*This story will be constantly updated with new info & photos as we get them.*
*New updates will always appear at the bottom.*
*LAST UPDATE: Sunday 12:30PM, 4-19-2020*




On Thursday morning, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks started pouring sand into the Venice Skate Park.

While out filming the morning surf for our daily Instagram Stories, our shooter noticed some bulldozers dumping sand on the skate park and started shooting it.



Several employees were shoveling sand into all areas of the park, while the bulldozer dumped sand along the skate park's rim walkway and into the street section. And of course, as seen in our Instagram Stories, they were getting all sorts of harassment from a handful of skaters and non-skaters.



This is temporary, the sand was put into the skate park to prevent people from skating it. The skate park has been closed for several weeks now due to the stay at home orders, but too many people have been skating it, and just plain hanging out in it. So the Department of Recreation and Parks decided to do more, since the caution tape and signs didn't work.

We asked Lance LeMond, someone who has been involved with the skate park since before it was built and now works for the Parks & Rec, about this and his reply was that they are just going to put enough sand in there that will keep people from skating it.

We saw that cardboard was placed over the all the park's drains with sandbags to hold them down. But the cardboard pieces were not taped down at the edges, so let's hope the method they chose works.



According to the Department of Recreation and Parks, the weight of the sand should not be an issue. They are not putting in an amount that will cause damage to the skate park.







We also noticed that the city is now taking notes on how people at the beaches are following the social distancing guidelines. They have been watching the numbers of people wearing face masks compared to those that do not. The news networks keep doing hit pieces on how people at Venice Beach are not following the guidelines, even though we keep catching all those same reporters and cameramen not following the orders themselves.





There is no info on how long the sand is going to be in place. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti did announce that "large gatherings" including sporting events may not be approved until 2021. With the large crowds that this skate park gets, it might be till then.









UPDATE: Friday 10:20AM, 4-17-2020
More sand being added on Friday, and @WahineKaii snapped this photo (below) of the bulldozer inside of the skate park moving sand around the street section.


Photo by @WahineKaii

The Venice Skate Park is not the only the park having this done, the same thing already happened to the San Clemente Skate park


Photo by Ryan Mata

The San Clemente Times reports: "On Monday, the City of San Clemente poured 37 tons of sand onto the concrete surface of the Ralphs Skate Court off Avenida La Pata as part of an effort to deter skaters from visiting the park during the coronavirus pandemic."

It is probably a god bet to say the Venice Skate park will end up looking like that.

UPDATE: Friday 5:30PM, 4-17-2020

Photo by Stu Munde

There's an aerial photo (above) of the skate park on Friday.

UPDATE: Friday 5:45PM, 4-17-2020

The Patch reports:
"Residents have complained that groups of people still gathered in Venice, and weren't taking the stay-home order and social distancing preventative measures serious."

We saw it almost daily, group just hanging out at the park, not keeping the six foot distance from each other, challenging the police when told to leave, etc...



UPDATE: Saturday 12:30PM, 4-18-2020


Photo by HUNTER W E ! S S

Rose Watson, the Director of Public Information at City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks made some statements on the dumping of sand in the Venice Skate Park.

Watson said Department of Recreation & Parks has filled skate parks with sand in the past in order to keep people from using them before construction has been completed.

She said so far, just the skate park in Venice has been laden with sand, but Department of Recreation & Parks will fill other skateboard facilities if people are seen gathering during the Safer at Home orders.

"We're doing this for our safety, their safety and the safety of others," Watson said. "When this is all over, trust me, we will open them, but right now it's important for them to not use the skate parks."

Meanwhile, the big network news stations are scrambling to get photos of the park:



And for now, the word we were given is that they are done adding sand to the skate park, but if people keep skating it, more will be added.


UPDATE: Sunday 12:30PM, 4-19-2020

More updates will be added as we get them. Working on saving all the Instagram Stories clips and creating one video for them all too.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

On April 2, 2020, Lost Hills Sheriff’s station deputies were flagged down by lifeguards regarding a male adult in the water, disobeying lifeguard orders to exit the water.

The suspect remained in the water paddle boarding for approximately 30-40 minutes. LASD boat was brought in from Marina Del Rey Station, once the Sheriff’s boat arrived on scene, the suspect complied and swam to shore.

The suspect was arrested for Disobeying a Lifeguard 17.12.115 LACC and Violation of Government Code 8665. The suspect was transported to Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station where he was booked and released on a promise to appear.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Here's a follow up to The Standup Paddleboarder Gives Chase, Gets Arrested story.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Some standup paddleboarder had a Lifegaurd and police boat chasing him around Surfrider today.

He was cuffed and taken away.

It was all strammed live on the BROTHERS MARSHALL Intagram Story

View this post on Instagram

First Ever high speed Police S.U.P. PURSUIT??? MALIBU WE LOVE YOU!!!

A post shared by BROTHERS MARSHALL (@brothers_marshall) on Apr 2, 2020 at 4:44pm PDT

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Day One of the Los Angeles County Beach Closure and it looks like someone already got a ticket for surfing, but updated info shows the $1,000 ticket have been given for a different reason. Read On...

That footage from Ashley SaveLA shows the police, followed by Lifeguards, telling surfers to get out of the water and that they can be arrested for not doing so. Awhile later, one surfer ends up getting a ticket.

"This happened after the water had been cleared an hour earlier by the police. I watched a lifeguard personally approach him while he was stretching on the sand & told him the beach was closed and he needed to leave. Instead he paddled out & the cops showed up"

And below is one of the surf cam's angle of it:

UPDATED INFO! #1 -Thanks to Reno Jack Aguinaldo for the news tip)

The ticket wasn't so much for surfing as it was for...well... just read what happened according to eyewitness Derek Levy:

"The lifeguard gently told the surfer that the beach/ocean was closed. The surfer said 'Fuck you, waddaya gonna do?' The cop stepped in and gave the surfer a $1000 ticket."



UPDATED INFO! #2

Everyone has been very cooperative, it was just that one guy,” said Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Mike Sistoni, who said lifeguards contacted police to issue the surfer a citation when the guy refused to leave the beach. “Everyone else has been pretty cool… I don’t know if he was having a bad day or what.”

Manhattan Beach Police Sergeant Steve Kitsios said Saturday afternoon that no other beach closure violators have been cited and that his department is relying on voluntary compliance.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

In Addition to the closure of all beach parking lots, the City Of Malibu is going to pu parking rsstrictions on PCH and other streets in Malibu. Here is the official statement:

The City of Malibu, in cooperation with Caltrans, will post 'No Parking' signs along sections of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and on certain City streets to support restrictions on beach and trail access, and to prevent violation of the Los Angeles County Public Health Officer’s order that closed all beaches from Malibu through the South Bay effective March 27 to April 19.

The areas where parking will be prohibited are:
• Malibu Bluffs Park parking lot
• Las Flores Creek Park and parking lots on Las Flores Cyn Rd and Rambla Pacifico
• Trancas Cyn Park parking lot
• South side of PCH along Zuma Beach
• South side of PCH near Corral Cyn Rd (end of Malibu Rd to Corral Cyn Rd)
• South side of PCH at Las Tunas Beach
• South side of PCH at Paradise Cove (Sea Lane Dr to Paradise Cove Rd)
• North side of PCH near Winding Way (between East Winding Way and West Winding Way)
• South side of PCH between Dan Blocker Beach parking lot and Latigo Shore Dr
• South side of Westward Beach Rd
• Cliffiside Dr near the Nature Preserve Trail



For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

UPDATED - LA Beaches & Harbors made this statement:

What does it mean when beaches are closed?

NO swimming
NO surfing
NO running
NO picnics
NO bicycling
NO volleyball


The LACoFD Lifeguard Division made this statement:

"Effective immediately, all Los Angeles County Beaches will be closed until at least April, 19th by the Order of the Public Health Officer.

The Los Angeles County Fire Departmental Lifeguard Division will continue to patrol the beaches to advise unknowing patrons of this new closure. All public piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths, and beach access points will be closed to reduce beach and bike path crowding and increase social distancing. We urge the public to #stayhome and practice #socialdistancing when conducting essential activities. Do your part to slow the spread of COVID-19. We’re all in this together. Stay home to save lives."

When asked if surfing was still allowed, they say to read their comment about clarification on the term beach, which is:

17.12.030 - Beach.
"Beach" means a public beach or shoreline area, inclusive of all appurtenant areas such as, by way of illustration and not by limitation, beach facilities, bicycle paths, promenades, service and emergency roads, parking lots, pedestrian stairways and access-ways, landscaping, slopes, jetties, creek beds, revetments, drains, and all navigable waters within one thousand feet from the public beach or shoreline area, bordering the Pacific Ocean owned, controlled, or managed by the County, in incorporated or unincorporated territory.
(Ord. 2012-0005 § 15, 2012: Ord. 9767

So it appears they are stating, without directly stating it, is that you are not allowed to surf in LA County till at least April 15th.

We will keep up on this as it develops.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

“The crowds we saw at our beaches last weekend were unacceptable,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a written statement. “In order to save lives, beaches in LA County will be temporarily closed.”

The order goes into effect “immediately” and runs through April 19, 2020, according to the L.A. County Department of public health.

Officials said beaches will reopen when public health officials deem it safe.

“We cannot risk another sunny weekend with crowds at the beach spreading this virus,” Hahn said.

In less than a week, confirmed COVID-19 cases in L.A. County have more than tripled, climbing from 409 to 1,465 as of Friday, according to Barbara Ferrer, the director the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

“I ask that you help us by not going to out beaches and not going on our hiking trails at least for the next few weeks while we, again, try desperately to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Ferrer told residents in a news conference Thursday.

The public health order also applies to piers, promenades and beach bike paths and bathrooms across the county, officials said.

LACoFD Lifeguard Division add:
The Los Angeles County Lifeguards will continue to patrol the beaches to advise unknowing patrons of this new closure. All public piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths, and beach access points will also be closed to reduce beach and bike path crowding. We urge the public to stay home and practice social distancing when conducting essential activities. Do your part to slow the spread of COVID-19. We’re all in this together.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Here's an update to the Santa Monica Can Fine You $100 for NOT Social Distancing report that was posted a few days ago:

The Santa Monica Police made this statement, "We have received a few calls asking if SMPD personnel are ticketing for exercising outside or violating the Safer At Home orders. This is FALSE. Officers continue their regular patrols & encourage everyone to take social distancing and Stay At Home requirements seriously."

"SMPD officers, while legally authorized to issues citations, they are not doing so."

@LAPDHQ made this statement via their twitter: "We’ve heard the rumors, so let’s put an end to them. No, the LAPD is not stopping or ticketing people for exercising outdoors. Spreading false rumors during this time does no good."



For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

A statement from Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti on the closure of the Venice Pier:



For more of our local coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

The City of Santa Monica updated the Stay at Home Orders to include ticketing people who are not following them:
City officers are authorized to issue administrative citations to enforce emergency orders issued to date as follows:

Eighth Supplement to the Executive Order (Stay at Home / Safer at Home Orders) - for individuals: $100 for first violation, $250 for second violation within one year, $500 for third or subsequent violations within one year; for violations by businesses: $500 for first violation, $750 for second violation within one year, $1000 for third or subsequent violations within one year

“Our first priority is to remind and educate the public when they are not following our local orders,” said City Manager Rick Cole. “However, it’s important for people to know that our local orders include the ability to fine individuals and businesses that do not abide voluntarily.”

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Malibu's Frankie Harrer joins Nora Vasconcellos, Laura Enever,, Jaleesa Vincent, and Shanae Collins and fires up the ol’ 94 stretch limo and head west. With special guests Stephanie Gilmore, Nicole Hause and Jordyn Barratt, the crew drove across dusty roads from Texas to California. Skateboarding and surfing their way through small towns, snow capped mountains and desert plains. 1355 miles, 4 states and a shit load of memories made this trip one to remember. Doing fun stuff with your friends is what it’s all about!

The Mighty Under Dogs and the Malibu Foundation have established the COVID-19 Response Form to ensure essential services for community members who find themselves at the intersection of being most vulnerable to the virus and most impacted by inequity. As of current, we are supporting errand running for food and medicine.

The foundation's promise is to be a catalyst and to fight inequity by creating systems where all people can thrive. At this critical time, investing in continuing access to food, hygiene, shelter, and other services for the most vulnerable is important to keeping the entire community healthy. As of current, we are supporting errand running for food and medicine.

We are offering our help to those who are most vulnerable: the elderly, immunocompromised, quarantined, immobile or otherwise unable to leave their homes.

The Mighty Under Dogs will be sending volunteers door-to-door to deliver groceries, water, medications, pet food, etc. If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please fill out the form below:

www.themalibufoundation.org/cv19

OR Text COVID to 833-407-0117



For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

From Surf Academy:

Please meet some water safety Wednesday heroes: Gretta Johnson, Ethan Foley, and Miles Carlson . These three worked together this afternoon at practice to listen, spot, and assist a man in distress about 250 yards out from shore. Once Gretta and Ethan were paddling toward the swimmer, Miles came in and got help to call the lifeguards, who responded in mere minutes to perform a rescue.

The man was paddled to shore by guards. He was wearing street clothes—a cotton shirt and cargo shorts—and was unfamiliar with how rip currents operate. He was unfamiliar with beach indicators—he couldn’t tell where he had entered the water and how far he had drifted.

At the opening of practice this day, we had a talk about water emergencies and how to coordinate and respond to any mishap in the sea. The kids were listening.

Ocean safety and swim skills should be as familiar to us in Los Angeles as learning to walk, skate, love the Lakers, and cheer for the Dodgers. Unfortunately, there are major gaps in access and education to water and these gaps fall along racial lines.

There is programming out there designed to bridge these gaps in access and we recommend investing your time and energy in the following organizations to help broaden the horizons of Angelinos unfamiliar with their birthright: the sea.

I first saw Allen Sarlo surf when I was 12 years old. It was a summer day at Malibu in 1984, back when the creek used to let out up at Third Point, and the sand filtered down along the groomed cobbles, creating fast, perfect rippable, world-class waves that connected for 300 yards or more. A phenomenon — and a golden era for the famed point long steeped in rich surf history; and one that saw the El Niños of the ’80s blast so much sand down the point that Rabbit Bartholomew had claimed the ‘Bu as the “best high performance small wave point break in the world.” By Todd Proctor



I first saw Allen Sarlo surf when I was 12 years old. It was a summer day at Malibu in 1984, back when the creek used to let out up at Third Point, and the sand filtered down along the groomed cobbles, creating fast, perfect rippable, world-class waves that connected for 300 yards or more. A phenomenon — and a golden era for the famed point long steeped in rich surf history; and one that saw the El Niños of the ’80s blast so much sand down the point that Rabbit Bartholomew had claimed the ‘Bu as the “best high performance small wave point break in the world.”

It was on one of these days, during a week long sizeable six-foot Southern Hemi swell; my sister had just dropped me off down at First Point at the gap in the Adamson Wall to check it. I remember the perfection of it all. It was like looking through a timeless portal at a lineup where for a moment life itself stood still; my young brain burned a permanent mind photo that day of the oily glassy conditions, zero wind, the smell of the salt in the air, the sun piercing from the south, and the crisp sound of sculpted lips cracking peeling green perfection as sets marched their way across towards the pier. The peaceful spirit of the ancient Chumash seemed to permeate the air.


Photo: Ben Tomson/Surfing With Ben

As I scrambled to get out there, the shadow of a huge figure came lumbering down the stairs. It looked like the Incredible Hulk, some kind of superhero, maybe even a bit werewolf; but definitely not human. My grom buddy whispered to me, “Whatever you do don’t look now, but that’s Allen Sarlo. He’s the best out here, he gets all the best waves, and he can crush your skull with one hand!”…and it was all true, except thankfully I never got my skull crushed.


Photos: Courtesy Allen Sarlo

They called Allen (and still do) the “Wave Killer” because nobody went faster and threw bigger sprays. If you got stuck behind him on a wave, the trench his bottom turns made would buck you off your board like a boat wake. Allen spent a lot of time in Hawaii early on, and was one of the first guys to charge big Backdoor in the late ’70s and early ’80s when everyone went left because the right at Pipe wasn’t yet considered an actual surfable wave. He was on both the IPS and ASP world tours and was one of the original Dogtown Z-Boys. He was also one of the first guys to give a face to big-wave surfing along with his close friend Mark Foo. It was actually at Mark Foo’s house on my first trip to the North Shore in 1990 that I first met Allen. He said, “Hey I know you — what are you doing here? Then he says, “Ahh, so you decided to leave the rat race and get some real waves huh?”

Flash forward a couple decades later, I had became a shaper in my late teens and was now in it for life. And Allen says to me one day, “Hey, come by my house — I wanna show you my garage. It’s full of every board I’ve ever had…let’s look through the different ones and I can tell you what does and doesn’t work for me. And let’s do a board.” It’s led to many boards since and a fun design process — but most important of all, a cherished friendship.


At 62, still shooting the pier, for over 40 years. Photo: Trent Stevens

So back at Allen’s house, it was like a museum. There were handshaped Al’s from the early ’80s, a multitude of boards from the now extinct Blue Hawaii, a couple Diffenderfers, Jeff Ho’s, Rodstokers, Rawsons, Con Surfboards, R.Sleighs, Zuma Jays, and the list could go on for some time as I think there was close to 200 boards stashed in the rafters, on the walls, in racks, piled up in corners; boards everywhere. He pulled out different ones and would be like, “This one has good drive, but too much nose rocker and is hard to get into waves.” Or, “This one has the perfect volume and dimensions for paddling into anything, but it’s too loose in turns”….”This one turns insane, but I can’t make it across flat sections”…”this one flies, but it’s too light when I come off the bottom it loses speed”…

So we looked around at what aspects of the various designs had worked through the years, and which aspects needed to be updated. Much the same process when working with anyone I’ve never built a board for prior. We establish a baseline and work from there: what dims and volume paddles best, what kind of rocker suits their wave and their particular style and approach to that wave, and a plan shape that matches their build/body type and body mechanics. In Allen’s case, there has been a full rotator cuff replacement and a full knee replacement. Eventually every surfer has an injury/recovery story, so it’s always important to take those things into consideration when putting together a one-off custom design. Hull contours, rail shape, fin placement also follow suit, playing major roles.



Our baseline started with the Monstachief design. A board I had already been doing for a few years to fill a gap; a need for bigger guys and power surfers to have an alternative shortboard design made appropriate to their build so they didn’t have to resort to funshapes or longboards if they didn’t want to.

I knew a lot of surfers from the ’80s and ’90s that were rippers, and in that 200-250+ lbs range. A lot of them had to quit surfing for many years when they started families. And when they came back to it many years later, the moves were still in there, but the body didn’t necessarily follow the way they remembered. So the Monstachief came to be. Not just a resized big version of a chippy shortboard, but all the appropriate geometry and design built from the ground up to cater to those big guys who still had the grit, but needed the right equipment to get them where they wanted to go. So as to give larger-framed surfers a platform that would use their stature as an advantage rather than a disadvantage; to create fun for a cross-section of the tribe that was getting overlooked.

Like each surfer I work with, Allen’s boards are designed and tuned specifically for him. Allen continues to this day to be the King of the Point through healthy living, surfing, kiteboarding or foiling every day. He runs a successful business, and operates off the motto “work to surf”. He takes an active role with the Mauli Ola foundation. His wife’s a sweetheart and both his grown children are mellow, kind people that shred. In his own words Allen says, “There is almost no better feeling than sharing the love of surfing with friends and family. Surfing keeps us young. We found the fountain of youth surfing. Thank you for the magic boards Todd, much appreciated. I’m surfing better than ever on your boards.”

As a tribe we must remember the past, know our people, design the future, and honor the elders. This is a board design that seeks to do just that. – Todd

Proctor Surf