If Dora Were Here He'd Ride A Boog
Okay, I got to break it to you. You’re not as unique and cool as you think.
Yes, I know you’re a surfer, but you know who else is a surfer? Fuckin’ everyone...
Pretty things on logs, man buns on mid-lengths, rippers on DHD’s, finless flappers on 88’s, weirdos on foils with those big blow up wing things.
Your wife’s a surfer on her pretty marbled longboard. Your kids are surfers on their soft tops. Your accountant on his newly purchased $1,200 McTavish. 80’s supermodel Cindy Crawford with a little help from Raimana at Kelly’s Tub is a surfer. Maybe Mark Zuckerberg on his e-foil and his ‘merican flag and his John Denver, but Mark Zuckerberg may actually be a hologram or cyborg at this point so maybe Zuck is something else….
You know where surfing is now? Fuckin’ everywhere!
It’s selling housing estates, ice creams, incontinence pads, life insurance.
It’s Johnny Utah, Jeff Spicoli, Shane Daniels, whatever the girls name was in Blue Crush, Darrell Braxton, Chicken Joe.
It’s winning Pulitzer prizes, giving Tim Winton something to write about, providing surf 'journalists' with mediocre sources of income.
It’s the Olympics.
Surfing has become so ubiquitous and all pervasive that it’s all but lost its cultural cache. It’s a backdrop to an Instagram post, a bio description, a lifestyle marker. A cliched parady of itself: 25, Single, Yoga, Surfing.
This isn’t what you signed up for, is it?
You’re supposed to be 60’s Dora at Malibu, 70’s Baddy at Angas, 80’s Curren at J-Bay, 90’s Andy at everywhere. You’re an outsider, a rebel, a vagabond, a pirate. Not like everyone else goddammit!
You want to feel like that again?
You sure?
You’ll have to do something you probably won't like.
You’ll have to become a bodyboarder.
I’m not going to sugar coat it, it won’t be pretty. A grown man or woman foisting what you’ve always considered a kid's toy under your arm as you make your way to the water's edge.
There’s no cultural cool to be gained from telling others you gutslide, dick drag etc etc..
There’s no competitions to watch and debate because the world tour has been dead for a while, no world champion to lauder. Nothing outside of social media content to stoke you out.
You’re not going to get any freebies or discounts because the bodyboard 'industry' is running on the smell of an empty rag. It’s a lean, hard-gristled, bare-bones operation stripped down to its core that survives on the dedication of those that love it.
You’re going to have to hunt out and surf some heavy waves.
Nick Carroll once wrote that bodyboarders started surfing these slabby, ledging waves because they had been forced from traditional surf breaks by the perceived or enacted threats of violence from stand up surfers. With all respect to Nick, he was wrong. Bodyboarders didn’t start surfing these breaks to escape surfers, they started surfing these waves because that’s where bodyboards work best.
A bodyboard is an extremely versatile surf craft, but it needs a wave with power to really hit its straps. Unlike a surfboard, a bodyboard isn’t designed to generate speed and power, it’s designed to harness it. Think wedges, ledges, and reefs.
No more rolling three foot beachies if you want the full experience.
So if you want to swim upstream again, pull against the grain, subvert the mainstream narrative and maybe recapture some of the magic that originally made you feel special as a surfer, there is a way.
The spirit of Miki and Baddy and Curren and Andy is waiting.
Are you going to answer the call, or are you going to stay a surfer...just like everyone else.
//DAN DOBBIN
Comments
Hahaha classic. I lidded wa for a solid decade. Even now if there's a thick borderline one roll through n I'm on my stick n can't get to my feet I'll happily lay down on my stick to make the drop. It's just another card u can whip out if injured on feet or knees, use one flipper. U can still surf. Love those waves that are full novelty short sharp n below sea level. Just good fun. I love those waves on a stick but u waste half the wave getting to ur feet. When i can't stand anymore I'll happily drag my dick againnnnnn!
My bodyboarder mates often enjoy pointing out how much barrel time I miss bottom turning.
I definitely got to know the barrel really well before stand-up surfing. It helped me immensely to gain knowledge of the nuances of foamballs n deep pits. Which gave me a easy transformation from tadpole to something that has legs.
I like that , from tadpole to something that has legs :)
I don't surf to be different i surf for the buzz it gives me, but if i did surf to be different id rather do it properly and be a knee boarder.
1200 clams for a MacTavish? Must be second hand.
Hahahaha
Yep,millineum price
Dora would never, ever ride a bodyboard. He liked long right point breaks and not much else.
Quote "Unlike a surfboard, a bodyboard isn’t designed to generate speed and power" - says a lot.
Acceleration and carving water are some of the best things in surfing. I have never seen a booga carve a cutback that looked better than 3 out of 10 in the fun ratings.
Weirdo shorebreaks and bombies may be empty but if it was that much fun they would be full of boogas. I think those waves and the go to move of a routine roll over flip onto the flats get old pretty fast. There is spray in your face all the time while riding too - a guy I know who booga grumbles about that.
Occasionally, on the easy late take offs I envy them for 2 seconds.
But I know an older guy with a stuffed wrist who has got back into surfing on a bodyboard after struggling with take-offs stand up and really enjoys rising waves again. They have their place.
So u were never a tadpole before becoming a frog............
My first waves ridden were on a blow up rubber surf mat in the late 70s as a kiddie on closeouts at Mooloolaba. I never even conceived riding across the face of waves on them back then but got pretty good at going straight! Boogie fever.
Haha yeah it's good for the kids to understand the ocean without coping a boards or fins to the face before growing legs, now soft top foamieds are the rage. Just big lids with soft fins kiddies frothing everywhere.........
Body boards in my mind have there place in barrels especially heavy slabs or mutant shore breaks, but yeah you are right carves look super lame unless on something like a big pipe wave, they can't do proper top turns/reo's, spins look terrible, all those airs and flips are just so ugly.
Unless you have some crazy mutant local wave, its pretty much pointless, but on a stand up you can have fun even on waist sized peeling beachie or point.
You could say similar about most surfer’s surfing as well. Their turns are super laboured with no spray, if they can even do them, they chase the shoulder or blow the take off whenever it slightly sucky. How does a good bodyboarder spinning into a massive pit then busting some type of flip an out not look good? Shit surfing and shit bodyboarding look shit. Good surfing and good bodyboarding look sick.
As to fun, it’s up to the individual what they have more fun doing but there are definitely a lot of stand up kooks that are out there for there to tick the “I surf” box, you don’t really get that with bodyboarding.
Geez, so much focus on the aesthetics of it. No consideration for how it feels. Can tell you from experience, airs on a boog are a lot of fun.
Also, I love surfing.... but it's pretty laughable to talk about how ugly bodyboard airs are from the perspective of a stand up. Surfers can do what... 3 basic types of air? And unless executed by an absolute gun, they look pretty damn lame. I get that they are difficult, but purely talking aesthetics, compare it to what you can do standing up on a snowboard or skateboard and they suddenly don't seem very impressive. I can see why a lot of surfers don't like comps where airs become the focus..... because unless executed on critical sections, they're pretty fucking boring. At least boogers can do airs on waves over 4ft high....
https://www.surfertoday.com/images/stories/brahimiddouch3.jpg
you are so right as Dora was part of the evolutionary , Homo Erectus mob......and not the Homo onyagutus mob!
Dora was highly evolved...
carve
https://www.facebook.com/cartelusa/photos/a.306957569401472/150390225970...
booga carve
Nice shot, love the spray
Frog - I am with you on the speed and acceleration thing. I actually have been grabbing the boog on the odd occasion if there’s a good shape shorey after a session as a ‘stand up’. Puts a smile on your dial, that’s for sure.
However, I haven’t seen anyone mention this yet… but, a few months ago when snapper through to greeny was around head high I discovered speed runs on a long boog. My mate has this bizarre 7’0 88 soft top that looked like a 10’ SUP that was a Chinese copy but they got then dimensions completely wrong. I’m guessing might’ve been 25”+ wide. I could just get my arm around it (and I’m a tall feller). No fins, rounded square tail and a hand-hole in the middle of the deck. I paddled it out and by far had one of the best sessions I’d ever had out there. Purely because of the novelty, I guess. You had the paddle power of a huge board to get in early and then you could then just trim your way through every section. I was getting runners from little Marley and gut-sliding all the way inside Greenmount. I was doing the run-a-round and this middle-aged alcoholic (there was a few of ‘em - harmless) enjoying a Jim Beam tin under the trees at Greenmount yelled out to me “Oi, what’s thats fing (sic) you’ve got? Has it got fins? Are you going to go out again - fwuark me you’ve been getting siiiiick ones?!”
So, the TL;DR is yeah, pull your fins out of your foamy and see how fast you can go lying down. Soooo easy to get little cover-ups. The best part about all of this is that 88 in particular is called the ‘cane toad’.
due to a fucked shoulder resorted to boogie boarding for 18 months or so and changed my view of them a lot ......for the better ....its all surfing ...same same but different.
Gotta agree Simba. Had a frozen shoulder for 9 months and coudn't paddle so boogied. A bit like bodysurfing as I liked just pulling into closeouts for the view and getting deeply pitted with little consequence. Stand up surfing is the best of course but boogieing is a lot better than just watching.
had fun with my son last summer riding boogs at a rocky cove, dodging protruding rocks on semi-waves in howling onshores up onto dry boulders.
easy to pick up boogs for close to free at garage sales or dump shops.
fun read though.
while we are here, does anyone have a working theory as to why boogie-boarding pretty much died out?
Peer pressure got lots of grommets onto stand ups , but mostly it was the evolution of accessible stand up surf craft such as mini mals and fun boards. The ubiquitous soft top beginner board was the dirt on the coffin. Most boogie boarders only rode them due to the accelerated learning curve and ease of use.
Look at the collapse of the IBA world tour in the mid 2010's after some behind the scenes dastardlyness and decline of magazines in terms of aspiration and engagement with the scene. The rise of the cultural cool of the hipster around the same time meant that the " moderately skilled" bodyboarder could transition to the "moderately skilled" surfer on longboards, soft tops and mid lengths. Get the gear, get the look, stand there and cruise along. Sales that helped prop up Boog companies now went to hipster start ups, crippling the sport.
cheers, that makes sense.
For me it was the inventtion of the Air roll spin (ARS) i was surfing aussie pipe one uncrowded pumping day and a few younger crew wer bagging out rolls rather than backflips or ars's. also the way they carried on snaking and dropping in on eachother pretty much killed it for me.
Also the more you get into bodyboarding the heavier and longer barrels you need to stay interested, where as you can ride a mal in anything and have fun on a shortboard or midlength in anything bigger.
Plus the feeling of riding a super sucky double up shorey or slab best meant for bodyboards were so much more rewarding on a shortboard. But for that you need to be surf fit. On a lid you can be fat and out of shape.
Hmmm., fat and out of shape you say?
I may have to rethink this whole bodyboarding caper.
Give it a go Zen, you'll get more tubes on a lid that's guaranteed watch a few mike stewart,mitch rawlins etc videos to pick up a style to emulate.
There are a lot of bodyboarders with no style,same in surfing i guess.
You can crack into waves a lot earlier too by pushing down the nose and using flippers and one arm paddling. First time i rode jakes point on a lid i got 3 tubes in 30 minutes on an average day, a lot more than i get standing up.
Its also like riding a bike, once you can bodyboard fairly well you pretty much always can. Once you get good on a shortboard its not so easy to stay good.
In the initial fad, 80% of the initial surge into bodyboarding was by people who did not really feel that comfortable in the ocean (fear or being "dumped" or sharks is very real for many) and were not surf stoked enough to be bothered chasing surf or hassling for waves. It seemed be, and was, a short cut into a groovy thing called surfing.
I can remember with surprise one summer seeing a very non-ocean-type younger nephew walking off down the beach with some mates with their boogas and new wetties for a morning session one day. It probably never happened again.
Tow ins and pig-dog barrel riding eroded a lot of bodyboarding's perceived advantages. That had to be part of it.
Really started to die around the late 90s I think. On top of what has already been suggested, there was a point that all the mainstream surf companies who had become involved to make a buck dropped their support of bodyboarding at the first hint of a decline. Sponsorships ceased and bodyboarders had to look within their own circles for support. Once it became this insular thing, it was always going to struggle to compete with surfing. It has no visibility and it's the definition of uncool. It is to surfing what rollerblading is to skateboarding. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that most people would choose surfing without even giving a thought to whether bodyboarding might be worthwhile these days.
That was good had a laugh thanks.
If Dora was around today he’d be riding a surf mat and dunking women at Lennox. That or he’d be renaming a surf spot “Ours” and fostering a cultish clan amongst lost boys.
..."mine" seems more appropriate.
Which do we think is worse, watching your sport fade like booging, or be gentrified like surfing?
thats a really good question.
In the end, it doesn't really matter to me either way.
Of course it matters to you. If surfing had declined in parallel with lid riding you’d be enjoying Lennox with an 80 percent crowd reduction.
The gentrification and wider social adoption of surfing is the single most impactful factor in the enjoyment of surfing today. It far exceeds any technological development in boards or wetsuits and it dwarfs any progression of performance.
maybe, he specifically referred to the gentrification of surfing.
lots of adult learners stay away from rocks and locals.
housefuls of surfers on Bob Hawke's surf team pull bucket bongs and surf the Point all day, every day. Or at least they used to, when that period was in it's heyday.
But yeah, sure, if it died in the arse like boogie boarding that would be grand.
it looks like you guys could get your wish , as the increase in sharks is a given for your coast .....we can only hope.....
there are so many adult learner surfers down here now ...we see beginners on rubber boards at Bells and Winki now....become very dangerous....how long before we have to paddle out with glad bag full of blood to clear the water ,LOL!
I remember in 1989 i was getting into skateboarding before i even had a skateboard. by the time i had the cash to buy one it was out of style. I still bought one and people would yell at me of how gay skateboarding was.
I was only 11 years old.
Hope that mentality comes to surfing..maybe after the Olympics.
Some fine points pointed out here dandob...... done some time on a booga in the shorebreak in the last few years. Been threatening to approach my local reefbreak on it to....not quite there yet and likely a bit too sensitive to the ribbing i'm going to get from the boys!!!!
"Okay, I got to break it to you. You’re not as unique and cool as you think.
Yes, I know you’re a surfer, but you know who else is a surfer? Fuckin’ everyone...
Pretty things on logs, man buns on mid-lengths, rippers on DHD’s, finless flappers on 88’s, weirdos on foils with those big blow up wing things.
Your wife’s a surfer on her pretty marbled longboard. Your kids are surfers on their soft tops. Your accountant on his newly purchased $1,200 McTavish. 80’s supermodel Cindy Crawford with a little help from Raimana at Kelly’s Tub is a surfer. Maybe Mark Zuckerberg on his e-foil and his ‘merican flag and his John Denver, but Mark Zuckerberg may actually be a hologram or cyborg at this point so maybe Zuck is something else….
You know where surfing is now? Fuckin’ everywhere!
It’s selling housing estates, ice creams, incontinence pads, life insurance.
It’s Johnny Utah, Jeff Spicoli, Shane Daniels, whatever the girls name was in Blue Crush, Darrell Braxton, Chicken Joe.
It’s winning Pulitzer prizes, giving Tim Winton something to write about, providing surf 'journalists' with mediocre sources of income.
It’s the Olympics.
Surfing has become so ubiquitous and all pervasive that it’s all but lost its cultural cache. It’s a backdrop to an Instagram post, a bio description, a lifestyle marker. A cliched parady of itself: 25, Single, Yoga, Surfing."
That is brilliant yet so depressing at the same time. Absolutely bang on!
If I was the same kid now as I was at the end of the 70's there's no way I'd be getting into surfing.
"fuck off we're full" comes to mind.....
Exactly. So so soooooo many advertisements have a surfboard somewhere in the frame it is almost creepy. Almost never below mini-mal length and mostly not on a wave!
As tired an ad agency storyboard as making the Dad the dumb one in the ads to the condescending smiles of the daughter or wife.
Fortunately, the churn rate is massive, and most boards sit in the shed, as the reality is mostly a far cry from the dream for the average punter who doesn't devote some serious time and effort to it all.
In response Steve, my theory on the decline.
Guys like John John started attacking waves like boogers, late drops under lips in to slabby tubes, doing airs of big sections, and combining both. Different lines to the conventional up and down, staying up high waiting for ramps etc. Andy and Bruce were the pioneers, basically inventing the under the lip knife take off, both forehand and back hand. Which is the equivalent to the boog scoop. For a lot of kids during the 90’s scooping in to slabs and doing airs of big sections was more exciting than doing cutbacks. I think a lot of younger surfers in the last 15 years caught on to what the older generation of surfers maybe missed about bodyboarding. That some of the most exiting and exhilarating moments in the salt can be had in waves of consequence, and air. It’s easy to see why more kids would choose stand up surfing now, you can have access to the more traditional surfing approach, and the attack approach of booging if you are good enough. You combine both styles. Whereas in the past you chose either ither. Personally I’d start on a short board today, when my background is booging.
Good post but i have to dissagree with one point about Andy Irons, John john and bruce inventing under the lip knife takeoffs. in the 90's Scott Yeilland,,Terapai, steve fienbeir Ox mcinley and his brother speg Peter Hairy , boogs and his brother, Corey but those guys and more would do under the lip knife takeoffs at 6-8 foot shark island.
One year i was surfing by myself at surge (the end section of shark island and Mark Matthews paddles out. as soon as he paddled out i could feel his testosterone filled aura. he was the first standup surfer ive seen have manners at surge to a booger (i was the only other guy out) and let me get a few slabs before he started under the lip drops into the pit at surge on a 6-8ft day on an EAST swell. most surfers only surfed the rights from white rock on s or se swells or lefts on NE swells. Not MM he charged the gnarly surge section on the booger (east) days. but he had respect and waited his turn for waves.
I respect MM a lot more than all his friends due to that session.he had a bit of an ego aura but had plenty of manners.
tried to edit but too late- MM was the first standup ive seen take on surge on a shortboard on a big EAST swell..i missplaced a few words in my post.
No thanks, I take pride in my ordinariness.
I have ridden a boog a few times and admittedly had fun, but nah.
Dan, I did enjoy your article, and thank you. But I don't really give a toss about being unique/special/Dora-like (especially Dora-like; screw that), I just really like surfing. A lot.
Most of my local surfing has been at obscure B or C grade spots, far from any sort of spotlight. Yes, I miss perfection, but every now and then you get little tastes of it. Otherwise mostly Zen's aforementioned ordinariness, and that's fine.
I feel a little sorry for those that don't get to experience what we do (Severson's "Legions of the Un-jazzed"), but I have no desire to be special. Just as along as I can go surfing.
Dora was a creep. Aside from that the rest is valid. Respect to the spongers, who else can do a barrel role? Next time round I'm coming back as a dolphin.
I'm coming back as an Orca.
Either that or a Meerkat.
Kneeboard legend Peter Crawford did barrel rolls & barrel 360s in the 1970's.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1236795456351597.1073741837.11...
He may have returned as a dolphin...
I grew up surfing with some really good kneeboarders, there was always talk of barrel roles, I never saw it happen. Yes Peter Crawford was a great surfer, the link you provided shows no evidence of a barrel role. I'd love to see one if it exists. Thinking about it that manoeuvre Dane Reynolds pulled that the WSL tools dismissed, is pretty close. In the late 90s I surfed pretty much exclusively with boogers in NY & NJ. I saw first hand barrel rides finished with barrel roles immediately followed by another barrel section. Dolphins - there is always the great George Greenough, who I'm sure couldn't give a rat's about whether anyone thinks he's cool. Hopefully all the media shit will make surfing deeply unfashionable, so there is a return to the sheer joy of getting a few good ones amongst the health giving floggings. To each, their own.
Nice article. Bro was a boog growing up and he charged, particularly left barrels. He's also a great fisherman, and he's given the boog away for years after seeing what was in the water in WA.
The revolution in surfing is an interesting topic. I reckon the revolution hasn't been in performance, but in ease of access. The revolution is spreading, and those forgiving boards that were cruising the Pass (think: the beer ads) are now spreading to breaks further away. It's no biggie to me as I surf that kind of board well and grew up on floaty singles with narrow tails in powerful waves - but it can be quite a shock when it appears at places that were shortboard only.
Perhaps we were all waiting for some quantum performance leap to mark the revolution? (Brazil was given that bit with Medina and Italo)... but nope. Australia is in cruise and accessibility mode. Meanwhile, hi-po thruster design has essentially stagnated in its basic configuration since about 1992. This has opened the door for a pandora's box of creativity in alternate shapes.
(In terms of shortboard performance - the only quantum performance jump I've seen (different equipment that goes next level) was Curren at Bells on his experimental board in the Rip Curl Pro. It was noticeably faster - next level. Unfortunately it didn't turn too well and he lost the heat)
If after reading all this, you still want to rebel - I suggest the Goat Boat for you. "You have to be the best to be the bad guy," as TF once said.
yep goat boats are the go ...have just put in my order for a custom by ol billy up the hills behind byron........fuk the mals ..i'll show em whos boss hog.
Goat boats and knee boards! Tried my buddy's goat boat once and couldn't even sit on it. Much harder than it looks and heavy wipeouts strapped to a kayak and a pole. Hectic.
Body boards are too difficult to surf I cant hold a rail
In the early 90's I surfed a bit with a goatboater from Portland who ripped. His boat had the same construction as a surfboard, custom made of course, I saw him take on some reasonably heavy waves on that thing.
When I was a kid around Cronulla I think we just road lids because it was easier to get tubed and because Mike Stewart was a Hellman. And you could ride all sorts of fun waves before anyone really thought they could be ridden on a surfboard - Shark Island, Suck Rock and some tiny reefs with micro grom sized barrels near Port Hacking that were too shallow to even consider fins.
The other good thing was that even though drop-knee looks a bit kooky, we always had a crack at it and it's probably about the best training you could ever have for surfing on rail...
Ahh the old annoying Dad's Army on goat boats days . I remember them trying to claim banks for local contests and just getting totally fucking burned by everyone. It was hilarious ,
remember when they had the Aussie Goat boat titles at Uluwatu?
Never forget you are unique, like everyone else.
Oh for the good old days when only low life druggie dole bludgers surfed and normal people avoided us like the clap. Home and Away has a lot to answer for.
Yep , when putting 'surfing' under your list of 'hobbies' on your resume was a sure way to never get an interview and keep you on Bob Hawkes Surf Team.
Ironically most surfers looked upon everyone else as the losers in that they had no idea of what they missing out on. "Only a surfer knows the feeling" ,,,faark em , No one was in a hurry to clue them in. And then , somewhere , somehow ,something went wrong and here we are .
Nailed it Shooter! Best days of our lives…
@old dog , on my first trip to cactus in 78 there was a goat boater that absolutely ripped, he did things I’ve never seen anyone else do and had the respect of the locals. Took his turn and charged the sets at caves. I was a 17 yo grommet and Jodie Cooper was there too .Here’s a photo of me at caves looking for lobsters. .
adventist health clearlake
I reckon that was Boris. He was a legend. Saw him do an unintentional barrel roll on an 8 foot Caves bowl while paddling out trying to punch through the lip. Pitched backwards sitting on his pink goat boat still paddling hard, upside down in the lip. Came up laughing, still seated… the craziest thing I’ve ever seen!
@BobHawke , yeah Boris that was him , he was strapped into that goat boat , some of his wipeouts were insane and being strapped in he would sometimes remain upside down for quite awhile, always came up with a smile.
Kudos SN.
just to acknowledge your long-term solidarity wit da boogers
Thanks mate. 'Tis a shame Fluidzone didn't really work out, though we met a lot of great people along the way.
Bodyboarding was also the vehicle where we first started live event webcasting, back around '07 or '08 with the Shark Island Challenge that was webcast on Swellnet. Live webcasting might not seem to be a big deal these days but back then I had to build the kit from scratch - the only webcasts at that stage were big budget ASP events.
And then, some time after Fluidzone was relaunched, we actually had the naming rights to the 2010 event - still got a bar of the promo surf wax we made!
Thanks for the insights Ben, what great efforts and contributions to the community.. and pioneering renegade webcasting .. that's no small feat.
Solidarity.
I hopped on a bodyboard at age 13 because it was cheaper than buying a surfboard which I couldn't afford and my parents being land-lubbers didn't believe in buying any surfcraft for me. Over the past 30 years, I have surfed some of the funnest and heaviest breaks around Australia and some overseas on bits of foam.
In more recent years I have spent time standing-up and I really enjoy it. I am still much better at bodyboarding (I love getting air on the boog, but have yet to take to the air on the standup) but embarrassingly, when I am on the stand-up all surfers show respect and say hi; when I am on my bodyboard it's head-shaking, talking about me and dropping in at any chance they can. That's not to say it's all surfers (I for one would never drop in on anyone let alone a fellow booger), but what happened to 'it's not what you ride, but how well you ride it'?
At Cronulla we have a number of heavy waves, but I find the most issue when on the beach breaks out the front of Elouera or Wanda. Some of the uneducated gents with far too much money (by the look of their equipment), paddle for waves that draw up quickly and they pull back pretending to have not been able to get into it. They then drop in on me on the following wave and kook fall their way from top to bottom.
That said respect should be due to all folk regardless of how well they ride or how old they are. The above article refers to the coolness of one form of wave-riding over another but I would say that it really comes down to why you do, what you do. If you knowingly drop-in on people, have a good look at yourself and why you are doing this. I don't push people of the footpath because I think I can walk better than them, or because I am wearing shoes and they are wearing thongs. I surf to enjoy myself, not to get in punch-ons and pointless arguments. If you're an angry surfer, it's time to pick another sport and find something to relax with. Just remember that the next bodyboarder you come across is just as likely to be able to ride a number of surf craft well, and wouldn't it be embarrassing if they did it just a little better than you?
https://stabmag.com/news/six-bodyboarders-who-surf-better-than-you-do/
Spot on Phil couldn’t agree more.
@ superfreak, classic shot, they were the golden years, about that time I spent the winter camped there at hep city with a mate D.K. who now owns a few surf shops in Tahiti, the locals were the most classic bunch of hard core individuals you could ever meet. When a friend asked Moose if he could take some footage of the break you mentioned he replied, " Sure if the lighting is good enough." The next year I stayed there with another mate and later heard they had nicknamed us the shit brothers cause they thought we had heaps of pot and weren't letting on. Classic.
@old dog , I was taking a dump in the old style toilets and heard a car roaring towards me , looking up over the stone wall I realised it was going to hit the shithouse and bolted out with pants around my ankles. The car knocked over part of the wall and a very drunk guy fell out laughing onto the ground while looking at me trying to clean up my shit stained predicament. Classic times .
Chicken Joe - we will never forget Chicken Joe !
A boogs and fins are the most affordable of surfing craft, plus you can stand up on them if you want / have the skills.
My surf equipment over 55 years - cluby surfoplane 1961-63, coolite board 1963-4, 9' board 1965/6, a new custom made 9'3" Hayden $101 in early 1967, 8 ' 1973, 7' 1974, 8' and 9'-9'6" 1995-2011. I now have a 5'2" fiberglass bellyboard built in 2013 and a 10' SUP in 2014. Live in a pretty crappy surf place, but have surfed a few places around the world and Aus. Have enjoyed riding all forms of boards, just great to be in the water.
e
All about fun, excitement and whatever floats your boat (surf craft). Seen some awesome stuff done on Bully boards at Makaha. Titus spinning down the line, getting barrelled, on his guts, drop knee and standing. Body surfers at Point Panick, Sandy's and Makapuu doing crazy stuff.
Wave riding is what it's all about, kids in the Marshall Islands riding plywood scraps, or a surf canoe at Waikiki.
Remember 'Eppo' at Lighthouse beach ripping on lids and shortboards, the guy loved riding waves. Raimana is another who rides waves on anything and loves it.
Ride waves and be stoked whatever you use.
Dora wouldn’t be on a boogie board he’d be on a hand shaped bellyboard. Can’t believe how shark biscuits have NOT evolved for 40 years. Like surfing on a coffee table. Great for getting in a barrel but it’s coming out that’s a problem. The potential is untapped when you think about it.
I grew up through my teens surfing Cronulla with the likes of Dave Ballard, Nugget Purcell, Matt Percy, Tristan Barfield and co. Those guys charged and had the respect of pretty much all the stand up surfers in the area, including the guys who surfed the Island, Vooey, the Point, Suckrock, Reefs etc. I think if you charge enough you'll get the respect you deserve, regardless of what you ride. Those guys are proof of that.
If Dora was around these days, he'd walk away from the cretinous crowds and the puffed-up poseurs and go spearfishing, become a free-diving pirate.
Way out to sea on isolated reefs by himself, selling fish around town on the black market, probably swapping out tuna and mackerel fillets for some dodgy mother-in-law fish, and stuffing sinkers into the guts of the ones he was selling whole.
Dora would quit in disgust at this point for reasons far too numerous to mention.
That wsl ultimate surfer show? Those steph cutouts in woolies, with olympic cossie and breitling watch? Steph! of all people! I mean, how at this point, is the relative 'cool' even a conversation anymore
Its like everything about surfing tries to out-cringey itself in a desperate rush for corporate endorsement and, even worse, mainstream validation. Ironically, bodyboarding, bereft of any hope of either, remains comfortably uncool and thoroughly enjoyed.
I wonder if the decline in bodyboarding and the seeming relaxation of hostilities between crafts go hand in hand - less threat to the dominant surfing status quo?
Personally, living in Vic and riding a lid, I like it - I'm old enough now to happily chat to any random in the lineup, don't care what craft they ride; and usually I'm the only booger, which means I get all the wonky, doubled-up, wedgy or bowly waves and I'm happy as larry. And more than ever before, surfers acknowledge what a bodyboard is better suited for, and it's common to be called on to the mutants by people I've just met!
The reducing number of bodyboarders, and the corresponding reduction in animosity towards them reminds me of rollerbladers. In the 1990s when rollerblading was bigger, skaters enjoyed a sense of superiority and had funny names for them such as fruit-booters. There are not many rollerbladers around at skateparks these days and those few that still remain obviously just do it for the love and don't care about being cool. There are barely any beginners and they have earned respect as a hardcore minority.
Where I live, skateboarding has become very very trendy recently and a skateboard has become a fashion accessory. At my local skatepark, groups of mostly young very nicely dressed skateboarders hang out, take selfies and practice flip tricks in place. Some can land clean 360 flips but can barely push and ride with any speed. The few bladers that still exist are older, show up on their way home from work, quietly skate the big ramps hard for an hour or so and leave with some war wounds from bailed airs etc.
Trends change but some people just keep doing what they enjoy.
I don't give a shit what other people are riding in the surf or how it looks as long as it doesn't negatively impact on my enjoyment when I'm out there.
Pretty sure most people think that way.....once again regardless of what they ride.
I saw a comment similar to the gist of this article from Vic bodyboarder Eddie Wearne on FB recently:
“Coolest thing about bodyboarding is that it's not even cool. We bodyboarders copped a lot of flack, over the years. We do it because we fucking love it and are so blessed, for simply existing and not giving a fuck what anyone thinks. Just living for the love.”
I think people forget that riding waves is a blast on pretty much any form of surf craft. So many surfers are hung up on the right or wrong way to do it. What’s more important to consider is respect and good vibes in the line up, rather than judging people for their choice of wave riding apparatus.
I’ve spent the last 20 years more often than not being the only booger in the line up. It can be a kind of lonely feeling tbh, knowing that you probably don’t have the respect of many other people out there (for entirely irrational reasons). The hostility has definitely lifted to some degree, but the derision remains from some. You’re more likely to get laughed at than spat on now.
Where i live now there was a local inforcer out jakes point who would yell at boogers who paddled out, he'd say stuff like "so you like taking it up the arse laying on your guts"
His name was Lez and shaped a lot of boards for local groms who couldnt afford one so became a legend. He was also a very gifted surfer charging 8ft plus jakes and 12ft plus gnaraloo with the nose of his 7'0 slightly showing out the front of the barrel.
Anyway i met him a couple of times when i first moved here and he had chilled out quite a bit, saw me riding a lid and giving it a crack and had nothing negative to say. I also rode a few different standup boards so maybe that contributed to his lack of angst.He was a daily jogger and fitness freak. hated alcohol too.
anyway i turned up one pumping day about three or four years ago and no one was in the carpark at 8am. Then boom Mick Porter my gardener and pool cleaner, eugenius freddo and a couple other blokes back from the hospital rock up telling me the old man just died after he got a wave of the day. got back on his board and had a heart attack then dorwned. no one noticed for 5 or so minutes and then everyone rescued him but he was dead. In this town if anyoine is well respected person they will hold a full memorial service for them, fot his it was about 100 people out at jakes and dispersing his ashes after some strong speeches.
A lot of people are going to hold onto their memorable boards he shaped them. But the crew that tried to rescue him were in shock for about a week.
Hi GS,
Les Norrish was a great mate of mine so RIP "Old Spice"
First met him at the Bluff in 82' when he was doing a round Aussie leg with his wife and little un...
Les used to do annual winter runs from the Sunny Coast to the west and just lob on our doorstep up until around 92, when he finally moved to Kalbarri.
He was a great staunch bloke and I was shattered when the boys told me of his passing....
Had many, many memorable waves with the old fella ......and yep, he didn't mind giving verbal grief to the unsuspecting.....
Les was a top bloke , he used to give me a lift from the bluff to gnaraloo and supplied the goods for my 21st in the big cave . Cooked up a few feral goats with him and he really knew his way in the barrel. R. I. P. Les
Sat in Les's old HZ Holden in the dusty Gnarloo carpark, all wettied up, staring out at 8' flawless Tombies and Center Peak.......somewhere around 86 ish.....
Smoked some of his demon bushie.....
Staggered out of the car......and proceeded to kick the entire top skin off of my left big toe.....Surfed 3 hours with the big flap dragging everytime I got to my feet or paddled.......
Ahhhh.....memories...
Ah good stuff Megzee he led a great life, he never gave me troubles so i liked the guy, i dont know how old he was but he was the oldest charger out jakes.
67 when he passed mate.......reaching out for 68.....
Thanks for bringing up the fine old character GroundSwell and Cheers Super F
Feral barby goat for your 21st......can't get better than that
The boogs are very well respected around these parts. Also where i grew up. I think it's probably because of the kinds of waves they're charging. They definitely gravitate to breaks i want no part of. Always low key legends too.
Thanks, Dan, I enjoyed this article heaps.
No shame in admitting that I learned my way around a line-up on a second-hand Mach 7 esky-lid as a grom. It didn't take long to graduate to a stand-up, and it was a hell-of-a-long-time post committing to a short-board that I got properly barreled again. Some of the vortexes you can tuck into on a boog are mind-bending., even if you're not getting out.
But, let's face it, gut-sliding is easy. You can get good in five minutes. I reckon surfing is hard. It's hard to get good unless you're living your life around the tide and can travel and set up camp for a season now and then.
I'm five minutes from the beach, 15 to point break paradise, 50 next year. Do I identify as a surfer? I wouldn't feed most of 'em. Never seen any real evidence of a surfing brotherhood either. 'Surfer' is a blanket term (like bikie) and the connotations associated with surfing's yesteryear have no place in contemporary surf culture (maybe 1%, like outlaw bikers). Would I teach anyone who wanted to get into surfing, regardless of their age or disposition? With pleasure.
As for Dora - I'm not qualified to comment.
Trends wax and wane, think of the rise (and fall) of Sailboarding then its mutation into Kite Surfing, foiling. I am always amazed at how these sports evolve and how skilled proponents do stuff you wouldn't have dream of. Not much of a surfer back in the early 70's but was keen (even without a leg rope), then got into hang gliding when a collision of technology and design allowed minimalist aviation for the individual. That sport too has initiated spin off into para gliding, etc. Must admit those early days were a hell of a ride and still enjoy the sport but over the last few years have got back in the water, endeavouring to refresh my (limited)surfing skills and have really enjoyed the simplicity!
Hang gliding looks cool. Must be super dangerous though. Maybe that's why para gliding took over?
As for all the surfing alternatives they all require additional gear and or a specific set of conditions to work properly. That's what I like about surfing; at its heart you only need a board and pretty much any type of wave.
Funny about Nick Carroll's comments. When I was a youngster, on my very first BB at Newport peak, it was Nick that was doing the threatening and scaring off. It was about that same time I found the BB paradise of Little Avalon, so maybe Nick did have a point after all.
Superb commentary on being a surfer... very well expressed, LOVED the article... but couldn't make the leap from the decline in the cache of surfing to boogie boarding in it's second half
... and like many; if cool ever was an attraction (i can't remember... probably played it's part... or maybe not at 4 yoa) it was quickly relegated by the sheer thrill of the act... and that is what endures for me to this day. I wish it was underground and rebellious - the 60's have always looked so fucken cool to me as a coming-of-ager in the 80's, no crowds and the added appeal of feeling like you're getting a piece of something the mainstream isn't ('stolen apples are the sweetest' as Paul Kelly expressed it) would be a double bonus - but it aint
I'm just going to try n continue to squeeze the lemon of that thrill of the act whilst I still can and be v v grateful that I got to surf at all, and continue on
The idea that Dora would ride a lid is either an insult or a compliment depending on your opinion of Dora, and for that matter, lids. He's a polarising figure.
Im going for a boog in a minute as soon as i finish my tea. its 8ft and alight, light devil wind from the north or NE but a bodyboard can handle chop coming at you more than a standup. it actually holds the barrel open too.
hopefully the wind changes though, but conditions like these are the only empty days unless its 1ft
Groundswell, it's a sure bet it will back around to the Nor-West by midday....It only takes a couple of surfs in largish Jaques with the dreaded Nor-easter to understand why it is 8' and empty.
Time to hit further north for a few weeks of desert barrels...
Yeah megzee, i checked it for 3 minutes and decided to check a c grade wave that handles all sort of winds from south to north but even that was crappy. Lopes had 6 guys on it all tourists i suspect because they paddled around like headless chooks and it was crap.(thats my favourite wave here)
Once im finished my contract im up to gnaraloo.
Have you been getting waves Megz?
Sight for sore eyes...
6 guys at Lopez Ledge in a Nor-Easter with 6-8' sets......Hope the tide was high-ish...
The word Carnage springs to mind Groundy....
Enjoy megzee you basstardo , and GS well done on your weight loss and hope ya get a few bazza’s today
Unfortunately not for me SF......More of a suggestion for Ground Swell
No qual waves lately for me GS...,plenty of ocean time, but nothing to write home about...
IM AN OLD GEZZA AT 70,STILL GET OUT THERE AMONGST IT BUT DONT STAND ANYMORE THANKS TO CREEKY BACK,JUST BELLY MY 8’ SOFTY,ITS EASY TO PADDLE AND CATCHES THEM EASIER.STILL HAVING FUN.RIDE EM ANYWAY YOU CAN I SAY!
Good on ya Tonks.