Too Much of a Good Thing?

There's a funny mentality in surfing that goes something like this: I wanna surf, but I don't want anyone else to surf. As if there's not enough fun to go around.

Looking at these pictures a friend recently sent, the fun definitely looks to be in jeopardy.

When I first zipped myself into a wet suit - a process similar to peeling a banana in reverse - and paddled out I was both stoked and unstoked. Straining through punishing white water to sit atop my board in the vast blue ocean was the perfect mix of exercise and enlightenment. The stoic stares and cold shoulders I met with in the line-up were the exact opposite. These guys were as close to enlightenment as Portland is to Hawaii. It's as if they were pissed to be in one of the most beautiful places on earth doing what they loved to do. As ridiculous as it seems, they appeared to be angry that it was sunny with shoulder-high waves rolling in - both phenomena on the Oregon coast being BBC newsworthy.

To my mind, the more people surfing the more happy people there are in the world. I've commonly responded when asked for a ride to the beach, "The more the merrier." At heart, I still believe that to be true. But after suffering through numerous summer days where soft-top torpedoes wreaked havoc on the line-up like a Hezbollah offensive, I now have my concerns. Concerns these pictures only reinforce.



I completely understand both sides: Surfing is fun that's why we're hopelessly addicted, but the more surf-addled fiends in the water the less fun it inevitably becomes.

What are your thoughts?