No SUPs at Chun’s

This was originally posted in the Forum section in Tips and Tecniques, but I think it deserves to be on the front page. I pasted in both the poster’s and my responses. He makes some great points that I think are important to consider, albeit in a Dennis Miller persona that may rub you the wrong way. 

Kliner:

 the upcoming winter season fast approaching, the buzz on the north shore is not how this winter will compare with last winter or how big the waves are going to be but if a SUP guy will get killed or worse, kill someone in the line up.  It seems alot of people are getting into SUPs; some with a surf background and many with little or no surf experience.  The water is crowded enough with the surf schools and surf contests hogging the best spots during the best time of year (go somewhere else to sell your t-shirts and sport drinks… sorry different rant for a different day) without some SUP kook paddling out to the lineup.   Too many of your SUP kooks (oops, I mean brethren) think if it looks like a surfboard and I ride it, I must be a surfer.  Wrong.  You’re a dude that is willing to shell out $1500-$2500 for a over-weight, over-priced, oxymoronic (come on, you got to admit “High Preformance SUP” is an oxymoron) symbol of the evil comercial surf industry (It was sad to see super waterman Dave Kalama doing a SUP instruction video aimed at middle America - that’s proof enough that the “MAN” is behind the whole SUP craze when Kalama sells out… expect Naish to sell out but not Kalama).  There was a reason why standup paddling died out in the past – evolution (and the ire of the lineup).

So do us all a favor and SUP responsibly.  Educate non-surfer SUP dudes.  Work on your core muscles like a fat man on an ab lounger.  Create a new economy and business model by making the “surf” culture accessible to every non-surfer and land locked american with a credit card.  Paddle, paddle, paddle… just don’t paddle into the lineup at Chun’s.  

Aloha

ps  if you’re asking yourself “Where’s Chun’s?”, definitely, definitely stay out of the lineup.  Any lineup.

PonoBill:

PonoBill said:

I think you’d be surprised how many SUP surfer’s agree with you, even given your ill-mannered approach. I know that I have no business in any serious lineup, or any crowded one. I drive past Ho’okipa every day on my way to surf, give it a longing look, and keep driving.

Part of the draw is that you don’t need to crowd the usual breaks–you can go further and surf places that no one bothers with. I’ve found places on the Oregon coast that are within sight of crowded breaks (or as crowded as that half-frozen water ever gets) that are not only empty, but fit my geezer skills a lot better. I expect this year in Maui that I’m going to find all kinds of new spots, because I now consider a five mile paddle to be a nice warm up.

All the same, don’t expect the good guys to take you seriously if all you do is rant.

Ill mannered approach?   Rant… yes but ill mannered… come one, dude… a little humor about a topic that I don’t expect the “good guys”  to take serious anyway…

As with other new water activities, self regulation and education will go along way… one just has to review the past history of other emerging water sports (e.g. jet skiis, windsurfing, kite boarding), the subsequent clash with existing, traditional water use activities, and the resulting regulation (depending on your water activity of choice – banning might be a more appropriate word) of water use activities at particular beaches… so if SUP dudes (& wahines) wish to continue to have access to all beaches and live in harmony with others, a good base of what is “pono” and what is not will go a long way for a sport that is experiencing exponential growth…

Aloha

ps  I do SUP myself but only with a bag over my head and in the dark so no one sees me…

PonoBill:

You’re damned good writer. Take that bag off and write some articles for Ke Nalu. Or leave it on and help us spread the word that SUPers need to be pono, or at least strive for it.