Category Archives: artificial break

Making artificial reefs in the ocean. Making artificial surfing breaks and advanced coastal zone management.

Bournemouth testing

Posted on by makesurf

Here is the text as it came to me from Google news alert on artificial surfing reefs:
Boscombe reef gets its first surfing competition (From Bournemouth …
I don’t know what ASR have got wrong in the design, but clearly something
is badly wrong. … As for holding a surfing contest on the reef, well, forget it. …
<bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/.._surfing_competition/>

A further update is in this article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-15427994

It seems a lot of lessons are being learnt on this project.


Ben Mondy, an ex-editor of Tracks magazine and contributor to Surfer, Carve and Surf Europe, was one of the first to surf the new reef at Bournemouth.

Film produced by ACM acmwriting.com. Filmed and edited by Johno Verity

..and then there is this quote from Jim Moriarty:
twitter.com/jimmoriarty
Writing on the blog
oceanswavesbeaches.blogspot.com/
Article:
bit.ly/asrschwartz
Quoting Sean Collins, the founder of Surfline, when asked: Do they get any swell there at all?
“Yes, it doesn’t look like that exposed of a location as it is up in the channel and faces southerly. But when big storms begin to track down through the northern Atlantic in Fall there may some pre-frontal SSW swell that could penetrate up into the channel into the Bournemouth area. Also longer periods WSW swells will be able to feel the offshore bathymetry to wrap into the Bournemouth area. Additionally this area looks much cleaner with better wind conditions than the more exposed west coast.”

My (Jim’s) layman’s version of that is… they could see some Fall waves. So. Let’s not be so quick to label this reef a failure until they’ve actually seen a Fall. We won’t have to wait long as… it’s Fall now.

A link to a map with the location of the reef:
bit.ly/lyChw
See also:
thesurfreef.co.uk

Comment by reeferskeptics

surfers are not impressed with the results seen vs. the anticipated results

on this site:
thebeachsideresident.com/2008/09/john-hearin/#respond

For the weather in the Bournemouth area:
magicseaweed.com/Bournemouth-Boscombe-Surf-Report/12
and/or search for “Bournemouth” (the region) or “Boscombe” (the place) using
bit.ly/ssurfings

Wikipedia – Artificial surfing reefs

Posted on by makesurf

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_reef
Talks about:
Many coastlines are subject to powerful waves that crash directly onshore. An artificial reef situated 150-300 yards offshore might create surfing opportunities and, by dissipating wave energy, make swimming safer and reduce coastal erosion.

There is also a page:
Multi-purpose reef
A multi-purpose reef, also commonly known as an artificial surfing reef, is an structure located offshore designed to induce wave breaking in a manner that creates a wave suitable for surfing or bodyboarding. Artificial surfing reefs can exist in many different configurations and be built from a variety of different materials. To date there have been fewer than 10 attempts to build such a structure world wide.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-purpose_reef

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Artificial reef.
(Discuss)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Artificial_reef

Two new artificial reef items

Posted on by makesurf

Survey crucial to reef project
Taranaki Daily News – New Plymouth, New Zealand. 11 Sep 09
Once the reef is judged to be doing what the designers promised, the
Opunake Surf Reef Trust will pay ASR for services rendered according to
their contract. …
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2853622/Survey-crucial-to-reef-project>

Reef encounters
Drift – Bristol, UK
Based in the surf paradise of Raglan, New Zealand, no group combines hardcore surf experience with hard science better than the team at ASR Ltd.
<http://www.driftmagazine.co.uk/surf_article.asp?ID=1790>

These items from a once a week Google Alert..

Moriarty on artificial reefs

Posted on by makesurf

Do artificial reefs work?
Jim Moriarty (currently the CEO of Surfrider Foundation) blogs on that topic on Ocean waves beaches.
Volume 1 – Surfer feedback
There is virtually no quantitative data on how well they are working.
do-artificial-reefs-work-volume-1.html
Volume 2 -The return on investment
The size of the investment (even a large one) isn’t a big deal if the return outpaces it.
do-artificial-reefs-work-vol-2-return.html
Volume 3 – Will artificial reefs reduce crowds?
If a recreational area is crowded and you build another recreational area, the crowd is lessened, unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to surfing.
do-artificial-reefs-work-vol-3-will.html
Volume 4 – Track record
Top of the list of the nine things that were supposed to change surfing, but didn’t, was “artificial reefs”.
do-artificial-reefs-work-vol-4-track.html
I have mapped the various locations mentioned in the fourth blog.
http://bit.ly/asurfr

Valuable lessons in Reef Design

Posted on by makesurf

Ramboestrada writes posts about failed artificial reef and wave pool projects around the globe.
Questions that are raised by this are:
1. How should we fund failed attempts?
2. How can we (objectively) collect information on the lessons learnt?
3. How can we design these projects so that the whole job does not have to be done at once?
4. How can we work with nature, not against it?
5. Is it easier to try to make good small waves?
6. How do we stop the worst weather blowing away the parts of the project?
Surf grooming is my preferred answer to many of these questions. Essentially it involves systems that adapt to the current conditions. More to come on this topic in the meantime read the Ramboestrada post and consider the problem..
estradaphoto.wordpress.com/../the-truth-about-the-mount-reef