Just general surfing stuff

[crabmeat thompson]

I don’t understand. Don’t you surf for how it makes you feel? How can your ‘stoke’ levels be affected by whether surfing is cool or not?

yeah, surfing just doesn't feel the same it used to. i use the whole 'cool' thing as a bit of a simplistic troll. sure, it's crowded like never before. that, i think i can mostly handle. but maybe something deeper is happening to me.

it's a good hypothesis: i surf bcos how it makes me feel. So i did some thinking!

right now to me, surfing symbolises gentrification. constant reminders how we're fucking the place with pollution, development, over population and plastic.


i read about a bloke searching for enlightenment ... he practised buddhism, he meditated. he did yoga. he ate clean, he cleansed his soul with hours & hours of therapy. Ultimately he stated his biggest progress towards enlightenment was cutting out things in his life which brought negativity to him.

he reckoned the single biggest stride was tuning out the news. he stopped all of his new consumption. some might call it apathetic to bury your head in the sand ... but for him, not watching & reading how everything is fucked around him ... and simplifying his life with what's directly in his line of sight made him an immensely more happier person.


... surfing is kinda like that to me right now. it's a constant reminder of how the gentrified kooks have taken over. my fave wave on the coast, the last time i surfed there; there was not one car under 1-2 years old parked there. it was all black rangers, rovers, landcruisers, hiluxes, everests, fortunas etc

in the water it was a fucking mess. people surfing horribly - but continually paddling inside and bombing waves, shithouse manners everywhere, heaps of aggression & in general just bad vibes.

i had this moment in the water when i genuinely questioned what the fuck i was doing.


maybe when i move to tassie i'll take up surfing again, but for now ... it's not even on my radar. i get buzzed after skating. like properly stoked out. i'm happier after meditating and i'm ultra content after yoga. i love my long ocean swims and there's my salt water fix. it's all positive!

surfing to me right now - negative.

[BA]

So does God get a share of Lakey and Gabby’s prizemoney? I mean he gave them the event, surely he’s entitled to something?

[Hatchnam]

Aside from the sport itself, skaters are generally a friendlier, more cultured, and more engaging bunch of people also.

[Thud]

Skaters are much better people. They aren’t totally driven by ego and greed. Plenty of gutters, rails and concrete

[The Mighty Sunbird]

Yep
My son became a skater instead of a surfer, and his mates are all epic down to earth young men

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[The Mighty Sunbird]

I watched exactly one wave and gave up

[steve shearer]

Aside from the sport itself, skaters are generally a friendlier, more cultured, and more engaging bunch of people also.

you reckon?

99% of skaters I see are ensconced in their own little world with the earphones in and the beats playing.

no engagement whatsoever.

I have no beef , just don't see any romantic counter-cultural improvement over surfers.

Also take Braithys point about the cashed up kooks taking over.

[Hatchnam]

Well, I’ve spent considerable time doing both. And can speak from personal experience.

[Cranked]

I don’t understand. Don’t you surf for how it makes you feel? How can your ‘stoke’ levels be affected by whether surfing is cool or not?

yeah, surfing just doesn't feel the same it used to. i use the whole 'cool' thing as a bit of a simplistic troll. sure, it's crowded like never before. that, i think i can mostly handle. but maybe something deeper is happening to me.

it's a good hypothesis: i surf bcos how it makes me feel. So i did some thinking!

right now to me, surfing symbolises gentrification. constant reminders how we're fucking the place with pollution, development, over population and plastic.


i read about a bloke searching for enlightenment ... he practised buddhism, he meditated. he did yoga. he ate clean, he cleansed his soul with hours & hours of therapy. Ultimately he stated his biggest progress towards enlightenment was cutting out things in his life which brought negativity to him.

he reckoned the single biggest stride was tuning out the news. he stopped all of his new consumption. some might call it apathetic to bury your head in the sand ... but for him, not watching & reading how everything is fucked around him ... and simplifying his life with what's directly in his line of sight made him an immensely more happier person.


... surfing is kinda like that to me right now. it's a constant reminder of how the gentrified kooks have taken over. my fave wave on the coast, the last time i surfed there; there was not one car under 1-2 years old parked there. it was all black rangers, rovers, landcruisers, hiluxes, everests, fortunas etc

in the water it was a fucking mess. people surfing horribly - but continually paddling inside and bombing waves, shithouse manners everywhere, heaps of aggression & in general just bad vibes.

i had this moment in the water when i genuinely questioned what the fuck i was doing.


maybe when i move to tassie i'll take up surfing again, but for now ... it's not even on my radar. i get buzzed after skating. like properly stoked out. i'm happier after meditating and i'm ultra content after yoga. i love my long ocean swims and there's my salt water fix. it's all positive!

surfing to me right now - negative.

I hear your pain.

When I moved to Perth I spent a year checking the surf out and decided that due to the poor surf quality and the crowds I wouldn't bother surfing in metro Perth. I've probably been in the water to surf about 10 times in 30 years.

I also found that the SW was too far away to surf regularly, so I limited my surfing to two month stays Indonesia or the WA Northwest. In Perth I ride bikes in the hills and windsurfed until kite boarding took over about 12 years ago, now it's just bikes and Bali.

So yeah, if conditions don't warrant doing it then don't.

[Nick Carroll]

Well I enjoyed watching the pool thing today, mostly ‘cause the numbers were reduced and the cream was so on top, also because the gap between men and women is reduced in the pool. The two events were won in almost opposite fashion, Gabriel in total command winning it on his first two rides, Lakey improbably coming at it late with her last two.

When you boil any event down to its core group, they kind of somersault past all the BS, which is more evident at the pool because it’s just such a fcuked environment — like a sort of WSL Dreamland in Hell. When a CT is at Teahupoo or JBay or somewhere, your eye can be drawn away from the event and rest on the scenery which was there before the WSL and will be there when the WSL is gone.

It did make me think: the pool is a specialty event waiting to happen. Top 16 men top 8 women, two days warmup with special prizes and shit, then one day of competition, with a million bucks in it. It’s just not a CT.

[Nick Carroll]

Oh and they should just give Gabriel the world title trophy now. His opening final ride, the left with the kerrupt flip off the end barrel section, he just rode the foam to the ramp and walked up it to change boards like nothing happened. Best wave of the event and a non-claim claim.

[alakaboo]

I'd like to see that, but also let a bunch of pro snowboarders and skaters train for a few weeks and throw them in to keep the pros honest, like they did with the flowrider events back in the day.
I think a couple of little Japanese or Norwegian halfpipe specialists would go alright.

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[tootr]

That’s a cool idea.

Watched an hour of the highlights this morning. It wasn’t as bad as some make it out to be, that said, the idea of a world pool competition circuit is ludicrous.

Novelty/ specialty event only.

[Nick Carroll]

I'll bet Sophie is glad at least one person liked the event. You should write the marketing blurb, Nick.

Oh yes I am sure she would like the line “it’s just such a fcuked environment — like a sort of WSL Dreamland in Hell”

[crabmeat thompson]

I hear your pain.

that's just it man ... there is no pain. not a single ounce.


maybe i'm just an adrenaline junkie and i get more from skating. maybe it's just a phase that'll pass. i really don't know. i've never been here before.

i'm not thinking too much about it ... just doing it.

[Thud]

Of course there’s the issue of being a 40 something hanging at the park. To your point surfing is full of old blokes blowing waves.