The locals are among some of the most
gracious of any surf town — and the
most forgiving. Ingratiating oneself into
the lineup of warm locals goes a long
way, no matter what surf craft one might
be riding.
COURTESY OF BEN BOURGEOIS
Ben Bourgeois foil surfs Banks Channel in the swell created by Tropical
Storm Michael as it passes through North Carolina in October 2018.
It’s usually really poor conditions, but conditions
can line up where it’s possible to do both, but I don’t
like it when people are kitesurfing right near where
I’m surfing. As long as you’re kitesurfing downwind
from someone, it’s fine, because if you crash your
kite, it goes downwind with the current away from
people in the water. Everyone out there is trying to
have fun, and foil surfing and kiteboarding are just
an extension of surfing. Since my background is
from surf, I try to stick with surfing rules.”
While there are surf zones allocated in the peak
summer months that all surf craft are required to
adhere to, there is no formal governance of the
unwritten code of etiquette in the water and mis-haps
can and do occur.
It only takes one incident to open the door to
litigation or for government ordinances to start
restricting aquatic liberties.
“The kitesurfing community meets with the
lifeguards every year to discuss safety and rules —
everyone wants to be safe. But, it’s a tourist town,
and they come to have a good time but they may
not know where to go or the rules. If you want to
get into it, you should just go up and talk to the
guys that are on the beach setting up or to one of
the surf shops — everyone is super friendly. It’s
important to look out for one another, have con-versations
in a polite and respectful way if you do
see a beginner struggling. But it’s also the personal
responsibility of the rider to be aware of their sur-roundings,”
Bourgeois says
The locals are among some of the most gra-cious
of any surf town — and the most forgiving.
Ingratiating oneself into the lineup of warm locals
goes a long way, no matter what surf craft one
might be riding. And, however much of a spectacle
or odd some of these modern modalities of surfing
might first appear, it’s clear that they’re only con-tinuing
to evolve. As the old adage states, “the only
constant is change.”
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