Barravo! - or - Surfline’s Goodwill Tour Really Paid Off For The Locals, If Not The Tourists
It’s been a while since we had a shit storm here on 70. That’s a good thing, but it can get a little boring right? So to alleviate the midweek blues, I’d like you all to blast away at this statement:
Despite the propaganda-ish tone of the slideshow, it looks like Surfline’s goodwill tour to Barra really paid off for the locals. The cash it generated paved a road to the local church and finished up the town clinic. Having a clinic allowed the Mexican government to start sending a doctor to the town and it looks like they even got the new doc a spiffy typewriter.
Maybe if all the people on the internet who are bitching and doing nothing to help would have donated some funds, the town could have gotten all that good stuff without the drama! Alas, the internet is full of haters.
Tell everyone what you think with this totally unbiased poll!
Heh.
Subscribe to RSS Feed
March 20th, 2008 at 7:22 am
The issue to me was the privatization of a surf spot under the veil of charity, not the charity itself. Not to mention this violated Mexico’s own coastal access laws. Hopefully Surfline has learned from this experience and the next event will be smoother.
I still think it would be rad if the mayor of Encinitas threw rocks at people for paddling out at Cardiff Reef during the Roxy contest.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I have to agree with JP. This wasn’t about Surfline trying to find a way to help the community and screwing it up, this was about rich people trying to buy what is not for sale. I think that next time they’ll do it better (sneakier) and there wont be as much outcry.
On the flip side, I never would have known about Barra had it not been for all the hub-bub. Last fall I went to this area of Mexico on honneymoon and we went quite a few hours out of our way so I could get a look at the wave, even though I figured it wouldn’t be working, which it wasn’t.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Closed surf spots suck, but doctors are cool.
The next event would rock if they asked the online surfing community for donations and left the break open.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Rob
Don’t think I’m a hater…
Just a critic of their methods, assumptions and attitude.
Maybe it’s me that’s wrong.
Doc
March 26th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
NO Doc,
you are SPOT ON.
I would have thought the best sort of assistance and generosity is that which asks NOTHING in return.
Kindness shouldn’t have a dollar, or wave, value. [of course, and alas, the $ and waves are intimately entwined now - a big bloody knot]
That said, I agree with ROB70, it is very cool to see that the people got a clinic, and the subsequent typewriter. Those typewriters, they are real handy contraptions too …