How to have an empty city lineup

I live in Christchurch City, NZ and reside ten miles/16 km of third world inner city roads from my favorite beach, the road has to go under a very unstable cliff that is near to the recent quake epi-centre and 350,000 peoples’ raw sewage is pumped into the local estuary and the sea. I have made the conscious decsion not to take my board to the beach so I am not tempted to paddle out. The following news report is about those guys who live out there. Imagine the temptation on those perfect days:

Christchurch's surfers have not let public health warnings stop them from catching waves, but at least two have fallen ill.






Damage to the city's sewerage system meant raw sewage is being 

discharged into the sea. Health officials have warned people to stay out
of the water.

Despite this, some surfers were still taking to the breaks.






Sumner surfer Simon Brown had been out "six or seven times" since the quake.






He said he used his intuition to decide when it was safe to surf.






"It depends, with longshore drift. When they empty at Waimairi 

[beach], you get big lines of sludge and you don’t want to go out," he
said.

"I may be an absolute idiot out surfing for four hours, but it's selective in terms of when you go out.






"The beach is like a set of tea leaves – you can kind of read it.






"I'm not reckless. I am using a fair measure of judgment before I head out."






He said in his 30 years of surfing the eastern beaches, it had never been so quiet.






"There have been some really nice days and it's great, because 

usually you can have up to 200 people out. But there’s been four weeks
of no-one at all. It’s like some science-fiction movie," he said.

Canterbury medical officer of health Alistair Humphrey said surfers were taking serious risks heading into the water.






"The microbiology results show that the surfers at Sumner will be 

surfing in sewage. The E. coli count is off the scale," he said.

"We have had one or two notifications of cases of surfers who have got gastroenteritis, so it's not a theoretical rule."






Sumner resident Lucy Hone said eight to 10 surfers flouted the warnings at Taylors Mistake on Tuesday night.

 

 

“You have to have a sense of humour, a seismic survey has been done of the bay that the city sits on the end of and no potential faults have been found, a la Japan. Still there is that thought in the back of my mind…”

 

Regards

MrT

She said younger boardriders could see good surf as worth the risk.






"What worries me is all those kids at home now. Particularly in the morning, with schools site-sharing," Hone said.






"It's really hard for a 17-year-old surfer to resist a great swell. Especially when their parents aren't around.






"I've got two boys who surf, but we've got to resist the temptation and stay out of the water until those signs come down."

That's a bit over the top, what about just yelling SHARK !!!!

Clears the water really quick, but you sometimes get the brown stains following them in....

That’s real tough MrT.

I’ve been down your way with work twice since the quake and it’s inconceivable.

We’ve had the worst summer for a long time wave wise in the Capital, but we can’t complain. Having waves but with serious health risks is worse than being flat…

Karl

"the surf was shi++y and conditions were pi$$-poor, although the waves were excellent"