Surfy no mates!

messymess

I have a board and wet suit a few years now but I rarely get out more than a couple times of the year to practice falling into the sea, mainly because absolutely none of my mates are into it at all. So I'm either faced with driving over to the west for the day and back or not at all.

What's the best way to hook up with other surfers and hang out places for the weekend? Are their clubs worth joining etc ... I'm not a youngster either, I'm in the 3OH's!

*puts head in hands, sob, I've no mates*

zoobizoo

Join these guys

www.eastcoastsurfclub.com

lots of people heading west, lots of people in their 30s and a friendly sociable bunch to boot...

valerie

Hey messy,
I'm kind of in the same boat - my regular surfing partner is heading off to Toronto in July (it's inland! why would you do that to yourself?)
Anyway, to combat this I've started a surfing meet-up group, where basically I stick up on a website a weekend and a place to go surfing and other loners surfers rock up to meet some new people and surfing.
First trip is on next weekend 18/19 June in Enniscrone. I have no idea if it'll work out or not but it's worth a shot.
Valerie
www.meetup.com/irishsurf

valerie

zoobizoo wrote: »

Join these guys

www.eastcoastsurfclub.com

lots of people heading west, lots of people in their 30s and a friendly sociable bunch to boot...

Might join that myself come to think of it..

messymess

Thanks for the info guys ... might try to make that Enniscrone weekend.
I was out in Bundoran (Tullan) on Sat and really enjoyed it

jkl

I'm headed west this sunday for a daytrip if you're interested, should be 3 of us headed.

wuben

Hi im in the same boat am hooked on surfing have all the gear but have only got out once this year. none of my mates are interested it really is frustrating i was on my way to sligo few weeks ago to find there was no surf

messymess

Thanks for the offer JKL! This weekend might be a bit soon for me though, my arms are still hanging off me



Hmm, seems like a decent idea might be to put a sticky at the top so it can help people hook up with people!? Put a link to Vals' site in it.

Mods, what you reckon?

ThOnda

I am thinking about Ennishcrone on Sunday morning too. No board, I have to hope that the rental van will be there. (It was not there on Monday, but the sea was flat.)

JimmyCrackCorn

I have the mates. They lack motivation and I don't like the idea of surfing alone on an empty beach as a beginner.

Bad time to try and start for me. Before i found this thread id just sent off the application to the east coast surf club in the hope of actually getting out more.


(Edit: Never thought of van rental @ 45euro a day looks like a winner)

keryl

Ger Byrne operates 7th Wave Surf in Enniscrone, he does the weekends but he will meet you if you arrange a lesson or suit/board hire.

Enniscrone was flat all last weekend as was most of the usual spots on the west. Starting to think we're never going to get waves

ourfi

Sounds all 2 familar.....

OldGuysRule

Keryl,
Not sure what you mean about 'flat all last weekend as was most of the usual spots on the west'
I spent four hours in the water on Saturday (two sessions, sets were nicely overhead and clean enough), followed by three hours on Sunday (hour and half in the early morning was like glass, second session was a bit windy but nicely chunky) 'on the west'. No shortage of waves until Monday, but by then it was my legs that needed a run out.

keryl

Yeah your right, Sunday and Monday were quite clean, just compared to the previous week the waves were small.

wuben

I'm thinking of joining the east coast surf club as i feel if i join a club i might get out more and because none of my mates are into surfing Ive no one to go with. Can anyone tell me is this club any good and would they recommend me join for those reasons???

zoobizoo

wuben wrote: »

I'm thinking of joining the east coast surf club as i feel if i join a club i might get out more and because none of my mates are into surfing Ive no one to go with. Can anyone tell me is this club any good and would they recommend me join for those reasons???

1. People to surf with (share lifts with etc)
2. A forum for all things surf - including predictions of where will be working and when, advice on eqt
3. Weekends away
4. Insurance
5. New mates who do surf and who won't be bored to tears when you tell them about a wave/wind/board/wetsuit/booties and won't be surprised that you're getting up at 6 in the morning to drive west for the day.
6. Use of club boards incl. longboards, fun boards, old boards, short boards and a new Meyerhoffer on the way (although there'll be a long queue for that one)

JimmyCrackCorn

zoobizoo wrote: »

1. People to surf with (share lifts with etc)
2. A forum for all things surf - including predictions of where will be working and when, advice on eqt
3. Weekends away
4. Insurance
5. New mates who do surf and who won't be bored to tears when you tell them about a wave/wind/board/wetsuit/booties and won't be surprised that you're getting up at 6 in the morning to drive west for the day.
6. Use of club boards incl. longboards, fun boards, old boards, short boards and a new Meyerhoffer on the way (although there'll be a long queue for that one)

Iv sent two application forms in over the week. Must chase them up again. Maybe a phone-call works better.

Last time i told mates they were being dragged out at 8am on a Saturday they were not overly impressed

messymess

I don't mean to 'dis' eastcoast surf club or anything but I was talking to two friends of mine who joined and they didn't have too much good to say about it.

They said that it was fairly disorganised, little communication coming up to events, even poorer communication about what beaches they were going to, when and how to get there etc. They had gone to one weekend away and decided to leave it at that. That's what pretty much turned me off joining.

I think that might have been over a year ago though so maybe things have changed ... and this is also their own opinions on it.

OldGuysRule

Do not think you will find any other surf club much better, for what you are looking for.

zoobizoo

messymess wrote: »

I don't mean to 'dis' eastcoast surf club or anything but I was talking to two friends of mine who joined and they didn't have too much good to say about it.

They said that it was fairly disorganised, little communication coming up to events, even poorer communication about what beaches they were going to, when and how to get there etc. They had gone to one weekend away and decided to leave it at that. That's what pretty much turned me off joining.

I think that might have been over a year ago though so maybe things have changed ... and this is also their own opinions on it.

Since the forum started up there is no issue with communication - much like this forum you just click in and see what the latest thread is. And prior to that it would have been email based.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, calling beaches can be left late due to conditions - that's where the forum comes in handy.

As it is though, there are certain weekends (bank holidays and intercounties etc) called early in order to book accomodation.

spaceHopper

JimmyCrackCorn wrote: »

Iv sent two application forms in over the week. Must chase them up again. Maybe a phone-call works better.

Last time i told mates they were being dragged out at 8am on a Saturday they were not overly impressed

You should get answer soon - it's armature club run by volunteers, if the membership person is busy they might not check the email everyday.

Membership if only 35 euros or thereabouts, you only need to borrow a board one weekend and you will be ahead.

JimmyCrackCorn

spaceHopper wrote: »

You should get answer soon - it's armature club run by volunteers, if the membership person is busy they might not check the email everyday.

Membership if only 35 euros or thereabouts, you only need to borrow a board one weekend and you will be ahead.

I get one weekend out of it with some actual time in the water and it paid for itself. My mats just don't have the interest.

wuben

Umme.....ah i don't no what to do i suppose for 30-40 quid i don't have much to loose but at the same time don't want to waste my time if its unorganised....are there any members of the east coast posting here that shed some light on how they operate?would be appreciated

zoobizoo

wuben wrote: »

Umme.....ah i don't no what to do i suppose for 30-40 quid i don't have much to loose but at the same time don't want to waste my time if its unorganised....are there any members of the east coast posting here that shed some light on how they operate?would be appreciated

It;s not disorganised and as a member of the ECSC for the last 2 years, I have met and made friends with many surfers.

I'm not on here selling the club . Go along to one of the social monthly socials. Next one is on next week: Thursday 17th in O'Neill's of Pearse St..... go along and meet the guys.

paddy jack

Hey Guys,

I'm in the same boat, living in Carlow, am a beginner and looking to get out more but none of my mates are interested, went to tramore on my own but aint no fun....

Any suggestion for this end of the country

Cheers

spaceHopper

Not sure if the Laois surf club is still on the go http://www.isasurf.ie/laois-surf-club/

ThOnda

Being pissed of by all the time spent at work, I might join too, at least to get more information on what is happening all over the place.

paddy jack

Tried Laois surf Club, joined last year but very little happening, looking for a bit more thx

rodento

Its all well and good looking for other surfers to hook up with but travalling with groups is a serious no no in surfing terms. Depending where you turn up you can really spoil peoples day

foxymarrylou

messymess wrote: »

I don't mean to 'dis' eastcoast surf club or anything but I was talking to two friends of mine who joined and they didn't have too much good to say about it.

They said that it was fairly disorganised, little communication coming up to events, even poorer communication about what beaches they were going to, when and how to get there etc. They had gone to one weekend away and decided to leave it at that. That's what pretty much turned me off joining.

I think that might have been over a year ago though so maybe things have changed ... and this is also their own opinions on it.

That’s a shame your mates didn’t enjoy it, I’ve had so many amazing trips away with the club and met some of the nicest people I know through it! There’s a private online forum on the site open solely to members – this is where everything is communicated – thoughts, suggestions, info on trips, gear for sale, lift offers, etc.

As pointed out earlier, sometimes it’s impossible to call the beach in advance as conditions are changeable. Same applies to the location for trips – a couple of them are chosen in advance so that houses can be sourced, but some are based solely on what neck of the woods has the best swell hitting it. Makes sense, no?! I know I’d be pretty pissed if I was surfing some mush just because that beach had been picked in advance, when an hour down the road there were nice clean, glassy waves with no one on them

The club is run by members for members and people give up their own time to book trips, look after memberships, run the club library, etc.

And in fairness surfing is by nature a pretty laid back sport/lifestyle....

Membership also includes insurance to be on the water, which as far as I’m aware, the majority of surfers out on the water don’t have.

The social Thursday is open to whoever fancies a pint and a chat and a chance to suss things out!

Anyway, that’s just my twopence worth, horses for courses and all that

SurferDude41

messymess wrote: »

I don't mean to 'dis' eastcoast surf club or anything but I was talking to two friends of mine who joined and they didn't have too much good to say about it.

They said that it was fairly disorganised, little communication coming up to events, even poorer communication about what beaches they were going to, when and how to get there etc. They had gone to one weekend away and decided to leave it at that. That's what pretty much turned me off joining.

I think that might have been over a year ago though so maybe things have changed ... and this is also their own opinions on it.

I agree with you totally, my good man.
The east coast surfers are , a bunch of sad uptight boring middle class elitest jerks, that I have ever had the misfoutune of knowing:rolleyes:

I was minding my own business, sitting in the lineup a few years ago. when I was approached by a woman (on a surfboard) and and after five minutes conversation. I was invited to a weekend's surfing at Castlegregory, I just gave a polite " I will let you know" and paddled off:rolleyes:
Later while I was getting changed, she approached me again. She was looking for my phone number, "now to be honest" I just gave it to get rid of her.

During the next few months, I bumped into the same woman a few times while surfing, everytime she saw me, she just came paddling after me:rolleyes:
Always inviting me to the next, East coast surfers get together.
Eventually, I agreed to accompany her on their next trip.

Anyway, to cut a long story short. I arrived at at Castlegregory, with my new best friend:eek: "yes I shared a car with a weirdo woman"
I was introduced to the East coast surfers. Firstly I noticed, they were all women:) around ten of them.

Their leader, was this American woman much older, than the others.
All were intelligent and articulate professionals:eek:
One cheerfully anounced, "you are the only guy here" all the others bailed out at the last minute," Yeah sure" I thought.
Next thing I noticed, about my newhouse-mates. Quite a lot of them had dogs....Yup all female dogs. I could see straight away, these dogs were plainly not used to men:eek:
They all kept going on about, "feminine power":eek:
Later that evening, more women arrived....With their female dogs:rolleyes:

So take my advice, and steer well clear of the East coast surfers.
I know Dublin is full, of un-cool weirdo mal-content's
Sh**t, all these weirdos have to do something of an evening in boring Dublin:)