Nate -- Thanks for your good comments. I have been surfing (prone) since my high school days in hawaii back in the mid-60's. Just this past summer, I happened to see an SUP board in the lineup in Rhode island and was smitten. It seemed the perfect solution to the problems of the "aging body", especially when the body parts that are going are the neck and shoulder. I was so taken by this new sport that I went out the next day and bought a Jimmy Lewis 11'0". I watched a video, then took it in calm water for hours that first week. I paddled around lakes in Massacchusetts and explored the beautiful coastline of central Maine. I finally got a chance to take it into the surf (New Jersey post-hurricane leftovers) and was thrilled at the several waves I caught. I cannot wait to get more water time on my SUP board.

My only real concern is the seemingly growing antagonism that I have been reading about on the part of prone surfers to SUP riders. I have not experienced any of this first-hand since I have been very careful to limit my activities to breaks at which there are no other riders or where only my friends are surfing. Hearing about this antagonism, however, is quite disturbing to me because I feel that it is so unnecessary. There is sufficient water and surf to go around so that both groups of surfers (as well as those with other sorts of wave-riding vehicles, can get enough waves. I fear that this new antagonism is but another chapter of localism which unfortunately breed irrational contempt for anyone who appears different or "foreign".

From a personal standpoint, it would be a tragedy if this spate of negative confrontation caused me to have to limit my involvement with SUP surfing. It is good for my soul, my psyche, and my aging body. Let's try to figure out a strategy for nipping this unfortunate trend in the bud.

Thanks...........Stansurf

Good idea to promote aloha in the surf in light of the recent Coast Guard decision to regulate the off-shore waters. We all need to be ambassadors for the sport and give a little to buffer anxiety in the line up. We feel the Coast Guard decision may give local and regional agencies the ability to regulate and maybe prohibit SUB's. Let's monitor and organize for the good of the sport.

I am relatively new to SUP surfing, having just purchased my first SUP board last summer. I have been prone surfing for over 40 years since i went to hight school in Hawaii, but found that my neck and shoulders would not allow me to continue. I discovered SUP and it has been a wonderful new lease on life.

However, I have bee distressed to read online (and in some of the surf mags) about a growing animosity by prone surfers against SUP surfers. I have not personally experienced this on the water, but it concerns me that this may be a trend. I hope we can keep the lines of communication open between ourselves and between us and the prone surfers so that this animosity does not escalate. there is enough water and there are enough waves out there to accommodate both groups. I know that we both love the sport (and I do consider then both to be ONE sport -- just with different types of boards) and that we both love the water. In my case, SUP surfing allows me to continue my love for surfing. I do not want to lose this opportunity of expression and involvement due to this growing antagonism between two groups of waterpersons.

Thanks for listening.............Stansurf