There out to get us!

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krusher74
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There out to get us!

#1

Unread post by krusher74 »

I wonder how a paipo would go down in this cluster fu*k

http://rockawaytimes.com/2014/08/14/tub ... ie-boards/
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OG-AZN
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Re: There out to get us!

#2

Unread post by OG-AZN »

Reading the comments below the article, it looks like the authorities backed down in the face of protest or threat of lawsuit. It's amazing that this kind of anti-boogie prejudice is still harbored by the "authorities" in that area after all these years. Almost 20 yrs ago when I lived around there, I almost got arrested a few times for violating similar laws. It's very clear that this NY law and the ones I dealt with have nothing to do with safety, and are solely motivated by prejudice towards bodyboarders. I was told by the head of one town's lifeguards that their anti-boogie law presumed all bodyboarders were incompetent in the surf - no evidence required - and therefore they could be banned. I raised the hypothetical: If Mike Stewart ( the guard knew who he was) showed up with his bodyboard to surf, he'd be automatically barred; but if I guy from Arkansas who doesn't know how to swim shows up with a surfboard and gets in the water,nobody would challenge him? The answer was yes!

Each township or municipality in that area has wide discretion in making their own beach use and access laws, and there are probably a lot of crazy ones still in effect. Many of those laws also discriminate based on economic status too. Unfortunately, many of these town lifeguard services are made up of people from inland who are only hired on for the summer, and it seems their attitudes are shaped by the worst of mainstream stand up surfing media. The irony is the majority of the true local year round surfers I met over there don't harbor that kind of blanket prejudice.
Poobah
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Re: There out to get us!

#3

Unread post by Poobah »

I've heard of Atlantic beaches that have rules for mandatory leashes and fins on bodyboarders. These kinds of rules can create more work for the lifeguards. It makes me wonder if an outright ban on bodyboards is an attempt to avoid the hassle of enforcing previous rules.

The lifeguards keep stats of their own rescues, but have no hard numbers for the rescues performed by peers in the water...riders with something that floats. I've helped at least a half dozen people over the years that panicked when they stepped off into a pothole in a current. Instead of town councils banning bodyboards, the llifeguards should be given enough man hours to teach junior lifeguards how to tandem ride a vic on a bodyboard.
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