Between running a Blue Water Task Force lab and testifying in favor of legislation to ban polystyrene lunch trays in all Oregon schools, the Bandon High School Surfrider club has been busy this spring. Recently they found a little time to hit the beach for a day good ol' fun and showing their special place some much needed love!
In mid May, four members the club, their adventurous teacher/club sponsor Trent Hatfield, and eight other local youth took part in a surf and stewardship day at Bastendorff beach put on by the Coos Bay chapter and Warm Current, an Oregon-based non-profit, who's mission is to create healthy, active lifestyles for youth through surfing.
They day started with cleaning out the chapter's fire pits, installed earlier this year to help contain all the leftover nails and metal brackets from burning pallets. In a span of about 30 min, half the crew had pulled out 2.5 gallons (approximately 20-30lbs) of nails from just one pit! The other half of the group focused on a beach cleanup to help remove the larger debris, mostly glass and plastic bottles, left by irresponsible beach goers.
After all their hard work it was time to catch some waves, an inaugural attempt for most of the participants. It started with a stretch circle and land drills lead by the Warm Current crew and local surf shop (Waxer's Surf n' Skate) owner Brian Menten. It wasn't long until everyone was chomping at the bit to jump in the ocean, so with their pop-ups mastered or not, the youth took to the sea!
Even thought the waves weren't particularly forgiving, there were many more successful rides than wipe-outs.
HUGE thanks to all the volunteers who helped out, both on land and in the water! It was great to see the kids stoked not only about getting to surf but about taking care of the beach and appreciating the connection between the two. Check out all the photos from the day here, big thanks to Brian Tobin for shooting the day for us.
In addition to the surf camp, back in ealy April, the youth club held a paddle n' cleanup day on the Coquille River. 14 youth and 5 adults paddled canoes, kayaks and SUPs for a 2 hour/2 mile trip. The crew collected about 50 lbs of trash, including a mini-fridge, which was ferried back to an appropriate final resting place.
Big thanks to adult volunteers for all their help and borrowed gear, and the Coos Bay chapter for their support and helping make the both events safe and fun.