i had to talk to about 10 people that thought i was crazy, one guy said i was really lost and that the only wave pool was at typhoon lagoon. and that was a manager of the ron jons in the mall that they are building the wave pool at.
i finnaly got a straight answer from somebody though who actually got to talk to the owner/creator of the wave park. he promised that at least the big pool would be open by late december to early january.
my only concern is that they havent even broke ground yet, its still a grass and dirt field. i know its only the end of march but that still only leaves 8 or 9 months to build.
and with building something like this for the first time, it seems like there could be hold ups and set backs. i will try to keep up to date on the progress of the park.
You know how it works, they give a finish date, and then actually finish 6 monthes after they are done. Here in Pearl City they said the skate park would be completely done by the end of summer and here we are, March and even though the park itself is done (finished montes behind schedule) they are still working on everything else around it.
This discussion of wave pools has brought a thought to the front of my mind. It was sort of rolling around in the back of my brain and I finally got a handle on it:
The wave park establishes a commercial value for what surfers are willing to pay for surf.
Once this value is established, it can be used for all sorts of purposes. Your local town, county, even state parks department can consider the monetary value of waves in their jurisdictions. Up until now, they could charge us to park and that was about it.
You have to pay for a ski lift ticket, even if the slope is on public property, like National Forest Service land. Now, we don’t need lifts to get outside the surf (although that might be nice when your arms are going limp after a long session). Suppose a beach road to well known surf spot X washes out after a major storm. To offset the cost of rebuilding, the government might try to impose some entrance fee. After all, the waves at surf spot X are as good as the wave pool! Or there could be a only one stairway down the cliff to a spot. You either pay to use the stairway or walk up the beach a couple miles.
It is possible that having a commercial value on waves could be a good thing. If spot X is threatened by the new jetty being built for a marina, you could establish the potential loss of wave revenue. But that only works if the government is collecting some revenue from the wave users.
So although I would probably try a wave pool if I had the opportunity, I am uncomfortable with putting a dollar figure on waves.
Nick, I agree 300% with your analysis. Wait for any coastal resort with good rideable waves to set up a wave-ski tow-in to the lineup sort of thing, with day or half-day passes. This can be done, and in my opinion, definitely will… Just a matter of time.
Nick, I agree 300% with your analysis. Wait for any coastal resort with good rideable waves to set up a wave-ski tow-in to the lineup sort of thing, with day or half-day passes. This can be done, and in my opinion, definitely will… Just a matter of time.
I don`t think it will be done…
It has not been done on natural rock when indoor climbing was established.
Turbohog: can you report on the progress?
The website says they are riding waves in the small pool and will start building the big pool soon?
I am on the other side of the world…but still interested
If these things work - produce perfect 4’, 70m waves on demand 24 x 7. They won’t be “Kook factorys” they will be Kelly Slater factorys. Here’s a quote from Taj on his how to surf book 'the only difference between you and me is time in the water". How many waves do you get a week? average it out over a year 10? 20? what if you got 90 a week? What if you started surfing when you were five, which maybe your parents wouldn’t let you do because the sea is often dangerous. How much better would you be?
These things will turn out legions of kids who will be absolutely ripping by age 10, maybe they won’t have the water sense to snag waves in crowded lineups with shifty, difficult take offs, but that won’t matter. they’ll go straight into 4 man heats in the ocean and they’ll learn quick enough. The centre of surfboard design will shift to be near these things.
New designs will be very quick to test and refine - also the pro’s will be basing themselves near pools to train between contests. The big corps will be buying time in the pools for their boys etc.
This is all asuming these pools are economic - and people don’t mind the carbon cost of generating waves.
If these things work - produce perfect 4’, 70m waves on demand 24 x 7. They won’t be “Kook factorys” they will be Kelly Slater factorys. Here’s a quote from Taj on his how to surf book 'the only difference between you and me is time in the water". How many waves do you get a week? average it out over a year 10? 20? what if you got 90 a week? What if you started surfing when you were five, which maybe your parents wouldn’t let you do because the sea is often dangerous. How much better would you be?
These things will turn out legions of kids who will be absolutely ripping by age 10, maybe they won’t have the water sense to snag waves in crowded lineups with shifty, difficult take offs, but that won’t matter. they’ll go straight into 4 man heats in the ocean and they’ll learn quick enough. The centre of surfboard design will shift to be near these things.
New designs will be very quick to test and refine - also the pro’s will be basing themselves near pools to train between contests. The big corps will be buying time in the pools for their boys etc.
This is all asuming these pools are economic - and people don’t mind the carbon cost of generating waves.
I never understood why it needed a german guy to develope a wave for surfing rivers (http://www.tube6.com) and why it has not been done in Australia or the USA already when they are pumping 70m³/sec for the olympic completly! artificial whitewaterchannel in Penrith.
