Surfing Etiquette: Now Coming to a Courtroom Near You

May 21, 2010 by jameslucas.

By Glenn Kolb

In surfing, the rules of the road or shall we say the rules of the waves have always been handled out in the water or on the beach. Now that has changed in a Canadian courtroom.

There are well know rules amongst surfers. Someone who consistently breaks those rules can expect to be yelled at, given the stink-eye and occasionally physical abuse. If someone drops in on you they may offer a short apology. A simple “sorry about that” goes a long way towards reducing tensions out in the water when a foul occurs. To just ignore the other surfer isn’t cool and will irritate the other surfers.

Now in the Canadian case, the offending surfer, Jeffery Adams, paddled for the shoulder of a 7 foot wave when he should have yielded way and gone through the whitewater to avoid an oncoming surfer, Donald Crowe. The result was a nasty collision that caused significant damage to Crowe’s brand new shortboard.

Perhaps if Adams had responded appropriately, things would have ended there, but his profane reply apparently did not help his situation. It also didn’t aide him in the courtroom. In the end, a small claims court judge ruled in favor of Crowe. Now Adams is out $839 and let’s hope he considers it tuition in the school of life.

Let’s hope surfing doesn’t continue to see squabbles end up in the courtroom. Keep it out in the water where it belongs. Too many things end up in the courtrooms in North America. Solve things by being decent and apologize when you make a mistake and accept the apology when it comes your way.

Whether you are young or old YOU CAN SURF! Head over to http://www.surfhow.com to learn more about surfing. You’ll find an online surf guide and instructional surf videos.

Article Source: Glenn Kolb

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