I made this video for my client, Bastien, who texted me this question: "Hey Dion, I have a line-up related question. Something happened in 62 and happened again in some sessions before. I wait in line for the peak and give some space. The surfer goes for the wave and either the surfer who caught the wave or someone else paddle past me to the peak. I don’t get it because I feel it is pretty obvious I am waiting to go to the peak and was wondering what to do? I always try to wait in line but it seems that there is no structure in Rockaway? Or is it a beach break thing because peaks are not always at the same place? Do I have to be more aggressive and literally stick to the other surfer on the peak? Block the surfer trying to pass me to the peak? I’m trying my best to wait for the other surfers to catch waves before going for one again, or leaving room for even more beginner than me to catch waves. But for some reason it reverts back to unstructured, everyone fights for every wave.”
I told him this was a jackpot question and no way could I answer it in a text. I refer to some stuff in here that you won't get in the exact context of. That's because I'm referring to videos that I post in my weekly interactive Philo-surfy Zines. Subscribing there is like buying me a beer for posting this kind of content!! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!! Happy to hear any of your thoughts. I know that etiquette is a super thorny issue in surfing and in no way do I think that this is the last word on it.