The summertime Crowding blues

[wrcsixeight]

The last two weeks have been bad.<br><br>I grew up with the absolute brainlessness of a summertime tourist, but now since narcissism has been taught and fully incorporated into our society as if it were a positive character trait, it is completely intolerable to me.<br><br>Trying to get to the ocean is such a nightmare, parking near impossible, and once those two are finally accomplished, one crests the dune/bluff to find the beach just littered with humanity, and the water filled with far too many people, surfboards, bodyboards, and all sorts of inflatable toys and nobody has any clue how get or stay out of each other's way. &nbsp;Just freaking mayhem.<br><br>Yesterday I'd given up on finding a wave to board surf, and took my fins to a lesser known spot for some bodysurfing. &nbsp;Got a parking spot not too far away from the stairs. &nbsp;From atop, I espy a spot about 1/4 mile away that has nobody swimming or surfing that has a somewhat ridable wave, and I set out in that direction.<br><br>It was as if I had a magic flute and all the lemmings were in hot pursuit. &nbsp;Everytime I caught a wave, or went to go catch a wave, I'd turn around and some wide eyed nimrod tourist was right there, in my way, oblivious.<br><br>So I'd swim further and further away, and like a pack of mosquitos buzzing around my head, they followed. &nbsp;I'd get out, jog a distance away and swim back out and get a wave or two before being surrounded again.<br><br>Fed up, I bail. &nbsp;The stairs are like a traffic jam. &nbsp;Kids crying, throwing their ocean toys down the stairs blocking them. &nbsp;Parents applying sunscreen, Yelling screaming, and general obliviousness to others just trying to get past.<br><br>Another traffic jam leaving. Everybody has a phone to their ear, every driver. &nbsp;People blocking the road loading and unloading their beach gear.<br><br>Makes me wish for swarms of jelly fish, stinging insects, and shark attacks.<br><br>In my youth I loved summertime. Now I despise it, and my already misanthropic tendencies are pushed to the breaking point, and all I want to do is avoid any situation where I will have to deal with these people chanting their mantra of Me me me me.<br><br>Sure yesterday was a Sunday. &nbsp;Surely a Monday morning would be better I thought. &nbsp;I turned around before I even got near the ocean.<br><br>I hate summer.

 

[user 423]

I believe we all have times when we're convinced the Universe is out to get us. At least summer is about half over.

 

[Ziggy Moon]

I was on Cocoa Beach this past Saturday; friends were in town and they wanted to go. <br><br>I try to avoid the local tourist beaches. I've always loved Playalinda Beach (in Titusville), maybe you've heard of it?<br><br>Anyway, Playalinda is still, for the most part an old, non-tourist, untouched, undeveloped beach..... although about 15 or so years ago the National Parks system decided to take it over - but other than the addition of a gate guard/toll booth, and being a just a tad more populated at times, it's still my favorite in this area.

 

[RAILROADGREEN]

hey now, think baja, people&nbsp;think its to scary&nbsp;down here,&nbsp;only us crazy old surfers dudes!!! gary

 

[wrcsixeight]

I loved Baja, used to spend several months a year down there. &nbsp;My last trip was bad, &nbsp;Friends had become meth addicts, thieves and liars. Smiles and waves from the locals had been replaced with crazy eyed stares. &nbsp;Strange footprints surrounded my Van each morning.<br><br>Wish I could just snap my fingers and be half way down the Pennisula, catching Halibut from the beach. &nbsp;It's that TJ to Maneadero corridor that repels me and the secluded camping I was at ease with, appears unwise now.

 

[caseyc]

Even bad on a Monday? Wow! I hear ya. I live in a touristy city too, and summertime makes for slow traffic. I know that cities like tourism for revenues and all that, but still, it can get annoying! <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/eek.gif">

 

[wrcsixeight]

Yes, even on a Monday. &nbsp;I don't recall it being this bad in years past, but perhaps my tolerance is just less too.<br><br>I'm gonna go make another attempt now as the water is warm clear and green with a little south swell running, and nothing like some exercise to chase the blues away. &nbsp;Perhaps I can catch an inbetween time when the tourons are sunned out and need to go mindlessly spend money they don't have on things they don't need.

 

[RJCooper]

I spend a lot of time around OC MD in the summer.&nbsp; The contact with people is good.&nbsp; I spend the last five months of the year seeing two maybe three people in th e Adironracks trapping.&nbsp; So I bust loose like a gold miner and know when the rut is on, it is over.&nbsp; <br><br>The beauty of this life is mobility.&nbsp; Sorry some are afraid to leave it.&nbsp; That in a nutshell is the issue.

 

[wrcsixeight]

What a difference getting a good parking spot can make.<br><br>and today i got to play in the ocean alone.<br><br>and just got a fair amount of &nbsp;fairly lucrative work lined up for the next few weeks.

 

[Ziggy Moon]

Excellent! <img src="/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">

 

[LucyImHome]

I've had the fortune, good or bad, to have lived in tourist locales all my life. It's seems people go on vacation and leave their sense behind. Funniest comment I overheard... while living in Bisbee, AZ. I'm walking behind a father and his 10 yr old son past the Post Office. Dad says to son, look there, it's a real Post Office. Really? Tourists there were also fond of just walking out into the street. Are they thinking they're in Disneyland? They'll just stare at you when you approach with a car. I live in Palm Springs now. It's amazing what people take pictures of. Sure, it's okay to stand in the middle of a busy intersection taking pictures up the street.&nbsp;<br><br>

 

[mockturtle]

Our ocean beaches here in WA aren't usually very crowded in summer.&nbsp; But, then, it's usually cold and windy and we have dangerous rip tides.&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">

 

[yesican]

The Kenai of Alaska right now is bumper to bumper tourists because the salmon are in and its dipnetting time.&nbsp; I see so many near accidents (head-on's) and there are numerous fender benders; Fred Mejers has so many RV's there's barely a place to park, and they park taking up as much space as possible!&nbsp; Inconsiderate!!!&nbsp; Anymore when the salmon are in, I just want to run for the hills.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Somebody pointed out to me that it is my choice to let these crowds ruin my day.<br><br>Had to think about that one for a while. <br>&nbsp;It is far to easy to just get frustrated and go into avoidance mode.<br><br>Today, A new swell arrived, from a storm on the other side of the Pacific. &nbsp;It was cloudy. &nbsp;I got to the ocean a little later than preferable, about 11 am. I Achieved front row parking overlooking the ocean, no problem. &nbsp;It was still cloudy, the coastal marine layer in full effect. &nbsp;My solar panels which are usually putting out 11+ amps on a sunny day at this hour, were making 2.2 amps.<br><br>I missed breakfast, so I fried up some thinly sliced potatoes, onions, carrot, yellow peppers in some olive oil. &nbsp;Once the potatoes were soft, I scrambled in two eggs into the mix, and threw it on two Trader Joe's &nbsp;combo corn/whole wheat tortillias, added some Sriracha, and had an extremely rewarding breakfast.<br><br>Here was my View while cooking and eating:<br>

<br><br>It was about 70 degrees, with a light onshore wind.<br>2 swells were running, a westerly wind swell with an 8 to 9 second period, generated &nbsp;a few hours earlier, not too far offshore. &nbsp;The other swell was the Southern Hemi with a 17 to 18 second period generated a week to 10 days ago off the coast of New Zealand. &nbsp;Both were on the rise.<br><br>The crowd was light. &nbsp;I selected the board which I thought would yield the most amount of fun. &nbsp;It was the board I talk about more in this thread:<br><a href="/post/Keeping-it-Alive-6359957" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://vanlivingforum.com/post/Keeping-it-Alive-6359957<br><br>I</a>&nbsp;take my time stretching on the beach before paddling out. &nbsp;Not an option anymore. &nbsp;Getting old. &nbsp;Grrrrrr.<br><br>By the time I'm done, the crowd is down to 2 and the wind has increased a little, for more chop on the faces. &nbsp;Soon I am out there all by myself, loving being hundreds of yards away from another Human.<br><br>Then the wind lessens, the chop diminishes, and the sets of waves really start increasing in frequency.<br><br>Long story short, I was having almost illegal amounts of fun, and had it all to myself for well over an hour. &nbsp;When &nbsp;a few others did join me, they knew better than to get too close to me, as I was in a rhythm where I was in the prime spot to catch every large set wave, without even having to wait.<br><br> &nbsp;It was a true merry go round and it was getting better and better. &nbsp;<br><br>One wave, one ride in particular is burned into my memory and will be forever. &nbsp;About 7 to 8 feet on the face initially, I caught it late, barely made the drop, barely kept in front of the whitewater doing mach speed. &nbsp;Then the wave backs off into deeper water, and I re position myself, waiting for the wave to feel the bottom again before bottom turning parallel to shore once again. &nbsp;The timing of this is critical. &nbsp;Too early and one outruns the wave, too late and the wave breaks on one's head. &nbsp;I managed to do pretty good in this regard, and the wave started heaving in the shallower water getting ready to throw a barrel.<br><br>I move my back foot back, &nbsp;Grab my outside rail with my right hand, stick my left hand into the wave as a speed brake, and the wave throws out over my head.<br><br>Barrelled. &nbsp;Time seems to slow down in the barrel. &nbsp;All the little details enhanced. &nbsp;The vision unreal, the feeling as close to orgasm as is possible. &nbsp;At one point the exit of the barrell was 12 to 15 feet away from me and I didn't think I was going to make it out, and I took my hand out of the wave and leaned forward and was able to accelerate and somehow squeaked out like a watermelon seed doing a zillion Miles per hour, followed by the spit of the airwithin the barrell being forced out by the compression of the collapsing wave.<br><br>I had two options, either straighten out toward shore, or use the wave as a ramp and launch myself airborn. &nbsp;I chose the latter and at the very crest of the lip, I jumped and soared about 8 feet over the top of the wave in a swan dive, but a launched swan dive where I kept rising for a while. &nbsp;I was airborne, flying for a while. &nbsp;Always fun.<br><br>When I surfaced I heard hooting and hollering coming from a great distance.<br><br>Three surfers in the parking lot who witnessed my ride had their hands over their heads and were screaming at the top of their lungs at my ride, and most everybody else on the beach was now looking at them.<br><br><br><br>I paddled back out for a few more.<br><br>But soon, about 15 guys paddled out at once and I took the next wave in. &nbsp;<br>Everybody paddling out was smiling. <br><br>Nobody more than me.<br>-------<br><br>Many years ago, I used to get irritated when I would see camera footage from a person riding inside the barrel. &nbsp; I loved seeing it, but part of me felt like the general public didn't deserve to see such a view. &nbsp;It takes tremendous skill and dedication to put oneself inside a barrel and be rewarded with this sight and incredible feeling of this view.<br><br>Now with the proliferation of &nbsp;Gopro camera's and no lack of those with a look at me attitude. well........<br><br>Here. &nbsp;This is a bodyboarder at a remote world class surf break, in Southwest Africa.<br>The visuals, while impressive, cannot compare to the feeling of being there.<br><br><a href="http://vimeo.com/59101379" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/59101379</a><br><br><br><br>Enjoy.

 

[Ziggy Moon]

Glad to hear you got your surf on. <br><br>

 

[wrcsixeight]

Thanks Zig.<br><br>A good surf session like today's is pretty rare. &nbsp;Many conditions have to line up, and one has to have the ability, and the time to luck into it. Often, when one finds the conditions and timing comes together, one discovers that every other surfer in the state was thinking the same thing, all day long.<br><br>It there were 25 guys out, like can be expected tomorrow at the same hour, I might have gotten 1 wave I'd give a 7 or 8 &nbsp;out of Ten on the fun scale, and several dozen in the 4 to 5 range. Many 1's and 2's. &nbsp;It is not just the other surfers having priority for any given nearby wave I could catch, but the obstacle course one needs to negotiate when one does finally earn themselves, or luck into, priority. &nbsp;There is also the attitude, ego, localism, competition and aggressive behavior all going on when it gets crowded and one actually wants to catch waves. &nbsp;I hate playing that game.<br><br><br>Today, I had well over a dozen rides &nbsp;in the 7 to 8.5 range, a couple dozen in the 4.5 to 6.5 range, one 9 and the one 12. &nbsp;There were no obstacles, and nobody to give priority to. &nbsp;Any wave I wanted, was mine, &nbsp;all mine. &nbsp;I was in rhythm with the ocean, surfing well, and given a beautiful canvas.<br><br>I'm still buzzing.....

 

[user 423]

Stay high on life!

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">WRC, Avoid those crowds mate. You know what to do and it only a short plane ride to where that swell started from.</SPAN></STRONG></EM>