06/2014
Michael When the old Hawaiians discovered how to surf waves on boards, they celebrated it as a community event, and the more surfers could paddle into a wave, stand up and surf simultaneously back to the beach, the better they considered the party to be. Compared to the massive wooden logs of yesteryear, today's high-speed epoxy boards are much easier to maneuver and for that reason, today's surfers don't aim in the direction of the beach when they set on to surf on a wave, but are riding sideways along the wave, going up and down, similar to a snowboard enthusiast swinging down a slope.

This of course means that a single wave nowadays can't be shared anymore by a group of people, but gets occupied by a single person. And if there's ten people waiting to get on the wave in the so-called "line-up", the question arises on who may paddle into the wave and who has to wait for their turn.

As a newbie to the surfing world, there's all kinds of unwritten laws to learn. First off, it's considered somewhat rude to paddle out and straight into a group of locals who are hanging out at the same location in the water every day. Instead, a newcomer is supposed to take a detour and approach the group sideways. The obvious reason for this is that if there's a new wave rolling in, you don't want to stand in the way of waiting surfers paddling into it.

Whoever gets onto a wave first, has the right of way. This is an obvious advantage to surfers lurking further out, if the wave is already surfable at their position. But this strategy doesn't always work out, as the location of the breaking point of incoming waves can vary significantly, even within the same set. If you get ready to paddle into a wave, but notice someone coming from behind, already riding on it, you want to get out of their way. For this to happen, you need to slow down your board by reaching down into the water with your hands, which makes the wave rush by under the board, without pulling it into the created turbulence.

If a wave already started collapsing from left to right (as seen from the beach), and a surfer is riding it from left to right already, it is considered extremely rude to paddle into the wave further to the right, and getting into the surfer's way who then has to slow down to avoid a collision. That's the dreaded "drop in", which sometimes leads to protests or even heated arguments. Although, in Pacifica, people are pretty relaxed about it, well knowing that there's droves of beginners making their first moves there, and the worst thing than can happen there is that you get hit in the head by a runaway board that some idiot has let go.

Watching surfing videos on Youtube, it is usually not clear that those daredevils riding the monster waves are sometimes traveling in very shallow waters, and falling off the board could have disastrous consequences. The surprising truth is, that waves only break in spectacular ways if the water gets shallower really quickly, and in the Pacific Ocean, you often find reefs or rocks near these places.

In videos, it often looks like surfers are riding in deep waters, but in reality, there's often just a few feet of water between the board and razor sharp rock or reef formations. Especially on Oahu's north shore, and particularily on Sunset Beach with its famous "Pipeline" surf spot, the top surfers barrel down on monster waves which barely have any water left at the bottom, so that slipping only once and falling could have deadly consequences.

In such waters, surfers can't ever jump off their boards, once they've reached the end of a surfable wave, they lay back flat on their boards and paddle back out. Lying down on the board while moving your arms displacing water for prolonged times is quite tough on the shoulder muscles, which usually aren't well developed, even in athletic individuals. With a bit of practice, however, surfing strengthens the upper body, and that's why you often see top surfers with absolutely ripped physique. I, personally, still have a lot of work ahead of me!

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	How To Surf
  	Rustic Oyster Lunch at Point Reyes
  	The U.S. Tax Return
  	Nicosia Cheese Company
  	Top Products: Dryers for wetsuits and surf booties