Local bullies

[longyfreshy]

My son was surfing at Mona Vale when a local guy dropped in on him, my son had to put his hand on his back to stop his board from going into him. The guy had a go at him and my son thought he was going to punch him in the head so had to apologise to him and he was the one in the wrong.

I not lucky enough to live on the beach but did during the 70's at Northy and know what the local scene is like but the aggression now makes me really worry for my son who only wants to go surfing. He may not be as hot a surfer as the guys who live down there but growing up as a nipper knows the surf rules. I told him if it was me I would have told him to piss off but I am a 51 yr old woman who I hope he would'nt punch. I have guys drop in on me all time and snake me which really pisses me off but hey I just want to enjoy myself and believe in Karma LOL!

I tell my son to stay away from North Narrabeen, Dee Why and Curl Curl because of the locals but hell where can he surf as this is getting way out of hand. Any advice would be good but this guy my son said was huge and unfortunately my son isn't I am so

[Revolution]

curly has locals?

Manly, Freshie, Longy, South Narra, Warriewood all woud be fine... Dont really know north of there though.

[GFM]

South Narra is a good spot to avoid that sort of stuff. Then again, the bank(s) at south narra are so shit now that it only attracts a few, who are spread out. Longy is a good place also

[el rancho]

my advice would be too tell him to get back out there.

i know it's not pleasant, but the more he shows his face the less this will happen to him. of course he can't tell em to shove it, there's a risk he could lose some teeth to some roid munching neanderthal.

but I believe by removing him from the problem, it will pop up later anyway, often in non-surfing situations, so he'll have to deal with it eventually.

i think it will be good for him long-term to stand his ground, be wary of these red-faced pieces of shit and i reckon he'd get a whole lot of confidence from that.

[caspian]

this sort of stuff is seriously bizarre to me. The last five or so years since I started really taking bb-ing seriously I've gotten dropped in on maybe five times at the most, never gotten yelled at, only yelled at two people (both who were driving jetskis around the line up) and never gotten remotely close to a punch up. I am a huge dude, but still.. It's pretty crazy. I don't know anyone with a similar experience to what you describe, either.

Yeah, so my advice would be to move to WA. Far mellower crowds with far better waves. Hope that helps

[dUg]

I am a huge dude

huge dude or huge dude?

[buzzy]

I'm trying to work out how your son's back was in jeopardy if the other guy dropped in on him? :?

Anyway, I have to say I like some localism. Surfing was a far simpler place when if you transgressed there was a strong chance you'd suffer some physical consequences. People didn't paddle out through the middle of the take off zone. They took some whitewater on the head rather than paddle for the shoulder (and in the way). The dropped in much less. They knew what rips were for. All this peace love and mung beans has made the whole experience counter-intuitively more dangerous and less pleasant.

[longyfreshy]

Um buzzy maybe I didn't make myself clear but my son put his hand on the guys back who dropped in on him so my son's board wouldn't hit the guy in the back.

capsian thanks mate for your advice to move to WA really very helpful. I am glad you have never experienced any of these problems lucky you! maybe being huge may help.

Just to let you know we don't paddle out in the middle of the take off zone and never get in the way of anyone and take the whitewater on the head. Jesus Christ the beach is for everyone to enjoy and no one has a right to ownership, surfing has become so popular that of course it is alot crowded and it has nothing to do with peace love and mung beans. Just got back from the U.S. with my last stop being Hawaii where I took out a Mal and you haven't seen crowds until you have surfed at Waikiki but everyone is going along just fine even the local Mal riders!

Thanks to the other guys for your input it has been helpful.

[Nick Carroll]

longy, el rancho's advice is the best advice.

You gotta grasp the thistle with this sort of stuff.

Truth is, very few people will actually try to punch somebody else in the surf, certainly not at Mona Vale.

If you recall the 1970s at Northy, Newport etc, then you will be aware that today is a gentle warm bath of fun and flowers compared to what used to happen to transgressors in the Good Old Days. "Morning Of The Earth", indeed, more like "Evening in the Emergency Ward".

I hope your kid can put it aside and enjoy his surfing. He can always come and surf Newport, nobody's gonna be punching anybody there, at least while I'm in the water.

[Sveta]

I'm with el rancho. Get back out there. Both my friend and I had our tires let down at North Narra after a local dropped in on my mate and at the end of the wave started yelling about showing some respect and I didn't even do anything wrong. Second time this year (tires) mind you. What sort of childish schoolyard stuff is that. Anyway.....doesn't stop me going there. I try not to get in the way and do give a little space to THE "locals". I try and a spot where there might not be such a hassle for waves. Sometimes I don't get as many waves - but I'm always having fun. I don't want some peanut to ruin it.

Longyfreshy, your son can come surf with me anytime and have some fun. Water off a ducks back for me.

[Clif]

There's vacancies, I hear, at the CHUCK NORRIS SCHOOL OF PAIN.

[Surfin Turf]

It's a bit like driving down the street , or trying to walk through the crowd at a crowded pub ... there is always a small percentage of d!ckheads who get all agro about anything and you never really know when you are going to come across them ... tell your son to walk sth a few 100m's ... a lot less hardcore in the middle than trying to surf with the "hardcore mona vale locals" ...

out of the surf, mona vale is also a strong contender for drunken, vandilising, brawling, d!ckhead capital of sydney ...

[Wink]

Yes, definitely get back out there. And don't avoid curly, narra, DY etc either.

You get yelled at from time to time, especially when you're young or learning... it's pretty much inevitable, but it's not that big a deal, and VERY rarely comes to a punch. In fact, almost never actually comes to a punch. And you know what they say about sticks and stones...

If you're a beginner or young or not at your local then it's not worth making much of a big deal when someone drops in on you... it's only a wave. Just paddle out and get another one. If someone yells at you, steer clear of them a bit for the rest of the surf (assuming you don't want to take them on or anything). But just steer clear of them... no need to steer clear of surfing, or their whole beach.

I did used to get scared when people yelled at me when I was younger, but really, there's no need to worry at all about getting punched. Unless you're a total d!ckhead, it won't happen.

[mical]

[Yuke Hunt]

He can always come and surf Newport, nobody's gonna be punching anybody there, at least while I'm in the water.

How things change ... hey Nick ... Newport used to have quite a reputation in the old days ... Newport Plus and all.

Interesting segue here ... whilst surfing at a quiet little town half way between Sydney and the Queensland border a while back ... a group of holiday makers with Newport Plus stickers on the back of their four wheel drives were also enjoying the relaxing surroundings ... and incidentally quite a disrespectful bunch of surfers ... especially the teenagers ... one in particular who was constantly snaking ... dropping in ... or continually paddling and pushing the lip down before pulling back at the last moment ruining waves that other people were already surfing ... the kid was an absolute nightmare ... (no Nick it wasn't Tommy ... he was way taller) ... he was a reasonable surfer ... but not nearly as good as he considered himself to be ... it took a couple of days and some gentle re-educating before he started to get the picture ... could this attitude be the result of his upbringing ... one would certainly hope not.
They aren't the only ones who come and behave in this manner ... there is a group of Pricktorians who visit every Easter and drive the locals nuts ... the kids have no idea and the parents share in this ignorant bliss equally well ... lots of longboards involved with this crew ... an instant uneducated crowd of selfish and predominately unskilled kooks.

As for the original question on this thread ... Nick said it ... el rancho is correct.
No matter what you do ... you can't escape the fact ... there are dickheads everywhere.
An example of this occurred whilst surfing an isolated stretch of beach just north of Port Macquarie ... there was only three people surfing this particular point ... but even with such a small crew this one clown managed to get in the way and make a nuisance of himself ... ditching his board in front of me when a sneaky set came through ... causing me to ditch mine and dive out of the way to avoid injury ... he did receive a very loud and angry verbal spray for that effort ... nothing like getting out of the city for a few days for a relaxing surf or two.

[purple pyramids]

i subscribe to the random dickhead theory. chances are he wont come across another retard like that for 15 years.

on the other hand -- if you go to a quality wave with a very defined or small take off area expect to get dropped in on. if it's firing and there are more than five people out, i go around the corner or further down the beach and find somewhere else.

[mical]

You could plaster his board with sponno stickers and stand on the beach filming him.

He's then free to call EVERY set wave he paddles for and drop in on everybody.

Locals love that

[Cpt.Caveman]

Good points guys. You're always going to encounter cranky pants idiots every now and then, people that like to bully other people with aggression to fluff themselves up or defend their "deserved respect".

Learning how to keep surfing and having a good time regardless of those turds is a good lesson to learn. If your son only ever learns to avoid them or to match their ego trip with aggression, he will never enjoy himself when ones in the water being an oaf.