Shaping Room

En masse

Anyone that has been to a coast knows that beaches are getting more crowded. Surfing is becoming more popular. Signs of these are everywhere; MTV has made the “beach house” an icon, there is a plethora of surf camps dotting the globe, media coverage has gone mainstream and the retail industry has embraced the ocean sports as a core marketing vehicle for soft goods.

This photo sums it all up for me.

Photo: Marcus Sanders

The photo is from the US Open pro contest that took place this past weekend. 100,000 beach goers came to the event. As you might guess, it’s a world record.

The photo is a metaphor for the impact we’re collectively making in coastal regions. That impact is large and it’s growing. If the above photo tells you part of the story, here’s another piece of information that positions coastal challenges.

More people on the coast. More people on waves. Can waves with more than a few people on them be far off?

Photo: Hayne Palmour IV

The photo happens to be from the San Diego Surfing Academy’s recent attempt to break a world record by having 100 surfers on what would be the legitimate world’s biggest party wave. It turns out that only 40 managed to catch the wave at one time.

It’s summer. Go ahead, grab all your friends and paddle out. Better yet, just paddle out as your friends are probably already there.

 

Jim Moriarty

Executive Director

Brian Lynch / The power of one

WHO Brian Lynch

WHERE Jersey Shore chapter, Asbury Park

WHAT  A few years ago the Jersey Shore chapter had a major access victory in Asbury Park. The win was centered on not just gaining access to a local break, but making surfing legal in that town. Once that win was secured, the chapter realized an entire generation of kids in Asbury Park had never learned to surf.  So they decided to keep the momentum going and emphasize the access victory by teaching local kids to surf.  Brian Lynch stepped up to this task and in 2003 architected the first local “Surf clinic”. The purpose of the clinic is to bring people of all types, ages, races and classes together to learn about the beach, get pushed into some waves and do a beach cleanup.
Photo: Tom Spader

RESULT This past month’s clinic, now branded “Groms gone Environ-mental”, was the first of the season. A second clinic is scheduled for next month. More than 170 kids came to the clinic and at the center of the chaos was Brian Lynch. Managing a few kids can be difficult… increase that number to more than 170 and it becomes an art form. He was the conductor of the programs that started at 7:30AM and went past 2PM. He’s a master. Of course Brian isn’t alone in this; there were 20 – 30 Surfrider volunteers from the local New Jersey chapters as well as from the New York City and Washington D.C. chapters. 

Brian Lynch, the power of one.

(Brian is on the left)