Surfing During Covid-19 Isolation By Kenneth W. Wright, MD
Surfing During Covid-19 Isolation
By Kenneth W. Wright, MD
Yes we were all supposed to be in isolation, but my Brother Howard just couldn’t stand being out of the water. You know the type, they just love the water. It’s winter, your wetsuit is still wet from yesterday, it’s 6:00 AM and he drags you out of bed to surf one foot waves in the freezing cold waters of Torrance Beach. That’s my Bro.
In mid-March isolation with shut down of beaches and parks was declared by LA County authorities in the face of a growing COVID 19 viral epidemic. They closed all local beaches and trails including the trail down to Bluff Cove (Malaga Cove). This was a real lock down with police constantly on the prowl watching for trespassers. Even the most wily surfer would have a tough time sneaking down to the Cove. Yes some tried and many were ticketed with fines up to $1,000. Okay, I’ll give the “Man” the benefit of the doubt, and presume the lock down was done in good faith to try to curtail the virus spread, but gee whiz - NO surfing! Don’t they know UV light kills the heck out of the virus? Isn’t outdoors a good thing? To say the least, us surfers were pretty darn frustrated when they closed the beaches.
Figure 1
As you can imagine, this shut down was a nightmare for my brother. He was virtually a fish out of water. One morning we took a walk to Bluff Cove. It was amazing. The waves were 3- 5 ft, no wind, and the shape was perfect, but guess what? No one was out! That’s right with the shutdown no one, I mean no one was surfing – crazy right? (see figure 1 ) For those of you who have surfed the Cove you know first-hand what a great surf spot it is, but you also know the down side, large crowds. Here we are looking at perfect Cove waves with nobody out. This was just too much for my Bro to handle. He immediately proclaimed,“ Enough! Tomorrow we’re taking my boat to the Cove”. I must admit that as a goody two shoes brother, I was worried that this boat thing was not kosher. I had my reservations but in the end, what the heck- let’s go.
Figure 2 Boards in Boat
The next morning we loaded our boards into the boat and took off from King Harbor to Malaga Cove (Figure 2). As we approached the Cove and entered the kelp bed we could hear the waves breaking but from the boat it was hard to tell if it was surfable. This was the first time we had the perspective of looking to the shore to check-out the surf. It was really hard to see the break. We put on our wetsuits, through our boards into the water and paddled towards the shore to get to the waves. It was epic! No one out and perfect Cove waves 4 to 6 feet high (Figure 3). I now understood the meaning of nirvana, and yes there is a God. Wave after perfect wave, we were stoked, we had it to ourselves! Quickly our attitude changed regarding the closing of the beaches. We went from please open the beaches to – For Pete’s sake keep them closed!
Figure 3 Cove with only us surfing
Well we had a few glorious weeks surfing the Cove with very few surfers, but gradually others caught on. Soon there were many boats and lots of surfers. What was surprising and at the same time reassuring was the attitude. People were nice. We respected each other. If someone cut you off by mistake it was okay – it just became a party wave. We were careful with each other. My past experience with the Cove is that it is a friendly place to surf, but in this time it was even better. We the boater-surfers and those who sneaked down the hill were kindred spirits, we were challenging the status quo to surf. It was a brotherhood and it felt good.
Recently, I was surfing the Cove and now the beaches were open, and yes it was crowded. I was paddling into a good size wave and at the last moment noticed that a younger surfer (at my age most all the surfers are younger) was inside of me also taking off. Seeing me, he started to back off. I quickly shouted “GO!” No I did not say my wave, I encouraged him to go and I pulled out. The young surfer made the wave and had a terrific ride. He paddled back out and sat next to me. He said “Wow that was a late take-off, I wouldn’t have gone - thanks.” I just looked at him and thought for a second. I replied, “It feels good to share- we all brothers out here.” He just smiled. I think my experience surfing the Cove with those kindred spirits not only improved my surfing but made me a better surfer.
Figure 4
Figure 4 shows the three of us back in King Harbor after surfing the Cove.
KENNETH WESTON WRIGHT, MD.
Cell – 310-818-1807
A caring physician, Dr. Wright has been devoted to the welfare of children and the health of their eyes for over 30 years. He is an internationally respected pediatric eye surgeon with specialty in adult strabismus. In 2001, Dr. Wright founded the Wright Foundation for Pediatric Ophthalmology, a non-profit, whose mission is to reduce blindness and suffering from eye disorders in children through research, education, and clinical care. To this end, Dr. Wright has established a special pediatric eye clinic that serves underprivileged children where no child is turned away.
Dr. Wright has operated on children from every walk of life, from royalty to the underprivileged. He has also participated in numerous international medical missions worldwide. Recently, Dr. Wright was awarded a service medal of honor from the office of the President of Panama for over 20 years of service to Panamanian children. As fate would have it, the youngest of Dr. Wright’s five children developed crossed eyes in infancy. Rather than refer out, Dr. Wright performed “early surgery” on his own son with great results – his son later qualified as an expert marksman in the United States Marines.
He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific research papers and 7 textbooks on ophthalmology and eye surgery including Strabismus Surgical Atlas and number one selling Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Text by Oxford Press. His publication in Pediatrics 2003 on preventing ROP with physiologic low oxygen has changed the way we treat premature infants and saved countless babies from blindness worldwide. He is a national and international speaker giving over 100 invited lectures worldwide. In 2015 he was invited guest of honor at Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Wright ran for US Congress in 2016 and 2018 and advanced through the primary election to the general election.
On a personal note, Dr. Wright loves to surf.
Present Practice and Academic Affiliations:
Wright Foundation for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus, 2001 - present
Founder and Director of non-profit 501- c3) for research, education and clinical care of all children including the underprivileged, Los Angeles, CA
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Attending Staff Refer and Follow 2015 to Present