The Quickening of the Apocalypse
a reason for birth control
PLEASURE POINT — "Surf schools are kook factories" was the Labor Day theme at the Hook. More than 50 die-hard surfers united Monday on the sidewalk above the 41st Avenue break to carry handwritten signs with surf lingo insults such as "If you ride a foamie, you ain’t my hommie (sic)."
The group of mostly old-school surfers, many of whom have been riding waves here 20-40 years, strolled along East Cliff Drive, taking jabs at the schools that teach beginners how to paddle and catch a wave.
"Sport of kings, School of kooks," one sign read. Another said "... My wave is not for sale." "We hate surf schools," organizer Joe Henry said. "Basically what happens is the surf schools bring so many people to a peak that it becomes a health hazard."
Surf school owner Ed Guzman, who’s been teaching the sport since 1983, said he understands the problem and tension it causes in the water.
"I take my surf camps to Manresa or Rio Del Mar so I don’t have to scrape for room on Pleasure Point," Guzman said. "And I don’t think it’s fair for the people just learning the sport to be exposed to bad vibes."
The surf school hazard, say the guys who make the sport look easy, is the hoards of people who flock to the water not knowing anything about etiquette. And that can lead to accidents and injuries.
The schools aren’t teaching people anything about the "surf community or the environment," protesters said. Plus, the increasing number of surf camps and classes spilling into popular areas such as 38th Avenue are "choking us out of our spots," Henry said. Cowell Beach is known as the consummate beginners wave spot.
Protesters complained that most students — many brought here by out-of-town surf schools from around the Bay Area — don’t have much in the way of swimming skills or "water smarts."
Novices don’t know how to sufficiently watch out for oncoming surfers, and they don’t know how to get out of the way quickly, longtime area surfer Pat Farley said.
Many collisions, he said, are caused by students, who have no clue what they’re doing. "It’s not fair to the surfing community," said Farley, a mirror image of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" character Jeff Spicoli. "How can one instructor teach 15 people how to surf? That’s what they’re doing, and they’re in the way."
Surf school protesters say they don’t begrudge anyone the opportunity to join the legions who make the sport part of their daily routine. Rather, they want beginners to ditch the schools and instead learn through one-on-one instruction. "If they can get themselves in the water, they’re welcome," Farley said, preferring people learn on their own or in a private lesson. Surf schools were criticized Monday for exploiting a natural resource "just to make a profit." Some charge $85 for a two-hour group lesson.
Surfer Mike Gerard compared the way the surf schools take over peaks with 15-20 students at one time to the government seizing someone’s property through eminent domain. "We live here at the beach. This is where we spend our lives," Gerard said. "We’re getting pushed out of our lives so someone else can make money."
Surfing is more than a weekend pastime for these guys. It’s a way of life that comes with a rite of passage earned by knowing when to grab a wave and when to let the other guy (or gal) have it, they say. "Surfing is a lifestyle, not a class," a sign said.
posted by el Craplastico | 9:24:00 AM
3 Comments:
If those assholes with the signs would each steal a customer from the group classes and do individual instruction for the same 85$ for 2 hours, then everyone benefits.
The students will learn the proper etiquite from the locals.
The locals can make some fucking money instead of just whining and surfing, surfing and whining.
This article pissed me off, because I got plenty of hard looks from locals when I surfed the point when I didn't know what I was doing. And frankly, it kept me out of the water on busy days. I still suck at surfing, and I've been in the water with a board at least a hundred times. I never wanted to pay for an instructor, because the group instruction looked rediculous and i thought the private lessons would be too expensive.
Goddammit I miss the waves in santacruz.
I think about going to the beach sometimes and then remember I have to drive for a motherfucking hour to get there.
It's depressing man.
That's probably the main reason this article bugs me. Find a worthy cause to complain about you bitches. Most people in the world don't have a break to ride. Let alone a break littered with spongers and foamies. Get in your fucking car and drive up to 1mile if you want some peace and quiet.
I wish I was there to watch this protest in awe with you Rob.
Even though I'm complaining here, I still have a lot of respect for those clowns with the signs.
Yeah.......I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly what it is I can't stand about all of this. When I first heard of it I was just blown away that these masoginistic, narcissistic, egomaniacal blockheads would have the gall to stage such a farce only days after the hurricane Katrina catastrophe.
But I'm also confounded by the years (10) of built up hatred I have been subject to by these hommies who hate my foammie. Hey after threatening to take my life cause "I took your wave" it's personal bra!
Yeah wave ownership...who owns the waves? I guess this is what it all comes down to and in a surf town it's all highly political. We have a lot of important things to worry about on the central coast. Somehow these jerks think they own the waves and with their warlord-like ways they do! Through fear and intimidation they claim their rightful natural resource. Condemnation to all who try to cross their path. "Local's only" is the best of bullying tactics cause after all...everyone else is just a transplant, val, or kook. It's a surf caste and I dwell at the bottom.
I try to stay away from the hate. I stick to one spot that I know very well. When surfers are present I try to stay away from them but every so often I get too close and they let me know. I've come to accept that the lot of them are bullys who don't share....but I will never accept that they own the surf!
But who really does own the waves. I got thinking about it this morning. No white man could ever own a wave on the central coast of California. There is no such thing as an anglo-local in aztlan. We're the offspring of theives and raiders who stole these places. Our generational ownership is the perpetuation of the bullying.
So I came up with something that feels alright to me. Since we can't own it we can rent it....and we should. It's a righteous form of reparation to those who haven't been included in the casino gaming consciousness that is supposed to make the Native American genocide go away. How about we all pay. We'll pay each time we catch a wave and well send our payment directly to the descendants of the Costanoan tribes who can rightfully lay claim to "our" surf. It doesn't erase the pain of the genocide but it does make us think a little more clearly about whose wave we are riding....doesn't it?
I didn't realize republicans surf.
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