Arguement essayThis is a featured page

Who’s Beach is it? On any given summer day, you will find the beach at Pacific City Oregon full of beachgoers, from traveling tourists to the local fishing fleet. The sand becomes a parking lot for a mixture of boaters’ vehicles and visitors’ vehicles. It is a beautiful place, with a picturesque view of the ocean, the haystack rock, and Cape Kiwanda. But trouble has been brewing in the water here for many years and in early July of 2008 a terrible accident almost cost a young surfer his life. He was struck by an incoming dory that was trying to land on the beach. The boats propeller completely severed the young man’s arm. Winston Ross of Newsweek wrote-- Everyone knew that the close proximity of surfers and fishing boats was bound to result in tragedy. Now that it’s happened, competing factions debate how to prevent it’s recurrence. To me the debate seems easy; give the boaters the same stretch of surf that they have used for over a hundred years (pcdorymen.com), and the surfers can use the miles of public beach to the south of the beach access ramp. The unfortunate accident in July of 2008 was the first of it’s kind, but it publicized an obvious conflict between boaters and surfers. The dispute had actually been happening for many years, but was limited to four lettered words and inappropriate sign language. Luckily for the fourteen year old surfer, the arm was reattached successfully and all he lost was some dignity and not his life. The captain of the boat, Darrell Martin, was cleared of any wrong doing. (Ross) In a personal interview Martin said that the swells were so big coming in that day, that you couldn’t see anything beyond them. He was more than surprised to feel the thud as they hit the surfer and became very defensive when other surfers lashed out at them as if they had done something wrong. He now carries the mental scars of that day and says that since then landing the boat will always be a stressful task. As if it wasn’t stressful enough without the surfers there. Landing a dory is a complicated process that requires a great deal of timing, speed, and precision. Once you commit, you cannot turn back and you can’t slow down. The back of a dory is fairly short and low to the water, so slowing down or stopping in the surf could mean getting swamped from behind by a big wave. Throw a bunch of surfers here and there in the landing area and you have a recipe for disaster. It is important to now set forth some laws that keep surfers and swimmers out of the water so that a unique tradition can be carried on. Modern dorys evolved from boats that went to sea from this same beach more than 100 years ago, and today the fleet is more than 300 strong. (pcdorymen.com) The P.C. Dorymen are an organized group of fishermen who work to protect the tradition of dory fishing. Their mission statement is— To protect, defend, and promote the traditional, cultural, and economic values of the dory fleet, and specifically, to protect the usual and customary access to, and use of, the public beach at Cape Kiwanda for all the traditional activities associated with dory vessels. The fact of the matter is there is no other place like this in the world where the dorymen could launch their boats right off the beach. This is it, and they will do whatever is necessary to ensure they keep their right to launch and land their boats here, even if it means sharing it with the surfers. So why would a surfer even want to go to the trouble of dodging incoming boats to catch a wave? Especially with hundreds of miles of accessible public beaches on the Oregon coast. The answer lies in the same reasoning that the dorys launch here. The surforegon.com website lists Pacific City as a good place for beginners, because the waves are small from the protection provided by the cape. That makes sense, but you wouldn’t go learn to ride a bicycle on the tarmac at your local airport because it is easier to learn there. Just like an incoming plane, an incoming dory has no brakes and very little steering control. The Oregon State Marine Board website lists a warning to visitors of Pacific City— For their own protection, spectators are asked to give the dorys considerable room for landing, as the dorymen have little control over their craft while the surf is moving them up onto the beach. Apparently experienced surfers know to steer clear of the boat lanes at Pacific City, but some still dare to brave the hazards it presents. (Ross) I found it funny that the surforegon.com website lists Pacific City as a place to surf, but hazards include sharks and dories. On the same page it also says—“Ignorance is a general cause of conflict in the line-up.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Many people may argue and say that the use of any public beach is for everyone, but I believe that three important things should be considered here. First, the tradition of dory fishing is very old and unique to this beach compared to any other in the world, and this tradition needs to be protected. Second, it’s not worth the injury or loss of a human life to try not to offend the surfing community. Lastly, there are miles of perfectly good beach, and waves to the south of the ramp, that the boats do not use. Why not compromise and just scoot down the beach a bit? The surfers may feel like skateboarders commonly do, like people see them as an irresponsible nuisance and they are stereotyped as a bunch of trouble making punks. Actually surfing is a respectable sport that is gaining huge popularity in Oregon, and it also has it’s place as a tradition to be upheld. The problem has nothing to do with surfing in general, it is just a dangerous combination when mixed with the dories. Unfortunately the earlier accident didn’t result in a change in laws for use of the beach at Pacific City. It did however bring much needed attention to the conflict at hand. Now it is up to lawmakers and local citizens to push for change and hopefully in the future some lines can be drawn. I am sure that if rules are not enacted, more accidents will happen, and eventually someone will lose their life and then, it will be too late. So for now the surfers surf and the fishermen fish and the rest of us cross our fingers and wait.

Works Cited “Cape Kiwanda.” Oregon.gov. 31 Aug. 2007. 5 Mar. 2010 <http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/coastal_waters/netarts.shtml>. “Martin.” Personal interview. 28 Feb. 2010. Oregonsurf.com. Home page. 6 Mar. 2010. 7 Mar. 2010 <http://www.oregonsurf.com/html/surfing101.html>. Pcdorymen.com. Home page. 5 Feb. 2010. 5 Mar. 2010 <http://www.pcdorymen.com/index.html>. Ross, Winston. “Trouble at Cape Kiwanda.” Newsweek. 16 July 2008. 5 Mar. 2010. <http://www.newsweek.com/id/146649>.
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