Rude: Sharks bully autistic kids!

Chas Smith

By Chas Smith

A beautiful camp shut down by whitey!

And you already knew that sharks were assholes but did you know they were bullies too? Like the worst sort of bullies who pick on the truly defenseless. On those who already encounter many obstacles in their lives.

Sons of bitches. Sons of bitches all of them.

Just today there was supposed to be very fun camp at Doheny State Beach, just north of San Clemente, where autistic kids could learn to surf. Even the thought of it warms my heart! But that is all it will remain. A a warm thought. Thanks to the sons of shark bitches.

The Orange County Register reports:

A camp that helps teach autistic children to surf postponed its event planned for Wednesday, June 21, at Doheny State Beach because of the threat of sharks in the area, its organizer said Tuesday.

Surfers Healing is an O.C.-based nonprofit that puts autistic children on surfboards with volunteers so they can experience the feeling of catching a wave. It was founded by Israel and Danielle Paskowitz, who have a son with autism who inspired their venture. Israel is the son of the late surf icon Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, whose large Orange County family was dubbed “the first family of surfing.”

“While we have had many inquiries over the past weeks about the Orange County shark sightings, nothing in the weeks leading up to the event or in our discussions with beach personnel have indicated that there was any increased level of concern for Doheny … However, we were informed this morning that over the past two days a couple of great white sharks have been swimming through the line-up – both unusually close to surfers and right in the exact area that we hold our event.

“After discussing with authorities … we came to the conclusion that we could not in good conscience look everyone in the eye and tell you that it would be safe. A number of city beaches have closed because of this and the state beach at Doheny is on “advisory,” which means that they are nearing a potential closure as well,” the group said in a Facebook post.

No good shark bastards. And where are the shark advocates now? Are they taking the shark’s bullying even further by targeting autistic kids though social media?

Probably.

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Victory: “The Circle of Honor!”

Chas Smith

By Chas Smith

"When the hundreds of surfers joined hands, there was an energy going through them. A feeling of love!"

Did you think the fine people of Huntington Beach could do it? Did you really think they could link at least 500 people in the “Circe of Honor” thereby crushing the old Guinness record for “number of surfers participating in a paddle out?” Did you even know that paddle outs were competitive?

Well it ain’t called Surf City, USA for nothing!

511 people, to be exact, formed a blob underneath grey skies yesterday morning and… well let’s allow the Los Angeles Times to bring you the thrill.

More than 500 surfers braved choppy water Tuesday morning to form a record-breaking circle near the Huntington Beach Pier to help raise awareness of the International Surfing Museum and promote Huntington Beach as the potential Olympic surfing village for the 2024 Summer Games, for which Los Angeles is being considered.

It took 511 surfers, to be exact, to claim the Guinness world record for largest paddle-out as they formed the Surfing Circle of Honor. Guinness adjudicator Jimmy Coggins was on hand to monitor the record on International Surfing Day.

About 60 other surfers entered the water but were unable to reach the circle just beyond the pier because of the choppy surf and strong currents.

It took about two hours for the surfers to paddle past the breakers into smoother water where they could form the circle.

Diana Dehm, the event organizer and executive director of the surfing museum on Olive Avenue, said she was overjoyed by the success of the project she had spent months putting together.

Dehm stood at the end of the pier giving orders from a megaphone to get the circle in order while hundreds of onlookers lined up to catch a glimpse of the historic feat.

A massive circle of pool noodles the surfers were supposed to hold onto drifted and eventually broke in the water, causing Dehm to make the call for the surfers to join hands instead.

As the last surfers joined together, the Huntington Beach High School band played and the crowd erupted in applause.

Several city officials were in attendance.

Mayor Barbara Delgleize said she was “stoked” that the city got to showcase why it should be the surfing village for the Summer Games. Delgleize had worked closely with Dehm for months to put on the project.

Councilman Billy O’Connell and Planning Commissioner Dan Kalmick were among those who took to the waves.

Kalmick said he’s not an avid surfer and was worn out by the time he reached the end of the pier.

Jericho Poppler, the first female world surfing champion, was a team leader for the Circle of Honor. She said it showed the city’s ability to put on a big event and that she thinks it will help sway officials of the Summer Games.

When the hundreds of surfers joined hands, there was an energy going through them, Poppler said.

“A feeling of love,” she said

Beautiful poetry! Can I share with you my favorite passages?

About 60 other surfers entered the water but were unable to reach the circle just beyond the pier because of the choppy surf and strong currents.

A massive circle of pool noodles the surfers were supposed to hold onto drifted and eventually broke in the water, causing Dehm to make the call for the surfers to join hands instead.

Councilman Billy O’Connell and Planning Commissioner Dan Kalmick were among those who took to the waves. Kalmick said he’s not an avid surfer and was worn out by the time he reached the end of the pier.

When the hundreds of surfers joined hands, there was an energy going through them, Poppler said. “A feeling of love,” she said

I will commit these words to memory and recite them whenever I feel sad or lonely. But real quick. What sort of energy would be traveling through our hands if we organized a BeachGrit paddle out for all of us here? Do you think it too would be a feeling of love? Or maybe… another feeling?

Here now is a photo gallery at celebrities and other notables as they heard news that the “Circle of Honor” was a success.

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Are you a kook or “competent amateur?”

Derek Rielly

By Derek Rielly

Clever matrix determines your ability level!

Surfing has an odd way of cutting into your bones and menacing your well-being. One day you’re king of the hill, debonair as anything on each wave and close to complete mastery; the next your legs refuse to unfold upon lift-off and your feet feel as if they belong to a different man.

From plans of surfing until your death-bed to dismal thoughts of giving the game away. Surfing I love but you’re bringing me down and so on.

So if we all perform at dramatically different levels from one surf to the next, how can we definitely say we’re a kook or, say, a competent amateur?

I remember once, years ago, having played a sweet hot jazz on a few waves in a row, believing that the learning days were over. That I’d secured my rung as a gifted surfer.

The next day, of course, I surfed abominably. And the next etc.

Am I a kook or a competent amateur? Depends on who you ask.

While scrolling through the Wikipedia entry on Surfing today I came across a helpful matrix that identifies “Surfer Skill Level” as applied to “Wave Type.”

It makes a fascinating study.

For instance, a competent surfer rides waves with a “peel angle” of forty to fifty degrees, with heights of up to three metres and “section speeds” of twenty clicks. The waves I should enjoy, if I am indeed a competent amateur, would be Kirra and Burleigh Heads.

The “Top Amateur”, with his ability to ride a thirty-degree wave, can apply for sets at Bingin and Padang in Bali.

The beginner? He, and she, necessarily, must never venture beyond waves with an aspect of seventy degrees. He (she etc) should live in Atlantic Beach, Florida.

Where do you squeeze in? Top Amateur? Top World Surfer?

Or are you one of those Intermediates who surfs Bells Beach or New  Zealand?

Where do you fit in?
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Pragmatic: Surfrider strikes back!

Chas Smith

By Chas Smith

Environment group says, "Give 'em hell!"

Do you recall, just last week, when I wondered out loud about Surfrider’s relative silence on the “burying nuclear waste in the sands of San Onofre” issue?

Of course you do!

And this shoot first, question later is the BeachGrit way. Not only do we get a fun debate out the gate, we also maybe get an informed response later. The Surfrider Foundation reached out to me on multiple fronts. Never before had I experienced such activism and it made me think, “Well hell. Good on ’em!” Also, “Thank God I’m not a congressman!”

The story I posted gently prodded the environmental group for pushing the oceanfront-nuclear-waste issue deep down in their website and off their California initiatives. Doesn’t the possibility of radiated surf from Tijuana to Seal Beach seem… well… like the worst thing ever?

And Surfrider’s CEO, Chad Nelson, says, “Yes!” He has been at the helm for two years but before that was in Surfrider’s science policy department for sixteen. I called him up yesterday afternoon and we had a very fine conversation about nuclear waste at San Onofre and Surfrider’s position on the matter.

They don’t want it!

He told me that while Surfrider cares very much about what appears front and center on their website, the real, concerted push is at the national level.

I totally get with Fukushima and all that why this issue totally freaks people out. It freaks me out. And San Clemente’s city government doesn’t want the waste there, on site, either. The problem is, there is no national storage facility for nuclear waste. Every single nuclear plant that has been decommissioned is storing its nuclear waste on site. It is definitely not ideal that it is being stored at the plant but, for now, there is no other option. Surfrider is very focused on the national picture, lobbying the federal government in order to establish a storage facility for this waste. Those are the two most important things. One, find a place. Two, make them take it there.

He then encouraged anyone who cares about this issue, and lives locally, to call his/her congressperson and raise hell. Or maybe not raise hell but… “build critical mass.”

You can read more about Surfrider’s position and actions here.

And, generally, about the issue here.

And aren’t you happy that you’re not a congressman too? Or wait. Are you one?

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World-record: “The Circle of Honor!”

Chas Smith

By Chas Smith

Huntington Beach seeks to smash the previous paddle out record!

Oh I’ve written about paddle outs before, here, though I can’t recall if we have come to a consensus on their relative merit. Like, do you want a paddle out when you die? How many people? Will I be invited? What sort of board should I bring?

While you are deciding, Huntington Beach today is attempting to host a Guinness World Record paddle out today at the pier to honor International Surfing Day even though it is dumb and already past. It is also to thank the International Olympic Organization for including surfing in the Olympics. It is also to show the International Olympic Organization that lots of people in southern California like to paddle surfboards (even though StabStitch says surfing is dead here for the foreseeable future). It is also to tell Los Angeles that if the city snags the 2024 Games it should hold its surfing in Huntington Beach.

The “Circle of Honor” paddle out is hoping to attract 500 surfers.

But real quick, if Los Angeles snags the 2024 Games where should the surfing be held? Certainly not Huntington. But where? Trestles? Malibu? Maverick? Botany Bay?

Read more about the “Circle of Honor” here and you can go and report if you live in Huntington.

Also, have you decided yet what sort of board I should bring to your paddle out?

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Photo: Justin Jay/@justinjayphoto
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