At a reasonably well known point break. It was a pretty chilled session.
I've paid my dues and waited my turn for a wave riding along the wave and watching the sections and trying to beat the sections / predict what it's doing. After a nice little run wave collapses on me and knocks me off.
A fella on a surf board had decided to paddle out launch right through the section where wave collapsed. He pops up and has a go at me about my board being a missile if you let go of it
. I tried to explain that it let go of me ... as opposed to the other way around. I rather politely explain that there wasn't much I could do as the wave collapsed and I couldn't get back over and in the heat of moment tried to explain that it probably wasn't the best place to paddle out. It's a spot where you can easily paddle around the outside from the beach as opposed to the rocks and let the wave rider have right of way.
I'll be honest and say that I did not see him through the white water up ahead until he popped right front. Question is:
1. Wave rider has right of way? Right?
2. If you're paddling out ... you need to look at the situation first and decide where's the best place to launch to not get in the way? Right? Point Break with a rocky inside ...
3. He had an American accent... I'm presuming rules aren't different over there?
Cheers.

Macaha said..
Thats the problem with surfing a sup,when you come unstuck you hold the paddle and the board becomes a weapon.This and this alone is why most prone surfers dislike sup surfers in the line up they are dangerous in the wrong hands. I except some chest beating from the mob but this is a fact.To answer your question,yes person on wave had right away and international rules apply.

Name the point break mate?

Rather not name the spot, other than it's a local spot for me ... gets busy, but today was relatively low on crowds at the time. The irony of the situation was that the mal he had looked longer than my 8 ft sup... and I saw him ditch it in the same spot.
Nothing like a disagreement though to ruin your chi in the water.

Macaha said..

Sharper said..

Macaha said..
Thats the problem with surfing a sup,when you come unstuck you hold the paddle and the board becomes a weapon.This and this alone is why most prone surfers dislike sup surfers in the line up they are dangerous in the wrong hands. I except some chest beating from the mob but this is a fact.To answer your question,yes person on wave had right away and international rules apply.

Name the point break mate?

Rather not name the spot, other than it's a local spot for me ... gets busy, but today was relatively low on crowds at the time. The irony of the situation was that the mal he had looked longer than my 8 ft sup... and I saw him ditch it in the same spot.
Nothing like a disagreement though to ruin your chi in the water.

i agree who wants issues when your out having fun,was there anybody in range behind him when he ditched his board? If not all good,if so poor form.

Yeah fair point...
I actually can't remember if there was or not.
All the years I've surfed there I'm usually really conscientious and conscious of who's around me which is why seeing him pop up there shocked the crap out of me.
One thing I do know is that he didn't like a SUPer trying to tell him where the best spot to paddle out was. ??

Anyway, I've got a date to get ready for (knowing my luck she's his daughter) ??

Amazing isn't it. You just NEVER see a prone surfer lose control of their board.....crap!!
Where I surf, the dangerous and reckless ones are the prone surfers. I sit back and regularly shake my head at the carnage they cause to each other

Macaha said..
Good luck on the date mate.

Yes - make sure you are conscientious and conscious tonight.....

A couple years ago at local break, 2 foot almost glassy, caught a wave and came off on the inside, got back to my knees and waited for next wave to pass, a short border (short on brains) took off on a wave, im not moving and stay still so he can surf around me, he sees me and instead on dropping below me he trys to stay high, slams across the nose on my board leaving 2 matching slices about 30cm.
He blames another short boarder 20 meters away for dropping in on him.

Now was i in the wrong ?????? he thought so and let me know.

On the good side i had a gopro mount on nose of my board which neatly gouged half the length of his board

A lot of BS here in this thread bro...look just paddle out wide if you are at a point break, no matter what surf craft you are surfing so you don't get in the way. Sups have strengths to sit in positions less likely to be obstructed by other surf craft. Provided you take your SUP to a place conductive to this scenario you will not experience so many negative situations. People like me will be happy to share a wide fat wave. Also be open to surfing surf craft not limited to the overweight/disability/lazy SUP boat riders. So much more fun in the long run...cheers

Fighto-fighto....we are men, men can surf 4Real...lead our men to a strong Australia. Yes we can ...disregard OS BS

Driving over The Alley bridge I like 99.9 % of drivers check out the awesome view from above,one thing that stands out is the sup guys and girls are always sitting out wide with the prone surfers tucked on the inside.

Macaha said..
Driving over The Alley bridge I like 99.9 % of drivers check out the awesome view from above,one thing that stands out is the sup guys and girls are always sitting out wide with the prone surfers tucked on the inside.

I remember my days surfing there well and Lacey's. Great waves, but the number of people there and range of craft on the water was just disfunctional at times. Saw some close calls there.... but yeah
I'm a sit wider kinda guy myself for the most part unless it's empty / a just a few people out. And that's how I learnt. Sit wide until you earnt your dues, wait for your opportunities, sit a bit wider if you're not a local and get a feel for what the crew is like and be patient, if it's busy and your on a SUP sit wider or down the line. Watch where the locals paddle out from from shore before you go out. They know the spot better than you. This stuff goes for every craft but especially larger mals and SUPs. And if you're on a SUP sit down on your board between waves if it's crowded. This to me is a simple way of saying "I've had a few waves, it's your turn".

Interestingly enough while I was there some learner burners came out on SUPs and we're kooking around the lineup. We've all had to learn at one stage but these guys were first timers... paddling across people and going for waves they had no right to and they hadn't learnt the basics of paddle technique or anything. I was feeling a bit embarrassed and scared of injury or damage from them to be honest watching them. So when one of guys asked me for some tips... i politely explained that lesson one was probably not try and learn here as you're likely to get an earful for dropping in. Better to paddle flat water at the moment and practice technique. He looked shocked and I'm not sure he even knew what dropping in was. I kept it friendly though.
I paddled further away to avoid anyone thinking that they were related to me in any way.

So how did the date go

Bowerboy said..
Surfers don't like sups. But don't forget they also all hate each other.

Hate - with a capital "H" that is. Had many a chuckle this morning watching the prone "brotherhood" drop in on each other and abuse each other, stray boards smashing into each other. Just gotta love it.
biches a bichn'

stand up to the head is a good chance of death, surfboard to the head possibility of concussion or a bump where you just get angry and punch the board

gregc said..
yea, sorry, not true about the SUP to the head. The shorter SUPs are coming in at around 6kg the heavier ones around 10kg. The average SUP guy is wearing a leash. The retro mal boys are on volan monsters that weigh in at anywhere between 12 and 18kg depending on how old, how waterlogged and how heavy. They also seem to hate wearing leashes. So simply put your argument is incorrect.

Now onto the second point in crowded situations surfers are the drop in kings, they drop in like 3 at a time. My rule is no drop in, but if you have dropped in on someone else to me you are now fair game. I had an open and honest conversation with a surfer in Noosa about this point when he thought I wasnt being exactly sporting. I pointed out that he had just dropped in on another bloke so how could he be angry at me.

A drop in at NOOSA, now that's a new one.

Never seen on of them before Greg.

ET.