catching tons more waves in a less stressful less crowded line up. I choose the later every time.  Bottom line, right wrong or indifferent, Sup has a long way to go in the better line-ups and we all have to do our part to gain our acceptance or we will all have the days when the jerk is the jerk!

[supthecreek]

ha ha.... talk about timely!

Watching from the top of the hill today, just after my session....
I saw my proner buddy, Al, get totally snaked and run down TWICE by SUPs, in about 20 minutes.
Our breaks are very chill, so no drama at all, but I cringed big time.
 
Poor Al was hard pressed to get good waves, with all the SUPs out... then to get snaked twice, sucks.

I see this happen FAR more, surfer to surfer.... but SUP's are the ones that stick in a surfer's mind.

Look both ways before entering the Freeway!

[surfercook]

I feel your frustration. It's a tough call sometimes whether to chose the better (and more crowded) spot or go w/the lesser quality break. Luckily for me my home break where I'm "The Local" is not so high profile and breaks half decent. It gets crowded in the summer alot but in winter the cold thins out the crowd. Sometimes it's a tough call for me to hit the "Point" that all the surfers here cherish. If it's too crowded w/proners I will grab my longboard or fish, but for the most part it's cool to sup there.

Sorry you had such a bum sesh. Quite a drag when the proners start razzin' and snakin'. I had one of the top surfers at the point on a really good day steal a nice one from me. I just let it slide. I figure if I'm on sup I don't have much of an argument. And besides, by the time this dude got me I had already ridden a dozen beauties to myself. My brother saw it go down he was pretty much shaking his head questioning why the dude cut me off. Just gotta go w/the flow if you wanna sup IO guess.
Is it true there are no sups allowed in Honolua Bay? I don't think I've ever seen a picture of one there. I can kinda understand why, but man, that would be an awesome sup wave!

[surf4food]

Is this localism a west coat thing? I've never seem anything like this out east. Not that I'm a serious surfer or anything, but I've never even heard of this happening. I suppose there might be a few places where this happens, but I don't know where. I once got the stink eye from a surfer girl in Cape Cod, but she probably thought I was perving on her, me on my dorky 11' board.

Maybe it's because our waves are pretty small and you don't get those dramatic breaks, so there's nothing to fight over.

Localism is probably the worst in California, but it's alive and well in various areas around the world, so it's hardly unique to the west coast.  Hawaii is pretty bad and same with Australia.  Plenty of surfers I know who transplanted from Florida and New Jersey described some pretty heavy vibes at their local breaks.  I don't have any surfing experience from the east coast so this is based on people I've talked to and forums I've read.  And even n areas don't have issues with outsiders per se, there is a lot of animosity between shortboarders and longboarders, and throw SUP into the mix, downright nasty.  I'm sure that varies area to area, break to break.  Still, based on what I've read and guys I've talked to, I'm surprised to see a question like this.

[PonoBill]

Fortunately, now there are foilers, who are taking the heat off us like SUPs took the heat off longboards. Foils went from "isn't that interesting and cool" to "those fuckers are dangerous" in record time. Foils are leaving the margins and the dinky waves out of the breaks and returning to the crowded peaks as soon as they get good enough. they can still leave and have fun in the slop, and when they drop in on you they are fifty yards away before you can yell at them, but the bigger peaks are more fun.

Here in Maui, the foils are a swarm. There were about twenty of them at the harbor today, and 18 were really good. All the better SUP surfers are now on foils. I think it's great, they don't really figure into anything. I assume they are going to go off and do their thing, and pass me high or low at will, so I feel free to drop in or snake them viciously. But the longboarders already hate them, though they bite their tongues since the foil guys and gals are the Alpha surfers. It's fun to watch.

Creek, that was one seriously clueless SUP surfer.

[Badger]

I don't even bother going out if it's crowded. The wave count is so low when sharing waves that it's not even worth it. 

We have a few choice breaks that I wouldn't think of surfing. Those spots are better left to the experts who have earned it. If everybody surfed there, it would ruin it for them. Those spots are usually crowded enough as it is. Too crowded for me to waste my time with. If you went there with a SUP and got in the way, you deserve to be treated badly.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Surf4food, I was just asking because I'd never seen it. That's all.

[surfercook]

Localism is probably the worst in California, but it's alive and well in various areas around the world, so it's hardly unique to the west coast.  Hawaii is pretty bad and same with Australia.  Plenty of surfers I know who transplanted from Florida and New Jersey described some pretty heavy vibes at their local breaks.

Localism is the scourge of surfing. Any "Local" who thinks he has more of a right to surf a "His" (or her) spot than a visitor is sadly mistaken. (IMO)