🏄 “Summer Is Here And So Are The Crowds”
Okay, maybe not exactly like this, but you get the point:
If you attend Cal State Fullerton you are in your second week of summer vacation (Late May 2018). If not, summer will be here soon enough, and so will be the crowds.
I am not saying crowds are bad, I mean you have more people to look at, but in the waves, well, more people, with a higher percentage of those people being beginners than normal means fewer waves for many.
But for those of us on a SUP, those that can bounce around quickly between the peaks and just so happen to once again, be in the right place at the right time, to catch the wave, no worries. The extra people in the water, most of those now on those blue and white Costco Wavestream Soft-tops, well, they give us something to dodge, like an obstacle course.
What are you?
- A weekend warrior
- A warm water warrior
- Multiple surf sessions each week
- If the waves are good, i am there, regardless of the day
- A daily surfer
- Pre-Dawn Patrol
- Dawn Patrol
- Mid morning
- Later in the day
- Night Surf
- Surf in your sleep
Out of my way bitches! Carrying the SUP Flag!!!
But it is not just the new Costco Wavestorm that will be increasing the body count in the lineup; SUPs are becoming popular fast! This past week alone I have met five new people SUP Surfing Huntington Beach Pier, Southside. I had not seen any of them before.
The people I see SUP Surfing are as a group getting much better than just two or three years ago, as if the bar has been set. I have found that if you take 5 SUP Surfers and 5 prone surfers you will see that overall the group of SUP Surfers are better on the waves than the prone surfers.
And that creates a problem, a possibly explosive problem. What is the issue? Surf Etiquette (See Our Post On Surf Etiquette).
You will from time-to-time see actual physical confrontations between two or more people in the water, people actually hitting each other. More often you hear people making verbal comments, but just as aggressive. Usually it is based on someone failing to follow proper surf etiquette. For example, if you are in the lineup and you are at the center of the peak, who gets the wave? Is it automatically a party-wave or is it someone cutting someone off, either on purpose or out of ignorance.
If you ride the waves, no matter a sponger (Body boards) or a flyer (Hydrofoil surfing, you too should follow surf-etiquette – wear a leash!)
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