After nearly three weeks on the road, Surfrider’s Love Your Beach Tour has come to a close. Following the Central Coast leg of the 18-day trip, we made our way south from Humboldt, stopping through Marin, San Francisco, and Davis before culminating at California Ocean Day, May 6, in Sacramento. After 15 stops, we gathered 1,500 signatures across 100 Californian districts!
To recap the tour’s goal: Surfrider visited coastal communities in the Golden State to seek support for our beach access rights as enshrined in the California Coastal Act. Enforced by California’s Coastal Commission, the longstanding legislation ensures that Californians (and visitors) enjoy unimpeded coastal access as well as a shoreline that is protected from destructive development. At each stop, the LYB team distributed postcards to attendees which, when signed, were submitted by hand to state legislators in Sacramento.
Thursday, May 1
As the sun descended, so too did the temperature as the clouds rolled over Samoa Beach, just across from Humboldt Bay. Despite the windchill, we had a great turnout, with many Eureka and Arcata residents arriving to show their support for coastal access. As a thank you, we provided warm veggie burritos to keep everyone nourished during this fight to preserve our rights.
Peri Escarda did her part to attract attendees with her ingenious signage. Having lived in the community for her entire life, as well as having raised her family there, her wish is that future generations can enjoy the same privileges she did. Not only that, she was excited to see the youth writing postcards to their elected representatives.
“It's very important that everybody has access to the beach because I got to do that as a child,” Escarda said. “My kids got to do that, and I want my grandbabies to be able to do it too. Young people are so fired up these days to make change, and they are really leading the way for the rest of us. The beach is for young people, old people, everybody.”
Saturday, May 3
After spending Friday driving, we were excited to meet the folks at Proof Lab in Mill Valley to kick off the weekend. Not only is Proof Lab an epic surf shop, but they share a parking lot with Equator Coffee and Hook Fish, one of Marin’s (and Ocean Beach’s) best seafood spots.
Caryl Hart, who serves on the Coastal Commission, notes that Surfrider’s advocacy for legislation such as the Coastal Act has been crucial for protecting California’s coast and beaches.
“Without the Coastal Act creating the Coastal Commission and its partnership with Surfrider, public access — and the protection of — our coast would be completely different than it is today,” Hart said. “We are so lucky to have the support of Surfrider as well as the laws that protect what is so meaningful both to the public as well as to the economy of California.”
Sunday, May 4
The following morning, the Love Your Beach crew collaborated with Surfrider San Francisco, who was hosting a beach cleanup at Ocean Beach. Although it was a typically blustery morning, volunteers turned out once again with the majority of attendees signing postcards before hitting the beach to pick up trash.
Local resident Bob Battalio is a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in coastal ecology restoration, flood and erosion hazards, and sea level rise resilience and adaptation planning. Along with Chase Davenport, a research fellow at UC Santa Cruz, member of Surfrider’s San Francisco Chapter, and founder of Ocean Beach Institute, the pair led a walking tour of the Ocean Beach dunes. According to Davenport, he noticed that attendees were curious about what is happening at their local beach and how they can get involved to protect it.
“The importance of an organization like Surfrider is that they know how to take the questions and the needs of people in the community and channel them towards making a concrete difference,” Davenport said. “I think that is what we are trying to do here today; we are figuring out the community’s needs and supporting them in getting those messages to decision makers.”
Bob Battalio and Chase Davenport by Guru.Foto
Dr. Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the Coastal Commission, was inspired by the community coming together for the greater cause of protecting their local beach.
“We are here because people value their beaches and want them to stick around,” Huckelbridge said. “It's a hard time at the moment and I think we all need to find ways that we can be proactive, speak out, and protect the things that we love and care about. The Love Your Beach tour is a great way to do something, to act.”
Monday, May 5
After a busy weekend, we made our way inland for a morning of tabling with UC Davis’ Student Club. Despite being located nearly 80 miles from the coast, the club has a robust following. We set up on campus and engaged with a wide variety of students and professors, all who were eager to take action to protect their coastlines. Of the advocates that stopped by, we heard many personal stories about their connection to the ocean.
From left to right: UC Davis students, California Policy Associate Director Jen Savage, UC Davis Surfrider Student Club President Dara Farnoush, and Sr. Student Club Coordinator Carolyn Curtin.
Tuesday, May 6
On Monday night, we were joined by Surfrider team members from San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. We spent the evening sorting through the sizeable stack of postcards we had acquired up to that point.
The next morning, everyone was in good spirits as we made our way towards the Capitol building for California Ocean Day. The morning started with a meet-and-greet, followed by a press conference. Then, our team jumped into legislative meetings with lawmakers. At our annual Ocean Day Beach Party lunch – hilariously in the Cactus Garden – we got some last-minute signatures. After adding those to our organized stacks, we were ready to hand-deliver to legislators.
Jenese Girgis, Program Coordinator at Surfrider Los Angeles, was super excited to attend California Ocean Day for the first time. She felt grateful to have the opportunity to speak with legislators, who often don’t feel accessible on a day-to-day basis.
“Assemblymembers want to hear from us,” Girgis said. “It’s their job to listen to the citizens of California, so it’s really nice that they gave us their time to learn what we are passionate about. Ocean Day is a great opportunity to have dialogue with these people who feel removed from your everyday life.”
At the completion of the Love Your Beach tour, we gathered 1,500 signatures across 100 legislative districts! We want to give a huge shout out to the chapters and student clubs that we collaborated with along the way. Not only that, we are indebted to YOU, as Friends of the Ocean, for coming out to support public beach access and protecting California’s coast.
One of dozens of offices we visited to hand-deliver postcards to assemblymembers and state senators!
If you weren’t able to visit us but still want to make your voice heard, please sign our petition to Governor Newsom to let him know you care about California’s Coastal Act and the beaches it protects.