🏄‍♀️ Who gets the surf spot after a breakup? 🥹

👋 Happy National Chicken Soup for the Soul, French Dip and Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day! Don’t eat it all in one sitting, and especially not before you go out surfing! After last week’s heavy stuff, this is promising to be a light-hearted edition. Almost.

🏄‍♀️ Let’s surf:

• Who gets the surf spot after a breakup? 🥹

• Air drops are for crazy people 🫳 

• Separation has entered the chat 🤪

• From C-section to Santa Barbara 🐣

• Big waves surf news roundup 🗞️

^{MINI SURFODRAMA + HEY ZUZ, I’M CONFUSED}

 😱 Who gets the surf spot after a breakup? 🥹

If something like this has happened to you too, I’m really sorry.

But what the heck are we supposed to do when a relationship ends and we’re still tied to the same surf spot? Who gets Joey?!

💔 Hey Zuz, I am confused. Who gets the spot after a breakup?
I broke up with my boyfriend this week. We’re both intermediate surfers, usually surfing our local spot together. I Googled “who gets a surf spot after a breakup” but found nothing. Maybe it’s not as common? Or perhaps people just see it as a non-issue? But in my case, I don’t think I’m ready to see my ex anytime soon or run into him on a regular basis. It just hurts too much. Also, I am absolutely not giving up on surfing, in case you were wondering. I’m mulling my options. Can you offer any insight?

Dear reader!
First of all, sorry to hear that. Like surfing isn’t tough enough without all the additional drama. As for you being the only person in the universe this has happened to—definitely not true. We just don’t talk about it.

🐶 Whose spot was it first?
Okay, let’s look at this objectively together. There’s no law, but you could argue there’s a surf law of common sense that dictates the rules. Whose spot was it in the first place? If it was your spot before the relationship, it should stay yours after. And vice versa. If your boyfriend introduced you to his surf break, you may want to stay away for a bit. Unless of course it’s a gigantic beach break and you can stay far apart and avoid bumping into each other in the parking lot.

You wouldn’t steal your boyfriend’s puppy even if the puppy lived with both of you for a while, would you?

🌊 If you found it together
Now, if you discovered the spot together, that’s when it gets tougher. No one owns the ocean. No one owns the spot. You’ll need to figure out how to share it.

🧘‍♀️ Don’t surf angry
You said you don’t want to see your boyfriend in the surf anytime soon. If he doesn’t care whether he bumps into you or not, you may need to adjust the timing of your sessions. And I know—you might think, “Why should I change the way I do things?” Fair question.

But here’s the thing: you don’t want to surf angry, you don’t want to surf sad—you don’t need that kind of baggage in the lineup. Do whatever it takes to feel at peace when you paddle out. And if it means shifting to another spot for now, you may even find it cathartic.

As always, our “Hey Zuz, I’m confused” is aggregated and anonymized to protect the innocents.

^{WORD OF THE WEEK + SURF SKILLS}

🫳 Air drops are for crazy people

An air drop is when a surfer and their board briefly lose contact with the water while dropping down a steep wave face. In other words, you're surfing, then you're flying, and hopefully, you're surfing again.

For decades, going airborne during takeoff was usually accidental and almost guaranteed a wipeout. But by the late 1980s, surfers had figured out how to make an air drop intentionally and, more importantly, land one.

According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, skateboarding helped pave the way. Skaters had already worked out how to drop into vertical terrain, and surfers discovered that staying low, centered over the board, and shifting their weight onto the back foot improved their chances of surviving the free fall.

Sounds terrifying? It gets better.

On November 26, 2018, the World Surf League called off the men's Jaws Challenge at Peʻahi, Maui, after just one heat. The waves were so enormous and powerful that the organizers considered conditions unsafe for paddle-in competition.

Enter Kai Lenny.

Instead of heading home, Kai grabbed his tow-in board, complete with foot straps, and went surfing.

On one monstrous wave, he came off the bottom, charged back up the face, and hit the lip. But the lip pitched out faster than he'd anticipated, so he launched himself into the air, dropped an estimated 20 feet, landed back on the wave, and carried on surfing.

And somehow, he landed it. Crazy! Don’t try this at home, kids.

As one Reddit surfer put it:

Kai later explained that his experience in windsurfing and kitesurfing helped him react instinctively in mid-air. His feet pushed further into the straps on landing, and off he went.

Apparently, it didn't seem that crazy to him until he watched the footage.

You can watch it and decide what you think. I vote: “Crazy!”

^{PIC OF THE WEEK}

🤪 Separation has entered the chat

Looks like we’re running with the separation theme in this edition.

Breakups. Separating a board and a surfer from the wave. And now, separating the surfer from the board.

The photograph was taken by Tom Cozad in Northern California earlier this week.

^{LATEST FROM GIRLS WHO CAN’T SURF GOOD}

💬 3 things we’re figuring out this week

🤱 How soon after a C-section can you surf again? Community top picks: Members came back anywhere from about 30 days (after twins!) to nine months, with eight to 12 weeks being the most common answer. The biggest piece of advice was to get cleared by your doctor first and see a pelvic floor physio before you paddle out. Two midwives in the group pointed out that the incision usually heals well before the abdominal muscles and pelvic floor do, and that popping up is all core. Members who went back early said:

• Popping up was much harder than they expected (“arms felt like overcooked spaghetti”).

• Paddling hurt with sore breastfeeding boobs, so some tried a SUP or boogie board first.

• A bigger board helped while they got their balance back.

One member who went back at eight weeks after major blood loss got light-headed in 2–3-foot surf. Be careful and follow medical advice!

🌴 Where should a beginner longboarder surf in Santa Barbara, and where can she get a wetsuit? Community top picks: Members recommended Leadbetter, Campus Point and Devereux for mellow longboard waves, plus Mondos down the coast. For wetsuits, Surf Country in Goleta was the top pick, and members say owner Doug sometimes gives lessons at Campus. The Beach House on lower State Street, near Leadbetter, has a fair selection and may rent boards. If you don’t mind a drive, the Rip Curl outlet in Camarillo has really good prices.

😬 I have a board and live in Oceanside, but I’m terrified to start. Any advice? And are foam blocks the way to go for a car rack? Community top picks: Take lessons so you’re not out there alone and can learn what you’re doing. Then just get in the water, even if you’re only paddling around. One member suggests starting in the whitewater on manageable days, then paddling out the back when conditions are small and mellow. On racks, one member says not to buy any until you know you’ll stick with it, provided your board fits in your car. Another loves her FCS soft racks.

👉 Join us for more recs, chatter, and support

^{THE WIPEOUT WEEKLY SURF NEWS ROUNDUP}

🗞️ 40-foot waves, a rare injury, John John stays at sea and a 13-year-old with big plans

🌊 Biggest waves in years for NorCal
Breaking waves of 30 to 40 feet are forecast from late Friday through Saturday along the California coast north of Point Conception.

🙏 Paralyzed by surfer’s myelopathy
Content creator Brock Kelly, 24, is currently paralyzed from the waist down after suffering the rare surfing injury we wrote about two weeks ago.

⛵ John John stays at sea
Florence has ruled out a 2027 tour wild card, jeopardizing his chances for LA 2028. But he's hoping for a Pipe Masters wild card this December.

🔦 Night surfing at Snapper?
The Gold Coast has backed a proposal to floodlight Snapper Rocks for a 2027 WSL trial. Shark experts warn the lights could attract bull sharks from the nearby Tweed River.

🏆 Youngest-ever junior champ wants to dominate
Leihani Zoric, who won the U18 world title at just 13, is now surfing alongside Steph Gilmore and Tyler Wright in Peru.

🏄‍♀️ “No More Excuses” in Encinitas
The paddle-out against gender-based violence in surfing hits Moonlight Beach this Sunday, November 15, at 10 a.m.

👉 Read the full news roundup

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⬆️ Aaaaaaand that was the last wave of the week!
If a friend forwarded this and you liked it, hit subscribe & join us! We will see you all next week! 🌊

With stoke,

Zuz & The Wipeout Weekly