“Jirre my bru, can’t believe you’re paddling out there again, that spot is so vlam.”
Heard this before, or words to that effect, fellow surfers? Perhaps you yourself have been guilty of saying similar derogatory comments over the years, most likely with a smirk of derision on your smug mug?
Whether we like it or nor, judging, and prejudging appear to be part of human nature, which ultimately leads to prejudice of some kind. Let he who is without prejudice come forward, Trident says – and we shall happily point out his or her own (sometimes unconscious) bias. Even the most woke of us all will still be prejudiced against, say, Donald Trump or people who chew with their mouths open or something. It’s difficult – if not impossible – to live a life free from any sort of bias, and surfing is certainly no different.
Surfers tend to be prejudiced against kooks, SUP’s, boogers, goatboaters, loggers, foreigners, snakes, groms, weird hybrid-board riders, non-Western Cape surfers who wear hoodies in summer, other surfers who smile too much, other surfers who get too many waves, other surfers who still smell of deodorant after an hour in the water, other surfers who wear thigh high leather boots and ball gags while surfing, jocks, Twilight fans, mimes, wombats, androids, wookies, mullets, cephalopods, pirates, steampunks, non-Americans who say ‘y’all’, etc etc. But we’re not talking prejudice against others. We’re talking prejudice against surf spots, an altogether different animal.
Non-surfers may be prejudiced against another suburb, or town, or city – or even a country (or even an entire darn continent for that matter, bloody Australia), so perhaps “place prejudice” is once again a simple aspect of the human condition. In Trident’s experience, however, surfers take this natural bias to the extreme. A spot barely 100 metres away from the spot currently being surfed might be construed as “only for beginners or kooks” or “too weak to shortboard” or “smells of lavender”, or whatever else lame excuse okes will come up with.
Trident has had the privilege of surfing at many different breaks across the entire country, and this definitely appears to be the case. Conversely, famous world class spots are the exact opposite. These surf breaks are spoken of in hushed tones as the holy grails of the surfing world. Pfft, says Trident. As if Supertubes can never be flat or onshore. Poppycock. Just like even the best waves in the world can sometimes suck infinitely, so too can every other surf spot produce the goods every now and then. Trident’s command council is based in Port Elizabeth, so – boy, do we know this only too well.
So why are some surfers so anti certain surf breaks? Pride? Cool factor? Hardcore factor? Fear factor? Any number of these, as well as any combination of these would be Trident’s guess. A clean 2 foot peak should be fun to surf by anybody’s standards, yet for some surfers – it’s below them. Similarly, a heavy wave could scar certain surfers (literally and figuratively) for life, while a loco local may too put others off a certain break for life.
We all need to adjust our standards occasionally. ‘Coz if we are only willing to paddle out when it’s 4 – 6 foot, offshore and barrelling for 200 metres or so, common sense and the foibles of nature would dictate we won’t be surfing all that often. More extremely, if you’re dead set against ever surfing certain spots – you may as well take up barbed wire collecting or day drinking as your preferred hobby. Trident has spoken.
