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Seriously… Localism is So Cool
The whole concept of localism has always been a trip to me. It’s not that it doesn’t have a place in surfing, because there are, and always will be regulation needed at certain breaks from foreign surfers who simply don’t have a clue. But those cases are few and far between. Far too often, thugs trying to pass themselves off as surfers take to the practice of localism simply to boost their own ego and feel better about themselves each time they dip into their ever-growing quiver of Affliction tee’s.
It was a smooth little post by one of the Cote brothers over at Transworld that set me off on this whole tangent. As I watched the classic Youtube clip he included and read the following…
-”Whether it be on a surf trip to Timbuktu or a quick, 15-minute jaunt down the coast, there’s always some asshole who thinks he’s “local” because he’s lived there for six years”
…My mindseye immediately turned to one of the most misguided and kook’d out attempts at being a local I have ever witnessed. At an ultra-fun, but far from heavy break in southern Nicaragua resides some dude from Holland who has apparently made it his life mission to be looked upon as a “local”. After living in Nica for just a handful of years, and because a hierarchy has yet to be established in the relatively adolescent surf scene there, this character has taken it upon himself to let everyone around him know just how local he is. If you ever make it to this particular wave you can’t miss him, for the lengths he goes to in order to demonstrate his local status are truly comedic. He’s the one wearing a full wetsuit when the water temps drop from 80 degress to a frigid 78. He’s the one who spends the majority of each session paddling around, waving his arms, and hollering like a madman at harmless visitors who are minding their own business. And he’s the one who ends up getting weekly slaps on the beach when his length of time surfing the break fails to translate into any sort of ability to physically defend himself. He is as classic as classic comes.
Why share this personal kook experience? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t stand alone in witnessing this level of barney’ism take place. As I stated earlier, this type of thing happens far too often in surfing, wherever in the world you may be. I know there are stacks of stories just like this out there, so feel free to share below. Maybe, just maybe, these tough-guys that give surfers a bad name will lay eyes on these accounts and have themselves a coming to God/Buddha/Jah experience and decide to change their kook’d out ways.
Sill standing as the all-time classic depiction of localism…
Posted by Shaun on Sunday, January 11th, 2009 in Surfing.
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January 11th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Not sure I met the same Nica kook, but I did meet a heap of useless wanna be locals traveling through Central America. You don’t have to go that far to find them. The ones I love the best are getting agro over completely mediocre and crappy waves.
January 12th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Ha – that guy is about as classic as they come. I have met many a bewildered visitor and Nicaraguan surfer coming out of the water after a strange encounter with this guy. We call him Amsterdam and you give him too much credit. He has been hanging around for less than a year, and now (after no doubt burning bridges down here) he has set up shop in one of our favorite northerly waves very likely planning to spread the same brotherly love and good vibes to a break doesn’t need an ounce of. Does this call for vigilante justice???
January 13th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
crowds will never decipate at trestles. unfortunately neither will stupid schmucks from talega; my money is that’s exactly who wrote the crap in the pic above…real SC area locals know the crowds will continue to grow every year. we won’t waste our time writing some gay msg in wax on the trail….act like an idiot in the water. you’ll be advised then.
screw localism; practice respect!
June 17th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I came within a millimeter of breaking this cock suckers nose this morning! Fortunately, I was pulled off just before smashing the dutchman’s skull. As usual he’s out there calling people off waves (there were 3 people out) and dropping in. Then on the beach he goes “…all americans are thieves…the only good thing about your country is Obama, or are you a redneck?” The only rewarding thing about the encounter was seeing the look of terror in his washed up, decrepit, sunken euro trash eyeballs as i charged him. He’s a total coward! What a pussy!
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