clubbies carnage

[marcus]

ok heres a tricky one to talk about.
weve probably all been helped at one time by volunteer lifesavers, either getting a free bandaid or them minding your towel for you.
but theres something else i would like to talk about....
the things clubbies can sometimes do that frustrate you.

here goes, (no offence to the ones that know what they are doing)

1. loosing craft in the flags and letting it tumble on through the line up taking out everyone. (ive been hit in cronulla by a wooden surfboat 5 times).
2. using those Friggin rubber duckie IRB bloody boats all the time and zipping all around the joint, leave them for real rescues only please, a kook lifeguard in one of those things is more anoying than any number of jet skis.
3. my life guard mates complaining that they dont get the same equipment that the pro lifeguards get... the reason probably being that they are anoying enough with the equipment that they have at the moment without giving them a 4wd bike, jet ski to run through the flags with.
4. those bloody whistles.
5.paddling a drowning middle eastern man in from the surf to see the clubbie guys having a chat completely oblivious to whats going on.
6. tv iron man comps that call a 4ft wave a 10ft wave
ok i got it off my chest.
sorry if i offended anyone, as i like the work that some of them do.
cheers marcus

[spotty]

Marcus i absolutely agree.Clubbies should be ashamed of their behavior.I have found them to be more harm than good over the years.I still bear a scar from a surf boat incident.They hide behind the lame arse excuse that they are a volunteer organisation and therefore "untouchable".As in all walks of life i am sure there are a lot of great clubbies out there,i just have'nt met any yet.The work they do patrolling our beaches is ok, they should just stay out of the water when they are not "saving lives".

[marcus]

lets hope that most clubbies cant afford the $270 jet ski licence.
i think its that much, have to get one for my mates ski.

[zzz]

I agree about the surfboats and also powered craft (jet ski's, rib's etc.)

To me, letting untrained teenagers tear about in the lineup/swimming areas in powered craft is a bit like letting untrained teenagers tear about on motorbikes through a crowded park on a Sunday afternoon. Its quite clear that they aren't observing properly the majority of the time. On top of that can you imagine the complaints about noise and stench if someone started tearing around in your local park on a motorbike while everyone was out picnicing? It just wouldn't happen so why is it allowed in the water.

As for surfboats ...

[vidman]

I AGREE, but just for little balance....our local clubbies (outside of holidays), I should say clubbie because on a weekday there's only one on, let us surf between the flags, carry their equip.(even though they have a 4wheeler, and get out for the odd wave. These guys are paid by the council, (the weekend volunteers are useless and probabily couldn't float without assistance), we call them PROFESSIONAL LIFEGUARDS, it doesn't seem to be a bad job, I'd do it if I could be garrenteed my beach, 2yr ago the guy on patrol worked summer in aust. then california, had done it for years, last year a guy named Jake Spooner (the ex pro surfer) sat on patroll watching the surfing, haven't meet this years recruit, but no hassel yet I think he's from NZ.

These guys' job is to watch everything happening on the beach and in the surf, if you keep your eyes open and show competance there's no reason the whole beach can't be shared. Most surfers know the history (I hope) of surfboards in Aust. it's a pity lifeguards don't pay us more respect in the water.
Does it have to do with the dudes running it being stuck in the later half of last century or are they just jelous of our ability in the water.

Most Iron men/wemon ride or have ridden a shortboard. Just listen to what they say in interviews on the weekend coverage; as usuall, the rift bettween us, will be healed by the bigger men (surfers) (maybe).

[Dave]

I was on the sand with my kids (due to flat spell) on sunday, and the nippers were doing their thing with the paddle board races etc. No probs here except that the clubbies had not set up a finnish line area for the litle fellas to come in to the beach.

A swarm of happy paddlers were charging towards to beach amongst the swimmers in the flags while about 15 red & yellow capped volunteers were standing around admiring each others sluggos. All backs to the ocean. Not a brain cell between them.

One of the beach punters ended up coraling the kiddies and it was 5 minutes before one of the oblivious clubbies was told.

If it had been me or any other surfer, one of the clowns would be threatening to confiscate the board...

go figure...

[spotty]

I always think of "the boys from brazil",(the movie),when i see nippers.

[marcus]

hay all
TG raised some good points in responce to my posting, in realsurf news.
sorry TG for any offence, i should have worded my posting differently, for i understand what you have to say.
and i have needed a hand from clubbies more times than i mentioned.
i suppose the actions of a small few have clouded my judgement of an organisation that is there to help us.
i do have a lot of friends that are involved with the surf lifesaving movement, some of them can surf, and others dont go near the water unless it is summer.
so i suppose volunteer lifeguards and surfers need to hang out together more and understand each other.
or invite the general public allong to those nice smelling bbqs to get the conversation happening.
his goatness, hope no offence was taken by you and other surfers that are involved with the organisation.
cheers
marcus

[marcus]

tried to email you TG but it returned so i posted it here
hey Your goatness
sorry about any missunderstanding or anything from the post about
clubbies carnage, i understand your points and should have known better than
put every volunteer lifeguard in the same boat, (which i was trying not
to do).
as someone who rides a surfcraft that gets a lot of slack, i should
have known better and please accept my appologies.
maybe i should have worded it differently or spent more time thinking
about what i was typing and how it would be read.
i value the surf lifsaving movement, just thought there are sometimes
occasions that frustrate other ocean users.
hope this makes sense as i thought long and hard about this on the way
home from the pub.
hope to share a surf session with you one day or a beer and hear many
of the stories your lifetime in the ocean has given you.
regards and appologies marcus.
ps you can post this on realsurf if you think its appropriate.

call anytime your down my way if you need a board or a lounge to crash
on, and thanks for the surf predictions, i never delete them as they
come very valuable for planning surf trips.

[tiger]

Jeez Marcus, I know bodyboarders are good at backflips, but that was a doozy! I think TG is trying to brain wash us and start a clubbie cult.

[The Goat]

Marcus my son

You are forgiven...

TG
PS Keep posting. The Forum is there for you. Thanks for the invites - they're appreciated.

TG's advice for today - and always...

1 have fun in the surf
2 have fun in the surf!

Stay cool

[Surfchaser]

marcus -

Lines 1 & 2 were in full effect this Sunday at Dee Why.

It boggles the mind (easier done now that I'm gettin old...) to think those guys are paid to see to the safety of the bathers and swimmers along that same stretch of beach that they bomb in and around on, in there rubber ducky.

And let's not forget that fool steering the surfboat during "practice". He was more concerned about catching a 3 foot wave in, than he was about the 15-20 people directly between him and the beach.

Not impressed to say the least. There. That's it for my vent.

- SC

[zzz]

There's an article in the Manly Daily this morning about the heroic local lifegaurds carrying out a rescue on Sat.

A guy face down in the water gets spotted by two snorkellers and dragged to the beach (quote from the article: "Mathew McDouall and Daniel Cassel were snorkelling near rocks IN FRONT OF MANLY LIFE SAVING CLUB at 1pm when they saw the man"). After they dragged him to the beach the lifegaurds came down after they called out to them and resuscitated him. Another quote "Mr Cassel (snorkeller) DRAGGED THE MAN FROM THE WATER. Off-duty volunteer lifesaver Michael Dawes heard the call and bolted down to the beach for his FIRST RESCUE".

Photo in the paper has a shot of the THREE life guards that resuscitated him. No photo of the two snorkellers that spotted the guy and dragged him to the beach.

All interviews with lifesavers, lifeguards, Northern Beaches Lifesaving Spokesman etc. only talk about cooperation between club members. None of them mentions the two snorkellers either.

Bloody good work reviving the guy and getting him going again but a bit of modesty wouldn't go astray.

[Billwha]

i was at maroubra in decent 6/7/8 foot surf paddling my arse off to get out when, after getting caught in a washing machine after a duckdive a clubbie on a friggin wave runner was heading straight for me, about 15 metres away. I was so busy yelling abuse at him i got crunched on the next set . . . had to laugh at that though. he's some fat f__K lazy LOSER too scared to get out there on a paddle board and have some real fun. of course beach was closed, no need for the runner out there except to create a noise and stuff up the waves. meanwhile there's an old boy clubbie, would've been at least 60, out there on a paddle board catching some nice rides. went up and abused the fat bastard on the beach after i came in . . . don't think i've given a more satisfying spray before or since.

[streetdaddy]

i value the surf lifsaving movement, just thought there are sometimes occasions that frustrate other ocean users.

Just like the police, it would be a minority giving the majority a bad name. It's never easy to cleanse the ranks of these kinds of ppl coz mostly they're just human, i.e. they're having a bit of a power-trip thinking they look cool and can ride a water-bike like a pro, even though they're completely disobeying the laws by buzzing around (for no good reason mostly) within metres of swimmers and surfers...

TG, I'm sure you're a shining example of lifesaver, but the fact that soooo many people have witnessed other clubbies acting like irresponsible children makes it obvious that SLSC's Australia-wide should consider revamping their lifesaver screening process to put ppl lives in the hands of responsible adults, not idiot hoons who don't take the responsibility seriously... Argh, I'm holding myself back from ranting on and on about it! I mean, I don't want to take to much away from what is an indespensible service to the public, but I'm sure there are lives that could've been saved and injuries that could've been avoided with some common sense, simple common sense (reads 'more surfers in SLSC's)...

Next step, video evidence!

[nubby]

it can be broken down like this

clubbies good-saving thousands of people

clubbies bad-sluggo wearin security guarding, surfer running over, glorified beachside dunny hanging, man-against-the-sea dreaming, kiddies with matches playing, conformity loving, rule obeying, whistle blowing, atmosphere ruining, bank hogging, army marching, psuedo-fascist footballers by the sea.

clubbies, well done for the former, take a good look at yourselfs for the later