Wave of debate over personal watercraft in sanctuary
By VIRGINIA HENNESSEY
Herald Staff Writer
A surfer and his tow buddies entertained beachcombers with their high-flying, gasoline-powered prowess on Monterey Beach on Thursday. They also left onlookers with one question: Is that legal?
The answer is, yes, no and that depends.
Jet Skis, WaveRunners and other "motorized personal watercraft" were restricted to designated zones, far away from any surf line, in the original management plan for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The intent was to protect marine wildlife and the environment in the near-shore zone.
In the 14 years since those regulations were written, however, the uses and technology of the vessels have changed dramatically. Noisy, environmentally unfriendly older machines that were once used to jet around lake surfaces are now cleaner, quieter craft used to tow surfers into waves.
As such, the sanctuary's definition of a "PWC," as the personal watercraft are known in surfer vernacular, no longer fits, leaving a major loophole for tow-in surfers. If the tow vehicle doesn't meet the definition of a PWC, it's not regulated by the sanctuary.
For the sanctuary's purposes, a PWC is any vessel 15 feet or shorter that can exceed 15 knots (17.27 mph) and carry one or two people. Many PWCs now exceed that length or carry three people and are exempt from the sanctuary's zone restrictions.
That does not mean they're not regulated, however. California Harbors and Navigations Code prohibits any vessel from exceeding 5 mph when within 100 feet of a person in the water or 200 feet of shoreline frequented by bathers.
You can't sling-shot a surfer 10 feet into the air or into a monster wave on a busy day at Maverick's going 5 mph.
Nevertheless, tow-in surfing has surged in the near-shore breakers of Monterey Bay, creating tension among both environmentalists and traditional "paddle" surfers.
Rachel Saunders, spokeswoman for the Monterey Bay sanctuary, said enforcement officers confronted five teams of tow-in surfers in Moss Landing this week after repeated complaints by "paddlers." All were teams using three-seater watercraft and so were exempt.
The issue is one of 27 being examined by the sanctuary as part of a multiyear review and update of its joint management plan. While all of the issues are controversial, Saunders said, none has been debated more vociferously among the interested parties.
"There were very strong feelings on either side of the surfboard or Jet Ski," she said.
A new proposed regulation is expected this summer, and it will likely leave no one completely happy.
The sanctuary advisory council -- in conjunction with a working group that included environmentalists, traditional surfers, tow-in surfers and watercraft industry representatives -- has recommended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which governs the sanctuary, redefine personal watercraft and restrict them to the existing zones.
Those are zones that are far into the bay where there is no surf. Exempt are sponsored surfing events at Maverick's, the monster wave locale off Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay.
To protect wildlife from harassment and the environment from possible pollution, Saunders said, the definition would likely be broad enough to include any vessel that could be used for tow-in surfing. In other words, if you want to tow your buddy around on a surfboard a mile out into the bay off Monterey harbor or Moss Landing, where there is no surf, help yourself.
"Tow-in surfing would not be allowed," she said.
Dan Haifley, the recreation representative on the sanctuary advisory council, has had one of the more difficult positions on the working committee, trying to represent everyone who uses the ocean for fun, many of whom have conflicting interests.
"We're trying to find a definition for the 21st century," he said. "Tow-in surfing is an emerging sport, it's gaining in popularity. I also know managing it from an enforcement standpoint is very expensive and time-consuming."
Personal watercraft, he added, are highly maneuverable craft, capable of avoiding wildlife and humans in the water.
"In the right hands, of a responsible user, there would be no problem," Haifley said. "They would self-restrain. But with an irresponsible user, it could be a problem."
Peter Mel, an internationally known big-wave surfer from Santa Cruz who also served on the working committee, said stories of surf-towers harassing wildlife are the stuff of urban legend -- stories that no one seems to have witnessed.
Mel, who has been tow-surfing at Maverick's for eight years, said his experience is that marine mammals enjoy the interaction. He's had dolphins "doing flips" with him in Moss Landing.
"It was epic," he said. On another occasion, at the mouth of the Salinas River, he and his friends were approached by whales cruising the shorebreak.
"We left and sure enough, they came and found us," he said.
Mel said he agrees with some of the objections to PWCs. Their fumes are smelly and they're dangerous around other surfers, he said, but there are already laws prohibiting those close encounters.
"I like to stay completely away from anyone using the beach," Mel said. "Out of sight, out of mind is my rule."
"We should all be able to use the ocean," he said. "To single out one use is just not fair. My kid is tow-surfing and he's not going to be able to do it in a year because they've never even given it a chance. There's nothing factually written that shows there's been anything damaged except for peoples' egos."
For information on the location of the designated zones, visit http://sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan/mb_mpwc.html
Facts on watercraft Motorized personal watercraft are restricted to designated zones in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. What is a personal watercraft?
• Any vessel that is 15 feet or less in length • Can exceed 15 knots, or 17.27 mph • Is capable of carrying no more than two passengers Vessels that do not meet all three criteria are not considered personal watercraft and are not regulated by the sanctuary.
What does state law allow? State law limits mechanized vessels to 5 mph when within 100 feet of a swimmer or 200 feet of the shore.
Tow-in-surfing vessels usually travel between 15 and 30 mph.
Go to: montereyherald.com for information on the location of the designated zones.
Monterey County Herald | 01/22/2005 | TOW-IN SURFING CREATES RIPPLES
Cool-here is a story about surfers on Lake Michigan worried about tidal waves on their shores.
Grand Haven man knows, fears seiches
Sunday, January 30, 2005By Jeff Alexander
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER Bob Beaton said he immediately thought of Lake Michigan when he saw television footage of the cataclysmic tsunami that killed thousands in South Asia the day after Christmas.
The Grand Haven resident and longtime surfer has spent the past 25 years collecting information on tidal waves ... actually, Great Lakes tidal waves, known more specifically as seiches. Beaton said he has thousands of newspaper articles on seiches and the devastation caused by the wind-driven storm surges.
A seiche is a storm surge or series of waves caused by high winds, or fast-moving squall lines with intense atmospheric pressure, that cause a lake to slosh back and forth. Seiches have been known to raise water levels on Great Lakes beaches by 10 feet in a matter of minutes.
Over the years, the storm-driven waves have killed dozens of Great Lakes residents, destroyed boats and damaged marinas and other shoreline structures.
"When I saw the tsunami on the news, I thought it looked just like a seiche. It had the same characteristics, but on a much larger scale," Beaton said.
The underwater earthquake that sent a 30-foot high wall of water roaring across the Indian Ocean at 500 mph wiped out entire coastal villages in Indonesia and elsewhere and killed more than 225,000 people.
Seiches have never caused anywhere near that much devastation in the Great Lakes.
Most seiches in Lake Michigan go unnoticed because they are relatively subtle, causing water levels on beaches to rise a foot or less. The phenomenon is most common in Lake Erie, which is not as deep as the other Great Lakes. The shallower the lake, the bigger the seiche.
"On Lake Erie, it's not uncommon to see a seiche create a storm surge that elevates water levels in Buffalo by 3 feet, and lowers it 3 feet in Toledo, a couple of times per year," said David Schwab, a research oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes office in Ann Arbor.
"Often times, in the channels in Buffalo and Toledo harbors, the water levels will drop low enough that boats are sitting on the bottom."
Schwab said there are three different types of Great Lakes seiches:
* A cross-lake seiche driven by winds out of the west or east, which would cause Lake Michigan water levels to rise and fall most noticeably along the coasts of Michigan, Wisconsin and northern Illinois. These are the most subtle, but longest-lasting, Great Lakes seiches; the lake can rock back and forth for as long as nine hours.
* A north-south seiche driven by strong winds out of Canada or the southern United States. This type of seiche would cause water levels to fluctuate at the north and south ends of Lake Michigan, but the event would last two hours or less.
* The most dangerous Great Lakes seiches are those fueled by squall lines with high winds and rapid changes in atmospheric pressure that push down on the lake's surface. Those seiches usually last less than an hour, but can push a huge mound of water across the lake. Upon reaching the shoreline, such seiches can cause water levels to quickly rise several feet; they are often followed by high winds and huge waves.
The National Weather Service broadcasts seiche warnings when conditions are right for such an event. Schwab said beachgoers should keep an eye on the sky when lines of thunderstorms are in the weather forecast.
"If you see a squall line moving across the lake, that's a good indication you should get out of the water," Schwab said. "The danger is that the water may be calm before the squall line comes in, pushing the storm surge ahead of it. The water can rise gradually or quickly."
A seiche that struck Ludington beaches on July 2, 1956, surprised swimmers and anglers on the city pier. The lake was calm before the water level suddenly rose 10 feet and pushed 150 feet past the normal water line on the beach. The rising water swept anglers off the pier and sent sunbathers running for safety as swimmers struggled against the fierce currents.
After the first surge of water, the lake receded 15 feet below the normal water line. Lifeguards on duty at the time feared a repeat of a 1954 seiche that drowned eight people in Chicago. When the lake receded, they ordered everyone out of the lake, according to an article in The Chronicle the next day.
"I figured it would be the same kind of swell that hit Chicago," lifeguard Russ Vorce told the newspaper. "The water receded for 15 minutes, then it rolled back in a big wave. In just 15 seconds the water was waist-high on the breakwater ... all those people trying to reach shore and high ground kept slipping off the breakwater." Another lifeguard had to jump into the waist-deep water when the second wave toppled the lifeguard tower.
The people who experienced the Ludington tidal wave were lucky. They lived to tell their story of a terrifying encounter with a Great Lakes seiche.
2 Comments:
TOW-IN SURFING CREATES RIPPLES
Wave of debate over personal watercraft in sanctuary
By VIRGINIA HENNESSEY
Herald Staff Writer
A surfer and his tow buddies entertained beachcombers with their high-flying, gasoline-powered prowess on Monterey Beach on Thursday. They also left onlookers with one question: Is that legal?
The answer is, yes, no and that depends.
Jet Skis, WaveRunners and other "motorized personal watercraft" were restricted to designated zones, far away from any surf line, in the original management plan for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The intent was to protect marine wildlife and the environment in the near-shore zone.
In the 14 years since those regulations were written, however, the uses and technology of the vessels have changed dramatically. Noisy, environmentally unfriendly older machines that were once used to jet around lake surfaces are now cleaner, quieter craft used to tow surfers into waves.
As such, the sanctuary's definition of a "PWC," as the personal watercraft are known in surfer vernacular, no longer fits, leaving a major loophole for tow-in surfers. If the tow vehicle doesn't meet the definition of a PWC, it's not regulated by the sanctuary.
For the sanctuary's purposes, a PWC is any vessel 15 feet or shorter that can exceed 15 knots (17.27 mph) and carry one or two people. Many PWCs now exceed that length or carry three people and are exempt from the sanctuary's zone restrictions.
That does not mean they're not regulated, however. California Harbors and Navigations Code prohibits any vessel from exceeding 5 mph when within 100 feet of a person in the water or 200 feet of shoreline frequented by bathers.
You can't sling-shot a surfer 10 feet into the air or into a monster wave on a busy day at Maverick's going 5 mph.
Nevertheless, tow-in surfing has surged in the near-shore breakers of Monterey Bay, creating tension among both environmentalists and traditional "paddle" surfers.
Rachel Saunders, spokeswoman for the Monterey Bay sanctuary, said enforcement officers confronted five teams of tow-in surfers in Moss Landing this week after repeated complaints by "paddlers." All were teams using three-seater watercraft and so were exempt.
The issue is one of 27 being examined by the sanctuary as part of a multiyear review and update of its joint management plan. While all of the issues are controversial, Saunders said, none has been debated more vociferously among the interested parties.
"There were very strong feelings on either side of the surfboard or Jet Ski," she said.
A new proposed regulation is expected this summer, and it will likely leave no one completely happy.
The sanctuary advisory council -- in conjunction with a working group that included environmentalists, traditional surfers, tow-in surfers and watercraft industry representatives -- has recommended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which governs the sanctuary, redefine personal watercraft and restrict them to the existing zones.
Those are zones that are far into the bay where there is no surf. Exempt are sponsored surfing events at Maverick's, the monster wave locale off Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay.
To protect wildlife from harassment and the environment from possible pollution, Saunders said, the definition would likely be broad enough to include any vessel that could be used for tow-in surfing. In other words, if you want to tow your buddy around on a surfboard a mile out into the bay off Monterey harbor or Moss Landing, where there is no surf, help yourself.
"Tow-in surfing would not be allowed," she said.
Dan Haifley, the recreation representative on the sanctuary advisory council, has had one of the more difficult positions on the working committee, trying to represent everyone who uses the ocean for fun, many of whom have conflicting interests.
"We're trying to find a definition for the 21st century," he said. "Tow-in surfing is an emerging sport, it's gaining in popularity. I also know managing it from an enforcement standpoint is very expensive and time-consuming."
Personal watercraft, he added, are highly maneuverable craft, capable of avoiding wildlife and humans in the water.
"In the right hands, of a responsible user, there would be no problem," Haifley said. "They would self-restrain. But with an irresponsible user, it could be a problem."
Peter Mel, an internationally known big-wave surfer from Santa Cruz who also served on the working committee, said stories of surf-towers harassing wildlife are the stuff of urban legend -- stories that no one seems to have witnessed.
Mel, who has been tow-surfing at Maverick's for eight years, said his experience is that marine mammals enjoy the interaction. He's had dolphins "doing flips" with him in Moss Landing.
"It was epic," he said. On another occasion, at the mouth of the Salinas River, he and his friends were approached by whales cruising the shorebreak.
"We left and sure enough, they came and found us," he said.
Mel said he agrees with some of the objections to PWCs. Their fumes are smelly and they're dangerous around other surfers, he said, but there are already laws prohibiting those close encounters.
"I like to stay completely away from anyone using the beach," Mel said. "Out of sight, out of mind is my rule."
"We should all be able to use the ocean," he said. "To single out one use is just not fair. My kid is tow-surfing and he's not going to be able to do it in a year because they've never even given it a chance. There's nothing factually written that shows there's been anything damaged except for peoples' egos."
For information on the location of the designated zones, visit http://sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan/mb_mpwc.html
Facts on watercraft Motorized personal watercraft are restricted to designated zones in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. What is a personal watercraft?
• Any vessel that is 15 feet or less in length
• Can exceed 15 knots, or 17.27 mph
• Is capable of carrying no more than two passengers Vessels that do not meet all three criteria are not considered personal watercraft and are not regulated by the sanctuary.
What does state law allow?
State law limits mechanized vessels to 5 mph when within 100 feet of a swimmer or 200 feet of the shore.
Tow-in-surfing vessels usually travel between 15 and 30 mph.
Go to: montereyherald.com for information on the location of the designated zones.
Monterey County Herald | 01/22/2005 | TOW-IN SURFING CREATES RIPPLES
Cool-here is a story about surfers on Lake Michigan worried about tidal waves on their shores.
Grand Haven man knows, fears seiches
Sunday, January 30, 2005By Jeff Alexander
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Bob Beaton said he immediately thought of Lake Michigan when he saw television footage of the cataclysmic tsunami that killed thousands in South Asia the day after Christmas.
The Grand Haven resident and longtime surfer has spent the past 25 years collecting information on tidal waves ... actually, Great Lakes tidal waves, known more specifically as seiches. Beaton said he has thousands of newspaper articles on seiches and the devastation caused by the wind-driven storm surges.
A seiche is a storm surge or series of waves caused by high winds, or fast-moving squall lines with intense atmospheric pressure, that cause a lake to slosh back and forth. Seiches have been known to raise water levels on Great Lakes beaches by 10 feet in a matter of minutes.
Over the years, the storm-driven waves have killed dozens of Great Lakes residents, destroyed boats and damaged marinas and other shoreline structures.
"When I saw the tsunami on the news, I thought it looked just like a seiche. It had the same characteristics, but on a much larger scale," Beaton said.
The underwater earthquake that sent a 30-foot high wall of water roaring across the Indian Ocean at 500 mph wiped out entire coastal villages in Indonesia and elsewhere and killed more than 225,000 people.
Seiches have never caused anywhere near that much devastation in the Great Lakes.
Most seiches in Lake Michigan go unnoticed because they are relatively subtle, causing water levels on beaches to rise a foot or less. The phenomenon is most common in Lake Erie, which is not as deep as the other Great Lakes. The shallower the lake, the bigger the seiche.
"On Lake Erie, it's not uncommon to see a seiche create a storm surge that elevates water levels in Buffalo by 3 feet, and lowers it 3 feet in Toledo, a couple of times per year," said David Schwab, a research oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes office in Ann Arbor.
"Often times, in the channels in Buffalo and Toledo harbors, the water levels will drop low enough that boats are sitting on the bottom."
Schwab said there are three different types of Great Lakes seiches:
* A cross-lake seiche driven by winds out of the west or east, which would cause Lake Michigan water levels to rise and fall most noticeably along the coasts of Michigan, Wisconsin and northern Illinois. These are the most subtle, but longest-lasting, Great Lakes seiches; the lake can rock back and forth for as long as nine hours.
* A north-south seiche driven by strong winds out of Canada or the southern United States. This type of seiche would cause water levels to fluctuate at the north and south ends of Lake Michigan, but the event would last two hours or less.
* The most dangerous Great Lakes seiches are those fueled by squall lines with high winds and rapid changes in atmospheric pressure that push down on the lake's surface. Those seiches usually last less than an hour, but can push a huge mound of water across the lake. Upon reaching the shoreline, such seiches can cause water levels to quickly rise several feet; they are often followed by high winds and huge waves.
The National Weather Service broadcasts seiche warnings when conditions are right for such an event. Schwab said beachgoers should keep an eye on the sky when lines of thunderstorms are in the weather forecast.
"If you see a squall line moving across the lake, that's a good indication you should get out of the water," Schwab said. "The danger is that the water may be calm before the squall line comes in, pushing the storm surge ahead of it. The water can rise gradually or quickly."
A seiche that struck Ludington beaches on July 2, 1956, surprised swimmers and anglers on the city pier. The lake was calm before the water level suddenly rose 10 feet and pushed 150 feet past the normal water line on the beach. The rising water swept anglers off the pier and sent sunbathers running for safety as swimmers struggled against the fierce currents.
After the first surge of water, the lake receded 15 feet below the normal water line. Lifeguards on duty at the time feared a repeat of a 1954 seiche that drowned eight people in Chicago. When the lake receded, they ordered everyone out of the lake, according to an article in The Chronicle the next day.
"I figured it would be the same kind of swell that hit Chicago," lifeguard Russ Vorce told the newspaper. "The water receded for 15 minutes, then it rolled back in a big wave. In just 15 seconds the water was waist-high on the breakwater ... all those people trying to reach shore and high ground kept slipping off the breakwater."
Another lifeguard had to jump into the waist-deep water when the second wave toppled the lifeguard tower.
The people who experienced the Ludington tidal wave were lucky. They lived to tell their story of a terrifying encounter with a Great Lakes seiche.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1107083730108620.xml
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