Whistling.
Hooting.
Yelling.
Hollering.
“RIGHT”
“LEFT”
“YO”
However you call someone off a wave, it doesn’t matter. Whatever works best for you.
The part of the world I live in, if you want to surf a wave with some sort of decent shape, it’s tough to get a peak to yourself. You need to be able to let someone know of your intentions to go on the wave. People are clueless nowadays.
So clueless, in fact, that I’ve come across a big issue of late; getting called off of waves that the barker never gets into. Do not do this. If you are calling someone off of a wave, it’s most likely because they are also looking at said swell line, and they want to ride it in the same direction you intend to.
You better be damn sure that you are underneath that wave and going to catch it. 100% sure. I would rather that wave break on your fuckin head and send you over the falls, than to have you be too far out or not paddling hard enough to catch it, after calling me off. It’s nonsense, and a complete waste of the limited resource we have to share.
Not to mention how much of an idiot you make yourself look like. I hope you don’t think I am the only one who saw that. That guy on the other side of the peak heard you call me off too. You think he’s going to want to let you go if you call him off? It’s like the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
So that’s it – Rule # 44 of the Unwritten Rule Book Of Surfing that I’m writing is; don’t be the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
We all appreciate it.
Cheers,
hwilsin
Drew Stanfield