Assateague and the Shut Down

Actually, when I arrived at AI national at 0830 yesterday it was absolutely closed. NPS vehicles & barricades blocked the roadway to the wild side. Everyone who wanted to surf had to go stateside or the state campgrounds.

You must have connections to bypass all those park rangers & surf that national side....? Or maybe you were confused as to your exact locale...?

Stateside was decent in the morning through low at 1125-ish, and it was even ok through high tide into the afternoon but the long lulls were, well, long. Last week was better.

 

Ass a teak

I got there at Sunup (6:55am) not thinking about shutdowns , had great surf then after 4 & 1/2 hours went to 50 to get lunch. Came back at 12:30 to cops at the gate not letting anyone in . I tried to reason with them to no avail . Its only a parking lot and road thats already there . I say close the bathrooms and outdoor showers and let us "swim at out own risk" the lifeguards aren't on duty anyway . Just goes to show how wastfull the feds are. If you compare parks , The fed park is Five times more expensive, Has Cold outdoor showers , and stinky bathrooms with toilets that drop into the ground . At least in MD you get Indoor Hot Showers,
and working plumbing . At the Federal Side they tore down the Ranger Building and are building NEW buildings , no wonder they want to RAISE the Debt Cieling . I think Ill tear down my house and build a bigger more expensive one even though I dont have the money ??

 

Yep I was there yesterday from 8 til noon and can vouch for what is said above as accurate. (I counted ~ 70-100 people in water in that strip of real estate at the St. Park yesterday, which seemed very high and crowded for this spot since the National Park was closed and everyone was corrallled into the bath house/state park area.

I guess as long as the Federal employee furlough continues, expect large crowds at the St. Park area since its the only option on AI at the moment.

 

Guess you showed up at the wrong time. I got there before 8am and drove right through the gate. I even left at 10am and on the way out saw one of my friends coming in, and made a U-turn back in for another session with him. They probably were only manning the barricades for portions of time while they were preparing for shut down. To clarify, I was at the first parking lot on the Fed side, not the drive on portion, and not the last parking lot. There were tons of others in the water at that location, but I was able to see tons of people at State side as I looked north.

 

Yep it was crowded all over. And since I had a blast surfing the next 4 hours, I figure that I arrived at the right time, hoss.

 

Yep it was crowded all over. And since I had a blast surfing a fun 'peak' all to ourselves over the next 4 hours, I figure that I arrived at the right time, hoss.

 

I arrived at 7:30. Everything was still open. The gate for passholders raised. Wasn't thinking about the shutdown/impacts, just what the surf would look like. There was talk in the water later that they might clear the beach because of ordinance found. It was laying on the beach near that cove-like break 150 or so yards to the north of the North Lot crossover. No one ever came out. There might have been 60 people out by 9, mostly split between the break in front of where the guard tower used to be and the rest at the cove. The numbers dropped as the morning went on. By 1 there was maybe a dozen. Now I know why. The tide was on it by 3:30 and I was one of the last ones out. What a truly spectacular day.

 

There were also people who usually surf at Chincoteague there because obviously the Refuge was closed also.

I spoke to a couple of old folks for a few minutes who had been at the state area on Mon and they said there were like three cars in the parking lot and they wanted to know what was going on yesterday to bring such a crowd. This was as we stood on top of the dune looking out on 100 people in the line up.

 

I freakin' luv summer, and I don't like wearing 4/3, 5/4 rubber any more than the next circus act but all I can say is.....bring on the crowd-thinning COLD.

 

I think all the furloughed govt. workers were in the water yesterday. What's up with that?

 

I agree with this^^^

OCMD was last pumped in 2010 and I think its generally been breaking pretty good since then except for the middle to end of every summer when lack of swell means no sand gets pulled off the beach to replenish the sand bars.

 

Ordinances still at AI

I was there that morning of the shut down, Finished my session at low tide. Yes it is terrible that the park is closed and truly shows how bad the government is......... BUT it gets even worse... After world war II ammo was discovered there, one would think that they would try to clean it up. BUT NO IT IS STILL THERE!!!! and the worst part is even when I did the responsible thing and called 911 to report what I consider a safety hazard. Only a park ranger showed up, and never went to the beach to locate where I found the ammo, (mortar rounds). So be angry at the government for shutting down, sure.... But when somebody finds explosives I would expect more a concern for public safety, government shut down or not.... So all that being said, If you hear of a do good surfer who blows up trying to clean the beach, It was probably me doing what the government doesn't seem to care about. that's my rant, next time your at A.I. just be safe, there`s bombs out there , and no Im not talking about the bigger sets this time.

 

I'm pretty sure its not WW II ammo (at least i've never heard that explanation before), its unexploded ordinance from mostly the 1950's and 1960's when the army and national guard used the entire coast of Delaware and Maryland (outside of the towns) as a target shooting range against radio controlled aircraft. I can remember as a kid seeing the little (like 5 foot long) planes flying along the coast just offshore, while they took shots at them. There are actually a lot more of these things up in Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware, and yeah with decades of salt corrosion, they arent very worried about them up there either.

 

Storm the Beaches of Assateague

Is anyone else ready to invade the National Side to open it up? I want to go at low tide today and sneak in.

I am wondering how they deal with it when I complain after they open it and I ask for a refund for a new yearly pass.

 

Do it! Reclaim public land!

 

You got my support, I am fed up up with this bullsh!t, too...may join you this weekend.

 

I thought when you joined fight club you werent supposed to talk about operation mayhem?

 

if its closed then there should be nobody there to bust you. i mean if a bunch of elderly veterans can reopen the memorials then a bunch of surfers should be able to open the beach

 

Quite a few people are just walking down the beach from State lot and surfing the fed. But not nearly as many as there would be if the lot is open so enjoy the uncrowded lineup and the 10 minute walk. I honestly didn't notice a whole lot of difference in the surf from one end to the other so I'm not sure it was worth the walk, but remember the fed parking lot is really what is closed...not the ocean, I haven't seen or heard of a single surfer being kicked out who just walked down. Can anyone confirm that this actually happened?

 

I heard during Bill or something Park rangers were kicking people out of Sandy Hook NJ, I looked for the footage, but couldnt find it, then again that was for 'rip currents' and not a shutdown

but I did find this 'tidbit' about the lighthouse... Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lz4juXVG2E