Caution, post may be controversial....
First there was this.
Then we got this.
As well as this at the stairs to the beach at the point
Make sure you don’t sit down.
Surfers have always been
pretty independent, and felt pretty free to go
surf even if it meant going to great lengths to get to where the surf is. And
when told you couldn’t surf a particular place it seemed there were always those
that did it anyway even if there were consequences. In the sixties Trestles was
off limits but guys would find there way there and sometimes get caught, have
their boards confiscated and face the military.
Seeing really good surf and being told “no you can’t surf
that” is really hard for the surfer to work though. I saw a short video of the
standup paddle guy that got in trouble for surfing
Malibu
recently when the beaches of
L.A.
were closed. He was going down the line on a racy shoulder high wave with not
another person in the water and what looked like 3 or 4 waves stacked behind
the one he was riding. Only a surfer knows the feeling of seeing good surf and
not being able to surf it. From my perspective no one else even understands.
Also from my perspective… surfing is a very healthy activity
on a numbers of fronts aside from being outside in the sun and the exercise. Wanting
to pursue a health activity that is an individual activity in a city like
Ventura
having a population of 109,000 with 37 confirmed cases of a particular sickness
and being told not to? BTW that's .033%, a very small number. I don’t understand, but that’s me, the independent
surfer.
I guess I was lucky, I went surfing the last 2 mornings. The
beaches were opened in
Ventura a
week or so ago. But, not sure yet, they may be closed again.
D.R.
2 comments:
I understand your frustration Dennis, we haven't been able to access our beaches since lockdown began. We are an hour drive from the open beaches of North Devon but we have not been allowed to drive to exercise. It's really difficult, if we walk our dogs around our neighbourhood area there have been so many people, we cant avoid them, yet two miles up the road on the Blackdown Hills there are hundreds of miles of quiet country lanes all to yourself. The rule makers dont seem to include surfing as a daily activity and exercise. They see it as a frivolous pursuit indulged in by cartoon stereotypes that say "Rad man" and "Dude". They talk about peoples mental health but are denying us what we need to stay sane and healthy. As you say Dennis, only a surfer knows the feeling, it IS true!
I usually surf twice a week and although I understand why they have closed car parks and beaches, especially going into summer, I like to get in the water at first light. Get in while its glassy, surf my brains out and get out before the crowds turn up. I could have done that except people local to the beaches have made it clear they dont want you there. Localism has returned. Tires have been let down, windscreens waxed, its brought out the worst and the best in people. As lifelong surfers we are a tribe apart. Our sport has historically attracted the Mavericks, the one eyed Jacks. As Nat Young said once, "Surfers are a different race to the average man in the street".
Well Dennis I'm beginning to wonder if we will surf this year at all. Yesterday the beaches were opened and hundreds and hundreds of folks headed for the coast. With no regard for social distancing the quickly filled the parking lots to capacity and the tailbacks continued to get longer. Eventually the idiots abandoned their cars to walk the last few miles to the beach! The police ticketed every car and the parking police ran out of tickets! In retaliation the beaches are now closed again. Any Hope's we had of our first dawn patrol and first surf since New Year are dashed. I wish I lived somewhere else, somewhere with space, not somewhere the size of The state of Maine but with 70 million people crammed into it.
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