There was once a small summer village and a racetrack at Ocean Park. Railroad employees lived near the Surf Station, and many locals learned how to water ski in the estuary of the Santa Ynez River.
All of those improvements are long gone because the military acquired the beach and 150 square miles of ranchland in the 1940s for a military training base (Camp Cooke and Arguello Naval Air Station) and Bradley Dam blocked the flow of the river, reducing the depth of the estuary and ending the water-skiing adventures.
Cool wind blows stoutly, and clouds hang on the horizon as seabirds circle looking for goodies stirred up from the tidal sands. Mist rises from the crest of the waves, and shorebirds run about hoping for some tasty treats.
The ocean seems to change every few minutes. What was a wild and restless surf suddenly transforms to a peaceful ocean with only a few low waves to remind you that the water is forever active.
People had been traveling to Surf and nearby Ocean Park for more than 100 years to play and fish on the beach. Hundreds of people visited each week to breathe in the salty sea air, scamper on the sand, fish, and watch the dolphins play in the breaking waves.
Asian fishermen from all over Southern California used to visit and cast their lines for barred perch. This is the favored fish in this part of the world. When Los Angeles and Orange County fishermen were asked why they travel so far to fish in the ocean, they always reply: “Because the water is clean here.” Fishermen could once be spotted as the fishing hole shifted south for the summer. Each year it moved up and down the area in front of the Amtrak station.
Surfers were always looking for the right curl. Sometimes they would stand at the gate and stare for several minutes at the waves and then leave. Other times they stared and then put their wet suits on, grabbed their boards, and headed for the water. There, they joined the dolphins jumping in and out of the surf.
Little children were the best beachgoers! They were so excited when they got to the beach with their buckets and shovels. They seemed intent on a search for seashells and other treasures of the beach. From the top of the ramp, they looked like little birds with their parents keeping an eye on them as they screeched with delight.
The kids didn’t notice the steep climb back from the beach, but their parents and grandparents did! The sand is illusive—it looks so easy going down to the surf line. But the climb back up the hill was in loose sand and rises about 100 feet in about 100 yards.
That was before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mandated restrictions during the Western snowy plover mating season between March to September each year, and Vandenberg Air Force Base—responding to a Clinton-era executive order to comply with all environmental edicts—closed large portions of the beach.
Shore fishing was banned a couple of years later after environmentalists demanded that the fishery be closed because it was being overfished. How a single fisherman, or a dozen fishermen, could be responsible for overfishing the Pacific Ocean seems questionable.
But, after more than 25 years of beach closures, an agreement was recently reached with Fish and Wildlife Service and Vandenberg officials to relax some of those restrictions. Other efforts are ongoing to try and allow canoes and other paddle boats to use the estuary, which is home to more than 100 species of birds.
Mayor Jenelle Osborne led the effort to relax restrictions on behalf of the city of Lompoc. “I am excited and very hopeful for the future of Surf Beach,” she said. “Vandenberg Air Force Base and the California Coastal Commission are listening to the community, recognizing Surf Beach’s history and importance to Lompoc, and improving the beach and local access to it, all while protecting the Western snowy plover. The base’s proposal to eliminate the 50-violation beach closure next summer, and the Fish and Wildlife Service accepting the request, is a major milestone for our community.”
This effort was almost derailed when Councilmember Jim Mosby circulated a petition that contained several factual errors concerning who was responsible for the closures. Understandably, this irritated base officials who were sympathetic to allowing beach access and thought they were bargaining in good faith with city officials.
After the dust settled, some changes were made. While the beach won’t be closed after 50 violations, the base will continue to track violations of the rules. It’s those rules that are essentially unchanged. Sections of the beach will be closed: Campfires, digging, fishing, horses, kite flying, and dogs are still prohibited.
So, go enjoy the section of beach that’s open to the public, but respect the restrictions that are in place. m
Hey guys, we’re all going to die because of COVID-19—aka, coronavirus. Wait, actually, we’re not all going to die. In fact, most people probably aren’t even going to be affected.
People are just losing their minds over the possibility that even one person in Santa Barbara County might be infected by it because they literally have nothing better to worry about. Apparently, paper towels and toilet paper are key to germ protection and longevity of life, because Santa Maria’s Walmart—yes, Walmart, people!—was nearly out of both on Monday, March 2, according the the Santa Maria Times.
Wow, everyone. It’s not a pandemic you need to be worried about; it looks like panic is the thing that’s infectious … and spreading. Suzanne Grimmesey from the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness told the Times that people should limit their news intake about the coronavirus to help prevent “emotional contagion.” That’s something that I feel comfortable referring to as stupidity, irrational decision-making, following the social media leader, and not being responsible for your intake of information.
Meanwhile, county Public Health Department Public Information Officer Jackie Ruiz and Santa Maria Joint Union High School District spokesperson Kenny Klein were dealing with the fallout from a hoax circulating on social media—yes, that’s where that misinformation virus spreads like a pandemic, people!—saying there were four cases of coronavirus in the county, two of which were supposedly at Santa Maria High School.
Nope. Sorry, toilet paper pinchers. It’s official; there aren’t any cases in the county. Although, I could be wrong. I just get my information from official public health sources. Have you checked your social media feeds lately?
But it is time to get those “social distancing” plans in place, according to county public health. Social distancing, huh? I don’t remember if that was a thing during the SARS epidemic, and I try to block out all of the information I consumed during the bird flu epidemic, because I still have nightmares about it.
However, it sounds like a prime-time excuse not to hang out with those people you keep canceling dinner plans on. Skip work, skip school, skip the cruise. Yep. You don’t need to do a thing. As long as you’ve got your paper towels and that 50-pound bag of rice, you don’t even have to fly the coop.
Lucky for some Guadalupe residents, all that toilet paper and social distancing could come in handy. At least for those residents dealing with sewage issues (estimated to be half of city citizens), who have had overflow and other plumbing problems. Eww.
Think there’s been a run on plungers in Guadalupe since the city put that press release out? You’ve gotta be prepared, you know!?
But the city’s got a plan to upgrade its failing sewer system and announced plans to request $3.2 million in funding from the state Department of Housing and Community Development. So, the city might fix it. Or, it might not.
It’s kind of a crapshoot. Pun absolutely intended.
The canary is unashamed about using puns. Send comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 12-19, 2020.
