SURF TALK AT THE AQUARIUM: A man can dream, can't he? Isn't that why we get up each morning, put on our pants both legs at one time, throw a bunch of food in the blender for our daughter's breakfast, drive her to school so we don't have to be the one to tell her where babies come from, and rocket off for the coast to see if they tore the breakwater down last night?
We have been on a losing streak. We've hectored three mayors, four or five city managers, innumerable council people and out-of-whack, out-of-work demolition experts from collapsed Soviet republics and still the big, stupid, surf-strangling complex of stone barriers stand out there like one of the seven blunders of the world, keeping waves out (as was its mandate) and keeping trash, garbage and roving bands of mutant bacterial colonies in (as was the unintentional, but nevertheless a fun little breakwater by-product).
Because Long Beach used to have world-class surf and now has something totally else, this must seem like a special hell for Sean Collins, the founder of Surfline and 976-SURF and one of the most famous surfers in the world.
Collins was going to be the guest speaker at the Aquarium of the Pacific Tuesday night, but, because his forecasting skills were urgently needed to study a brewing storm in Tahiti, he will be spared the specter of our surf-shackled stretch of California coastline.
Subbing for him in the Aquarium's Honda Theater at 7 p.m. Tuesday will be a pair of Surfline wave experts: Kevin Wallis, who is charged with developing and supervising the daily forecasts for California, Hawaii, Baja and mainland Mexico, Central America and the Gulf of Mexico; and Graeme Rae, who holds a doctorate in ocean engineering and who now serves as the product manager for Surfline.com.
The duo will be detailing that Tahitian storm and talk about its potential effect on waves in California (where permitted). Not sure if they are going to demand the explosion of our breakwater. We shall see, shan't we?
The worst-case scenario is you'll learn a lot about surf and such businesses of surf as surf-forecasting, although the easiest job in the world still remains that of Surf Forecaster for Long Beach.
The cost to hear the Rae and Wallis show is $7; $4 for aquarium members. Call (562) 590-3100.
(photo courtesy of Long Beach Press Telegram)
This article was published on Monday, November 11, 2007 in A2 of the Long Beach Press-Telegram. I feel like Tim Grobarty delivered his message about the surf talk at the aquarium in a relevant, yet amusing manner. I wanted to bring this article to your attention for a few reasons. One obvious reason was to inform everyone about this event happening tomorrow at the Long Beach Aquarium. This will be a very informative meeting that will give many people a new perspective in surf-forecasting. Some people may have previous knowledge which they use to study or determine the waves, some may still be learning and use their tide book as a guide, and others may just enjoy turning up every morning with a cup of coffee in one hand while watching the early morning waves roll in through the fog. Whichever category you might fall into, any information from a perspective of an ocean engineer will be insightful. The words Grobarty chose to describe his perspective on the breakwater were brilliant. I found his intro quite amusing when he ended his dream of rushing off to the coast to see if the breakwater had been torn down the night before. I am sure that many of us have dreamed of the day when the Long Beach breakwater will be gone and there will be waves and a clean beach. He also reminded us of the flat surf in Long Beach by making a joke as to forecasting the surf in Long Beach as the easiest job. This article is yet another reminder of what Long Beach is missing and that the breakwater is causing Long Beach to have no waves. Although this seems to be an ongoing dream, we can all make a difference and turn this dream into a reality. Help to bring waves and a cleaner beach back by supporting the Sink the Breakwater Campaign.
References:
The Press-Telegram
3 comments:
haha! yes that speech was rather funny! it seems funny that alot of people want the waves back and the trash gone from Long Beach, i hope that sooner more then later the coucil hear's it's people and does something about it!
I definitely agree with you, and yes it was rather funny. It would be great if we could get waves back in Long Beach. Thanks for your support!
If the breakwater were to be sunk would the beaches of Orange County all be destroyed by the fallout of Long Beach? Because if so I say we complete the breakwater (no gaps) then drain out all the water. Send the sludge to a treatment facility. After the water is drained then fill in the empty ocean floor with concrete and build more oceanfront property. Foolproof.
Also, Long Beach can get surfable waves still...its gotta a 20ft+ SSW-W swell to make 100 yards of chest-shoulder high filthy waves.
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