It’s Time to Remove Pirate Skimmers From Our Beaches

I would like to lodge a complaint with the local skim boarding shops. Could you please stop making deadly ocean missiles? Your boards sail invisible through the water and come at kids with ferocious speed.

This is the second year I’ve been whacked in the leg by one of those infernal things. Sure, they’re a lot of fun for the user, but some of these kids are morons who use the same part of the beach as toddlers. Don’t local governments have rules in place to keep skimmers away from the general population?

Last year, I took a hit that nearly knocked me over. I know for sure had I not stopped the board, Seth would have been wearing a cast for 6 months. Doubt me? Wood skim boards weigh about 20 pounds, according to Skim Online. Heck, Seth weighed only about 30 at the time. No wonder the deep muscle and bone bruises I experienced lasted for months.

On Sunday, a wood and metal board slammed into my ankle. I thought I was okay, but by bed time, I could barely walk. I am now limping around the house and can’t sleep because my foot will not stop throbbing.

As far as I’m concerned, skim boards may be the worst thing to ever hit the coastline. Most I’ve seen are made of hardwood with a metal edge to help it cut through water faster. Unlike surfboards, skimmers ride waves close to shore where couples stroll or children play.

On further research, it turns out our beach is a favorite of skimmers, reports Skim Online. These thrill-seekers have been anything but polite. They certainly are not apologetic about the injuries inflicted by their boards even though this beach is just filled from top to bottom with beachgoers. The assholes who injured me thought my injuries and complaints were “funny.”

So my feeling is this: ban all skimmers from the coast for six weeks. Send a wake up call that they are going to seriously maim someone. Then ban the wood boards and only allow lighter foam ones. Maybe then the responsible skimmers will sink the jerks ruining it for everyone else.

Other Southern California Beaches Popular with skimmers, according to Skim Online 

• Thornhille Broome
• Seal Beach
• Surfrider Beach, Malibu
• Zuma Beach, Malibu
• Pierview, Malibu
• Escondido, Malibu area
• Deer Creek, Malibu area
• Killer “V” – Los Angeles Harbor, Carrillo Beach in San Pedro
• Rat Beach, Palos Verdes
• South Bay of Los Angeles
• Westward Beach
• Topanga Beach
• Temescal Canyon
• 10th/9th Street, Laguna
• Aliso, Laguna
• Thalia Beach, Laguna
• Sleepy Hollow, Laguna
• Victoria and Lagunita, Laguna
• Emerald Bay, Laguna
• Three Arch Bay, Laguna
• Crescent Bay, Laguna
• The Wedge, Newport Beach
• Balboa Pier, Newport Beach
• Cylinders, Newport Beach

Comments

[chip]

I've never even heard of skim boards; but of course I live many hundreds of miles from any major surfing beaches...
Hope your ankle is better.

[brettdl]

Thankfully, it's healing faster this time. But when I jumped a little for something, I was reminded that I won't be running for a few weeks.

[chip]

I really hate it when an injury breaks the momentum of regular runs or biking. My knee's been acting up and I had to cut short my new running schedule and cut back on biking too.

[brettdl]

I've lost months of running because of colds earlier this year. It can be tough to reclaim that lost time in the morning.

[skimmer]

no skimboard I have ever seen or riden has ever had a "metal" edge. Its unfortunate that the riders in your area are immature and show no respect to others on the beach! The beach is however for everyone and a ban on skimming the beaches is a little over the top.

[brettdl]

Notice I said only a ban for six weeks. I just want a wake up call to go out.

It would help if the price on foam boards came down, too.

[Skimboarding Dad]

Give me a freaking break!

First off, there is no skimboard made that has a metal edge. Skimboards are either wood (used by beginners or small kids) or fiberglass. For the most part skimboarders stick to certain beaches and certain areas of those beaches. The exception would be small kids that don't know any better, and in that case I suggest you talk to their parents.
I myself as a surfing and skimboarding father have the common sense to teach my kids to stay clear of people doing things that have the potential to hurt them. Every skimboarder I know at my local break (Seal Beach) is polite enough to avoid people in the water or on the beach, or at least politely request them to move over a bit if they are in the way of a good spot.

Our beaches are for the use of everybody, no matter what their choice of recreation might be. You want to ban skimboarders? I'd like to ban all the overweight pasty white tourists.....but that wouldn't be fair now would it?

My suggestion? If you see somebody on the beach who has no control of their skimboard...move a few feet down the beach.

[brettdl]

SD: Whether there is a metal edge or not, those boards still hurt. It's pretty hard to analyze the thing while jumping out of the way.

As to your polite skimboarders. I'm sorry, but that has not been my experience. The kids I ran into were foul-mouthed bullies and laughed after I was hit. Maybe the problem is just at Aliso Beach. Maybe I'll switch to Seal Beach if there is a better crowd there.

As to a ban. I didn't say a permanent ban, just an attention-getter.

As to moving. The skimboarders invaded virtually every place the kids were. We moved, but that didn't do the other kids any good.

Personally, I think skimboarding looks like fun. If my son grew up doing the sport, it'd be okay by me. But he will be trained to be respectful of other beachgoers. These kids were not.

As to

[Skimboarder12]

How can you blame the skimboarding nation from skimming on public beaches?!!!! They have no where else to go, they dont have parks. You should be watching where your children are wandering off to. IF PEOPLE ARE SKIMBOARDING AT A PLACE WHERE YOUR KIDDIES ARE, MOVE THEM!!!! Its common sense dad! This website sounds to me like it is a way for you to get over your bad past parenting. You get over your past by making other people feel bad in the present. WE WONT TAKE IT!! I AM GOING TO BOYCOTT DADTALK!!!!

[brettdl]

Please, boycott away. You clearly did not read what I wrote, which said a temporary ban to get the bad apples off the beach.

Besides, why should I let YOU and your ilk scare me from the beach that we like and have been going to before the skimmers invaded? I'm seriously impatient with those of you who act like school-yard bullies.

[noel]

wow you are the biggest loser in the world. skimming is a sport that is much more important then you body and its pain. maybe you should stay out of their way next time and you wont get hurt.

[JBS]

The problem here is simple, it is your responsibility to watch out for the saftey of yourself and your child. By your logic, if you hurt your ankle swimming in large surf we should ban waves at our beaches for 6 weeks. I've been skimming for years and years and have never hit a child with my board. However, I've had plenty of near misses because some irreponsible parent plops their towel and child right in front of me when there's plenty of EMPTY beach on either side of me. You obviously don't frequent the beach often and quite honestly I don't think you should be suggesting policies that should occur here. No offense but you seem a little "slow", if something hurts move out of its way, don't touch a hot stove, don't eat things you find under the sink, mayo goes bad in the sun, the freeway's a bad place for sports. Oh and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't go to Seal Beach go to the mall instead.

[brettdl]

I'll say it again for those of you who cannot read: The skimmers I ran into the first time were outside their designated area intermixed with hundreds of kids. I've seen these guys invade the no-skim area every visit I've made to Aliso Beach.

The second time we were walking along the beach and the board had become separated from the rider. I didn't see it coming at me in the water because I was making sure my son did get knocked over by the wave.

My biggest problem, by far, was the attitude of the skimmers, who thought it was FUNNY. Instead of me going to the mall, how about visiting etiquette school?

[KenD]

I completely understand your concerns. I have 4 children and I know how much damage a wooden skim board could cause. I am very happy no children were injured.

Let me begin by stating that shop owners that sell skim boards are not crack dealers. They are legitimate business men and women that shouldn’t take the blame for situations over which they have no control

I wish you had done further research prior to posting. You have in many ways weighted the subject in your favor by exaggeration. Example: there are no skim boards with metal edges. I am not disallowing the possibility for injury. But a person who has not seen a skim board, based on your description, may very well picture a kid riding a table saw blade, lol. I understand you did not get a good look at the board but it is easy enough to find them on the internet.

Skim Online states, ‘A small wood board may weigh up to 20 pounds‘. Your interpretation is that ‘Wood skim boards weigh about 20 pounds’. That’s not even a correct paraphrase of the article. Also, that is hardly an average. I don’t think you’ll find very many skim boarders who have even seen a board that heavy. In fact, the Skim Online article also says,’ wood boards are very hard to ride in the water’ and ‘which means that you sink when you hit the water’. By only posting these quotes, the context of my post may be taken as no one wants to use wood skim boards. But to be fair, the remainder of the paragraph states, ‘Wood boards tend to be more popular on the east coast where the beaches are flatter and much of the skim boarding that people do takes place only on the sand. This isn't to say that you cant ride waves on wood boards or on the east coast. It's just harder and takes more practice.’ Interpret that as you wish.

I understand your suggestion of a ban and it may have merit. My personal opinion is that the ‘ass holes’ will still be on the beach. They are not concerned about anyone other than themselves. What about the rest of the kids and adults who are responsible skim boarders? There are certainly many more responsible people than you realize because you don’t see them causing issues for you. The ‘wake up’ call should be to the people who monitor the activities on the beach. They should be taking care of these problem skim boarders. They should be insuring the safety and enjoyment of the beach goers.

As for the posts in this thread were ‘ass holes’ are slamming you, its unfortunate. You will attract flamers with any controversial post and are again seeing only a small percentage of the population in general.

[brettdl]

Thanks KenD, I appreciate what you are saying here. As you surmised, I don't know much about skimboards per se, which is why I looked up info on the web.

I was referring primarily to personal experiences. I think your points are valid and I wish more people with your understanding of the situation would weigh in.

Suck it up it doesn't hurt that bad. And there is no skimboard with a metal edge stop making stuff up.

[nick]

Im sorry but you got hurt by someones board. Accidents happen. Many times ive watched kids just learning how to skim fall off there boards and the surf takes it right up the beach to some unsuspecting person. I have also seen it happen with skim pro's its completely unintentional.Nothing to close down board shops for.I think some of those same beach goers are also neglagent.The beach is for everyone and everone should be respectfull of each other. Many times ive been skimming on the beach with my twelve year old like we have for years past and every year almost everytime we skim there is a family that come down to the water and even though there is a whole beach to occupy they want to play right in front of you. I know not every one is aware of the possible minor injuries you can sustain from being hit by a board but common sense and beach edicate dictate that you dont stand in front of someone running as fast as they can with a board i there hand. The beach is nice and great and all but dont forget the cardinal rule of the ocean dont turn your back on it. if your not paying attention to your suroundings while in another food chain a skim board hitting you is the least of your problems. Just a note:most beaches have only one spot that is hitting(good for skim)and the majority of skimmers will be at that spot and being that we skimmers are somewhat territorial we will be in that same spot week after week.If thats the sweet spot for skim its usually not the best place for swimming being that we like areas with the craziest shore breaks and rip tides that generate the best rides. I hope everyone has a great time at the beach. If we are respectful and mindful of each other and especialy the ocean and teach this to our children we will all benefit.

[felix]

I'd full support any moves to try and ban skimboards in the UK. In the space of two days I was struck by a moronic oik on a skim board, my three year old son was struck and then I witness to a very near miss with a dog. Skimboards have no concerns for other beach users and are powerless to stop these lumps of plywood. Skimboarding is no sport and has no place on beaches full stop.

[painkiller]

look i dont know about the uk and your entitled to your opinion but sounds like if you got hit twice why did you let ur three year old get hit too. doesn't make any sense. and once more you gotta be a whole bag of crazy to think you could get skim stopped completely.i think knucklehead dads shouldn't breed anymore but thats just my opinion. live to ride ride to live know it live it.

[dave]

skimboarding is amazing. stupid parents and stupid kids are not. if you are stupid, like the person that wrote this article, then understand that skimmers need specific beach conditions and people on those beaches that do not need any specific type of beach conditions should move away from them and wade or body surf or build sand castles in the areas where the skimboarders aren't doing their thing.

[meh]

what your saying is completly ridiculous. You probably got hit with the skimboard becuase you were walking, or doing whatever, where skimboarders were. To put in perspective what you are saying...if i decided to walk on a free-way and got hit by a car and then tried to ban cars off of that free-way for six weeks to get the ass hole drivers off of it. Next time you should try doing some more research and think about why you got hit before you try and ban our sport.

[Guy]

You suck at life guy

[john]

wow your a total douche bag for posting something like this. i only read the first 4 sentences and maybe you should get your toddlers out of the way where its dumping 2 ft bigger than them right on shore.

[brettdl]

Boys, boys. At least read the entire post. In both cases, the skimboarders were NOT WHERE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE. I know because I asked the lifeguards. In the meantime, I don’t need to defend myself about what a rude bunch you are. Your comments say it all.

[brettdl]

Oh, and thank for all the hits from the forum. It's greatly appreciated.