I surf too

[Woody]

Etiquette! Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Don’t be a Kook! Play well with others and spread the Aloha! The positive vibe rubs off on others too.

Cheers!

[NCBA]

I believe shorter stand up boards and more progressive sup surfing is giving us some respect. The image of big logs that only go straight with the tourist lookin fellow riding is fading.

Has Hero wrist cams stock gone up with the SUP revolution?

[Big Sal]

I live in Lake Tahoe and can completely agree with the snowboarders Vs. skiiers issue as it relates to SUP.
I have been skiing for over 30 years.. don't really care for snowboarding, but have nothing against them. Snowboards are kinda limiting in the backcountry arena ( not so much anymore) but I never got into it. I now feel like a snowboarder with all the crap I get from the other surfers. It is funny how snowboarding has totally revived the ski industry by bringing all kinds of urban dwellers to the slopes. I doubt SUP will do that to the surfing industry. It seems to be doing fine.

I just got back from another winter run to Santa Cruz for some surf, and was heckled everywhere I went, even getting stink eye while driving with a pile of SUP boards on the truck. I have been surfing the Santa Cruz area for several years, and since sufing on an SUP, I have noticed the negativity become out of controll. I am told to leave, hear comments in the parking lot about SUP's that are said so loud as to make sure I can hear it... even yelled at while riding a wave... well away from others. I try to be a good ambassador for the sport and just do my thing... but sometimes it is really hard not to tell the other party to piss off.

As many of you have alluded to the need for being a good ambassador of our sport and sharing waves that you could probably get, staying out of the way, staying on the sidlines and taking the smaller, less sexy waves... all that,   we still get an earfull from prone paddlers... even longboarders and kayakers. It appears to me it is just human nature... not what they are riding on.  As with any sport that is becomming very popular, it suddenly seems like everyone is on an SUP, when we just seem to be the most obvious ones that you can see.

The best thing about this sport is the ability to surf tour... meaning get the hell away from everyone. There are so many good places to surf where the "pronies" are not willing to paddle to. Other places are just too busy and you should not be there, and besides the nice wave, why would you want to be there. You end up waiting so long for a wave, then spend the wave dodging other surfers... it is a population problem compounded by the fact that SUP surfers are right in your face, standing above you.

I am not sure if this issue will wane as the initial pulse of SUP surfers thins out, or if we will be outlawed.... kinda doubt that too... or if some areas will just be for SUP surfers...? Who knows, but it sure seems like people have lost thier sense of common social norms... like if you don't have anything nice to say, ...shut up?
I doubt that people would be that obvious with thier animosity if they knew how much we really had in common. I completely agree that we should all be able to share waves with repsect. Smile and say hello to everyone you drift close to. You will not always get the same back, especially in Santa Cruz these days.

The bottom line is when confronted with negativity, you need to take the higher road and not do something you wouldn't want your mamma to see you doing... Ha!

[cape supper]

As far as getting respect is concerned, you can earn loads of respect from some surfers whilst paddling OUT (not only shredding on the way in). Some surfers are waking up and appreciating the skill needed to paddle out without falling off or getting in the way.

We have been having shark problems in our local waters and SUPs provide some extra shark spotting ability thus helping to protect everyone.

I have also been asked a few times by surfers  "Is there another wave behind this one?" We are now the giraffes of the lineup 

It seems like we could be learning to live together afterall. :-)

[stillwater]

Why not do everything. Why live in a square box when you can live in a well rounded circle. I SUP, short board, long board, ski, snowboard, skate ski, tele ski. I try to do it all & equally well at all. Its all about having fun. Yes I do get bummed when I hear & see the negative attidudes from surfers when in fact I am a third generation surfer. I still surf with my dad (65 years old) but he is also stoked to see me riding a new tool for surfing. He is amazed at its versatility. Ankle snappers to overhead & yes just paddling flat water. My Santa Cruz session this weekend was filled with remarks & stink eye, but I always try to wait my turn, keep on smiling & paddle into some of the better waves that come through. Only if we could all have a perfect peak to ourselves, but thats not reality most of the time.     

Stillwater

[PonoBill]

There's always someone that wants to tell you that you can only do what they say is proper. There is only one answer for that.

[Lobes]

Most of the time of the time I just call it surfing unless I'm going flatwater and I'll say I'm going for a paddle. If I'm doing a downwinder I will often use either term. Very rarely will I call it SUP or Stand Up because inevitably the person Im talking to goes "Huh " and we have to have that conversation again. You know the one.... "Its like a big surfboard with a canoe paddle... no no the paddle is really long" and so on.

Yes I do enjoy promoting the sport and explaining it but sometimes its just quicker and easier to blend into the mainstream surfing terminology.

[wilanz]

Coming from a kayak surfing background, I say this with all reason in mind.   Save for a proven local, neither  SUP's,  nor kayaks will be accepted in the prone lineup.  We are different.  Evolution has made us want to alienate anything different from ourselves.   At best we can be accepted by locals who know us at our local break by taking the high road on a daily basis.   1st and foremost, by sitting where the wave breaks, and not outside of it,  taking the pick of the litter waves before they break.  Yes we can, and yes we do.   It's tough not to, but it's either that, or do as I do, and go to a lesser known break,  and have it to yourself,  where one can take a peak with no competition, thus, no need to sit outside!   
   aint nothin like a steep drop with no worries of dropping in on someone!

Gordon

Gordon,

Missed ya at Cocoa Beach this past weekend for the waveski contest.   I took my SUP paddleboards to play with since I usually get eliminated pretty early.  I tried it for a bit in the ocean and then in some flatwater behind the shop.  A couple of people tried it but commented that it looked much harder than sitting. 

Anyways...in my area, there are plenty of SUP paddlers in the line up and in flat water.   I am having a good time meeting others and fitting it a lot better than previously with a surf kayak or waveski.   I still follow the same guidelines that worked when I was out there before.  Let everyone catch waves and then I take the left overs...eventually they wear out and I get to pick up any wave I want. 

It was tougher with the kayak/waveski to get good waves but now with the SUP...I can stay way outside of the group and still have a good time on the little waves and swells.

Other than the contest my Waveski is collecting dust.  I am hooked on this SUP stuff.

William