Annals Of Surfing–Pipeline Pulchritude: Maybe it’s a sign of the times. But surfing just ain’t what it used to be. Take Pipeline, for example, the mythic break on Oahu’s North Shore. You read about it, you see movies about it. But if you want to go surf it and you’re not an established regular or a world class talent, you’d better bring your headgear. Because a gang of local surfing thugs have deputized themselves as etiquette enforcers, and if you screw up they’ll lay a beating on you. The LA Times has the story. Here’s an excerpt:
The enforcers call themselves the Wolfpack, and most of them come from Kauai. The pack’s alpha male is Kala Alexander, a buff and accomplished surfer best known for his role as the tattooed heavy in the 2002 date movie “Blue Crush.”
He regularly justifies his beachfront vigilantism in print and video interviews. With a relatively tight takeoff zone, Alexander says, Pipeline can safely accommodate only about 20 expert surfers at a time. But up until a few years ago, 60 to 80 surfers and bodyboarders, many of them novices, routinely overran the place. World-class surfers would stroke into breathtaking barrels only to have an arm-flapping wannabe cut them off and force them into the break’s treacherous shallows.
In the unwritten book of surf etiquette, such a right-of-way violation qualifies as a capital offense, and the guilty party’s punishment nowadays is a good licking. So far, no one has pressed charges.
“You need people like me,” Alexander recently told Surfer magazine, “or it would just be even more crazy.”
Umm, wasn’t that pretty much Hitler’s line of argument? This is nuts. No one owns Pipeline, and the wannabes should get a shot at it too. Sure, etiquette should be observed. And for anyone who needs a clue, check out this story on the rules of surfing. Even better, here’s a summary of the “Tribal Law” as laid down at one surfing beach in Australia:
Tribal Law: Surfriders Code of Ethics
1) Right of way: Furthest out (or waiting longest); Furthest inside (closest to peak); First to feet or on wave; Call: communicate (left or right)…
2) Do not drop in or snake…
3) Paddle wide using rip…
4) Caught inside, stay in the whitewater…
5) Danger: Do not throw board (in danger of others)…
6) Respect the beach, the ocean and others…
7) Give respect to gain respect…
8) We are very lucky to be surfers – share the water
The key word is “share.” Contrast that to what’s going down at Pipeline. Surfing is supposed to be mellow, laid back, communal. When did the meatheads take over…?
Surf Rage: “Thanks for cutting in front, d*ckhead! Perhaps you need a “conversation” with the Wolfpack…”
The Earthist Chronicles 