As my content of late has revealed, I have been thinking a lot about the ethics of surfing during a pandemic. When I first arrived from Costa Rica and was on quarantine in my room I was in state of extra heightened anxiety and determined that surfing had to be out completely. After 12 days my gills started itching and I was flopping around my room like a fish out of water. I broke down and went for a surf, and it did relieve my stress. Then I wrote the post on Aristotle and Akrasia, coming to the conclusion that whatever you decide to do you need to go through a thoughtful and deliberative rational process in order to justify your actions. In the Aristotelian vein, I have decided to take the middle road and surf in moderation. I have developed rules for myself:
Wear a mask when not inside the van or in the water
No giving rides to friends or clients (major bummer of Covid times)
Limit all conversation, and if I talk to a friend, client, or acquaintance, I do so from a safe distance, preferably both of us wearing masks
No stopping for food or coffee — I was already prepared for this as I always bring my own
Only surf where I can surf mostly alone — this means a lot of checking around and low expectations — if there are 1-4 people out and it looks like I can keep clear of them, seems acceptable to me — if I can’t find a surfable uncrowded area then I am prepared to drive home or wait in the van and check again
If a peak I have decided to surf gets crowded, find another peak or simply go in
Have shorter sessions in general — get my wave count in then exit the water to make room for other surfers
Pay particular attention to etiquette norms and observe them in a heightened manner, especially because it is not a good idea to talk through any beef you might have with someone in the water
If for whatever reason surfing does not feel fun or satisfying/anxiety reducing, go home and stretch, meditate, and write
Aim for off windows of time when it may be less crowded
I follow many of these rules — 4., 5., 6., 8., 9. — when surfing not during a pandemic. Because I’m coaching and some of my clients aren’t totally in control of their equipment and wave judgment yet it is imperative that we stay away from other surfers. If you’re going to make mistakes — and if you’re learning anything you’re going to make mistakes — it is crucial that you surf around as few people as possible. When in coaching sessions with me, we practice lineup rotation and turn taking. In pandemic times, this is still possible, except we just need to keep a larger distance now while waiting our turns.
I see the arguments against going surfing altogether right now — the largest proponent of these on Instagram is Santa Cruz pro turned Volcom sales rep, Ken “Skindog” Collins, @skin_dizzle. Santa Cruz has had a bit of surfing crisis since people have been flooding in from “over the hill” — Los Gatos, San Jose, Silicon Valley — to surf while they’re working from home. Many of the spots there have only small take off areas, so in those kinds of situations social distance surfing is simply not possible.
Coaching video session with Brant Weil last week. This is proper isolation surfing. Brant surfed completely alone. We never talked face to face. I filmed the session, edited it at home, and communicated with Brant about his form and wave judgment via texts and email.
With beach breaks we have the advantage of searching for empty peaks and spreading out since the waves do not only break in the same place every time. To those people that feel the absolute need to bunch up at the tips of jetties right now, I get that that is a fun wave right there, but you may want to think about how to space more while waiting your turns. I know that in non-pandemic times people out here have little to no etiquette, so for those of us that want to try to surf a little for sanity and not catch or spread Covid, it’s probably just best to avoid those kinds of people full stop. Forgive for they know not what they do, but stay far away from them as well.
The mask is a must right now. Thanks to Luca for this stylish one! And I’m adjusting my glasses here — all my glasses are prescription and currently stretched out. They fall off my face. Not ideal, but also I can’t get new ones at the moment.
Skinny’s overall logic is sound: if a majority of humans stay home altogether for an extended period of time, the better chance there is of crushing this thing. But I think it’s not just about staying at home — it’s about limiting contact with people who do not live with you. In every case of Covid contraction I have read about, it’s human interaction or touching surfaces, not washing hands, and then touching the face. Staying at home ensures that this stuff doesn’t happen, but I also think that some people are self regulating and self controlled enough to move about — go for the occasional bike ride, run, or surf — without interacting with other humans or touching things, all while wearing the proper protective gear. Saying everyone must stay home is a very cynical view of human nature and also not an economic reality for many — I see road workers still on the grind on my drives to and from the beach. As inessential as some may think a surf coach might be, I am a small business owner and still need to do what I can to stay afloat — this means getting in some coaching versus none. I rely on myself and my clients to be self regulating, self controlled human beings, which is why they hire me in the first place — to get their shit together vis a vis surfing so that they are not a danger to self and others.
No need to surf with other human beings when waves like this are breaking in isolation.
Obviously we do not have enough room at our beaches should everyone decide to go surfing right now, which is again why I want to emphasize moderation. Limit expectations. Have shorter sessions. And turn around and go home (with your mask on) if it’s just too crowded. Sorry that other people are ruining the fun you might have, but you’re doing the right thing by taking precautions and not opening yourself up to infection or contagion.
I must say, however, that complete anti-social surfing is less fun. I miss riding out in the van and having conversations and rocking out to music with my friends and clients, which is why I made the above video. I made it for two other reasons: 1. To share some music with you; 2. To show how it is possible to get from home to car to beach to car to home again without coming into contact with other human beings. In all of those “to’s” we’re talking about a 1-2 block walk with a mask on. Big ups to my client, Luca Ackerman, for sewing me the mask worn in the vid! If you like the music you hear go follow me on Spotify: Doctor Dion. This playlist is called Obsessions. I am into goth, new wave, and ambient music. I used to DJ in goth clubs — I had a night in SF called Ceremony and one here in NY called Natura Morte. Part of my quarantine work out regime has been goth dancing alone in my living room at the end of the night. I know I don’t have the most gothic aesthetic but I love the music and the dancing style, and really appreciate how members of that subculture commit to their look.
Feel free to follow me on Spotify (I don’t have any followers yet lol)!
While it remains impossible for me to coach at the volume I have been pre-Covid, I am available. We need to establish a dialog via phone, text, and email in order to determine the proper course. I am developing a few online workshops and seminars, which I’ll announce in upcoming newsletters. In closing, moderation, caution, conscientiousness, joy, and sharing from distance are the keys to surviving this thing. I was careful here not to say “in order to to keep us healthy in mind and body” because in Friday’s post I will talk about how we need to do away with mind/body dualistic thinking altogether. Stay tuned!!!