The winds were blowing in SF this morning, so I headed down the coast to hit a more Pleasurable spot. Within 5 minutes of paddling out, before I had gone for a single wave, this guy paddles up to me and grunts, "You surfed here before?" "Yes," I said, because I had, many times. He said, "Well, you better not trample me," sticking close and giving me the stinkeye. A few minutes later, I caught my first wave. I didn't drop in on anyone, and had a good clean ride. When I paddled back to the lineup, the same guy paddles up to me again and says, "You don't belong here. I think you better leave," and starts splashing me. I calmly explained that I was surfing respectfully, and had no plans to leave. All the same, it put a damper on what should have been a relaxing, sunny surf day.
Now I don't care if you've been surfing a break your whole life, if you were beaten as a child, or if you didn't eat your Wheaties that morning. I am too stoked on surfing to put up with one more minute of this kind of aggro nonsense. So here's what I propose:
Let's start a surfer version of a community watch. If someone gets aggro or local on you, post specifics about that person (what they look like, what they ride), and your experience on this site. It'll be like when they used to publicly shame someone by sticking them in the stockade in the town square. At the very least, anyone who is buddies with that person will know what a jerk their friend is.
I'll go first. The guy who pulled that crap on me today was probably in his 40's, red O'Neill chested wetsuit with a gray skullcap and a scraggly lower lip beard. Since we Stokereporters seem to like nicknames (see OLB), I'll call him Billy Goat. Or maybe Ebenezer.
So if you know Ebenezer, or just see him prowling around SC tomorrow, suggest that he sit the next session out to reflect on why he started surfing in the first place. And maybe he will get his stoke back.
