Bright Siding It

Sometimes life gets in the way of surf. Unfortunately, this week I was only able to catch the tail end of Alberto. But this whole month has been pretty rad if you ask me. Here are a couple of the more lovely shots from last weekend. There was even time for a beach cleanup in between sessions. That's my kind of special. weekend glass weekend glass Good.

A Window into the Darker Side

Update the Bottle Bill in MA

When you are trying to do good things, it can be pretty easy to focus on positive stuff. That is awesome and I like to keep things optimistic up here as much possible. But I want to also be in touch with the dark side so that I can be a smarter defender - not just an activist but a FACTivist. There are people out there who don't believe in re-usable water bottles. It's likely that they are good people who have been culturally conditioned to focus only on economics and job creation rather than imagining creative, sustainable ways to create more jobs and save the planet at the same time.

A few organizations work diligently to perpetuate that thinking, while others simply pull the wool over people's eyes by flashing their green-washed sustainability reports and "Earth Events" front and center. They stand in the way of people trying to create real change. The pro-plastic bag coalitions file lawsuits against cities and towns in order to keep plastic bags tax-free and acceptable. The bottling industry bullies down Bottle Bills and Bottle Bill Expansion efforts in order to keep things business-as-usual.

Listed below are companies opposed to Bag Bans and Bottle Bills. I wanted to create a window into that world - even if it is just for keeping tabs. It is scary (especially Save the Plastic Bag and Real Recycling in MA). Some of these coalitions have propaganda denying the evils of plastic, the existence of the plastic in the gyres and that it is killing marine life. There are links to each of the companies and twitter feeds for each. Obviously the customer-facing companies like Ocean Spray, Coca-cola, etc are just shiny happy marketing feeds but they are there anyways.

Bag Ban Opposition

Bottle Bill Opposition


More information about the opposition:


If what you are reading on this page leaves you troubled...

You can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Join Surfrider, attend a chapter meeting, tell your friends, remember your reusable bags when shopping, drink water out of reusable bottles, encourage your loved ones to do the same, recycle any plastics that you come in contact with. Become a guardian of the earth - if others doubt your behavior just be patient and lead by example!

Learn more about the MA Bottle Bill and why it needs updating!


And now for some GOOD NEWS

Because even though there is a lot of bad, there are still good people working hard to do good things. And change is happening despite the opposition. And it will continue to happen. Here are a couple.

Location, location

May Flowers

May Flowers

Everyday we count the hours
Raindrops feed the thirsty flowers
Stop to smell the sweetest ones
Springtime swells have just begun

Sparkling seas and sandy shores
Always need a little more
Gold is gold and silver, silver
Treasure in the rubber shiver

Dream a dream, wish a wish
Ocean's full of many fish
Cast your line, and close your eyes
Underneath the bluest skies

Dawntread, twilight, it's all good
Lose the gloves, forget the hood
Find your place and find the time
Ride the waves, live the rhyme

Swell Daze

Three days of fun surf always deserve extra special recognition! Thursday, May 10th Thursday, May 10th Sea You Thursday Rainbow Friday Morning, May 11th Untitled Kevin Saturday, May 12th Kevin

Kevin from Green Lightning Surfboards working on my mini simms.

How to Pack a Surfboard

Warning: super-mega nerd alert!

Create cloth-covered railguards for your standard pipe insulation to protect the rails. You will need a rugged sewing machine to handle this task. Sew loops on various points where you will feed your cloth ties through to secure the railguard in place. I used old sheets.

Cloth-covered pipe insulation.
Loop detail

I used a serger sewing machine to "finish" the edges of the loops. It is not necessary to have but makes it a lot easier. You can find used ones on craigslist.

Again, I used the serger to cut and finish the edges off the ties which are made of soft, stretchy polarfleece fabric.

Ties

With the railguard in place and ties fed through the loops, there is no need for packing tape. Next, feed bubble wrap under the ties. Since the ties are forgiving and stretchy, it makes it easy to squeeze bubblewrap through without popping the bubbles.

railguard in place and ties fed through the loops.

Removing the fin should probably be the first thing you do but I didn't. It was at this point that I removed the fin so that I could cover the tail in bubblewrap. After feeding the bubblewrap under the ties do a quick check again on railguard placement and tighten up the ties if needed.

Bubblewrapping nearly complete.

Now place in board bag and add the usual extra protection of towels and other stuff around the nose and tail and you are "bulletproof"... well, let's hope!

How cozy does this look?!?