Thank you all for your kind wishes! It's reassuring to know I'm not alone. Kealohi, I was referring to the surf etiquette I learned from Rabbit Kekai and others. But re: the past,  "Mo‘olelo Hawai‘i" by David Malo (born in the 1790s)  describes surfing as "practiced equally by king, chief and commoner," and John Clark's "Hawaiian Surfing:  Traditions from the Past" also describes he‘e nalu as a sport enjoyed by all Hawaiians, regardless of class or sex.