If You Go Leash-Less, You Should Assume All Your Responsibilities

A Guy wipes out right in front of me, and the surfboard comes right at me. Obviously he was not wearing a leash. 

That in of itself is fine by me. I was not hurt. If I could have the confidence, I would do that also.

But the guy on the way to his lost board said why I did not catch it for him.  If I was him, I would not have thought of asking.

Well, I could have caught it, actually, if I saw the leash snap or would be in otherwise more dangerous condition. But obviously he was surfing without the leash and it was a small surf day. So I did not catch it for him. 

Because it is part of the deal, if you lose a board and if you chose not to wear the leash you go get it. 

Surfing, for me, is a kind of sport that you as an individual have to take the whole responsibility from the time paddling out to coming in, and that makes it even more of a discipline to become a level of confident surfer who can do so at all times (or knowing when not to get out.)