Oil prices hit home for surfers
If they consider surfing at all, most people certainly wouldn't consider it a sport susceptible to rising oil prices. Unfortunately for those in search of the perfect wave, the exact opposite is true. Unless you are one of the few who can afford to live right on the beach in a place like the north shore of Oahu or Kauai, you usually have to drive to a surfing spot. And since waves tend to be inconsistent, a surfer might have to check out several of his or her favorites before finding a good one on a given day. One of the oft-repeated tips for saving gas is to combine trips, avoid unnecessary ones and just generally drive less. That means many surfers are foregoing their passion these days because of the high cost of just getting to the beach. For those who have to fly somewhere in search of waves, or big-wave surfers who need a tow-in from a jet ski, things are even tougher. Manufacturers of surfing equipment are getting hit twice. As surfers cut back and buy less equipment, the cost of materials to make boards is also climbing. Aside from less crowded waves, it's just not a good time to be a surfer.[Source: AP via Forecast Earth | Photo: ChameleonGreen]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Serge 12:06PM (7/10/2008)
This is largely true. If you don't live right on the beach you don't have the benefit of directly observing conditions. This was a problem back in the days of 2$ gas too, if you had to drive to the break for several hours to find either no surf or poor conditions. Luckily, the folks at Surfline.com have put together a great package of tools, from live streaming cams to their sophisticated LOLA swell forecasting model to aid in decision-making.
Know before you go.
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Me 12:30PM (7/10/2008)
If you think surfing is taking a hit, you should look at power boating and yatching.
A lot of powerboats and yatchs run twin high power diesel engines. Fuel tanks are hundreds of gallons. Fuel prices at the slip are frequently 20% higher than at the pumps. It can cost thousands of dollars to fill a boat up and take only a day or two to empty it.
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brn 2:05PM (7/10/2008)
Stop the presses! The price of gas affects surfers!
Of course it does. It affects everyone. It affects so very many things a whole lot more than it does surfers.
Surfing is a luxury and a very controllable expense. I have limited sympathy.
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Karkus 2:31PM (7/10/2008)
Oh no....not the poor surfers!
What about the kayakers. Running shuttles costs more now!
Or Skiers, or skydivers or, golfers, or especially the poor off-roaders.
Oh no.....the HORROR.
Better write an article on every one of those.
Sounds like another post that probably wouldn't have been written if the bloggers here weren't getting paid for each post.
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BoneHeadOtto 3:24PM (7/10/2008)
Good reason to WINDSURF instead. All you have to do is check the weather and head to just about any lake in your area. Plus it is one of the few sports that benefits from global warming. Each year the wind just keeps increasing :)
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Fred 4:56AM (7/11/2008)
I would just note that the saab in the photo is loaded up with windsurfing kit and not surfing kit. To follow up on windsurfing vs surfing, I suppose windsurfing is a bit easier in that you can check the weather stats on the web and have a pretty good idea of where to go and not have to hit lots of spots. On the other hand, you have a lot more kit that you have to haul around which makes things tougher.
In any case the price of gas these days makes it tough, but then again the cost of the kit is already outrageous - so if you are willing to pay for the kit then I suppose the rise in price of gas is only a small additional expense...
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