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Becoming an older surfer
- Thread starter pastel
- Start date
all it takes is one good wave - maybe even just one good turn - and it's a great day, just like that.
I like knee boarding - love that low center of gravity. When my stand-up pop-up becomes irretrievably broken from age and wear, I could picture a transition into kneeboarding. I've even thought about trying to design some kind of George Greenough-style floaty spoon foamie kneeboard that might work in EC surf.
and beyond that, at +75 y/o, if I'm lucky, I could be kneeboarding Wavestorms like Doc Paskowitz was at that age....but I'm sure I'd cheerfully plunk down $10k for some kind of e-surfboard at that point, just to catch a couple more waves.
I've been kneeboarding since the '70s and I always figured it would carry me into old age...I'm 72 now I'm still into it--just not waves of consequence. Especially up here in cold Southern Humboldt where the water temps are always cold--local buoy is at 53° right now. But when the point is reeling at 4-6' I'm out there! The hardest thing now is putting on the damn wetsuit--a fellow firefighter had a deal with O'Neill to get wetsuits and he gave me one of the zipless ones with the rubber hole ya gotta somehow squeeze into...no fkn way. So I went back to what's the standard of the industry up here anyway, shoulder to shoulder zip Hotline. As an aside to that, a good friend worked for Cleanline Surf Shop up in Seaside and he had a manufacturer, maybe Rip Curl, make a 5/4 backzip suit for the older guys, then you just wear a hood separately. Anyway the key for me is some simple exercises, walk a lot, and have good genes. YMMVall it takes is one good wave - maybe even just one good turn - and it's a great day, just like that.
I like knee boarding - love that low center of gravity. When my stand-up pop-up becomes irretrievably broken from age and wear, I could picture a transition into kneeboarding. I've even thought about trying to design some kind of George Greenough-style floaty spoon foamie kneeboard that might work in EC surf.
and beyond that, at +75 y/o, if I'm lucky, I could be kneeboarding Wavestorms like Doc Paskowitz was at that age....but I'm sure I'd cheerfully plunk down $10k for some kind of e-surfboard at that point, just to catch a couple more waves.
WeeD.
All this reading about so much activity you all do is making me tired, gonna smoke some WeeD.
Personally I can't get out of bed without it... and it's not because of a dependence, it's because of PaiN.
15 when I got run over by a car. Downhill bombing on LB G&S fibreflexes, mountain biking, martial arts, more car accidents and a motorcycle accident made me PaiN man.
I feel pain even when I sleep.
Tinnitus? Rings so loud I'm starting to lose my hearing. Already told my wife we communicate better with our eyes anyway, and it's pretty much all been said... plus with all the BS there is to hear about nowadays I figure it's probably the best of the senses to lose. Plus, great excuse for dropping in... I didn't hear you screaming back there.
Long board... 9'x3"x22" paddlac if there ever ellas one, super thick in the middle, all the volume shaved off at the tail so you can still lay it on a rail ... even with all that foam, I knee ride many a drop and stand after the bottom turns, hey it gets me on the wall and from there I can do my kook version of throwing spray and up and down turns which really only end up going straight. It feels good though.
Already, at 58, reached the point where it hurts more after than before I paddle out... my shaper tells me I should give it up and stick to surfing with the girls and the schools... I laugh snd tell him as long as I can make it out there I WILL drop in on your every wave yiu fakka!!! He chears me on from behind... don't tell anyone, but I hear them fine.
Lastly, after 50 it's really good idea to stick to max 3 waves. 2 is better. 1 particular spot is best. The more time you put in at the spot, well you know.
Luckily, out here at least, when they see the Grey beard they show some respect still. It's good that people I never met before call me by name when I dropped in on them... means I'm well known.
So far, so good.
If any of you come out here, I can guarantee you a wave looking at my skinny lack of a butt.
All this reading about so much activity you all do is making me tired, gonna smoke some WeeD.
Personally I can't get out of bed without it... and it's not because of a dependence, it's because of PaiN.
15 when I got run over by a car. Downhill bombing on LB G&S fibreflexes, mountain biking, martial arts, more car accidents and a motorcycle accident made me PaiN man.
I feel pain even when I sleep.
Tinnitus? Rings so loud I'm starting to lose my hearing. Already told my wife we communicate better with our eyes anyway, and it's pretty much all been said... plus with all the BS there is to hear about nowadays I figure it's probably the best of the senses to lose. Plus, great excuse for dropping in... I didn't hear you screaming back there.
Long board... 9'x3"x22" paddlac if there ever ellas one, super thick in the middle, all the volume shaved off at the tail so you can still lay it on a rail ... even with all that foam, I knee ride many a drop and stand after the bottom turns, hey it gets me on the wall and from there I can do my kook version of throwing spray and up and down turns which really only end up going straight. It feels good though.
Already, at 58, reached the point where it hurts more after than before I paddle out... my shaper tells me I should give it up and stick to surfing with the girls and the schools... I laugh snd tell him as long as I can make it out there I WILL drop in on your every wave yiu fakka!!! He chears me on from behind... don't tell anyone, but I hear them fine.
Lastly, after 50 it's really good idea to stick to max 3 waves. 2 is better. 1 particular spot is best. The more time you put in at the spot, well you know.
Luckily, out here at least, when they see the Grey beard they show some respect still. It's good that people I never met before call me by name when I dropped in on them... means I'm well known.
So far, so good.
If any of you come out here, I can guarantee you a wave looking at my skinny lack of a butt.
You're prolly in the top 1 percentile of fitness for dudes your age tho.
all it takes is one good wave - maybe even just one good turn - and it's a great day, just like that.
I like knee boarding - love that low center of gravity. When my stand-up pop-up becomes irretrievably broken from age and wear, I could picture a transition into kneeboarding. I've even thought about trying to design some kind of George Greenough-style floaty spoon foamie kneeboard that might work in EC surf.
and beyond that, at +75 y/o, if I'm lucky, I could be kneeboarding Wavestorms like Doc Paskowitz was at that age....but I'm sure I'd cheerfully plunk down $10k for some kind of e-surfboard at that point, just to catch a couple more waves.
one good cavern tube w beautuful colors gets me through the year
I windsurf with mostly people 55+ because there are no new recruits and the sport is dying. Those guys are all in top condition for whatever reason. So my recipe for staying super fit will be windsurfing 
Most likely it is a combination of low impact, well paying jobs, an active lifestyle and keeping their weight low.
I asked my dad who at dinner said he had worked hard his whole life... as an engineer at the office....if he had seen a 70 year old nurse or mason
Most likely it is a combination of low impact, well paying jobs, an active lifestyle and keeping their weight low.
I asked my dad who at dinner said he had worked hard his whole life... as an engineer at the office....if he had seen a 70 year old nurse or mason
I wonder what the average age of a California surfer is now vs what it was in California in 1973?
My personal opinion is the average age in the lineup has gone from maybe 22 to 50. That's probably different in other places. In California surfing is increasingly the sport of geezers.
My personal opinion is the average age in the lineup has gone from maybe 22 to 50. That's probably different in other places. In California surfing is increasingly the sport of geezers.
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When I started, the 30 year olds were the grumpy old geezers
same here. LOT more middle age+ guys, many still riding shortboards, compared to 30 years ago
30 years ago, i only really saw middle aged surfers at Ditch Plains
I agree. There's a huge chunk in the 40-55 age group. And plenty of guys in their 60s having no problem holding top spots in the pecking order at better waves.
A lot more of the younger crowd seems to be the hobbyist type. Lower overall talent to match.
I had my oh sh!t moment in Sept 2020 when I was 210 lbs. I have been on a quest to change my lifestyle. I am 185 and maybe in the best shape of my life. I put in significant time in the gym, on the bike and am meticulous with a whole food diet. I eat meat, wild caught fish, chicken, fruits and some vegetables. I stretch and do hip and mobility work every day. I am stronger than ever. One thing that has helped significantly is sleeping better. Before bed I take 4 supplements as recommended by Dr James DiNicolantonio. Inositol. Glycine. Magnesium Glycinate. L- Theanine. Sleeping 7-8 hours a night now.
I'd say the average age at my usual on a normal day is somewhere in the late 40s. A couple exceptions but pretty much no one under 30. When surf is under 4', that demographic does shift a bit younger though.
i'm pretty sure i'm the oldest guy out there at 63, most days (but not always - there's a couple of hard cases in my neighborhood who are still doing it at 65+). but there's as many over 50 as under 50.
if you want confirmation that middle-aged surfers are a demographic to be reckoned with, just turn on the tv. seems like middle-aged surfers show up regularly in car ads, retirement planning commercials, pharma ads etc etc ....or at least, silver-haired (never gray) actors frolicking on sunny beaches with surfboards. somewhere along the way, someone decided we are mainstream, in spite of ourselves.
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But see, that's weird. All the surf kids are in surf schools? And just for the summer. Then they turn in their softboards and go home until next summer. Nobody went to surf schools when I was a kid. That was for val/souther kooks. Summer surfers. The jetties in front of the house where I grew up used to be packed with 12-20 year old surfers. Frothing packs of groms hunting down anything resembling a wave. Gone. There are more houses, more people living on the beach, but the kids don't show up for the most part. When they do it's with mom or dad in tow. We were on our own. Things were way more Lord of the Flies.
It will be interesting to see what surfing looks like when the current crop of 50 year olds ages out. Interesting for someone who lives long enough to see it anyway. Will crowds actually decline?
nailed it. I see hordes of these pre-adolescents in the schools with their matching rash guards and foamie armadas. And some of them can actually surf, but it doesn't really translate into more teens in the lineups. Covid and the adult learners did more to impact local crowd conditions