Bad Paddle Surfing Etiquette?

Have a look at this photo:

Paddle surfer endoing his sea kayak near a surfer

I am by no means a surf safety nazi. But having been on the receiving end of bad vibes for no good reason while paddle surfing in both northern california and southern california, this sort of thing makes us look pretty careless.

A 170 lbs paddler endoing an 18′ foot long sea kayak in a mixed break is asking to get himself creamed by some meth-heads and as a result the rest of us will pay the collective karma on this.

Of course it looks cool. Of course he might be further away than he looks in the photo. But even I will be the first to say a sea kayak has little place in a crowded break. I can just picture him high bracing and bongo sliding his way through the break zone wiping out boardies left and right.

Sigh. After the articles in the Santa Cruz Newspaper we need to be getting better, not worse.

Your thoughts!