February 28, 2009 Saturday

Stinson Beach	Calle del Sierra
9:00 am to noon	1' to 2', outside sets to 4'
Low upcoming tide	Strong offshore wind
High clouds and cold	Successful Surfrider Foundation event

Rusty Demo Board Day and Surfrider Foundation Beach Clean Up

“This has to be the greatest gig in the world,” I said to Chris, one of the Rusty crew. “How did you get it?”

“I don’t know,” he responded. “They finally decided to let me out of the factory. I grew up near here in Bodega Bay, so I volunteered for this assignment.”

Can you imagine being paid to drive a van full of 40 brand new boards up to a beach, spread them on the sand, let local kids pick any one of them to ride and then shoot the breeze for the rest of the day about surfing?

The Live Water Surf Shop and Rusty Surfboards teamed up with Surfrider Foundation Marin County and the Parkside Café to pull together a great day at the beach for all comers. Rusty Surfboards arrived with their quiver of 40 boards for kids to demo. Surfrider Foundation Marin promoted and ran a beach clean up. The Parkside Café offered 50% discounts on lunches at their café and snack bar for all participants, and the Live Water Surf Shop premiered a local surf movie in the evening.

Scott and I were in charge of the beach clean up. When we arrived at 9:00 am the scheduled start time, nobody was there. I was worried that despite all our efforts to promote the event the recent rains and cold temperature would discourage people from coming. It wasn’t a beach day. It had rained yesterday, but today was clear with a strong, cold offshore wind blowing. The Rusty team arrived and began putting their boards out on the beach and setting up their tent. Pete, owner of the Live Water Surf Shop, set up his tent and Scott and I put up our tent with the Surfrider banner and our table of literature. John, the owner of the Parkside Café, was there distributing coupons, and Clint the professional sports photographer arrived to get shots of the surf action. Slowly people arrived and soon the place was jumping with activity.

The surf wasn’t happening. The waves would break on the outside, die in a deep water hole offshore and then reform into a vicious shore break. But the local kids had a ball challenging the shore break. Oliver, John’s son, jumped out there and ripped up the inside curls. Two teenage girls, both novice surfers, took long boards out and got pounded by the shore break. Pete and John, who are experienced Stinson Beach surfers, showed everyone how it is done. Pete managed to get barreled in a three-foot wall of water. Several other locals joined in and had a great time.

The Stinson Beach residents turned out in force. Scott, a 30 year resident and member of the village council, chatted local happenings with everyone. Parking and dog poo are the burning issues of Stinson Beach homeowners. Everyone gladly grabbed one of our bags to pick up trash. Residents take beach cleanliness serious. By noon, twenty full bags of trash were piled at our tent to haul off to the dumpsters in the Park. Stinson Beach had to be the cleanest in Northern California.

The Rusty crew was pleased with the turnout and wants to do it again in a few months. Pete and John were happy that everyone had a good time. Scott and I took advantage of John’s discount and enjoyed a great late breakfast at the Parkside Café. We felt that this was one of Surfrider Marin’s better events and are anxious to do it again.

Check out my photos of the day at:

http://gallery.me.com/lorenlmoore1#100039