Paddle out etiquette

[vez]

Hi

I have a question about etiquette, as I had a collision with someone the other day and I'm not sure who was in the wrong.

Firstly, I've been surfing for a few years now and, although not that great, don't consider myself a beginner.

I was paddling back out on a pretty busy day, at a local beach break. I was almost to the line up when a set came in. A guy a little further out than me turned to catch the wave. Unfortunately, I was just inside right in his take off path and very close (the wave wasn't going to break until it had passed me).

The guy looked up, saw me, shouted something illegible and took off right into my board. I had to dive off as deep as I could to avoid getting hit in the face. When I surfaced, the guy had fallen off just inside me. I asked if he was ok but got nothing but a sour look in return. When I checked my board, there were two deep fin gashes in the nose end, around where my head was a few seconds before. The guy had paddled off somewhere by then.

Now, normally everyone would say that, if you're paddling out, it's your responsibility to avoid anyone up and surfing. But in this case, the guy had barely got to his feet (in fact, I'm not even sure if he had) and there was no where at all I could go as we were so close and there were people on either side of me. I'm not particularly worried about my board as it's fixable but more about the blatant disregard for another's safety. I know if I'm ever in any doubt about hitting anyone before getting to my feet I'll pull out of a wave. There are always more.

I'm wondering if I could have anticipated that he would try to catch the wave and got out of the way earlier? I normally try to keep an eye out but must have missed this one. Even so, I'm not sure that justifies the potential head injuries.

What do you all think?

[jaffa1949]

Sometimes there are occasions where there is suddenly no room to avoid something like this. With a good crew out no problem.
There are also guys who cannot help but be aggressive and dangerous to other people. A guy like that would paddle away and later brag to his mates about what he did to that kook ( which by your question you are not).
Some breaks the locals go out of their way to scare people out of the water and are quite happy to come towards inflicting injury. What to do?
Another bank, another break, another beach I've noticed the angrier I get the worse I surf, so mellow all the way down.

[Surf Hound]

That sh*t just happens sometimes. There always seems to be those types in the water and what can you do? Some people are just dicks. Thats when Karma comes into play... I truly believe that guy is just a miserable f*@k so just let him be miserable. I have always found giving up waves and beling polite in situation like yours tends to more waves to myself and better people around me.

[Aloha]

When paddling out don't paddle for the unbroken shoulder as you'll get in a riders way, paddle for where it has broken even if it means you are going to get hammered by the wave, that's the unspoken rule. I don't know if you had that option but the guy is an idiot regardless.

[chadmac]

I was trying to paddle out of the way of this guy which I obviously knew he was going to go for the next wave coming in. I set up myself at an angle and just started paddling but I noticed the guy was doing the same thing. First wave came he went for it but I was in the way, so he didn't go for it. I kept Paddling as hard as I could but the guy was doing the same thing again. He went for the next wave and once again I was still in the way. Third time I was paddling away, and the guy did the same thing again but this time he went for the wave and hit my ankle with his fin and I started bleeding.

I was trying to get out of his way, he didn't have to paddle the same direction as me because his set up was fine in the first place, afterwards his group of buddies just sat around me the rest of the day just cutting me off. I couldn't walk for a week after that. Luckily I had my car key tucked in the wetsuit pocket, and if it wasn't there he probably would have cut deeper into my skin.

Some of those guys just like to start trouble so its just best to ignore them. I wanted to beat the crap out of the guy but my friend helped me calm down. If it looks like you're going to hit someone try to go for the white wash or just stay where you are.

[Aloha]

@chadmac
Most proficient surfers often paddle a little in the opposite direction of where it's breaking. For instance if they are paddling for a right hander they paddle as if catching a left. The reason is because you get deeper that way and are able to take off earlier on a steeper part of the wave. Most beginners do the opposite trying to avoid a steep take off and paddle towards the shoulder.

Also it could be that they guy thought you were trying to snake him by paddling inside of him and taking off, which would make his take off a drop-in on you.

If guys are confusing me as to which way there are going I get right in front of them so they have to pick, it actually makes it easier for them as they just have to go slightly either side of you. I only do this if they look capable, I never do this with longboarders as they often have bad control.

[Sar]

If someone is riding a wave and you're paddling out then you have to paddle into the whitewater and take the beating so they can follow the waves line without you getting in the way. However, I found its not always the best move as if they're just taking off - if you paddle towards the whitewater you will be right in their way on the drop so instead you have to dig deep and get over the wave so they can take the take off line and not have to adjust their line too high on the wave/miss it to avoid you - Hope that makes sense. It sounds like exactly what you did anyway.

This is the only point where it sounds like you could have behaved differently

I had to dive off as deep as I could to avoid getting hit in the face.

If you dived off your board and let it go then its out of control and can hit the guy in the head as he is just behind you, you had a split second decision to make tho and the guy was coming right at you. Other than that it sounds like he may have just failed to take off properly and chose to blame you rather than himself.

[surferdude_scarborough]

As a rule you should paddle towards the whitewater and take the beating. however this is not always possible. Often you will be put in a position where you have to make a decision whether to paddle for the whitewater behind the surfer riding or get out in front of them on the shoulder. Make a decision quickly and stick to it. Collisions from situations like these often result from sitting still like a rabbit in headlights. If you do have to go in front then you need to give it the full beans to get well out of the way.

Your man in the story sounds like he was being a complete dick and for the record i dont think you made a wrong decision to get off your board. After all boards can be fixed or replaced, faces cant. You could have prehaps held onto the board, sort of a turtle roll.

There are definately situations where there genuinely is nowhere to go. usually when you paddle over a wave to see somebody about to take off on the next one. All you can do in this situation is apologise for being in the way. If the surfer on the wave still takes off but has to go around you then his ride might be ruined. Alternatively if they pull back they have missed the wave. Most reasonable people realise when there is genuinely nowhere to go.

[themathteacher]

Sometimes there are great consistent breaks, so if you know where the wave is going to break maybe the surfer got upset cause you should have known better rather than be in the way.

A few years back I was surfing a crowded jetty brak, again very consistent. I ran over a surfer and preety much chopped off an inch of the nose off his board. I checked to see if he was ok then paddled away from him. Neither of us apologized, but I was totally bummed I missed a great wave cause he was right there.

Anyway, leave it to an experience, like many others you will have as you surf more a more.

[spectrefish]

When paddling out don't paddle for the unbroken shoulder as you'll get in a riders way, paddle for where it has broken even if it means you are going to get hammered by the wave, that's the unspoken rule. I don't know if you had that option but the guy is an idiot regardless.

this is a great thread. I've only been surfing for 1.5 years now and only recently started braving larger crowds. Before this, I knew I was a beginner who would take off and lose my balance, thereby sending my board launching in any random direction. So to avoid hurting someone, I would stay on the outskirts and find a less populated section where i could practice safely.

I've learned on my own how to take off on a wave and I've learned my balance enough to safely catch waves in a crowd.

recently I had the same problem, I was paddling back out and realized I was directly in someone's way. He was about to take off and must have seen the deer in headlights look I had on my face and he pulled back off the wave. I felt pretty bad about it because that wave had a beautiful shape to it which doesn't always happen at my beachbreak. I paddled up to him and apologized and he was completely cool about it. "no worries" was his reply.

That incident prompted me to find this website and get on some forums to find answers to questions like these. So thanks guys for helping out the new guys who really don't have someone to guide them along the way.

[jaffa1949]

A couple of thoughts here, if there are rips and easy ways out it usually means there is less breaking waves there so always a good way out paddling though or across the line is fraught with risks so always go out further than the line up and then paddle in towards the take off spot. If you are caught inside and some one is riding towards you never try and out paddle them to reach the shoulder, riders are traveling faster than than anyone can paddle. If you can, paddle toward the white water behind the rider, better to take the white water on the head than a board. If you are caught out and cannot get to the white water assess ( and be quick about it) if the rider has the skills, space and speed to ride around you , if so stay still and allow them to do so.

If all else fails like the previous post duck the collision, trying to avoid injury and apologise, it will give you great insight into the mindset of the other guy.