Please! Do something about the Bournemouth Reef hype!!!

[Brent]

Hi,
some of you may remember me - I used to be about here awhile ago. I've watched from a distance the Bournemouth project & hubris, and really think I need to comment...

My qualifer is I live within several hundred meters of the artifical Reef here at Mount Maunganui, I surf near it pertty much daily, was involved within the fundraising & other aspects of the job and am looking out the window at the dark stain on the sea floor as I write this.
I also have copies of the original "resource consent" application, it's condions & all the paperwork...along with the supporting science.

Please. Dr Kerry Black is doing the same thing in Bournemouth as he did here. Which is excite a whole community - not just surfers but tourism operators, local retailers etc with promises of "the perfect wave" and a massive influx of tourism dollars. Which all sounds like here in 2005...it's all hype. Please believe me...

The truth is our reef, which is almost identical to yours design wise & location wise is a total failure. Largely due to siting it in a location that does not recieve cohesive long-period groundswell. In our site that would happen less than 20 days per year. Sound like Bournemouth?

Also if you look at the design it relys on the area around the reef having stable bathymetery - to enable the incoming swell to "jack-up" on the reef as it hits it & fire off. The truth is this doesn't happen anywhere other than Kerry's wave pool.

The area around our reef (and yours too) will become soon after completion surrounded with sand (like snow-drifts - because that's what sand does around structures like reefs, wharfs etc) that lessen it's ability to shape & form "the perfect wave". the end result will be an errant, odd wave, that collapes in sections, that will be enjoyable for kid boogie-boarders and those who like padding out for a laugh & standing on it at low tide. Like us here. I spend more time floating over ours with a mask & snorkel on looking at little fishes than surfing it...because it's complete cr*p.

You're all smart, you understand that the reef is a "tool" that requires energy to make it work. If the site didn't have this energy originally - it won't have it when the reef is completed. You'll all be standing there looking out at the thing waiting for magic to happen....

Don't get too excited, don't get hopeful. Don't be disappoined. Like the whole surf community here.

Now, if only we could get Kerry to accept some responsibility & come back & partially fund it's removal from our sea bed...oh, that's right - he's over there now far enough away so you can't hear the shouting.

[kitesurfer]

From a kitesurfing perspective the reef will be excellent! Its location is perfect 4 several reasons. It is far enough out from the cliffs 2 be exposed & away from the wind shadow that exists in that particular spot! The pier 2 will offer no protection! Our predominant swell is wind driven & the strong crosshore current that exists will make it very difficult 4 surfers 2 hold position! The type of wave ur suggesting it will produce whilst not good 4 surfing will be fine 4 kitesurfing on! From a surfing perspective i agree it will be a waste of time & i will not surf it! The thing is though the reef will be a huge sucess & its funny that both surfers & the local council have yet 2 realise why! KS

[esonscar]

KS - teach me to kite surf when I come down someday

[essex sucks]

i have never like the idear they chosse the wronge place for it waste of money i think it would have been better off putting some showers and xxxxx in and a nice warm place to get changed in the winter would be nice

[Aloha]

The Kiwi crew going around the world selling their artificial reefs reminds me of that guy selling monorails to different towns in the Simpsons.

[esonscar]

Reef building is easy :

Go somewhere perfect.
Map the ocean floor where the surf is.
Photograph and measure the incident angle of the waves.
Superimpose the reef profile onto of the desired new break, at the required incident angle.

Voila.

The reef can made from Traffic Wardens and Pensioners.

[Milo]

Dr Kerry Black is a member of Surfcore, you could leave him a message there. I agree with KS, i surf that area as often as there is surf.
So not much, but when there is it is mostly wind swell and that produces a strong rip normally from left to right when sitting out back. Be great if it works but staying in one position will be a bitch

[billie_morini]

Well Brent,
until you made your post about this, I had no idea. Now I have learned more about these artificial reefs and Dr. K. Black. Very strange stuff. First thought: "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." Second thought: "How can we be saved?"

[tree4]

Ok as someone who surfs at Bournemouth (its called Boscombe actually), lives in the area and pays council tax to fund the reef project I feel qualified to reply to some points.
Firstly, I would rather have 20 days of better surf than none at all.
Secondly, Boscombe is a bad place to surf as its over crowded due to the limited length of waves and full of swimmers in the summer. Having a dedicated area for surfers can only help.
Thirdly, I would rather have the council spend money on this than another revamp of the shopping area so that the cosumerites can find a 20th place to buy a Prada handbag.
Hype there most definitely is. But when all is said and done, we will be happy with what ever improvement comes.

Hope this doesn't sound confrontational, it's not meant to be.

[Kabazz]

Ok as someone who surfs at Bournemouth (its called Boscombe actually), lives in the area and pays council tax to fund the reef project I feel qualified to reply to some points.
Firstly, I would rather have 20 days of better surf than none at all.
Secondly, Boscombe is a bad place to surf as its over crowded due to the limited length of waves and full of swimmers in the summer. Having a dedicated area for surfers can only help.
Thirdly, I would rather have the council spend money on this than another revamp of the shopping area so that the cosumerites can find a 20th place to buy a Prada handbag.
Hype there most definitely is. But when all is said and done, we will be happy with what ever improvement comes.

Hope this doesn't sound confrontational, it's not meant to be.

Think it was funded through selling flats/carpark not tax payers money

[Ged]

You know if it works out for the council they'll increase the price of parking so to go surf there will be the equivalent of going to go climbing in an indoors climbing wall. Maybee 5 pounds to park or something.

Incidentally I was in Boscombe on sunday and checked out the reef. The paddle is a tiny paddle so talking about it being too far is absurd. They'll have a long way of basically sandy beach to to make it back to. Its not exactly razor sharp reef eveywhere. So getting blown away isnt really a problem is it.

[Brent]

Another issue I did forget to mention was water safety.

As our reef became about 70% completed, and summer rolled on - major issues surrounding swimmers & kid lid riders without fins etc became apparent. Water rescues by the surf lifesaving people excalated hugely. Not off the reef area itself (as nobody even bothers surfing it cause ti doesn't work even slightly) ...but within about 500m either side of it with all the rip currents, holes, eddies etc that were created by this solid mass plonked smack in the middle of a dynamic beach environment. Where sand would move previously - there was now a solid mass stopping this natural action. Resulting is weird banks & holes & stuff going on. A goat-boater died there last week.

The reason for it being plonked 250m offshore is (based on our example) and the original application was two-fold. 1) to place it in deep enough water to recieve enough swell to work (ours was in 9m deep water). and 2) to qualify the punters paddling out to it. if it's too far for you to paddle. You don't belong there.

The post above comments on 20 decent days a year. I said days of decent swell...but our reef doesn't even deliver on these days as it's so hopelessly incomplete & poorly project-managed, and now surrounded with sand drifts it can't even work on the dream swell. Last Friday we had 12-13sec period swell, 2m groundswell, at dead-low tide (optimum conditions for the reef) and from here watching it...it was hard to even see where the reef was. Let alone watch perfect (or even slightly ridable) grinding waves happen.

I earnestly hope yours works...I really do. But I don't expect it will.
You should check out the webcams here of the reef. not ASR's website or Kerry Blacks stuff. But the actual webcam & see "the perfect wave" for yourself.





swell &

[Roy Stewart]

Hi Brent, it is very annoying as now the whole area not just Tay st but right up to Clyde st and in the other direction seems to be unsafe for children, I'm reluctant to surf there now with my family as their safety comes first. I was most uncomfortable with the situatiion last time I was out there it seemd like a maelstrom and I kept getting sucked toward the reef, it was most unlike the usual regular bank/rip pattern we had previously.

Pre reef the area was a great all round surfing zone. Is there any chance that the council will realise that the reef is a safety hazard and remove it ? I heard that they have $50k set aside for reef removal.

As you know I was against the reef from the start.

.

[Brent]

Hi,
Yes. This is why I kept a personal copy of the original resource consent application and formal approval thereafter - along with strict conditions if it is unsuccessful - up she comes; within it they clearly state if unsuccessful (hard to define that) it will be removed by the group involved. It's easy to remove really - just slit the sausages, spill the sand out and pull them up from the ends.

This is why Kerry changed his tune very shortly after it being partially laid and it's lack of "perfect wave forever" became obvious. he talked -up the marine life aspect of it. To save face.

Simple truth is it was an experiment worth trying. It has been completely unsuccessful in my opinion - unless you're a crayfish. When I get some time in the next couple of months I'll start lobbying for it's removal. I intend to persue this via the sweaky wheel technique.

Cheers.

[Roy Stewart]

Good show Brent, had a few small peelers at clyde st today, good to get back in the water. Maybe the danger due to rips could be used as a reason for the reef removal also.

[Brent]

Hi Roy. I raised this "elephant sitting in our living room" on Thursday in an informal forum of 400 people at work.

When I raised it I mentioned obviously the process & where it is now. But wipped the old "if it has negative social impact it will be removed" clause out of the consent. When they wrote that one in they were covering their arse re cars getting broken into, tagging on the toilets etc. But I raised the statistics from Surflifesaving BOP and the dramatic increase in rescues on at 2km stretch of coast since the reef's completion. And I can confirm it is 100% complete - it's as good as it's going to get...

I see negative social impact as including the social cost (not to mention time & money etc) of surf rescues as a large componant of this. Will keep you posted.

[Roy Stewart]

Crikey that must have been interesting. Is the council covered in case someone sues due to loss of a family member or something like that ? Presumably they are as even if the reef worked perfectly they would have to be immune to legal action of someone face planted the reef on takeoff.

[Brent]

Nope, no issues there, because it is below the mean high tide line it is legally in the domain of EBOP (the regional council). Yea, raised some eyebrows...will keep you posted.

[kitesurfer]

Hmmm hijacking your own thread! I'm not sure thats allowed Brent!

KS

[robnixon]

Hi,
some of you may remember me - I used to be about here awhile ago. I've watched from a distance the Bournemouth project & hubris, and really think I need to comment...

My qualifer is I live within several hundred meters of the artifical Reef here at Mount Maunganui, I surf near it pertty much daily, was involved within the fundraising & other aspects of the job and am looking out the window at the dark stain on the sea floor as I write this.
I also have copies of the original "resource consent" application, it's condions & all the paperwork...along with the supporting science.

Please. Dr Kerry Black is doing the same thing in Bournemouth as he did here. Which is excite a whole community - not just surfers but tourism operators, local retailers etc with promises of "the perfect wave" and a massive influx of tourism dollars. Which all sounds like here in 2005...it's all hype. Please believe me...

The truth is our reef, which is almost identical to yours design wise & location wise is a total failure. Largely due to siting it in a location that does not recieve cohesive long-period groundswell. In our site that would happen less than 20 days per year. Sound like Bournemouth?

Also if you look at the design it relys on the area around the reef having stable bathymetery - to enable the incoming swell to "jack-up" on the reef as it hits it & fire off. The truth is this doesn't happen anywhere other than Kerry's wave pool.

The area around our reef (and yours too) will become soon after completion surrounded with sand (like snow-drifts - because that's what sand does around structures like reefs, wharfs etc) that lessen it's ability to shape & form "the perfect wave". the end result will be an errant, odd wave, that collapes in sections, that will be enjoyable for kid boogie-boarders and those who like padding out for a laugh & standing on it at low tide. Like us here. I spend more time floating over ours with a mask & snorkel on looking at little fishes than surfing it...because it's complete cr*p.

You're all smart, you understand that the reef is a "tool" that requires energy to make it work. If the site didn't have this energy originally - it won't have it when the reef is completed. You'll all be standing there looking out at the thing waiting for magic to happen....

Don't get too excited, don't get hopeful. Don't be disappoined. Like the whole surf community here.

Now, if only we could get Kerry to accept some responsibility & come back & partially fund it's removal from our sea bed...oh, that's right - he's over there now far enough away so you can't hear the shouting.

I tend to agree with Brent here. I am with the Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter in the United States and have been researching ASR, Ltd. and their projects for the past 9 or 10 months.

Their results so far, definitely do not measure up to their extraordinary claims.

Luckily for us, they have decided to come to our side of the world and push them as erosion response and beach protection structures. How many have they built for this purpose? Exactly 0! And from what I hear from Brent here, they definitely know how to create and place one to cause the exact opposite!