Being a blow-in is great. After 5 years, I`m begrudgingly accepted as a `local` at one of Japan`s most localised and enforced reef breaks. Not all Japanese are the mellow cats you would think they would be. They can get pretty nasty, especially up here in the country. I remember the first time I paddled out at this reef, I borrowed this guys big old yellow semi-gun and paddled out in my jeans and a t-shirt (I had no gear of my own) . The water was freezing even though it was early summer. I was feeling pretty uneasy. I think the guy that loaned me the board was taking the piss and was amped to watch some dumb `gaijin` get his arse kicked. It was quite surreal bobbing around out there in complete silence, nobody said a word and all I knew was Konichiwa at the time, which I threw out there, of which there was no answer.

Anyway, a set came, I paddled hard, took off and faded one of the chief locals I call `Mr Greedy` (he came out of nowhere- local knowledge the bastard) and then abruptly fell off, causing him to fall too.

The rest as they say is history. I`m quite proud to say, that I now enjoy a little minor celebrity status in my area and along with me and a Cali mate, as the two token foreigners, pretty much have the run of the place. I wonder how the blow-ins from Tokyo feel getting monstered by the locals while two round-eye`s are all over the best point break in the area?

Otsukarisamadeshite.

PS My avatar is the spot mentioned but you`ll never work out where it is.

Is it Matsube? It is a long time since I have surfed there but from your avatar the view does vaguely familiar.

not going to start having a whinge, but the amount of surfers these days..its hard to tell whos local or who isnt. i know where to surf all around this coast and how to surf each break, only to have a pack of sheep whom i got no idea who they are paddle after me once they see me getting waves. are we sheep? no we fucking well arnt, we are free thinkers, go find your own bank or sit in line and wait if you want to be a sheep. i get zero respect even though iv been surfing this coast since there wasnt any crowds. i still get waves..but i find myself having to compete for them? what is this, if people woke up and understood that ORDER works, surfing would be much more pleasant.

I grew up in Newcastle NSW and have been paddling a board in the area for the good part of 20 years.

I will pull up and surf at any spot between Nobbys and Merewether. Im not considered a local at any break and regularly cop the 'blow-in' call. The ones mouthing off are usually the types who do a Goldy or Indo trip each year and bitch about the locals hassling them. LOL

Don't see myself changing my ways anytime soon though. Variety is the spice of life.

I learned to surf in newy, bar/dixon was my local, had no car so walked down there often. Never felt local after a few years there. Now down on the central coast, some breaks are more localised than others but after 3 or 4 years here, I feel pretty local, talk to quite a few of the same blokes in the water, especially in winter, the 'blow-ins' pack up until about October :)

RE "Regional Delicacies".

Hey speaking of blow ins, i reckon if you were from these parts , and you'd seen these photos you may just be saying to ya self, Fucking Blowins!

I have Frequented these shores and had many a good sesh! But the locals will tell ya staight, keep it dark! and NO FUCKING PHOTOS.

If Fredo dosn't get a smattering from the local crew, he may cop one from the men in grey suits?

Still it is hard not salivate over the photos!

I lived in the Pacific for three years and the only way out to our local was by boat. There was a great system going where any blow in could get a lift out to the wave but if they acted like an ass in the water suddenly they found there was no boats leaving the next day and the next....real subtle like hey come at 7 but boat left at 6.30.

I now live in Japan and surf super crowded waves most weekends. Still enjoy it and most spots are freindly. Very few drop ins and lots of smiles. You have to remember to look behind you though as they don't yep/yell/hoot and you can seriosly drop in on someone with out meaning to.

you can definitely be considered a "blow-in" if you drop in on people, eyeball locals and paddle past the pack and sit in front of everybody.

I had a Brazilian do exactly that, this morning. After drooping in on ME, i called him off, only to turn around and eyeball ME. FUCK THAT !

I think the Japanese are the most respectful of locals.

Having said that, I think localism is bullshit. So long as everyone is getting waves, who the fuck cares.
I actually think its arrogant of locals, to EXPECT to get more waves than others, and sometimes are the actual cause of tension. But its pretty hard to stop shit happening, when after 3 weeks of no surf, then there's suddenly only 1 break working, and 200 guys are on it !!

you can definitely be considered a "blow-in" if you drop in on people, eyeball locals and paddle past the pack and sit in front of everybody.

I had a Brazilian do exactly that, this morning. After drooping in on ME, i called him off, only to turn around and eyeball ME. FUCK THAT !

I think the Japanese are the most respectful of locals.

Having said that, I think localism is bullshit. So long as everyone is getting waves, who the fuck cares.
I actually think its arrogant of locals, to EXPECT to get more waves than others, and sometimes are the actual cause of tension. But its pretty hard to stop shit happening, when after 3 weeks of no surf, then there's suddenly only 1 break working, and 200 guys are on it !!

Nice to see a fellow Japanite starting this thread. The Chiba coast is definitely the worst place in Japan I have surfed in regards to the 'Rocals Onry' scenario. I know of guys that have had their tires slashed at Shidashita and have experienced many verbal abuses myself in the water. Not that it has ever worried me. A quick stare down and a "Do ya wanna go mate?!?!" shuts the little poofs up pretty quickly. I lived on the Goldy for a decade and never really had any hassles with this kind of abuse. Any hassles I had on the Goldy were from Briso wanna-be locals.

However, Sydney??? That is a completely different kettle of f%*$wits. I haven't surfed in Sydney for 20 odd years and I am happy about it. It was bad enough then and I can't imagine it has improved any.

Then there is Vicco. The locals around Torquay and Lorne can be real twats. Never had any issues at Philip Island or Cat Bay though.

I'm just glad I am an old bull now and am happy to sit out the crowd and pick of the waves I want.

Hey Stu I really liked your original article.

However, unlike most of the above commentators, it did not prompt me to consider what selfish bastards locals are, or what arrogant bastards blow-ins are. (Although both of these characterizations are regularly the case). Your article prompted me to consider how great it is being a blow-in, and given the title of your piece, I believe this was you intention.

Breezing into someone else’s local puts us at odds with the enforcers, and we’re at a disadvantage with positioning and wave selection . But, our big advantage is that we’re freed of weight of history, the monotony of habit. I can recall leaving the water at my long-time local break after great surfs only to be niggled by that little voice in my head.

“Yeah, it was pretty good, but not as good as that Tuesday morning in March three years ago”

“Yeah, it was pretty good, but the banks aren’t quite right and the wind’s a little too north”

“Yeah, it was pretty good, but I only surfed for 2 hours and only got 10 tubes. Wish I coulda surfed longer and made those 2 waves I fell on”

“Ah, there’s Davo and Wayno and Thommo. They’re gunna get it better that I had it”

I recently bumped into a bloke I’ve known for many years. He happened to move to my old hometown at about the same time that I moved away. I asked him if he’d been surfing Spot X very much and how it had been (in the opinion of most people, Spot X is by far the best wave in the area). “Nah”, he said, “don’t bother with it much, too crowded. But I’ve been surfing Spot Y on those days. Great wave, had it to myself most of the time.” Cripes sez I to myself. Never would have thought to check it under those conditions.

Like my mate, I seem to be in a pretty sweet spot right now. I’ve moved on to greener pastures and while I’ll never be a local, I’m no longer a blow-in. On those days when everyone’s buzzing, I seem to have cobbled together enough local knowledge and enough local cred to get my waves. Also, on the days when the local boys can’t be bothered or are content with the obvious options, I’m still motivated enough to get up for the early or to try my luck at some obscure spot. Often I score.

So that’s my 2 bob anyway.
Local status: wear it like a crown, but don’t let it become a crown of thorns!

Good article Stu. Gotta say I kinda pity you in a way: you move to a different beach in the same overcrowded city and suddenly you've got no status, don't know who to snake for a wave etc etc

Not blaming you though, I know what its like these days to try and get waves in places like Sydney and the Goldie.

I left my home beach 8 yrs ago and have been a non-local ever since. Every time I go for a surf I'm the blow-in, which does wonders for your ability not to be drawn into the whole vibe-out stink-eye bullshit that some locals love to get into.

Surfing in Europe helps too, it's less competitive generally than Aus.

Here's hoping when I do settle down at one beach I don't get drawn into the localism bullshit and that I remember what it was like to be the outsider.

Anyway, you can only be a local at one beach - and surfing is all about travelling.

Attitudes have certainly changed over the years for sure regarding the local status. I think everyone forgets that with time and progress comes population growth. So in saying that, it is quite inevitable that your local break is slowely going to become more crouded. Surfing in itself has exploded, everyone wants to do it. The "crouds" are going to happen, however, what most of everyone does not realise, its how we accept whats happening is going to shape the future of surfing in regards to our "attitudes" in and around the surf. If we are all going to get pissed off and tell everyone or newcomer to fuck off then how does that effect the next person or shape the attitudes of the next generation of surfing. Are we all turning into grumpy pricks. You will all find that if our attitudes stay the way it has become, then going surfing is going to become a competetive shit fight, which is the total opposite of what surfing is. Nothing positive will come from this. Blow ins are usually surfers whom travel, so for those whom dont travel, open your fucking mind and get out from your festering cave dwelling. If you rock up to your loacal break and its crouded, before you take the "blow ins fuck off" phase of your brain snap, just pause for a moment and think "hey. what a sick day for a surf". Otherwise you enter the water with the "attitude" you started with. I used to do this, until my girlfriend pulled me up in the surf one day after I was about to take a blokes head off when she swiftly pulled me in line and said thats exactly the fucked up "attitude" we dont need out here. She was right. So how we shape the next 5, 10, 20 years of surfing, will depend on how we treat our fellow surfer who just wants to get shacked just like you.

Jeez you bunch of hardies. Is surfing not a sport for respecting EACHOTHER? Whether or not you are from the local area or not, i personally believe encouragement is what should be given to newbies.

You once sucked as well, don't forget your roots.

To teach is to learn again, so you might learn something from these so-called "blow-ins" by saying hi and introducing yourself. The only problem I have would be with the people who rock up thinking they're top stuff and take all the waves just coz they're better. Where is the etiquette guys? Someone once took the time to teach you, give something back rather than becoming pricks and diss-ing people you don't even know.

I had a surf in Sydney about 10 years ago and promised myself never again. I don't know how you Sydney surfers handle it but good luck.

Stu, I took up surfing in ealry 30's, so although I've been a local at Maroubra for 17 years, there are heaps of other locals who I have never met.

I paddle out and could rarely say whether someone else is a local or not. The whole concept of local goes out the window in Sydney. If people still hold on to that crap they are 'restricted' as you say, or criminally stupid.

Getting hung up on that shit is ridiculous in Sydney at least.

Good article BTW

Of course, paddling out anywhere with a 'local' mindset instantly puts you one very short step removed from bogan central.

The restriction you speak of is in the mind, and makes you small and often infantile, inwardly.

Even if you are a local, paddling out with that attitude is a recipe for small mindedness, and will likely lead to a frustrating surf.

And who of us is really 'local' to the ocean? Where land based mammals. Once you enter the waters of the Pacific, you are instantly tied to every other being in the water, from Sydney to NZ, to Hawaii to west coast of US.

Call yourself a local? The other side of that tag says 'bogan'.

Ha!

Stu
As you know, i sit here at my desk in newcastle looking at my old home on the shark island webcam, and i feel like letting out a cry.

home is where the heart is. home will forever be shark island, especially the days i like to surf it when others dont.

down deep inside it hurts.
anyway you know how i feel about cronulla point, shark island and the reefs....

down i cronulla you can get a 10ft slab over rock barrell, up here when it gets 4ft they call the police, rescue and lifeguards.

its all going to change though, my kid is going to learn to surf back home.

Stu, when you change location or surf a complety new area you try to adapt quickly as possible, If i head out somewhere new i never class myself as a blow in. I'm located on goldcoast but most of the time i head down nsw because its always 2ft bigger i love surfing cudgen and angourie reefs. If its underpopulated you know their is locals out and you try wait your turn and share much as possible, but if its populated you know you can fit straight in becuase most likley your not the only blow in :)

Daniel Day-Lewis surfs...at Manly!

That was a poignant piece, with a nice sentiment in the line ' the perspective you attain by dislocation.' It's one of the main allures of travel - it often makes us think about home, and our place their, in a whole new light.

I am a local, of the world. Show respect, the majority of times you get it back. Its not that hard. The times you don't receive respect you can see it coming a mile off and can act accordingly. Which in my case is back off. There's usually plenty of other waves around the corner or that wave when the wind comes up or the tide changes or the "locals" go to the pub.

Absoluto Mundies.

Human beings are animals first and foremost. When a pack mentality reigns the better angles of our nature get thrown under the bus.

Street smarts is smelling that aggression and taking a better option.

I agree Stu, except I wouldn't say it's ideal.

It's like liberal democracy under capitalism, not ideal but the best we've come up with yet.

And it works.

Surfing is an aristocracy, the Sport of Kings.

The consumer culture of immediate entitlement has no place in it and should be stamped out firmly by verbal education.

You've only got to read the Bra Boys Picnic Shed thread to see how precarious localism is. It can spiral out of control very quickly especially when there's no-one to steer it. Or, I should say, when the people who should be steering it are benefitting from the threat of pack violence (more waves for them).

But you're right Stu, it's an ideal systen, just not perfect.

Everyone is a blow in, except for me.

Oi, fuck off!