What To Do When You Ding Someone Else’s Surfboard

Ironically, just last week I posted the “How To Fix A Ding On The Rail Of Your Surfboard” video, and then today I got run over by someone surfing in the water and now I have a nice big ding in the rail of my board. It was just tragic. There were plenty of waves, I had only been out for about 45 minutes and I was going to make it one of those 3+ hour surf-until-sunset afternoons. That was until I was paddling out and this guy I didn’t know falls on a wave in front of me and almost takes my head off. I ducked out of the way, but my board received a huge gash in the rail. What a bummer!

The worst part was the guy’s attitude about the whole thing. He was like “oh well that’s your problem” while I was more like “buddy, you need to throw down some cash to help pay to fix this board.” He was a tourist and probably just passing through town. He definitely didn’t seem to believe in karma. Maybe he didn’t know what the “rule” was. Is there a rule? Well, if there isn’t, it could goes something like this:

SURFING ETIQUETTE: WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DING SOMEONE ELSE’S SURFBOARD

Its your fault, you must pay for the repair.
– you ran someone over because you were out of control
– your leash broke and the board subsequently ran somebody over and damaged their board
– you ditched your board when a big set came and it hit the person behind you
– you ran over someone’s surfboard in the parking lot

Both of us are to blame, we should share the cost of the repair.
– If we’re both surfing and we run into each other, oops.
– If I was caught inside but trying to get out of the way and you accidentally ran me over (or vice versa), oops.

You get the idea. Accidents do happen. Don’t just paddle away and tell the other person to go screw themselves. That is bad karma. The surfing world is very small, and chances are that we share some of the same friends. Help pay to fix the surfboard and consider it an investment in your surfing karma future. Most dings normally only cost around $30-$40, a little more if they are on the nose or tail, or if fins are involved.