Ask Carroll

[speedneedle]

Hey Nick -

Surf Media insider and longtime hefty wordsmith...your opinions and approach have some weight with the regulars here. You were the editor of Tracks when I was still in school uniform...You lend his gathering of keyboard jockeys some cred.

But I did also notice that your post-count is not moving, not getting closer to the 6000- That'd be something to do with administrative access as a mod?

Maybe there's a point being made - I.e - This thread has garnered a proportion of posts and hits greater than Roys in a fraction of the time? Something about actual versus perceived fame or credibility in relation to internet following?

Shearer showed us this with his instant coffee thread - Challenging the great sage of olo with the profundities of....instant coffee...

Josh

[mical]

Anyone who falls for this old bait and switch is dumber than I look.

Fcuk it, I must be really dumb.

My parents and teachers lied to me all those years.

Thanks Steve, my illusion shattered and self confidence now reset to zero.

Reckon they'll give me your old job washing windows? I'll have to leave this one toot sweet.

[mical]

1. Best piece of advice you've ever been given?

I really don't have an answer to that. I could deliver a glib, snappy one, but it'd be a lie. Generally I view advice with suspicion, whether it be mine or someone else's. My Dad's been my best guide, but he never tells me what to do, just sorta drops hints.

2. Greatest surfing memory?

Oh Christ. Umm, this would be different depending on the day but I think right now as of this moment, the memory closest to the surface for some reason is the afternoon of Christmas Day 1989 at Waimea Bay. That morning it was 15-18' and Titus Kinimaka had suffered a compound fracture of the right femur after being hit by the lip while at the base of a very sucky set wave. Six or eight of us kept Titus afloat and as comfortable as possible, preventing him from being drawn either into the shorebreak or across to the left on the wrong side, while the lifeguards organised the helicopter. It unfortunately was preoccupied with a fire on the east side so it took about 45 minutes to get there. Darrick Doerner saved the day that morning; he kept everyone calm and relaxed in a very stressful situation, Titus's bone was exposed and if we'd been picked off by a wave, he'd probably have cut his femur on it and died.

Anyway off he went to hospital and that arvo the swell picked up to 20-25', perfect conditions, and TC, Mike Newling, Doerner and I along with six or seven others surfed it almost till dark, fcuken unbelievable. Then went to the Turtle Bay Hilton for the Christmas Day buffet.

Q. Why stop posting here?

It just feels right. I began contributing because I wanted to open up communications through the forum medium with surfers I might not ever have had the chance to talk with otherwise. It felt new and interesting at the time and I've really enjoyed the process. But for whatever reason, for me, the RS forum form seems to have run its course and it's time to find some other way of achieving a similar end.

Leaving or staying, appreciate your responses Nick.

Been a pleasure to read your work over the years mate and I'll continue to do so until you pull the pin.

If you start a blog, join another forum, whatever .. let us know.

[bohdidontsurf]

hey Nick ... right now I am in jindabyne reading the 40th Ed of tracks , sipping a coffee in a rapidly filling coffee shop, waiting for my family to wake before we hit the slopes. I was aware of this thread only last night so you were in the back of my mind (in a totally un-creepy way) and as I am working my way through the mag you are mentioned and quoted many times. to be frank I have always been aware of tc since falling in love with surfing but regretfully I have not had the same awareness of yor contribution to surfing really until now . clearly your dad has been a huge influence on your love of writing and journalism.. I guess what I am saying is you are a huge part of surfculture and we should all acknowledge that. my question to you is ...I am nearly 40 and try as much as possible to construct my life around surfing BUT I know one day I will catch one in and say to myself that is it ... I can't surf anymore (assuming I live long enough to face that fact) . I am sure you, like the rest of us have contemplated this ...how will you deal with that?

[Roy_Stewart]

[quote="speedneedle"]Hey Nick -

Surf Media insider and longtime hefty wordsmith...your opinions and approach have some weight with the regulars here. You were the editor of Tracks when I was still in school uniform...You lend his gathering of keyboard jockeys some cred.

But I did also notice that your post-count is not moving, not getting closer to the 6000- That'd be something to do with administrative access as a mod?

Maybe there's a point being made - I.e - This thread has garnered a proportion of posts and hits greater than Roys in a fraction of the time? Something about actual versus perceived fame or credibility in relation to internet following?

Shearer showed us this with his instant coffee thread - Challenging the great sage of olo with the profundities of....instant coffee...

You always were a dork, whether shitstirring on Compsand, here or on Swaylocks.

Take your F*cking mask off !

.

[mical]

Roy, shouldn't you be busy smearing yourself in your own faeces somewhere?

Let's keep this thread on track.

[oldman]

But I did also notice that your post-count is not moving, not getting closer to the 6000-

I think that is the second time this question has been asked.

Take a look at your own post count josh. It doesn't count in order of post, it just tells you the post count, so every entry you have made is now showing the same.

I think.

[oldman]

Steady olds. Ya peeling the onion..........

Yep. Gonna keep thinking about this woolly.

Everyone else can ask him surfing questions, and a lot of them are good.

I want to find a question that makes him think about who he is, not what he does/has done.

Don't often get that chance.

[Topher]

Where do you see surfing heading in the future, with regards to:
-Board Design
-Pro Surfing
-Crowds?

Your favourite shaper?

[Nick Carroll]

You're only 2 or 3 years older than me Nick so relevant questions from my point of view are..........

Do you feel like you're still surfing close to your own personal best level and even improving in some areas

Does experience you've gained in surfing big waves over the years compensate for any loss of physical ability to the point you can still deal with anything you've had to in the past

Roughly how long do ya reckon you've got in the tank before a steady decline in performance will start to kick in if it hasn't already

How much do you enjoy the actual act of surfing now compared to 10, 20 even 30 years ago....More/Less/Same

Not comparatively. In my late teens and up to the early 30s I was surfing at a level with the best in the world; that's certainly no longer the case. But I do feel ongoing improvements in a number of areas, specifically style and technique. As a younger surfer I was always a bit wayward and had a tendency to exaggerate the effort and I've slowly cleaned that up and added a few other things over time. I know much better now what it takes for me to surf at my best and I can kinda work into it really easily and with a lot of control. I often wonder if anyone really gets enough time on a wave to reach their true peak as a surfer before the body begins to say No to certain movements.

In bigger surf, I'm not sure if it's experience or just a gentle decline in testosterone levels but I feel safer in big surf now than ever before. There's two key risks in surf over 10'. The first is getting caught flat-footed inside, the second is eating it on the takeoff. You cut back on both just by cutting back on your willingness to catch waves you probably won't make. Keeping it around 90% likelihood of making it as opposed to about 40% definitely helps. It does take some of the raw thrill out but such is life.

Physically I am declining already but maintaining a balance through continued efforts to fine tune technique etc. I've got to say the many improvements in surfboard design are a massive assist in this area.

Probably enjoy surfing more now than ever, I'm less attached to it, get a lot of other types of water time, so don't put myself through miserable surf sessions nearly as much, and make sure I surf out of the simple urge to do so, not out of need or duty or whatever.

[Nick Carroll]

Hi nick

I just want to ask you, what's the riskiest place you have ever had a crank?

Cheers

I'm not sure what you mean by risk. Wanking doesn't put you in any kind of danger unless you include the possibility of being caught unawares. If you include that, then hmm shit maybe on a boat trip?

[Nick Carroll]

Why is your post count not increasing with every post on this thread?

It is. I began this thread with 5745 posts to my credit. There's now about 5790 or thereabouts. The post indicator is not retrogressive.

[Nick Carroll]

Crumpet topping.

Are you a vegimite fan, or a honey mong?

Honey.

[Nick Carroll]

Who's the best surfer you've ever seen?
What's your all time favourite board?

I find it pretty much impossible to single out one person on this score, all surfers go through peaks and valleys at their physical high points and it's a bit reductive to say anyone permanently has outdone everyone else ... even though that's the temptation we're trained into by lore, legend and media. At different times I've thought Barry Kanaiaupuni, MP, Fitzy, Col Smith, Simon, lil bro, Tom Curren, Occ, Pottz, Elko, Kelly and Andy have been the best I've actually seen, but there's at least 200 others.

I feel similarly about surfboards, highlights would be a 6'0" Greg Melhuish roundtail single fin from 1979, a 5'10" TF wing round pin from 1984, a 5'10" AB six channel from 1985, a 6'1" MC swallow from 1996, a 6'9" Rawson swallow from 1997, a 6'1" Haydenshapes from 2004, and (currently) a 7'7" AB six pintail. But heaps more gems as well.

[Nick Carroll]

NC,

I've always wanted to know, do you old buggers look back and go, "hmmm wish I flagged school/work/uni more often and got barrelled" or "hmmm, really wished I had of studied/worked while I had the chance"?

In my case I have no regrets whatsoever about the amount of time I've spent surfing to the neglect of studies, though I do regret a few times when I ignored my family's needs in pursuit of waves. I have occasionally thought, "Jeez if I'd paid attention to my studies the way I did to surfing then I could have been x, y or z..." but then I shudder at the thought of being x, y or z, and luxuriate instead in the memories of getting barrelled off my face at mega Sunset, G-Land, Burleigh, etc etc etc. Surfing is a fluke of history and it might be gone within a century, enjoy it while ya can.

[surfextreme]

well said Nick...well said

[Nick Carroll]

Do you think about death? Your own death that is, not someone else's.


Why are people so unkind?


How do you go at tolerating the rank stupidity of the average person?


Is intelligence a gift or a curse?

Yes I do think about death, and wonder what it'll feel like to be approaching it. I'm afraid of it I'm sure, but that's OK with me, I think it might get less scary the closer you get to it.

I don't know, ya might as well ask why are they so kind?

I am quite capable of colossal stupidity myself and pretty good at ignoring it at the time, this is fairly sobering knowledge and causes me to be a bit sceptical of what appears to be stupidity in others.

I don't know, perhaps both and much more besides. Or maybe it's nothing at all.

[diggerdickson]

Nick, 9lassed in fins or plu9 ? and for your preference why?