Surf Pedro Point in Pacifica, California

Check out this website for recent local water quality tests

http://www.earth911.org/waterquality/default.asp?beach_id=1073&station_id=1330&cluster=6081

Altered Oceans

The Los Angeles Times has published an enlightening five part series of articles called Altered Oceans, which highlights the crisis in our oceans.  Altered Oceans brings to light the "distress signals from an unhealthy ocean": the harm of urban runoff, toxic algae, drifting debris and growing seawater acidity. This poignant series underscores why organizations such as Surfrider Foundation exist and why they've been working for over 22 years to help protect and preserve the oceans, waves and beaches that we all love. View Altered Oceans

Building a sustainable surfboard

As a regular reader of Treehugger.com, I got a kick out of a recent post about efforts to build surfboards out of sustainable materials.  Here's a quote: "The ultimate goal [of the EcoFoil by OceanGreen] is to produce custom surfboards that are 100% bio-derived, that is, made entirely from natural materials. With the EcoFoil they're sure getting close. Instead of polyurethane or polystyrene blanks (core), they use hollow balsa wood from FSC certified Nicaraguan forests. These handcrafted blanks are purchased under fair trade arrangements for the final shaping in Cornwall, England. Fibreglass is avoided with the application of an organically grown hemp cloth 'skin'. This has about 10% of the embodied CO2 emissions of the fibreglass. Research is still underway to find an appropriate sustainable resin to bind the package. Aside from their standard hemp covered models they offer three EcoFoil balsa boards, beginning with a thruster, and moving up through a mini-mal and longboard. Compared to a petrochemically derived board, the EcoFoil is said to be strong and lighter, with more float and less drag."

Health Effects of Coastal Water Pollution

To get the real skinny on the health effects of coastal water pollution, talk to a surfer.  While catching the waves, surfers are also catching colds, stomach bugs, and more.  Surfers long ago made the connection between sick days and urban storm drains dumping untreated runoff from streets, yards, and waterways into beach water.  But researchers have now calculated the likelihood of surfes succumbing to waterborne bacteria and viruses. 

Environmental scientist Ryan H. Dwight of the University of California at Irvine, and colleagues interviewed 1,873 surfers in two California surfing hot spots: rural Santa Cruz County and urban northern Orange County.  Their symptoms include fever, nausea, stomach pain, sore throats, and eye, ear, and skin infections.  The team reported in the April 2005 American Journal of Public Health that every additional 2.5 hours that surfers in either county spent in the water increased by 10% their likelihood of developing symptoms, the team writes.

(Adapted from American Journal of Public Health, April 2004, as reported in Symbiosis: The Journal of Ecologically Sustainable Medicine.)

Surf Flex: Flexibility, Yoga, and Conditioning for the Ultimate Surfing Experience by Paul Frediani

Surf Flex is the first book to address the fitness and conditioning requirements of this popular sport. Perhaps no other sport requires more agility and flexibility than surfing. Wiping out is no fun and a solid flexibility program will help prevent injuries, and keep you surfing longer and stronger.