National Geographic exposes surfing's charade!
James Joiner is a journalistic renaissance man. A photographer/filmmaker/writer with two fingers on pop culture’s pulse and two other fingers making a peace sign/smoking a cigarette/playing a piano. He has had stints across the board with Esquire, The Daily Beast, Vice etc. but his latest for National Geographic surely wins because it is National Geographic, of course, but also because he tackles the topic of surf localism in a thorough, captivating way.
Let’s dip in!
Across the Internet, surfers have been cheering at the thought of one of the world’s most infamously localized breaks opening up for general use, with those who speak up against the suit being quickly shouted down in comments sections.
Some long-time surfers feel this widely publicized case against localism has come to represent more than a battle over a small break. It’s indicative of an ongoing battle between traditionalists and new school riders over surfing’s very soul.
“We’ve protected this beach for years,” McCullom told the LA Times in 1995, in one of many articles the paper has published about the town’s forbidden break. “This is why: so we can have driftwood on the beach rather than Kentucky Fried Chicken boxes. If this place was ever opened up, it would be packed with lowriders, guys in VW bugs; the rocks would be marked with graffiti, and the beach wouldn’t be safe at night.”
Many surfers are quick to note that he’s not without a point—even 21 years ago, neighboring beaches in Torrance and Long Beach were rife with overcrowding and litter, a stark contrast to the clean sands of their “protected” stretch of Lunada Bay. But it’s not just crowds that localism targets—it’s also a method of self-policing, enforcing respect among the ranks for each other and, especially, for the ocean. Localism has always been an undercurrent of the surf scene, an at times harsh punishment for infractions in an oftentimes harsh activity. Yet now, in many places, it’s being phased or, some will claim, gentrified out.
“Up until fairly recently you wouldn’t even dream of getting in the water if you weren’t from the neighborhood,” Jeff Johnson, a lifelong surfer and noted adventure photographer, explained in reference to a surf break near Ventura. “If you were an outsider you’d get hassled for even checking the waves. But now it’s a free-for-all.”
How good is Jeff Johnson? I think very good and an expert. Would you like to hear from another expert? Of course you would!
Chas Smith had a different take, likening these territorial surfers to drug addicts chasing their next adrenaline fix rather than a tribe of spiritual, if testosterone-filled, modern-day warrior poets.
“I think surf localism exists because surfing makes people insane,” he said. “The longer a man surfs, the more insular and selfish he becomes. Paranoid like Gollum. He wants the preciouses all to himself. He can’t stand someone even looking at them … Talk of surfers being a ‘tribe’ or maintaining ‘chill vibes’ or anything like that is all lies. Surfers are decrepit addicts. Nothing more.”
Read the rest here!
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Nice van
intellectualising violence 20 years later does not make it less stupid or selfish.
Good yarn Chas. 35 million of us now…wow, really? Wonder how they quantified that. Surf schools, yeah…they can take a lot of the ‘blame’ for more people in the water, especially bad surf schools, the cowboys in it for the money only, pumping out kooks with a total lack of ‘surf etiquette’ being taught. People like me posting pics on social media too, yeah, guilty, that’s another crowd puller, just like surf mags, videos etc, the whole industry… The real game changer was the invention of the leash or leg rope. In terms of more kooks in the water, it all progressively went downhill after that. Glad i had to swim for my board when i was a grommet. Appreciated the magic of waves and riding them more. Maybe we should all paddle out with scissors and start snipping. Thankfully there are still plenty of uncrowded waves in our oceans. And yeah, when its 8ft and bigger, the numbers will always thin quick. Stay salty, go surf. Cheers.
Speaking of localism, what happened to “Yellowstone” Trav (Iron Travy?)? Did Beach Grit “locals” scare him back to the blown out mushburger of a website that is WY?
I actually met Butch from Windansea last year , from the early 60’s , now there’s a few stories. From what I was told everybody on the planet was scared of the Windansea boys , no surf go look for fights………ah the good ol days before we all became so fuckin precious!
The nose mounted go pro is the international symbol of kooks the world over. Thanks for posting, I enjoyed immensely!
Bondi is amazing for seeing nose mounted go pros in 2-1ft slop.
The only good use for Go-Pros are taking them on nights out and recalling the events the next day. It’s a cliche but the fact that it makes everything look smaller can be a blessing and a curse.
I’m sorry but I prefer the modern day warrior poet shtick myself
Yep me too mate.
appalling misread from Joiner. Why do non-surfers writing about surfing inevitably drown themselves in an embarrassing sticky smegma of misunderstanding and cook-ery.
Surfing is no different to fishing, or apes at the waterhole; so far from unique. We are territorial primates scrapping over a limited resource. No spiritual woo required. No insanity.
Absent a better model, localism is the only thing that works.
yeahbut…localism is quite different in different parts of the world. It’s heavily affected by local cultural norms. The Lunada Bay spasticity is very different to the straight up organising principles at work at many regional Australian surf zones.
true, American localism is less subtle than Australian localism, dumber if you will. But then it has to be less discerning because the forces arrayed against it, against order and towards chaos, are so much larger and uncomprehending.
Compare the subtle genius of localism at a spot like Jakes in Kalbarri, where as a visitor you are quite welcome, but will end up spectating most of the session to a wave like H…….. on the central coast where some ignorant goon who can barely surf will try and send you in just for being there ……..
Ha! smegma
“Surfing is no different to fishing,” does that mean you can ride sharks also?
if you can catch it you can ride it
I’m not sure that line of defence would hold up in a court of law.
Beautifully done, Chas.
Almost without exception, these “heavy” locals are a bunch of fat powdered sugar boys who quail before my wild bogan stare.
if people dont know the rules, someone needs to tell them.
Hahahaha! Chas, you crack me up.
There was a time when surfing my home break Pleasure Point used to be sketchy even for locals. Used to see beat downs, dunkings, and board destruction quite regularly. Now the enforcers are either depressed or drug addicts, with a only select few evolving as human beings in a new world where everything they understood about surfing has been flipped on it’s head. Now the lineup is a free-for-all shit show. Dangerous, really. While the order in the lineup is something I miss, I never enjoyed watching someone get punched in the mouth or their fins broken out. Unless they deserved it.
Dude, are we talking about the same Pleasure Point? Place has been swarmed for decades. Annoying, maybe, but hardly dangerous. Unless, perhaps, you find it difficult to dodge portly, middle-aged men moving in slow-motion on a wave that moves like an elderly turtle with a walker.
Sorry, that’s a personal issue and none of my business.
Regardless, if you’re even mildly nostalgic for some of that good ol’ fashioned Santa Cruz meth-country-romper-stomper localism, you can always leave your comfy perch at Second Peak and mosey around the corner to, say, Stockton Ave. 😉
Well, in the last 15 years the gentrification in the area has tripled the amount of kooks and blow ins. Don’t know what vantage point you’ve been watching from, but yes, it’s fuckin dangerous as hell. Ah, yes, the old meth card. Well played. Bahaha how original! You’re a tart, aren’t you?!
dunkings haha
LOCALS ONLY YOU FUCKIN GROMMET
“Sponger? hell yeah i’ll sponge up this big ol’ ocean with my dick, fucking surfer nerds”
The ironic thing I always find with localism is that it’s done mainly by surfers who can’t actually surf. I’ve never surfed Blacks or Snapper though so I’m basing it on limited knowledge.
They’re the Marty McSorleys of surf.
They’re also always fat and bald but hard as fuck so I’m hiding conveniently behind my Disqus profile.
Look at these guys in the photo they’re all pathetic. No one looks tough in a damn wetsuit! It’s just a bunch of sloppy geriatrics swinging aimlessly in the wind. They always land one or two punches that closely resemble slaps and then wrestle on the sand for a little bit until their tickers all but give up. No one wins. I’ve had a guy pull out a samurai sword from his boot (trunk) on me once because I threw a kids skateboard at him. Got him good. One of the trucks connected really well with the mouth. When the sword came out we both decided to talk it out.
run when you see Russel Winter reach in the boot
Nice hockey reference. Does that mean John John is Gretzky with a Lunada local constantly shadowing him and fighting anyone foolish enough to drop in on him.
I had AI in mind, but yeah.
but Marty is a full-on lunatic. those soft 40+ year old dads wouldn’t lift a finger.on anyone
fuck, the Todos guns are the problem at Blacks. even my grandad can get into em early on the 8’6″. not much fun watching them do their best Gerry soul arch 25ft. out on the shoulder either. i’ll take localism over “whoever brings the most foam” any day of the week.
The photo is harmless, a simple massage train in action while one other does the samba above them. Localism-shmocolism everyone is getting along merrily.
The guy giving the massage does look like he drinks lighter fluid though…
Interesting to see Rory massaging that bald man’s traps.
Low blow!