You can't justify Dingo's Drop-In, but he does raise some good points. With the ASP Circus in town the place is going to be nuts, every idiot with a surfboard is going to be out there with the aim of rubbing shoulders with a pro or 'being discovered' as the next free surfing prodigy!

Margs was the same last year, but thankfully there are one or two spots around that haven't yet appeared on Brazilian Facebook!

I think localism is a necessary evil. It establishes a pecking order and people new to a spot need to earn their stripes, and the also know what type of behavior is acceptable in any lineup.

I remember learning to surf as a kid, where everyone was confined to the **ty beachies until you were competent enough to move onto the better banks, then once you can get around sections and had a decent top and bottom turn nailed you could progress to the point where the better surfers hung out.

These days places like Snapper and Trigg seem to be a mecca for idiots. You get guys who can't even trim, blokes who can't duckdive and ditch their boards in front of you, and SUP riders who have never surfed a day in their lives all flocking to where the best waves are. There will be 60 blokes on the point before 6am, yet the sheep keep paddling out in droves.

The crowds and general kookery become a breeding ground for dropping in, snaking and bad manners. The older blokes develop a 'can't beat em, join em' attitude while the groms see everyone else f*cking about and think that behavior is acceptable.

Perhaps someone like Dingo Morrison could be using his prestige and profile to lead by example, perhaps even educate young and new surfers.

Souwester said..
I agree in principle that localism can be of benefit, but only when the locals endorse the right message.

Locals who snake, drop in, paddle up the inside every time and don't call out others that do it are not doing their local break any favours, its a viscous cycle.

When learning I copped it when I did the wrong thing, took it on the chin then made that part of my knowledge.

If you rocked up to a place you have not surfed before and its a bloody free for all, what be your impression of how to get a wave ?

I can count on the one hand the times I have surfed the wave I do most times when it was good and had a good time of crew doing the righty, its is just getting rarer than hens teeth.

Geez they were good sessions, they really stick in my mind cos everyone was getting good waves, calling each other in and having a laugh and a chat whilst waiting. Not a death stare or mutter under the breath the whole session.

andyou forgot the ****wits were being towed back out while us plebs had to do the paddle.....its a ****ing crock

So as we progress into another long weekend lets hope everyone has learned a little by what's happened.
Dont Rock up to a place as a visitor with an instant crowd and paddle for anything and everything that moves.
Practice what you preach

chrispy said..

TimKay said..
So as we progress into another long weekend lets hope everyone has learned a little by what's happened.
Dont Rock up to a place as a visitor with an instant crowd and paddle for anything and everything that moves.
Practice what you preach

ok you said something that almost got me into a fight...I had a beautiful bank not long ago while the whole goldy where fighting at the spit.

this knob stumbled upon it while I was ready to walk down for a wave. next thing I know he is on the phone telling his mate to let the crew know about a bank with no one on it.

I said to him get off the drugs and go surf... he just did not get it and wanted to hit me. I told my mates about it 8 hours later. the world is a farked up place

Sorry to hear. Some people are just crap
Surfers just dont get it
As surfers we are our own worst enemies.
Iv'e never been able to understand why people are so big on claiming, getting on the phone and drumming up crowds.
Enjoy it for what it is and show a bit of respect to your fellow surfers.(as if that would ever happen)
It always reminds me of the scene in Endless Summer 2. The before and after clips of Cape St Francis.
As good as surfing is, it sometimes feels like it is self destructing.

the pro surfing fraternity needs punters like us buying their sponsor's product - be it boardies / energy drinks / TVs more than we need pro-surfing.

If we as the buying public stop buying their product and let the businesses know why - you never know what might happen!!

Look at what happened to the Swimming Australia after the London Olympics and the fall out of the bad behaviour & poor results - they lost significant amount of sponsorship dollars and have struggled since.

Clarky said..
A Dingo took my Wavey

Kn brilliant !