Ask Carroll

[channels]

The future of surboards NC.. will Thrusters stay king and will quads become a mere foot note like Twinzers, Bonzers, Twinnies etc? Or will it be a horses for courses approach?

Materials - Do you ever see the industry moving away from the PU or PE material into something sustainable? Is it even possible or are we too used to riding the status quo?

[Buff_Brad]

Thanks for being so candid.

I was eighteen when I attended my mother's funeral. At that age, I misunderstood the laughter at the wake. I grabbed my board and snuck off. It was July and a still, grey day when I paddled out at No Man's. There was no one out, or that's my memory.

It's good like that, the ocean.

Post of the century. Well done.

[jimmy]

Thanks for being so candid.

I was eighteen when I attended my mother's funeral. At that age, I misunderstood the laughter at the wake. I grabbed my board and snuck off. It was July and a still, grey day when I paddled out at No Man's. There was no one out, or that's my memory.

It's good like that, the ocean.

Post of the century. Well done.

BB have you become the Richie Benaud of Realsurf all of a sudden?

[Buff_Brad]

Well Jimmy , you would have to admit Mr Johnsen's post was incredibly eloquent and revealing despite its brievity. Mind you being so succinct increased it's effectiveness.


In other words it was written from the heart.

[Nick Carroll]

The future of surboards NC.. will Thrusters stay king and will quads become a mere foot note like Twinzers, Bonzers, Twinnies etc? Or will it be a horses for courses approach?

Materials - Do you ever see the industry moving away from the PU or PE material into something sustainable? Is it even possible or are we too used to riding the status quo?

Ah I think probably horses for courses and also for riders. Three fins have survived pretty much everything we've thrown at 'em for a long time, but there's so many different kinds of surfer now, a certain number of us will find other preferences no matter where we happen to be surfing. I do think three fins will stay the standard in most conditions.

I am not sure what "sustainable" really means. It's pretty hard to see the surfboard industry moving away en masse from plastics in the near future -- boards are still too cheap, too convenient, and most of all too functional when made with plastics for any of it to be challenged effectively. I think it's telling that while options on this score have been around for a while, the vast bulk of surfers have stuck with either PU/PE or epoxy/styrene combos; we're a very long way from having either boardmakers or surfers convinced of a need to change much. I think it's more likely that change will be quite gradual and will be driven by changes in types and availability of plastics, rather than by any innate environmental consciousness among surfers and boardmakers.

[Red October]

Do we have the technology/ability to build a decent artificial reef? If we do why do they all seem to be rubbish?

[marcus]

Nick, I remember reading one of Mike Stewart's articles where he fantasises about surfing on other planets in different gravities and viscosities of water.
can you see a time when we will need anti gravity suits or special re-breathers, boosters or even acid proof wetsuits to surf in future oceans here and in outer space?
do you think that it will be only rich Americans that can afford to surf these private planets, and will surfing magazines have to have to change to cater to the long delivery times that may take light years and therefore make news history?
will the star wars program be equipped to zap out intergalactic surf nazis?
or will it be like the wild west like people once described the north shore?
if so, will the armour plating needed on us make it too heavy to surf in some gravities?
Regards
Marcus

[Nick Carroll]

Do we have the technology/ability to build a decent artificial reef? If we do why do they all seem to be rubbish?

Of course. We've done it in numerous places. The whole NSW coast is littered with 'em, in the form of river training walls which produce good to epic beachies off a combination of offshore sand deposits, which break up approaching swells, and wedged-up sandbars in close. The Superbank is artificially maintained via sand pumping which accidentally makes use of Point Danger. In Santa Barbara, CA, there's a harbour jetty off which pour the craziest barrelling rights in big winter west swells. Sebastian Inlet, FL, where KS learned to rip, breaks off a training wall without which there'd be nothing but slop.

I don't fully understand why the few supposedly surf-inspired artificial inshore reefs or sandbaggings have been done the way they've been done -- ie badly, where there's hardly any swell and almost no assistance from the coast's natural movement -- when there's such a great range of examples of how to do it right. Perhaps it's because the people making 'em aren't really interested in good surf so much as publicity.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick, I remember reading one of Mike Stewart's articles where he fantasises about surfing on other planets in different gravities and viscosities of water.
1. can you see a time when we will need anti gravity suits or special re-breathers, boosters or even acid proof wetsuits to surf in future oceans here and in outer space?
2. do you think that it will be only rich Americans that can afford to surf these private planets, and will surfing magazines have to have to change to cater to the long delivery times that may take light years and therefore make news history?
3. will the star wars program be equipped to zap out intergalactic surf nazis?
or will it be like the wild west like people once described the north shore?
4. if so, will the armour plating needed on us make it too heavy to surf in some gravities?

Well that's what you get for reading Mike Stewart. But what the hell, here goes

1. No, can't really see any of that gear being used for something as essentially frivolous and witless as surfing.

2. By the time humans colonise other planets, there won't be any rich Americans any more.

3. The "Star Wars" program will not be needed in any future otherworldly surf culture because everybody will be tracked constantly via onboard location devices and any disobedience dealt with swiftly and directly.

4. If it's too heavy, don't go out.

[osakabob]

Hi Nick ,
I was wondering about your thoughts on the standard of womens competition surfing .
For many years womens surfing was looked down on by many male surfers but these days it seems the level has really risen to a high standard.Do you agree and if yes why has womens surfing advanced so much in the last few years and why has it taken so long to get there?

[Nick Carroll]

Hi Nick ,
I was wondering about your thoughts on the standard of womens competition surfing .
For many years womens surfing was looked down on by many male surfers but these days it seems the level has really risen to a high standard.Do you agree and if yes why has womens surfing advanced so much in the last few years and why has it taken so long to get there?

Yes it has, I agree, but I think it's a more complex picture than it appears at first. There have been times and places throughout surfing history when women have played at levels close to or equalling men, and other times when their involvement has been scorned or has shrivelled to almost nothing. You can go right back into Hawaiian oral history on this one, a couple of the great pre-European surf stories feature very powerful female surfers who were clearly a match for their men in every way. Heaps of women took up surfing when it first took serious root here in Oz; the records of surf culture in the late 1910s and 20s are full of girl surfers. (Back then, Aussie society was caught up in a new wave of vigor and exercise consciousness, and the beach and surf was a big part of that for both genders.) In the 1970s, the Hawaiian/US surf scene was rich with great women surfers, among them Margo Godfrey Oberg, Rell Sunn and her sisters, Lynne Boyer, Laura Blears Ching, Elaine Davis, Jericho Poppler, Linda Davoli, the list goes on; Margo especially was a freak, up there with Wayne Lynch and Tom Curren for sheer focus, control, and single-minded delight in riding a wave.

What probably throws a lot of modern surfers in their perception of women in the sport is that from around the 70s onward, women's surfing went through one of its dark times. I suspect this is because at the time, the late 70s through to the early 90s, the surf in Oz, Hawaii and the US was largely populated with late teen to early 20s male surfers who were pretty much unreconstructed hard nuts, localistic, sometimes violent, and certainly unlikely to give anyone a break whom they didn't think deserved lineup space. Only a few women sneaked through this harsh world intact, and hardly any were able to develop the skills you need for high level surfing, which can truly only be gained by time on waves.

This began to change in the late 1980s and early 1990s for a variety of reasons. One -- in the USA -- was connected with legislation that forced sporting organisations to recognise and involve girls and women at all levels. Another and perhaps bigger one was the fact that many Baby Boom surfers began having girl children, which opened their eyes to the opportunities they'd denied women of their own age in the water. This wave of girl children was part of a larger wave of kids sweeping through the US and Australia, along with other Western nations; the "second wave" of post-Boomer kids who've become known as Generation Y. Pretty much all the top girls ripping up the ASP rankings right now are part of this wave of kids; it's no accident, for instance, that Steph Gilmore's Dad is one of the better surfers of the old Snapper crew.

So I would suggest that the biggest reason why women have accelerated down the surfing skills curve in recent times is sheer numbers in the water, and because they've been given permission to catch a lot of waves.

I could embark on a confronting essay here about sexism in surfing, about how much of what has restricted women surfers from rising to their true potential in those interim years can be sourced directly to social attitudes toward women in wealthy Western nations; that pretty much every surfer of the 70s, 80s and 90s is complicit in this and bears some responsibility for denying women the experience of surfing through that time; and that proof of the effect of said attitudes etc can be seen clear as day in the skill level of today's women pros, who've been far less hampered by such stuff. But I just don't think many men want to hear it; they're mostly too chickenshit to examine their own attitudes to anything that doesn't suit their desire to see themselves as really nice people.

I will give youse something to think about though; why is it that those women I've mentioned from the 70s, Margo and co, are never mentioned in the surf media, be it print or Rebel Online or whatever? Why are they nowhere to be seen in "Bustin' Down The Door", that glorious reminiscence of the 70s in Hawaii, for instance?

[HB]

This thread has managed to coax me out of my posting retirement. I've always enjoyed your sage advice from afar, Nick. So here's my question:

I think it was Shaun Thompson, or was it Gerry Lopez who said the safest place to be was inside the tube. It makes perfect sense when contemplating the next heavy section of a distant reef pass from the comfort of my couch. But away from the safety of the surf video when I'm in Indo and a heavy section ledges up and I've got the choice of pulling in or straightening out over some almost dry reef - more often than not I'll straighten out and take my chances to avoid pulling in and then getting heaved up, over and into the reef.

Waddyareggon?

OK, I can't help myself, I got one more for you.

I've surfed so many sketchy reefs and points with really tricky places to exit the water - and always I fcuck it up and ding my board on the way in after a good session. I try and ride the back of the whitewater in but then either the water will suck out and leave me high and dry or another set will cane me from behind and turn me into a human pinball machine.

Any tips for this most basic of surfing skills?

Cheers and the forums will be sorely lacking without you.

[Nick Carroll]

Ok, 14 to go.

Who will win the Dragons/Tigers game?

Too fcuken late. The wrong team won. There's something about Jamie Soward that makes my remaining hair stand on end with rage and annoyance.

Who'll win the Cnuts/biggers cnuts game next weeks? (Saints/Pies)

The Cnuts.

Which free to air tv network will win next weekend in the viewer stakes?

Nine. More people will watch the Cnuts live, but less will watch on tv.

Will my ankle heal to it's full fascist stomping former self within 1 month? (As in, me able to walk around cos I can't walk atm & I'm going away in 5 weeks)

Ankle ligament injuries are notoriously slow to heal, I would guesstimate from your descriptions and the photo you published here that no, your injury won't heal properly for three to four months. But you're a bodyboarder, right?

Do you think, based on your observational skills, that dino & bb are the same person?

No.

[Nick Carroll]

I think it was Shaun Thompson, or was it Gerry Lopez who said the safest place to be was inside the tube. It makes perfect sense when contemplating the next heavy section of a distant reef pass from the comfort of my couch. But away from the safety of the surf video when I'm in Indo and a heavy section ledges up and I've got the choice of pulling in or straightening out over some almost dry reef - more often than not I'll straighten out and take my chances to avoid pulling in and then getting heaved up, over and into the reef.

Waddyareggon?

Well there's safe and there's safe. I wouldn't really advise surfing a dredging Indo reef break if safety is your number one consideration when deciding whether or not to pull in. I think you should forget about the reef and concentrate on the wave and how to ride it best. Getting the line right is your best protection anyway. If you really can't get the reef out of your head, take a break for an hour or so ... you've got time. Sit and watch for a while, get it clear what wave you want to catch, and get back out there.

I've surfed so many sketchy reefs and points with really tricky places to exit the water - and always I fcuck it up and ding my board on the way in after a good session. I try and ride the back of the whitewater in but then either the water will suck out and leave me high and dry or another set will cane me from behind and turn me into a human pinball machine.

Any tips for this most basic of surfing skills?

Shit, I don't know that this is a basic surfing skill. I would say just on the surface of it that your issue here relates closely to the barrel-or-straight one above and that the solution may lie in observation. Watch the situation closely for a while before entering the water; if there's other people out, watch how they're negotiating the exit. Picture yourself doing whatever it is you have to do in order to get out clean. I know it's gonna look different from the water; be ready for that as well. None of this comes naturally to anyone, it's all practice, which means repetition, which means mistakes. Maybe in just asking these questions, you're solving 'em for yourself.

[steve shearer]

Nick , why so grumpy around deadlines?
Or is that just a bit of sublimated steam letting off..

You've mentioned a memoir.
Do you intend it to be a candid book, and if so are you feeling any pressure with respects to disclosure about real people still alive?
How do you intend to deal with this issue?.

Are you mentally preparing for an interview with Romona on the ABC book show and her slightly flirty style?
A small frisson of excitement perhaps.

[Dingus]

What is the most base attraction the ocean holds for you? What do you feel when you close your eyes and it is there in your mind?

[Nick Carroll]

Nick , why so grumpy around deadlines?

I'm afraid of deadlines. Plus I find it quite hard to push through into that focused writing state, and dislike being interrupted once engaged with a piece. Along with being enjoyable and challenging, the whole thing irritates the shit out of me.

You've mentioned a memoir.
Do you intend it to be a candid book, and if so are you feeling any pressure with respects to disclosure about real people still alive?
How do you intend to deal with this issue?.

Yeah, I think that's almost the definition of memoir as opposed to biography; you have to be candid. Memoir implies emotional involvement; biography implies explanation. Surprisingly enough I am not yet feeling very much of the pressure you've outlined; perhaps it's because nobody else has read any of it yet, so nobody's said "Oh fcuk! Are you sure...?" Or perhaps it's in the intention -- I don't have the goal of writing gossip about famous surfers or whatever and I reckon anyone who eventually picks up this book in the hope of reading that sort of thing will be pretty disappointed. Or further, perhaps it's because I feel like this is a story from my point of view, about me and my family and friends, and I sorta don't mind standing or falling on its honesty. Actually now I think of it, I'm more worried about one of 'em saying: "Why didn't you put that bit in, you chickenshit bastard?"

Are you mentally preparing for an interview with Romona on the ABC book show and her slightly flirty style?
A small frisson of excitement perhaps.

God no. Smart adult women are going to recoil from this horrible account of young men in the 70s. Marieke Hardy in particular will probably try to skewer me with some sort of Melbourne witticism.

[Nick Carroll]

What is the most base attraction the ocean holds for you? What do you feel when you close your eyes and it is there in your mind?

I feel a limitless space, open, wide and deep. I don't understand it, I want to and I know I never will, and I'm not really meant to either. I feel a yearning for something and sense of simplicity and impossible complexity intertwined. It's powerfully symbolic for me.