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August 4, 2004 - BA Alienates the Locals at La Jolla Shores
I stopped riding a "Longboard" almost 40 years ago - This was the last longboard, other than big wave boards, that I've owned.
Mike Croteau and I launched the incredibly bitchin' Croteau - Andrews Planes, back in '67 -
We made these boards
in my garage at The Shores, and -
- We kind of copied the plan shape and fins from a board I brought back from Hawaii -
- John Mobley made the board -
- If I remember correctly, Mobley used to occasionally ride a 4'6" board at The Pipe -
- The longest board we would make was about 6'6" - Croteau's personal board -
- Croteau weighed-in at a VERY svelte 250 pounds, and was about 6' 6" tall
- I swore I would NEVER ride a board longer than 6' - EVER!
Mobley was by far, the best surfer with whom I had ever surfed - and he was one of those rare characters, back then, who was known and accepted on both the North and South Shores of Oahu.
"BA you windbag - get to the point - we wanna hear how stupid you were at The Shores!"
Anyway, a couple of times a year, I've gotta surf in a contest where the required equipment [surfing that is] is a "longboard."
I may be surfing in The UCSD Longboard Luau again this year, on Dr. Carl Luber's Cancer Survivors Team -
So - I gotta practice - So - I borrowed a board from Matt - then I paddled-out at The Shores last Sunday - Of Course - I had to sit with the pack - Naturally, the surf was pretty darn good!
Whew -
Riding a longboard - easy -
Cross-stepping to the nose - easy
Nose riding - easy
Cross-stepping back from the nose - not so easy - but doable
Dealing with a bunch of longboarders who have no clue about how to turn, kick-out, cross-step, etc., IMPOSSIBLE!!
I started screaming at ALL of the longboarders between the Marine Room and the North Peak at Black's.
"You kooks, NONE of you know how to turn - all you do is take-off at an angle and race across the face of the wave - posing - as if you know what you are doing!"
Then I lambasted leashes, and wetsuits, and yuppie cars, and Starbucks Coffee, and molded surfboards, and ...
And then I started yelling about how instant the retribution would have been 40 years ago, if a kook exhibited the same idiocy in the lineup, then, as they do now.
Whew - Whew -
After my tirade, I looked around and noticed - for some reason - there was quite a lot of open space between me and most of the others in the water -
Then - I had to do some rapid backpeddling -
Included in my ALL generalizations, were Kevin Connley, Neal Norris, Tom Ortner, Wanker, Spanker, Waynester, Spicoli, and a few more.
I apologized profusely for including dem with doz -
And - I lived to surf another day!
Later,
BA
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