Oceans, Waves and Beaches

The dialog around the artificial reef in Boscombe, England is getting heated. The reef, created by New Zealand’s ASR, is overbudget and late. Today, a lone voice called to give Boscombe a chance to prove itself. Ok, we’ll wait (it’s not as if we have a choice in the matter).
The fact that it didn’t break [...]

So much anticipation! So much promise! The much ballyhooed, multi-million dollar reef in Boscombe, England is finally here.
Yawn.
It’s already been tagged “white elephant” by local press complete with the quote “It is a white elephant. Every day I see more surfers to the right of the pier than the left because, like us, they have [...]

The list of nine things that were supposed to change surfing, but didn’t, caught my attention earlier this year. There at the top of the list was “artificial reefs”. It made me pause.I paused because I was surprised that Surfing Magazine was as informed on this subject as they appeared to be. And if they [...]

There are so many angles one can look at to answer the question “do artificial reefs work?” With this series I’m seeking to address a few different perspectives and take into consideration different philosophies on the subjet. My first post looked at users perspectives and the second post explored return on investment.
This post will discuss [...]

I kicked off this series a few weeks ago with a post on artificial reef user feedback.
This time around I want to talk money. More specifically return on investment (ROI).
Part of this equation is just the money part (minus any details related to what you get for your money). I’ll share some published and not-so-published [...]

There has been a constant din of conversation surrounding artificial reefs. The idea of popping reefs into coastal spots to make surfable waves speaks to a desire to control our destiny (and “manage” our natural surroundings). Yet this is also one of those subjects whose successes have proven very illusive.
One of the reasons artificial reefs [...]