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July 18, 2010 -

Cliff Jumping

Good article in today’s New York Times about the summer rituals of cliff jumping near the Bronx into the Hudson River, and the legal and law enforcement issues.  This should definitely resonate with those southern California veterans of The Clam and other natural diving spots.  Even the fans of the unnatural, but unapproved spots, like this one we saw in Kona last month should appreciate the issues.

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June 26, 2010 -

Swimming Without A Lifeguard

Swimming without a lifeguard.

Not recommended?  Certainly.

Have we done it?  Absolutely (as recently as two weeks ago near Kona on the Big Island for me).

Should it be illegal?  No.

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June 20, 2010 -

Technical Post

Now running WordPress 3.0. Upgrade seems to have gone smoothly, but a couple of those waves at Magic Sands hit kinda hard last week and I might be just imagining things. Please comment if anything seems off.

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June 13, 2010 -

East Coast Examples

Good article in today’s New York Times on conflict between those who visit local Wiborg Beach with their dogs, and those who don’t. Fortunately (said as a dog owner who loves beaches), compromise in this case seems to revolve around limiting hours dogs are allowed on the beaches, not the draconian bans of dogs popular in so many places.

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March 7, 2010 -

Lifeguards Still Needed and Still Being Hired

Despite massive budget cuts in all areas of state and local government in California, with furloughs and threatened layoffs in the news almost daily, lifeguards are still being hired for the upcoming summer season around southern California.

A schedule of tryouts in the different communities is up at the Orange County Register’s Beach Blog.

The Register also has a report on the conditions and the competitors at the March 6 tryout in Huntington Beach.

We had the chance to watch the tryouts at Laguna Beach a few years ago after brunch with some friends at the Greeter’s Corner Cafe there, and snapped a few photos that might give you an idea of what the prospective lifeguards are in for at these tryouts.

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February 16, 2010 -

Limited Access at Dana Point

Surfrider’s twitter feed pointed out a great L.A. Times article on new attempted limitations for coastal access arising from new development at Dana Point.  As reported in the article, if the community’s attempted limits remain there will be no surf access before 8:00 am, and the access will close as early as 5:00 pm on some days.

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January 2, 2010 -

New Year

Not much new on coastal access law lately, though enforcement and services are remaining pretty bleak due to California’s ongoing budget crisis.  The reductions in lifeguard services, particularly at state beaches, is particularly bad news and will undoubtedly, inevitably, lead to more bad news.

On the bright side, your host did do some “field research” at the Del Mar Penguin Plunge yesterday with the husband and several hundred of our closest friends.  Happy New Year!

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November 5, 2009 -

Keep The Feet Wet

Laguna Beach has approved a new ordinance restricting beach use between 1 and 5 am to ‘wet sand’ activity.  According to the OC Register

Walking, jogging, diving and fishing will continue to be legal all hours of the night at beaches, but any other activities between 1 and 5 a.m. will be grounds for citation when a new ordinance goes into effect next month.

The City Council passed the beach and park closing time ordinance Tuesday night at a council meeting. In its second reading of the originally broader ordinance, the council opted to allow what they called “wet sand activities.” The only time a person may be on the dry sand during the closed hours is if they are crossing to the wet sand.

The ordinance text clarifies that the sand in question must be wet as a result of “the wash of waves or tidal action.” Rain and personal misters presumably do not a loophole make.

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October 22, 2009 -

New ‘Clothing-Optional’ Policy Upheld

The California Supreme Court unanimously declined to review a July appellate court decision that upheld the state’s right to overturn the Cahill memorandum, a 1970s era document that created informal clothing-optional beaches in California.

The case arose from a proposed change in policy at San Onofre State Beach.  While the ruling confirms park authorities’ authority to change policy at other parks, including San Diego’s Black’s Beach at the Torrey Pines State Reserve, there’s been no announcement of any intention to do so.

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October 19, 2009 -

Coastal Commission Gets Tough

An article in the San Diego Union-Tribune details a case here in San Diego where homeowners failed to remove riprap ‘temporarily’ installed on an emergency basis in 2001.  Under the emergency permit the riprap was supposed to have been removed by May 2001.  Eight years later the homeowners have agreed to a $45,000 fine and to correct the violations.

The Coastal Commission has issued fewer than 10 such fines in the county in the past 20 years, because usually homeowners make an effort to comply with the rules, said Nancy Cave, a supervisor with the commission’s enforcement division. In the case of the Browns, Cave said, the commission’s decision came after years of inaction by the homeowners.

“This isn’t a common thing, and when it does happen it’s really important to take action because other people have gone through the process, and it would be unfair to exempt someone from the same requirements,” Cave said.

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Interesting Sites

70 Percent Good site focusing on reporting and documenting break conditions for waveriders
Coastal Marine Resource Center Non-profit from the New York-New Jersey Harbor Bight
Free PB Opposition to additional beach regulations at San Diego’s Pacific Beach
Race for the Oceans A forum for swimmers and swimming fans to dive in to ocean conservation.
Surfrider Foundation Activities and campaigns for clean water, beach access, beach preservation and protecting special places.