Letters

Regarding surf camps [“Surf Camp Plan In Works,” July 25]:

Every summer, I get the great pleasure of watching grommets (young surfers) drop into little waves with the low, wide stance of Barry Kanaiaupuni dropping into a 15-foot Sunset Beach west peak macker. They remind me of my first waves, caught when I was 6 in the late 1950s in Waikiki.

Also, every summer, I hear the complaints, usually from other surfers, surprisingly, of the surf schools crowding the lineup.

I am heartened to read of new Mayor Jesse Warren’s plan to “legitimize” the surf camps.

When I first came to eastern Long Island in 1974, from Oahu, Hawaii, I couldn’t help but notice the great lack of skill most kids had negotiating our summer shore break. The shore break here on our south shores can be deadly. A combination of no offshore sandbars to slow the waves down and a fresh swell results in top-to-bottom pitching waves that can cause, and have caused, serious injury.

Slowly, over the years, I’ve seen an increase in water/wave experience, and with that the ability to avoid injury. This, I attribute to the surf schools. Instead of seeing kids going over the falls and pile-driving into the bottom, I see kids having a good time.

I support the surf schools and am glad they will continue.

Paton MillerSouthampton