What is wrong with this picture?

[mal2050]

We have all seen newbies doing something backwards when it comes to surfing like waxing the bottom of the board. 

Sunday sitting with my family at the beach I look over and spot the big fin on backwards,  and when I mentioned this, my wife said all three fins are backwards of which I had missed.

I do not like the shaming that people have to endure when they do this so I thought I would politely point this out.

I had seen three women floating on this earlier so I went over to let them know they had got the fins in wrong.

I was told no this is the only way they can fit and that was the instructions given, when I tried to say that I have surfed for a long time the other person told me "well this is not a surfboard it is a paddleboard".
Anyhow I think I got the message to them but I cannot say they were pleased with it.

[Badger]

One time I was walking on the beach and told some girls that they were using their paddle backwards. They didn't believe me and just kept on doing it the wrong way.

[Wetstuff]

Whew, Mal...  That looks like a rear-entrance visit to the ER waiting to happen.   Badger, they rent canoes, kayaks at our Fed. Park.  One time, two young Asian girls were in a canoe 'facing one another', one paddling backward, but I'd bet it was a first/last time situation.  They used to keep a dinghy handy - most newbies go downwind first.

Jim

[Bean]

I've totally given up on offering unsolicited advice and would suggest to everyone here, to do the same. 

[ninja tuna]

That guy is ahead of the times....You all need to catch up.

That is the new noserider fin position for steering from the front.

 

[TallDude]

That is the new Grim Reaper 'Scythe' thruster fin setup.

[Wetstuff]

Bean.. is right: Don't tell a rental newbie 'Look down - Fall down'.  They look back with that FU-look on their face.  Buyer-newbies are sponges by contrast.

Jim

[Quickbeam]

The one I see most often is using the paddle backwards. Sometimes I say something, sometimes not. It depends on the situation.

[PonoBill]

Yeah, I've given up on unsolicited advice, though sometimes the urge is too strong to resist. The result almost always reinforces the rule. I told a father that his three little kids playing on a huge drift log on the edge of the surf that it was extremely dangerous. He told me to mind my own fucking business. I really wanted to punch his lights out, but I decided that would probably not have a positive outcome. Instead, I said, "If your kids get hurt I'm going to tell the police you were warned, which will make it negligence, not an accident". He flipped me off, of course.

I've seen the backward fin thing before. Somehow I resisted saying anything. I did speak up when I saw a pair of thrusters reversed (flat side on the outside)--because I'm an idiot. The guy said, "that's the way the instructions said they go." Has anyone ever seen instructions with a set of fins???

On the receiving side of that same issue, my Realwind windsurf board uses thrusters with the flat side intentionally on the outside. I've had dozens of people tell me they were wrong. I gave up on explaining long ago, I just say, "thanks for telling me, I'll fix them later".

There are so many backward paddles in Hood River and Maui that it would be a full-time job telling people it's wrong. And less than one percent would switch. The unused leash dragging in the water, PFD tied to the nose thing is equally common, and it's completely ineffective to tell people it's dangerous.

I think telling people they are doing something wrong carries a certain inevitable smug superiority that people react badly to. They're insecure to begin with, and if they were rational beings they'd get some basic instruction and pay attention to it. So yeah, I vow to STFU, but it's hard.

[NorthJerzSurfer]

One time I was walking on the beach and told some girls that they were using their paddle backwards. They didn't believe me and just kept on doing i ;Dt the wrong way.

I think I used the paddle backwards at least the first 6 times I supped till i realized it worked better the other way......

[iopsailor]

Last week I saw a woman obviously on her first day with the paddle backwards. I opened with a compliment  “ hey you’re doing great  to even be out in the ocean. I know experienced surfers who spent days in the flat water before coming out here”.  Then, once I’ve established credibility and good guy cred, “if you don’t mind my telling u, your paddle s backwards”.  That took. BUT, when her guy took his turn, there it was backwards again. I guess his was bigger

[JimK]

In Defense of the "Newbie"

several years ago (when Riviera was in business) I had a woman drive up to my shop with a Riviera board on the roof with the side fins in backwards (and reversed foiled) She said the board worked better with just one fin. Would I take the other fin boxes out. I told her the board is fine without using the side fins. But you might like it even better if we put the side fins in the right boxes!!!

So I put the board up on bench removed the side fins figure I'd just switch them and all would be good (I'd be the HERO).
Much to my surprise THE FIN BOXES were put in backwards and reversed??? I WAS AMAZED!!!
I said you have to return that board to where you got it IT'S DEFECTIVE! She informed me that the local shop she got it from (No names but they have 3 or 4 locations in SNJ) told her no that is how they are supposed to be...She even went to another shop (Surf Shop in business over 50 yrs) and they confirmed that is how they are supposed to be!

I seemed to be in the minority (Plus I never dealt with Riviera) So to prove my point I got 2 brand new boards off my rack (Fanatic/Starboard) and low a behold the fins went in right. I took her inside showed her TONS of pics on the internet of how fins go in...I even started explaining WHY?? but that just was a bad idea.
So the solution
She first want me to take out the side fin boxes and patch it up all pretty. I gave her an estimate and that went over like ... Ok not exactly what she was thinking
So she asked do I have a Quick Cheap fix? and I DID Filled the boxes with Solarez, sanded it and threw on some white paint and she was on her way

So maybe that is the problem your guys had? Still junky boards on the market I guess it could happen

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing

[toolate]

the other day in waikiki i was about to warn an obvious newbie woman wearing baggie shorts and a tshirt paddling out on a costco foam surfboard with some sort of kiddie paddle. It was double overhead on the bigger sets and i smelled trouble...just then she spun on a dime and took off on a perfect wave nearly getting barrelled...

[PonoBill]

the other day in waikiki i was about to warn an obvious newbie woman wearing baggie shorts and a tshirt paddling out on a costco foam surfboard with some sort of kiddie paddle. It was double overhead on the bigger sets and i smelled trouble...just then she spun on a dime and took off on a perfect wave nearly getting barrelled...

Yeah, there's that. There was a young lady on Maui who favored the Costco kiddie SUP board--I don't remember her name. She absolutely ripped on it. And she used the paddle that came with it. Maybe she moved to Oahu.

[Califoilia (formerly - SanoSlatchSup)]

Newbie is one thing, but last week I saw a well-established foiler put the wings of his Go Foil on upside down on the picnic table before he stuck the foil onto his board.

Even after I inquired, "So do they work better that way?"...he gave me a puzzled look, and replied, "This is the setup I always use".

Since I realized he'd not noticed his error, I responded back, "Wow, even upside down like that?" After pondering the situation for a moment or two more he even said back, "Huh? I think they'll only go on one way".

All I could do was to keep from laughing and said, "Yeah, that's what I thought also...but apparently not"...smiled, and walked over to my van to get ready to head out myself. 

Well I'm pleased to report that after a couple more minutes of turning the whole thing upside down, backwards, around, and back up again...he finally did realize his mistake, laughed hard, and got things going in the right direction.

I guess we all just sometimes have "One of those days".