A beautiful, magical day of surfing and enjoying the beaches in Ventura County is of course not complete without scrapping tar off your feet at the end of the day. Tar in the oceans and on the beaches directly a result of local offshore drilling. Take action and tell the Secretary of Interior Salazar to limit new drilling on the outer continental shelf, support ocean conservation and alternative energy development.
The Surfrider Foundation strongly supports the reinstatement of the Congressional moratorium banning new offshore oil drilling. For those not familiar with the infamous oil spill that helped trigger the U.S. environmental movement and later influenced this landmark directive, here’s a little background info: In 1969, over 200,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the California Channel Island waters from a platform station six miles off the Santa Barbara coastline. There was a natural gas blowout, which quickly caused breaking points in the fault lines of the surrounding ocean floor. Three million gallons of oil began leaking, and as a result, some 3,600 birds washed up dead on the shores including numerous fish, seals, dolphins, and other marine invertebrates. The community and cleanup crews spent weeks steam cleaning seawalls and rocks on the beaches, and rescuing what was struggling to survive in a badly battered marine ecosystem. Truth is, the inevitability of this tragedy had already been stirring in our U.S. waters for years. Once this unprecedented, environmental disaster finally washed ashore, many of us started to seriously question—in a new way—our priorities concerning our planet, including the protection of our marine habitats and the beaches we enjoy.
As with many things, ugly tragedies happen first and then require a national headline before there is sufficient public awareness and politicians are willing to lend a listening ear. This was the case in the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill.
17 years later, I was a young kid enjoying my summers learning how to surf at my grandmother’s beach house in Ventura, just miles from ground zero of the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969. I remember that sometimes my grandmother would have to scrape thick tar off the bottoms of my feet after surfing. Tar on the beaches…a direct result of spills and local offshore oil drilling in the area.
So why am I mentioning this? Because “drill, baby, drill” is simply not the answer for our national energy needs, and it's that important! All political talking points aside, why should we continue to exploit a dwindling resource in environmentally sensitive areas? Even if ecological impact played no role in the matter, the Department of Energy and experts maintain that new offshore drilling will not have any significant impact on domestic crude oil and gas production. Oil is a global commodity determined by global supply and demand. And unlike other natural resources, oil has no infinite lifespan for use. As Thomas L. Friedman puts it, let’s instead insist that economic growth and environmentalism can work together. Let’s explore the potential in renewables while at the same time keeping our world’s oceans, waves, and beaches protected and to be used as a safe playground for recreational enjoyment.
“Drill, baby, drill” people who find no problem with sucking it dry in ecologically sensitive areas, hopefully this makes sense. As someone who thinks about the next generation and having my own children some day, I consider this a very relevant and important issue. And more than just not wanting to have to scrape tar off the bottoms of my children's feet at the beach, I also don’t want to see public opinion skewed on this issue for the wrong reasons.
For more information behind the myths of new offshore drilling, read this
Too learn more about Santa Barbara's response to the 1969 oil spill and the people who were involved and still help to keep the oil industry on our coastlines accountable, check this out...
This part is probably the most interesting and unexpected part of the building process at this point. For myself, this part seemed to be the most difficult next step. But hopefully you'll find that it's really not once you get started. Just release some steam if you get frustrated. Well, or at least literally release some steam.....this step requires a clothes iron. Honestly, this part is not as hard as it might seem. Just follow directions from the manual and thoroughly read the recommended appendix reading in the chapter. Read it more than once if it helps. It's important to understand the points that tell you what to avoid. Once you read and start working, you'll figure out what to avoid soon enough. Make sure to keep your rag damp, and steam the iron. You're running the iron up and down the chine log (Note: before you do this step, make sure you adequately carve the notches in the frame. Make sure there is enough room in the notches to make the chine log true with the exterior edge of the frame. You'll discover that the chine log is surprisingly flexible with heat, and will for the most part easily take the shape you're looking for. Make sure to use your c-clamps, or pvc clamps as you heat the chine log. The clamps are what will keep the new shape of the chine log in place. Once the chine logs are heated and clamped down under the notches of the frame on both sides (note: again, make sure the chine logs are true with the frame, and avoid kinks!), and then go grab a cold beer!
Gluing the frame to the planks. This is a fairly simple step for anyone who has already committed to building a Grain board, so I won't go into details. The trickiest part is not trying to mold the bottom to take the shape of the frame. If you have an adequate rocker table already built, you simply let the mechanical design of the table be a vice system for the board. Clamp down, let it bend and take shape, and clamp down some more. Just think of it as making the bottom of the board turn into the bottom exterior shape of the frame using one big vice system. The trickiest part of this step is making sure the keel stays straight, and not stressing the wood too much at the nose. And remember to keep your lines true. Don't forget about your original pencil markings. Remember that the keel is the center for the entire length of the board, so be accurate. It is one very important part for determining other lines of the board.
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