Interesting fight taking place down at Pacific City, south of Cannon Beach. A group of dorymen is pushing for limiting surfing at Cape Kiwanda when dories are fishing.

It is a really unique place in that dories can launch there for fishing the coast, and the surfing is great due to the cape keeping north winds off the beach and amplifying south swells.

It is probably the most popular beginner surf spot in Oregon, but has a great tradition of dory launching and fishing.

Here is the surfrider petition:

Surfrider Petition

Essentially the petition would restrict surfers to the beach 1000' south of the cape whenever a boat trailer was there. So, if a single dory was out fishing all the surfers would be stuck on the beach. The best surf of course is near the cape as you get the amplified waves and a rip tide in the channel to take you back out to the line up, the channel being where the dories prefer to run back and forth.

The biggest issues will be in the summer when the gentle south swells are attracting beginning surfers to the spot and the gentle swells attract the dorymen as well.

Here is a video of how it looks in summertime.

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MypitRPpEhE[/video]

A surfer lost his arm in an accident there in 2008 and won 3 million from the State of Oregon.

Oregon Live regarding the accident

So, yet again we try to figure out a way to make limits on one user group and somehow enforce the whole thing. Meanwhile there are plenty of idiots who have never seen a surf board or Dory boat walking along the shoreline easily able to get mowed over by a landing dory.

IMO - The government needs to stay out of dangerous activities and let the people who partake in them live with the consequences of their actions. Surfing is dangerous, launching a dory in the surf is dangerous, bobbing around in the channel when dorys are launching or running in is dangerous, and crossing the street in Cannon Beach in the middle of summer time is statistically much more dangerous. At most a sign stating that dorymen will toot 3 times and then lay on the horn while running in and "surf at your own risk" should be plenty.

Adding more regulations benefits no one.

How else can you justify thousands of new laws a year?

And you and I will pay for it