Even More Surfer Talk

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Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Narrabeen
One of a whole host of quality surfspots on Sydney's north shore. You lucky lucky Aussies!.

New School

Noodled / Noodle Arms
Being exausted of having tired arms

Nose
The pointy bit of the surfboard and the bit that points away from you when you are paddling and riding.

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Ocean
Same thing as a sea - only bigger.

Offshore
Where the wind at a surf break is blowing off the shore ;-) Makes for ideal surfing conditions.

Onshore
Where the wind is blowing towards the land. Spoils the waves. Always remember - Offshore Good - Onshore Bad!.

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Paddlepuss
Someone who stays and plays in the whitewater close to the beach.

Party Wave
A wave surfed by several people at once.

Perl / Pearl
A common term describing when a person buries the nose of their surfboard and goes "over the falls". Often referred to by the actual surfer as @#%%@#@!!

Pipeline (see pipeline surf spot map)
Classic Hawaiian wave, amazing, barrelling and mean. One of the most famous and most photographed waves there is. If you have just read Surfing Lesson One - Catching Waves and are ready to go out and try surfing for the first time then Pipeline is probably the last place on the planet you want to be.

Pumping
A decent swell where the waves are nice and powerful. Also used to describe a surfer trying to generate speed.

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Quiksilver
Pretty much everyone, surfers and non-surfers alike will already know about Quiksilver. One of the largest manufacturers of surfing equipment and surf clothing on the planet. The lads have done well from their boardshort beginning on Torquay - good on ya!. (see quiksilver boardshorts in the store)

Quiver
A surfers collection of different surfboards. ( I've heard people say it is the place where they keep their boards but not sure about that... Kris Carré who suggested Quiver as an entry)

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Rail
The sides of your surfboard, running from nose to tail and back again. More details can be found on the Surfboard Rail page.

Rail Bang
Fall off and take the surfboard between the legs (ouch!)

Raked Over
To be hammered by incoming waves while paddling out.

Regular / Regular Footed
Surfing with your left foot forward.

Rip
A strong current heading out to sea. Can be dangerous for surfers and swimmers alike. Check out the Waves section to find out in further detail.

Rock Dance
Getting in or out into the surf over rocks.

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SAS
See Surfers Against Sewage.

Shove-it
Shoving the surfboard round underneath your feet, 180 or 360 degrees. A good trick if you can do it.

Shubie
Someone who buys surf gear and clothing but does not surf.

Sick
A term used to describe when someone does something impressive. e.g. "that was a sick air" - not just because you have swallowed too much sea water.

Slash
A rapid turn off the top of the wave - hopefully throwing loads of spray off the top.

Slater, Kelly
Famous for being in Baywatch and his alleged dalliance with Pamela Anderson. Oh yes, we've heard that he is a pretty tidy surfer as wall.

Snake / Snaking
Waves should be shared, but snakes take it all. To Snake is to drop in out of turn.

Sponger
A Bodyboarder

Steamer Lane
Famous Northern California surf spot.

Step Into Liquid
What happens when you go walking in puddles. It is also the the name of a surf video by surf vid guru Dana Brown. Check it out at our video store - Step Into Liquid.

Stick
Surfer slang for a surfboard.

Stoked
Very happy.

Stringer
The bit of wood that runs up through the length of your surfboard. (If you have a fibreglass one and not one that you have fashioned out of an old ironing board!). More info on the Surfboard Information page.

Surfers Against Sewage
An organisation campaigning for clean water for all. These guys are incredibly high profile and lobby endlessly to ensure all water users are surfing in clean water. Check them out at www.sas.org.uk and become a member - everyone should become a member.

Swallow Tail
You will really have to go and and read up on the Surfboard Tail Shapes section - I can't be explaining everything over again.

Swell
Waves! Swell, or Groundswell refers to solid, real waves (as apposed to rubbish wind chop). Why not read more on How Waves Are Made.

Switch Stance
Riding the surfboard standing the other way round i.e. If you are regular footed you would be surfing goofy.

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Tail
The bit of the surfboard at the opposite end to the nose (the pointy bit at the front!). Read more about Surfboard Tail Shapes. For more info on the other bits of the surfboard have a look at the Surfboard section.

Tailslide
The tailslide is a move where the tail of the board slides across the lip of the wave. Tail Slide - see!.

Thruster
Popular name for a tri-fin shortboard.

Tube
Public transportation in London. Oh, you mean Tube. Tube is the where the wave is hollow where it is breaking. For some surfers it's the be all of surfing. Sometimes called a barrel, keg or pit.

Turtle Roll
Technique for getting a longboard out though a breaking wave (as apposed to duckdiving for a shortboarder). See our how to turtle roll article for more info.

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Ulluwatu
One of a large number of quality Indonesian surf breaks.

Underwater
You are not seriously looking for an explanation of this are you?

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Vanuatu
Smallish island in the Pacific, complete with numerous great waves. If you are planning a tropical surfing trip you could do worse!.

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Wax
Smells nice, gets stuck in your chest hair (not you ladies!), used to stop your feet slipping off your board. Also, surf wax can be used as to repair almost anything - leaky roof, rusty zip - you name it.

Washing Machine
Getting spun around and around underwater by a wave.

Wetsuit
Made of neoprene, keeps out the cold, makes you look like a seal. Check out the Wetsuit section for more information.

Wipe-out
Falling of your board is referred to as a wipe-out. Other terms are donut, mullering, eating it and pounding - and pretty much anything else you would like.

Worked
To "get worked" is to wipe out and get thrown about while being held under by the wave.

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(e)Xtreme
Yes, you guessed - we couldn't think of a surfing word truly beginning with X. It's definition is exactly the same as in the dictionary. Tow in surfing is the latest type of extreme surfing.

Xtrak
One of the leading manufacturers of surfboard traction pads. (see Xtrak deck grip) - we've finally got a proper 'X'

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Yallingup
Surf spot in Western Australia. (Now we are really struggling!)

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Z
Thanks to those who have sent us 'Z' letters - we were struggling for a while but now the section is looking pretty rosy.

Zamba, Frieda (Born October 24, 1965)
Florida's first four-time world champ

Zogs (Mr) Sex Wax
A Popular brand of surf wax found wherever there are surfers. Get some Surf Wax here.

Zipperless
Often considered the "holy grail" of wetsuits, as zippers-no matter how tightly made-will always let water through. Invented in '89 by Body Glove, the first zipperless wetsuits were actually way too stiff for surfers to use; by '93, the Japanese came out with another model that was still too stiff, but by '95, most wetsuit companies offered a high end zipperless suit. Advantages include flexibility and warmth; disadvantages include short lifespan (due to super stretchy rubber) and difficult entry/exit.

Zonal
Weather pattern term which means that all of the storm activity in one particular region is moving in a consistent west-to-east pattern along the same latitude. While this can happen anywhere in the world it is usually associated with the Southern Ocean (around Antarctica) and is caused by large ridges of high-pressure in the mid-latitudes 'pancaking' the active storm track into the upper lattitudes. Since most of the swell energy in these storms will only travel the direction the fetch is pointed it means that all of the swell is also going west-to-east. For most of the eastern half of the Pacific (California, Baja, Mainland Mex, and Central America) zonal activity in the SPAC is bad for swell production -- good for an area in its path like Chile -- but bad for the rest of us.

Zulu
Same as GMT or Greenwich Mean Time. Zulu Time is used on weather charts which may display 12Z for 1200 GMT, or 00Z for 0000 GMT. See GMT.

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That's it for the Surfing Talk page, if anyone actually read this page and found it interesting and informative, or even remotely amusing at times then we'd be interested to know - e-mail us and let us know.

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