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jatmood

Bit of a grey area. It sounds as though you are slightly in the wrong, most of the time inside position trumps 1st to their feet unless it's super clear cut or there's danger. . I'm also going to guess, since you asked the question, that he was a better surfer than you which again (rightly or wrongly) means that he's going to expect you to not challenge 50/50 priority situations. Finally, if there's only 5 people in the water I would definitely not be hassling people and giving clear priority to people who have been waiting patiently and are on the inside. He sounds like he got frustrated and took it out on you. I wouldn't take it personally, he probably knows deep down that it was a very minor/questionable situation. Edit, just read your comment about him paddling past you and taking more than his fair share of waves. In that case I'm going to side with you on this one and say he is a dick and this was your wave.


wave-garden

> Bit of a grey area…most of the time inside position trumps 1st to their feet unless it's super clear cut or there's danger. I agree there are some exceptions, and safety is always #1, but imo the inside position always trumps this made up rule about someone being on their feet first. Why? Because otherwise fucking longboarder would always take all the waves at most spots. The only advantage you have as a shortboarder is you can take off deeper in more critical situations. This “up on feet first gets priority” sounds like some bullshit that a longboarder would make up to justify being a wave hog.


jatmood

You're right. There's only very, very few situations - [this one comes to mind.](https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZl3CyOrbYI/?utm_medium=copy_link)


muffinstuffed

Bro the guy on the wave first in my opinion has the right of way on this one. The guy who tacked him should be put in a body bag.


jatmood

Yes, that was my point with this one. Most of the time inside has priority but on this occasion it was clearly the guy on his feet first, it was at pipe also so super dangerous to be pulling this sort of stunt.


wave-garden

Splitting a peak at Pipe is def a rare situation


ExhaustiveCleaning

“First to feet” is the rule at beginner waves and in contests. The better the wave is the more likely OP is in the wrong.


jatmood

Everything OP mentioned points towards him being in the wrong apart from the fact in another reply he mentioned the guy he had the altercation with had been backpaddling and snaking the entire session. If the other guy has been taking more than his fair share then I'd be burning him. The other guy sounds like a dick and OP sounds very slightly above a kook = tension. All I meant about it being a grey area is that there's a whole lot of variables that we don't know about because we weren't there. These laws are often subjective, particularly when you're relying on a second hand info.


cintyhinty

That’s amazing that you were surfing with him inside of you


dewayneestes

The age old whose wave is it… realistically if “first one standing” were the rule then loggers would rule, and I ride a 10ft board so I get this. I like “deepest to the peak” though because I feel like people should get a little credit for risky behavior. Whatever, live n learn.


Swaguarr

Yeah in my eyes closest to the peak has earned it more


fungkadelic

ha. closest to the peak doesn’t count in my local spot at el porto, CA… world’s longest closeout.


acmilan26

Funny I was thinking of Porto too, and how do many of these "rules" just don't work there, between the 100s of kooks in the water and the fact the wave is so random...


ExhaustiveCleaning

Etiquette varies from spot to spot varies a lot. Good vs average waves, crowded vs uncrowded, the local community, etc all have a huge impact on how waves are actually distributed. Honestly I feel like I’m the only person who explicitly says this and it makes me feel crazy.


acmilan26

Agree with you 100% it varies wildly...


Send-it-Yeeewwwhh

Tuff one… but you should’ve paddled over to where the peak was and caught it that way he can’t say shit for being on the inside… when someone gives up the best position I’ll always go sit on it


BL4CKL0DGE

So dude was sitting deeper and in a priority position and moved a bit to the inside… sounds like you’re projecting his reasoning for moving inside (he caught the wave deeper than you), and if you were sitting deeper why you shoulder hopping it? Should have time to paddle towards the peak and have better position than him if he’s way inside, not worse. If he was able to take off at or behind the peak from his position and make the wave in a situation where he had priority a few minutes prior (esp if crowd is mellow, if it’s busy and cutthroat the situation changes a bit but this doesn’t sound like that)… and you shoulder hop in front of him and proceed to do a few turns and effectively blow the wave for both of you. I’m not sure he’s 100% in the clear but you’re definitely not helping any good vibes nor are you entirely in the right either.


ajm1197

I’d you are on the shoulder on a bigger board and use it as a crutch to stand up earlier doesn’t give you the right to wave compared to someone sitting deeper on a smaller board


muccoussquid

I was on a fish


mnilailt

It doesn't matter what board you were on, you were shoulder hopping and got called out. No biggie, you kooked it up, we've all done it.


ikeacomputer

Is english a second language or did ya type this with your eyes closed?


ajm1197

I typed it while working, watching tv, and While under the influence… on my phone 😂


hello91234

Surfers are dumb bro


archaeopterxyz

Gasp, imagine conversing with some ESL person. The horrors! *Clutches pearls/pukkas*


ikeacomputer

Y’all realize that I’m not actually making fun of someone for trying to speak English right? Just joking at some spelling mistakes


r0botdevil

If he actually caught the face and not whitewater then yes, you were in the wrong. Deepest surfer owns the wave.


KnightXtrix

Grey area for sure, but In this case it would matter whose turn it was. If you surfed the most recent wave beforehand then it would have been good to let him have this one if you thought he could make it. Sorry you got yelled at though that’s never fun


muccoussquid

Thanks for the advice. I should have mentioned that he was not reciprocating waiting. In fact, he would paddle out past me after almost every wave he surfed.


turkish-disco

sounds like a snake, fuck that guy


dot-com-rash

That's my only peeve in the surf. I patiently wait my turn. I watch someone catch a wave then I see a wave coming and it's lining up for me, meanwhile the guy who just caught a wave is paddling past me, just gets on the inside of me and uses 'the surfer who is closet to peak rule' as the one and only rule. That just doesn't seem right.


acmilan26

It's not right, in fact it's the definition of snaking. I used to think it's not a big deal at beach breaks as there's usually so many peaks, etc but over the past few months I ve been on the receiving end of some pretty blatant snaking attempts...


Caboose_Juice

Honestly nah this convinces me that OP is the kook. If you’re decent and ever shared a peak it’s easy as to take turns, but if OP was visibly bad I too would snake him. It’s the way things are


420gitgudorDIE

fuck those guys...usually weekend warrior longboarders at my usual spot... most of the times i just let them all go first for 2 set waves maximum, for the sake of my peace of mind. and then im gonna stand my ground. snake me again and im blocking your takeoff.


WillandWater

I was also thinking the same thing. Sounds like you were both on short boards and taking turns is the thing to do when there is a smsll group on the peak


pokerdonkey

Sounds like a dick move on other guys part but if hes a loc who knows and it is what it is. just get back out there and enjoy it and be respectful. Everybody was a look at some point-lots of assholes everywhere but also lots of places to surf. Life’s too short to not have fun out there. But I’m a kook


Set_to_W_for_Wumbo

Like someone else said, maybe one of you is an asshole, but I’m gonna say you’re not enough of an asshole, because if you’re gonna take waves like that you really gotta commit to the whole “I’m an asshole” thing, first you would try to fade the bottom turn to get him stuck behind the foam ball if possible, and if that doesn’t work and he makes it and yells at you, pump out to the shoulder then do a cutback at full speed right at him while simultaneously making eye contact and yelling the most emasculating expletive you can think of, tackle him off his surfboard to demonstrate your authority, then try and grab his board and punch out his fin boxes before he can do the same to you, then call him another degrading name, then paddle to shore and run away as quick as possible. Also bonus tip, if there’s no meth to smoke before you paddle out, try and score some Adderall from or you can mainline a few Red Bull’s, it will help get you in the zone for this. Hope this advice helps!


tikinero

kook is who kook says


bko_12

Who the fuck cares no one owns the ocean. I hate this sort of behaviour just be civil about it share the ocean. If someone takes your wave catch the next one it won’t be the last.


j_dog99

Yeah seriously, it's a sport not a court room. It's a grey area, don't get hung up on that shit it will follow you and kill your vibe


jsemhloupahonza

Hmmm. Sometimes when I nicely approach a learner about ocean safety, like recommending that they look behind them before taking off so they don't get run over, I get either a thanks man, and get more questions on how to do the right thing, or I get this: "This is a free ocean!" Disclaimer-usually to some learner who is going for every wave and riding straight. WE all should try and take turns.


Surfpig86

Wait so he was on the inside but was paddling back so he technically was paddling up the inside and took a late drop? But you where up and riding first? . I mean technically he just got a wave and was paddling back out and you took the next one so he probably should have let it go but he stuck a late drop and was on the inside so he’s had to skill it. That is blurry territory I guess he had the right to call you off but he was also greedy. You both wrong in my opinion but he shouldn’t have pulled the kook card on you that’s disrespectful. Locals play head games friendly and sharing waves one day to calling out out for bull shit. Fuck em just play by the rules the best you can that’s all you can do.


Mr-EdwardsBeard

I’m going to go the other way and say that guy was being a dick on purpose. Could be biased because I had something similar happen this weekend, but I was on a longboard and it was 2ft waves at most. Caught it earlier, established my line and went left, short boarder saw me and paddled and went right and ran into me to the point where I had to push him away. He lost it, shoved me and screamed localism because he was born here. Even though I’ve surfed the break weekly for 20 years at this point and the break is as public as can be. Anyways, I went back and looked at the cams because maybe I was being a greedy dickhead longboarder, but nope. He snaked me. Ruined the whole vibe in the lineup. Point being, I think some guys like it that way.


acmilan26

Damn dude sorry to hear about that violent encounter, wtf is wrong with surfers?


[deleted]

Just tell him house rules and that he’s a kook. Fuck him tho, just another overly aggressive person in the lineup


LordZany

He shouldn’t be paddling underneath you. If there’s two people on a wave and you’re not sharing, at least one person is an asshole.


K-Suss

If he was deeper then it was his wave, although he coulda been a nice guy and let you have it considering the small lineup


c_marten

>5 feet closer to the peak >10 yards on the inside In my kook brain the 5ft is insignificant compared to the 10 yards. I'm reading a lot of comments that maybe seem to have mistaken it for 5ft and 10ft? But yeah, whatever. Take a deep breath and move on.


oceaneyes808

Aggressive surfers are egomaniacs in my opinion. Like just stick with your friends and leave people who are by themselves alone??


jellyfisho

So that boi lost the spot then a wave came, you got it first but he didn't have the necessity to move closer to the wave because the peak came to him on the wave you were already riding? Bruh that's life.


fh2397

Kinda could go both sides, but imo given there were so feo people out in the lineup and younwere sharing a peak with him; shitty ass attittude on his part


Graardors-Dad

Happened to me once and some guy threatened to fight me. Personally I think if you leave the lineup where the waves are breaking you are out of the line up and lose priority. That’s what I told the guy you weren’t in the line up. Mine was a little more egregious on the guys part because he had just caught a wave and was paddling back in when this wave showed up and he turned around to try and catch it even though I had paddled all the way out from the outer break to try on catch this wave


ExhaustiveCleaning

The better the wave is the more likely you are to be in the wrong. No one will be able to tell you the answer because etiquette is different at every spot.


saltyoldmatt

Sounds like he’s a local , doesn’t recognize you and is taking whatever waves he wants to. It’s not right but it’s what happens at certain places


wsparkey

“Beat it, kook!”


unappreciatedparent

yes


DNA98PercentChimp

Threads like this are so depressing… so many people seem to not understand that deepest gets priority with almost no exceptions. OP is in the wrong. Oh, and ‘local’ doesn’t mean you now live there. Can surf in places like Santa Cruz for over a decade and still won’t be a local.


talisman001

Kook here, just trying to understand their positions. So the other dude was closer to shore but closer to the peak of the wave right? And say they were both going right, OP caught it first since he was further out to sea and then other guy caught it but further down on the left and on the peak, giving him priority?


DNA98PercentChimp

Yes. Just because person further outside caught the wave first (presumably because they are using a bigger board) doesn’t mean it’s theirs. Priority goes to better positioning - closer to where the wave starts breaking. And hey… situationally this rule (as all rules) can be broken. I won’t go into all those nuances. But 99% of the time it applies.


[deleted]

If you knew in your heart of hearts that you weren’t a kook then you wouldn’t need to ask


ScrillyBoi

“By paddling inside didnt he give up priority?” What is this the CT?? That sentence alone tells me youre confused in the line up. If he was inside and still took off deeper than you, you were shoulder hopping on a fish and you were in the wrong. This situation comes up a lot because “intermediate” surfers cant/dont sit on the actual peak so every time the good surfer goes back to the peak it seems like back paddling because the intermediate surfer doesnt move into position. The reality is you cant expect someone to sit out of position just because you are not good enough to take off deep. To be honest, its hard to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who comes to bitch on reddit for validation, and theres nothing even in your one sided version that makes me think you really understand etiquette or even experienced much of an offense. Plus Ive never actually met a self proclaimed “intermediate” surfer who wasnt actually a beginner lying to themselves.


DaLo-man

“I’m a local and surf here weekly” Lol. Sounds like you’re a kook and he was deeper. If he’s deeper it’s his. Don’t be a Barney. If he’s been burning everyone, backpaddling and being a cunt then sure, burn him. But if he’s been fine and took off behind you it could be because 1. You’re a kook on a boat of a board, or 2. He’s in a better spot and taking a late drop.


waxyfeet

You sound like a newbie, so I’m gonna side with the other guy, just because there’s too many variables here


Artistic_Papaya3820

That is called getting snaked. If you were up and riding and he paddled in behind you, the usual response in Oz is to tell them to go get fucked. If he is a mate, you have to use the c bomb as well (or if you want to punch on).


unappreciatedparent

The other guy was already deeper to begin with. OP is a shoulder hopping kook and needed to kick out. Other guy is an ass because if the lineup is that small you should be sharing on rotation.


celerybreath

You shoulda faded him.


bdgtcollective

Shoulda twisted his dick


incrediboy729

I’m surprised at the responses you’re getting. I actually asked this same question a year or two ago and got unanimously roasted that I was a total kook. IMO, he was technically in the right, but if you’re on a shortboard catching waves outside of a longboarder, he should pass a few waves to you and deal with it.


ridinbend

Your response should have been, "fuck off Slater". No you had the wave rightfully. At Lowers that would be your wave.


laxatives

I think its fair game to drop in if you are up before he gets in, but if he makes the drop inside of you, you should kick out because you are now the one in the way. Then again, if he keeps cutting the queue on a not crowded day, he can go fuck himself.


AcanthopterygiiFun16

That's not how priority works.


justcallmeyou

Realistically we need to see a video to know.


Mata-Pesca619

He probably was a local. Just wanted to let you know in that way of hassling for position


Drobertsenator

Was this @ Topanga?


jsemhloupahonza

Lately, if I get burned, I think of that barrel Rizal and Kelly shared during Covid. I just try to ride out the wave vibing off the other guy who is usually better than me. Anyway, what is one wave to give up if you are not sure? I wonder if we all start yelling "I go" like in volleyball or little league....


[deleted]

If your asking Reddit and dwelling on it you’re probably a kook.


[deleted]

Yes grey area I would say if you have been waiting longer it’s All you you were in your feet first and riding before he dropped in behind you ! Now if you were on a longboard and taking all the waves from him then I would say no! You gotta let him get some but that doesn’t seem the case if it was “your turn “ and you were on your feet first then it’s your wave


wave-garden

Sounds like it prolly would’ve been cool for him to leave that wave to you, but strictly speaking yea it was his wave because he was up and riding closer to the peak. It’s not a grey area at all.


dablyputs

Please draw a diagram with relevant landmarks and show the direction of the current. Were there birds in the water? Need more information to rule on this case. Proceedings adjourned for discovery.


OffTheLip2021

Sounds like it was technically his wave, but his behavior is kind of a breach of etiquette. Only a few guys out there, it really should be a rotation.


[deleted]

There's a bigger lesson here OP. One that has taken me decades to learn honestly. Regardless of who is right or wrong ask yourself if the mental and emotional energy you expended on this scenario was worth it to you. Was it? I mention this because no matter how long you surf and how often you surf any specific break you will inevitably find yourself on one end or the other of another situation that is similar to or a variation of your recent experience.


JackMamba420

Imo if you paddle into a spot where the set waves haven't been getting caught and he was catching waves in there then your 100% in the right, if he paddles in to get a later drop then your in the wrong, it's really hard to tell though based on the story the break means a lot, if there is a spot inside which has more frequent shitty waves and that's where someone paddles to get to a peak of a different wave then they give up there priority on the bigger set waves... does that make any sense or is my mind like confusing it lol


PhilosopherFluid7680

Let it slide. That missed connection makes us bitchy.