The Ghost Of Waxed Windshields Past
Surfer|Volume 60, Issue 2

While localism in the U.S. has largely been eroded by social media exposure and litigious outsiders, will some version always live on in surf culture?

Ashtyn Douglas-Rosa
The Ghost Of Waxed Windshields Past

“This is the road where locals would move cars,” said Leroy, as he crossed a winding, two-way street overlooking the ocean. Leroy, a second generation surfer at one of the most notoriously-localized spots in the U.S., told me about how, when he was younger, older locals would occasionally grab the bumpers of an unwelcome visitor’s car, lift the vehicle off the ground and carry it into the middle of the road where we now stood.

“Non-locals would come back from surfing and be like, ‘Why is my car sideways in the middle of the road?’” Leroy told me, throwing his hands in the air to imitate one of the thoroughly-confused victims.

It was such a narrow road that even one of those cartoonishly-small Smart cars would have seriously impeded the flow of traffic. I wondered how many unlucky, dripping wet surfers once stood where I did, fumbling with their hide-a-keys while getting angrily honked at by a line of irate drivers—and all for paddling out at a spot they were not welcome.

As we reached the other side of the street, Leroy scanned the waves. Leroy—which isn’t his real name—has spent the majority of his life surfing a wave we’ll call Spot A, located just a short distance from where we were standing. Growing up, he acted the part of what most people would think of as a typical “aggro local.” He’d throw rocks and yell vulgarities at visitors, wax the windshields of unfamiliar cars and even fight with non-locals over their real or perceived missteps in the lineup. He did all this in the name of protecting, in his eyes, the best wave in the area from becoming overcrowded or generally “disrespected.”

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Volume 60, Issue 2 من Surfer.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Volume 60, Issue 2 من Surfer.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من SURFER مشاهدة الكل
60 Years Ahead
Surfer

60 Years Ahead

We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
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A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong

You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few

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7 mins  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
THE LGBTQ+ WAVE
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THE LGBTQ+ WAVE

Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
For Generations to Come
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For Generations to Come

Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
Christina Koch, 41
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Christina Koch, 41

Texas surfer, NASA astronaut, record holder for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING
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END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING

By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
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CHANGING OF THE GUARD

After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
What They Don't Tell You
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What They Don't Tell You

How does becoming a mother affect your surfing life?

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Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
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Four Things to Make You Feel A Little Less Shitty About Everything

Helpful reminders for the quarantine era

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Volume 61, Issue 2
The Art of Being Seen
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The Art of Being Seen

How a group of black women are finding creative ways to make diversity in surfing more visible

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Volume 61, Issue 2