Wave of Surfers Hits the Beach for Cleanup Day

Surf was up and garbage was picked up Saturday at Surfers Point in Ventura.

About 35 wave riders took time out from plying the breakers to collect 538 pounds of plastic oil cans, concrete laced with steel rebar and the occasional tire from the beach at the popular surfing spot.

It was the second beach cleaning the 600-member Ventura County chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has organized this spring.

Surfers are generally an individualistic bunch, but hanging 10 through gnarly swells amid society’s detritus is enough to inspire the most casual dudes to indulge in a measure of teamwork.

“Certainly this gives us all a common cause,” said Marty Levi, 43, of Ventura who along with son Danny, 13, picked up 27 pounds of trash for the cause. “Where we surf it’s a big trash pit.”

Most surfing illnesses are related to unhealthy bacteria levels in the water that cause eye and ear infections, said Delia Gorey, known as the cleanup coordinator by fellow chapter members and as the “Queen of Trash” by her husband. The foundation regularly monitors pollution levels along Ventura County beaches.

Still, injuries are possible from submerged glass, metal and even discarded auto parts that lie in wait to lacerate and impale the unwary. Chunks of concrete with protruding steel rods, dumped years ago to build up the beach, are a particular problem at Surfers Point.

“You have to judge where everything is,” said Danny Levi, who surfs the area three or four times a week with his father.

Two surfers came armed with sledgehammers Saturday to break up and remove large slabs before wave motion does it instead.

Cindy Patten, 43, of Santa Barbara was among the last of the surfers to straggle in with a blue plastic bag filled with trash. Patten, who grew up in Ventura and regularly drives down the Ventura Freeway to surf, spent an hour picking up garbage before hitting the waves.

“Styrofoam and rebar--a legacy to our children,” she said. “I’m glad to get it out so I don’t have to surf on it.”

The foundation plans two more cleanup days this summer. The events will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m June 8 near Surfers Knoll at Ventura Harbor and the same hours July 20 at Surfers Point.