Ask Carroll

[crabmeat thompson]

NC. Is dog really man's best friend?

[Nick Carroll]

Do you find yourself forgetting things in your middle age?

Yes. Only the very close short-term things. And sometimes I'll think of somebody and not be able to remember their name for 10 seconds. Oh dear.

[Nick Carroll]

NC. Is dog really man's best friend?

Maybe when it comes to another species. Dogs are a bit simpler than humans, so if you're constantly baffled by humans, a dog can be a good fall-back position. But, you know, dogs are dogs and humans are humans.

[DV8]

Hey Nick,

As 6000 inches closer , is there ANYTHING you have thought to yourself "I wish someone on here would ask me about ...blah blah blah ??

and

If you were sent on a surf charter and you had to choose 5 surfers/subjects to bring along that you considered you could learn the most from in the surf who would they be and why ??

All the best .

[bumfluff]

Nick, do all the bald jokes you cop actually offend you? Be honest. Also how about those pesky jokes about your brother being famous and you "almost famous"?

[crabmeat thompson]

Hey, thanks for ALL the replies..... You've all nailed it on the head, and some of you so much it was uncanny.

Braithy...you're right I won't be swimming myself (or paddling out) to an instantly hairy situation, but I will push the envelope a little and see what happens.

The particular break I have in mind is a well known break on the Central Coast, breaking off an island about 200m offshore. If it's 3 foot on the beachies, it'll be about 4-5 foot here.

The size I'm talking about is pretty small for this spot and it's an easy paddle out and back. Leggies do snap, and I know quite a few guys who've had to swim in, sometimes finding their boards, and at other times finding their boards a few beaches down.

For the past few months I've been paddling out and sitting on the shoulder, taking the wide ones or the sets that go through unridden by the main crowd.

I really don't like this spot. But I've also had some of my best rides here. It's gone from debilitating to frustrating (as Braithy so eloquently put it). Watching the guys who have it wired from the safety of the channel kinda makes it seem achievable ...

So I guess I've been desensitising myself to the spot...just need to get over the hump.

My equipment - a 6'8 McCoy single fin (honest, it's not a fashion statement, I just love it) and a 6'10 thruster McCoy Nugget (no love, but it's good old reliable, and not mine ). Lots of volume and lots of trust from me.

I might sign up for some Ocean swims, that should pick up my confidence a bit (or knock 'em back!).


Thanks for all the feedback...Braithy, NC, Steve, Bumfluff and Marcus.

Glad I could help. I can definitely relate to what you are going through. My situation was uncannily similar to yours. On the Sunny coast there is a bomby 300 -400 mtrs out from Dickies beach/ moffat beach, it grinds and sucks up and throws out big slabs of S/SE swell. That was my white whale which tormented me for close to a decade.

But! Slowly desensitising yourself and gaining confidence - baby steps today, tomorrow giant leaps - is how you'll get there. I like the sounds of your 6'8" McCoy. You definitely need a good board you can trust to take you there.

[crabmeat thompson]

NC. I know you touched on this earlier, but this is more specific.

How the fcuk did you juggle fulltime work with an insatiable appetite for the ocean with two young kids and maintain your relationship with your wife. I'm talking primarily about the early years of your kids life, to about 5-6 yrs of age.

I struggle almightily with it. I get unlimited support from the wife, the pressures come more or less from within myself. To do more with the family, to be a better dad, but to also get fitter, to take on bigger waves means a substantial commitment and frequent tuning of the body & mind to stay in condition, which takes time etc etc

Also what is the furthermost distance you've lived from the ocean, and did it impact your surfing/ water life, your behaviour?

[bumfluff]

Nick are you happy witht he way your exit from Realsurf is going?

Is it the happy ending that you had imagined it be?

Is it the hand relief you had been waiting for?

[lessormore]

What day and time will your last post be? Should we get a bugler to play the Last Post or should we all join hands in a conga line and try and beat this record-

Most users ever online was 220 on Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:33 pm

[steve shearer]

I think Nick should have a live video feed of his last Post, and then do a nude run down the main street of Newport with the last post playing at full volume.
Maybe wear a wig for the sake of decency. ( i know Northern Beaches residents are offended by the sight of naked bald people).

[Kunji]

What has been your favourite question so far, Nicky?

[Nick Carroll]

As 6000 inches closer , is there ANYTHING you have thought to yourself "I wish someone on here would ask me about ...blah blah blah ??

No...which is a bit odd, I sort of expected to be second-guessing the questions a bit but it hasn't happened. Probably more a mild dread of what MIGHT be asked, especially as the 6000 thing gets closer.

If you were sent on a surf charter and you had to choose 5 surfers/subjects to bring along that you considered you could learn the most from in the surf who would they be and why ??

Ahh shit I really don't know, I've had some great opportunities in this area already. I think it'd be fun to go on a surf trip just with a few mates to be honest.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick, do all the bald jokes you cop actually offend you? Be honest. Also how about those pesky jokes about your brother being famous and you "almost famous"?

No. Not offended by bald jokes. I make bald jokes about other people, so...

But I think if there was one thing I could say I've been personally hurt and bugged and rubbed the wrong way about in my whole surfing life, it would be the cheap shots taken by people at me regarding my brother. Not so much about fame or whatever, but implying that Tom's success is somehow responsible for my own surfing life and career. It's just a really particular form of rudeness and contempt, and it hurts not because I think it's even remotely true, but because it's using our brotherhood, something special that exists only between Tom and me, to devalue a lot of years of personal effort -- on both our parts.

[Nick Carroll]

NC. I know you touched on this earlier, but this is more specific.

How the fcuk did you juggle fulltime work with an insatiable appetite for the ocean with two young kids and maintain your relationship with your wife. I'm talking primarily about the early years of your kids life, to about 5-6 yrs of age.

I struggle almightily with it.

I don't know if there's any sensible answer to this one. I didn't always handle it well at all. Maybe it's just a time in your life that's gonna be a struggle. It won't last forever. I would say perhaps just remember to look to your wife for help with how to keep a balance; she will know when you're wobbling before you do.

Also what is the furthermost distance you've lived from the ocean, and did it impact your surfing/ water life, your behaviour?

Ha ha Neutral Bay in Sydney when I was two years old so it was a bit out of my immediate memory range.

In real terms, probably in CA, we lived very close to a beach but it was a beach that was only good on a very specific set of surf conditions, so most of the time I was driving 10 minutes or so to get near waves, and then (if it was Lowers) riding a bike for 10 minutes on top of that. I guess it just made surfing take longer, so I would tend to surf longer per session. I think I also got a sense of how important surfing really was to me, how much effort I was willing to go to just to stay in touch with it. Not so much because of the time but because of when I had to fit it in -- insanely early in the morning, or at weird breaks in other schedules.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick are you happy witht he way your exit from Realsurf is going?

Sort of neutral about it atm. Bit weird, those other threads cropping up as well, but whatever.

Is it the happy ending that you had imagined it be?

I hadn't imagined it at all.

Is it the hand relief you had been waiting for?

Urrghh no, don't be disgusting.

[Nick Carroll]

What day and time will your last post be?

I'm not sure, pretty soon though. You'll probably know by all the screams and the police sirens coming from the Newport area if I happen to execute shearer's suggestion.

[Nick Carroll]

What's your favourite power tool?

The hammer drill. Crass, I know, but fcuken violent.