Covid surfers

Yeah it’s a weird source. But really.
Arresting folks for surfing.
What in the holee fuk

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politic...-even-further/

I’ve been a cop for nearly 40 years. For the last 20 of them, I’ve had the good fortune of being granted the platform, first at National Review Online, later at City Journal, Ricochet, and here at PJ Media, to write on behalf of my fellow police officers when their actions came under what I considered to be unfair criticism. Police work has grown more difficult since I began, all the more so when cops’ split-second decisions are scrutinized by an uninformed public after having been mischaracterized in the media, sometimes deliberately.

So it saddens me to observe some of the asininity on display among some of my fellow police officers in recent days as fear of the coronavirus pandemic brings the country to its knees. Reason and common sense have in some places been abandoned in favor of a level of social control rarely seen in any country that calls itself free, much less in the United States of America. Here in Southern California, we have seen police officers ticketing a surfer on an otherwise empty beach, citing people for sitting in parked cars while watching a sunset, and, in what may be the most farcical display of them all, using not just one but two boats to corral and arrest a lone paddleboarder off the coast of Malibu.

Ok. The original source is sketchy.

But I said, how in the fuck did they mobilize two boats to corral and arrest a solo stand up paddlboarder.

And it’s real news.
LA times article confirms.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...virus-closures

We had legitimately good waves here this week and I couldn’t risk ending up in jail.
Fucking driving me nuts

Santa Cruz county just restricted surfing until the 14th.

That's fucked up but not surprising. For years we ran from the cops over access in southern California and Nor Cal. For years the sheriff would bust people for exposure while changing in the parking lot or on the highway at Malibu - and then later you found out you were deemed a sex offender.

Fuck tha police. You can have my board when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. Long live Harbor Bill.

I actually have no problem with them closing off the beaches in Santa Cruz. Maybe because I've already decided to not surf during the outbreak, primarily because I just got out of PT for a dislocated shoulder, and I have not yet tested it in the surf and really don't want to end up at urgent care right now.

That said, they had to close shit down. We've been under a Shelter in Place order for over three weeks. In that time there have been several bon fires with groups of over 20. West Cliff Drive was packed with walkers, runners, bikers, skaters, whateverers, (yeah, not a word), as well as surfers, so a week ago they closed lots. Hell, the some surfers were still tail gating in thefts all day. With he lots closed, it is way less crowded.

But then surfers started parking in the side streets. They still are jockeying for position and sitting shoulder to shoulder. Most of my surf buddies are in Fire Departments around the Bay Area. All those guys were advocating to keep travel to a minimum and surf near home. But the surfing public at large were driving from all over. My non-FD surf friends were still driving up the coast to hit open ocean remote spots. Worse, people were driving from all over the county, and people were driving in from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties to surf Steamer Lane.

Maybe fuck the police, but this is not the police. Not here. It is the Health Department. And fuck those people coming in from COVID hotspots so they can get a day of surf in. Keep your plague at home. (Of course, we have plenty already here in Santa Cruz).

BTW, Santa Cruz is fighting the fight. We are taking this thing pretty damn seriously, and because of that, we are see a very slow growth of infections and have one of the slowest rates in the county from any county with over 20 cases. We are doing something right.

So I was not complaining in my post. I live in Santa Cruz, and typically surf about 250 plus days per year, have a history of poaching illegal surf spots, and I support this action. Of course, it may help that I was not going to surf anyway. Now, in a few weeks, if I continue my shoulder work outs, I will be wanting to get out and paddle. Then I'll be pissed.

Attachment 324700

Some good titles there.

Damn I miss the ocean right now. Two trips to Costa Rica scrubbed. I know I shouldn't be complaining, but it's spring and I miss Abalone diving and the sound of rattle grass in the wind and the smell of the Pacific.

Video chatted with a longtime friend down in Santa Barbara yesterday evening, she said it's not an issue right now.

Shit man
Abalone.

As a young man I flew out to SF for a job interview.
My mom gave me twenty bucks to make sure I ate abalone at fisherman’s wharf.
It was fucking delicious.

40 Years ago you could free dive off sunset cliffs for abalone. Those days are long gone. Raining here today, so surfing isn't on my mind, but I sure hope I can be back in the water by June 1st or I will go bonkers.

My pavones surf house has been closed since the virus n lockdown..sucks cuz there were waves most the time in april.may n june but no people n beack closed... then for a while you could only surf a few hours in the morning... haha... lucky the house is now paid off.

Love the double standard coming out of Hawaii (Not that its a first). Go home, WSL, we don't want you here. But, no problem with Kai Lenny or Ian Walsh coming in redeye to surf Mav's without quarentining. I didn't see Healey, or all the rest of the Aloha crew.

California does not have a quarantine or a stay at home order in the Bay Area. Those Hawaiians are playing by the rules.

Is it selfish to get on a plane so you can surf a particular break far from home. Sure is. Are they allowed? Yup.

Hawaii is willing to let you in if you are working from home and will bring much needed money into the state.

So there is that.