Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 1:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Lose their surfboards? Get real. A challenge in federal court would bankrupt Folly Beach.

Posted by Nutwell on July 12, 2008 at 7:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Sounds like Folly is making their own laws......is this a case for Tommy Bolus?

Posted by EvilGenius on July 12, 2008 at 7:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

this is not a problem. the only problem is police making it a problem. these arent school kids at recess who need a teacher to keep them from fighting.

more and more, all levels of government is telling us what we can and cant do for our own good.

the adults involved here can work this out.

Posted by 10216340 on July 12, 2008 at 7:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Sorry EvilGenuis, I disagree with your statement that it's only a problem the police are making. In both incidents someone called the police. Sounds like the police were simply responding to a citizen complaint and applying the law as it is written.

Posted by Neponset on July 12, 2008 at 7:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I don't surf, but it is not good to get too close to that pier - get tangled up in those barnicle incrusted pilings and you will have a bad day.

Posted by Neponset on July 12, 2008 at 7:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Also, getting hooked by the lines you are running thru would also be unpleasant.

Posted by EvilGenius on July 12, 2008 at 7:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

someone called the fuzz? tattle tales. I say let them surf, if something happens then its their problem.

Seriously, this is a waste of time. let them surf and let them fish. Whoever called the law and is not able to resolve something this simple either has it out for the surfers or is a busy body.

Posted by ColdBeer on July 12, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Simple.. load up a heavy line with a lot of weight and a lure with a lot of hooks at start traget practice.

Rules are rules. There are areas where fishermen are not allowed to fish and there are areas where surfers are not allowed to surf. There are areas where you're not allowed to drive you car. If you do so, and the police lock you up, is that "government intrusion"? A "police state"?

Posted by moonpie on July 12, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I like EG's and the man in the articles suggestion, HOOK 'EM! One trip to the ER getting hooks removed will fix this problem. Or as prior written, a run in with a "barnacle encrusted piling" will suffice.

Posted by Johnq2 on July 12, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Boatwright is a nazi and only hires authoritarian types for the police force. He will cost Folly a huge sum of money one day when his thug police go to far.

Posted by suec on July 12, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Surfers endanger the swimmers, especially kids. Ever been run over by a surfboard?
There are designated areas such as the washout for surfing.
I think the main reason for the arrest was the attitude not the surfing. They could cooperated, gotten a warning and just moved along.

Posted by EvilGenius on July 12, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Geez, here we go, surfers endanger swimmers especially kids?

swimming in the ocean is dangerous. surfers have as much right as the swimmers.

whats next, no smoking while surfing? this is such a non-issue.

Posted by EvilGenius on July 12, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/...

Posted by tripsa on July 12, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)

how about duck hunting off the pier, while the surfers dodge sharks with lazar beams on their heads?

Posted by TaiPan on July 12, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Gee whiz, such a matter of critical importance! What would it possibly take to eliminate this problem in its entirety ?

Could it be that a couple of concrete anchors, a few cheap buoy floats and some braided cable might do the job ?

Who knows, Folly Beach could probably find what it needs at the Coast Guard scap heap to prevent this eggregious violation of fishing rights. Perhaps, then they could return their police department to more productive pursuits.

Tai Pan

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I've surfed the pier but only in the winter when most of the restrictions are either removed or not enforced. Generally I prefer the Washout or 10th street. The pier has it hazards. Getting caught in a fishing hook, barnacles, etc could all end up with a trip to the dr for a tetanus shot, but I think that surfers have the right to enjoy the pier just as anyone else.

Why not allow surfing at the pier from sunrise to 10AM? The waves are usually better around sunrise anyway. BTW, If anyone reading this surfs, you need to get to the washout and soon. I was there at 6:30 this morning and it was beautiful. Very glassy and smooth, clean lines.

Posted by suec on July 12, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)

TaiPan, it's the Atlantic ocean, not lake Moultrie.

Posted by trod1 on July 12, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Why not just follow the rules.200 feet period.

Posted by Neponset on July 12, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I am not sure what surfing the pier means, but I can visualize a surfer getting tangled up in fishing lines, hooks and pilings needing help - how are we going to provide it? I take a few chances, but this looks like the odds are not good.

Posted by tripsa on July 12, 2008 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

suec - "TaiPan, it's the Atlantic ocean, not lake Moultrie."

LOL. funny stuff.

Posted by RTC on July 12, 2008 at 9:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Let the fishermen throw their lines. If a surfer gets hit, then it is their own fault.
Neponset, I saw a surfer at IOP ride a wave through the pilings and come out on the other side. It was quite impressive, but extremely dangerous. It scared the bejesus out of me, as I was truly expecting this guy to bash his brains out.

Posted by ysillyme on July 12, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The locals who swim and hang out near Bert's Market have expressed a real heavy handed police presence this season. I have noticed more police activity near 2nd and Arctic in the last several months, w/ tickets being given for offenses which heretofore were warnings. Everything cannot be for the town's coffers, if they piss off the locals and regulars Folly Beach will suffer in the long run; it is a family oriented and self policed beach.

Posted by tigerrecord on July 12, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Why don't they let people use the beach for what they are entitled to use?

Also, if an area isn't safe for surfing, why would it be safe for swimming? Give me a break. To arrest someone for surfing to close to the pier and put them in jail for the night is outrageous and a huge waste of time and money. They should focus on something else there.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)

tigerrecord, I agree. Surfing near the pier is dangerous and swimming isn't? See the inconsistency in the logic? I agree that there needs to be a designated swim area, particularly for those with small kids, but they already have that in front of the hotel, condos and the county park.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 10:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

TP, I don't care for MB for the reasons that you stated in your post. I'll go down to Kiawah or Hilton Head but not Myrtle. It will be a very sad day if Folly ever becomes like that. Charleston will have lost a treasure that helps to make the lowcountry what it is.

Myrtle Beach didn't used to be like that either. I remember going there back in the 80's when I was a kid and it was very different. Garden City, Surfside and Murrell's Inlet were nice.

Posted by drp7773 on July 12, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Sounds like a harpoon or two will take care of these reckless surfers...if they get harpooned that means the swimmers over there ---> will be safe fvrom the sharks that will be hanging out at the pier now, the fishermen will have bigger fish to catch and we wont have to hear farout dude anymore near the beach.we all win :)

Posted by FiscalConservative on July 12, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The cops need to relax. If it is dangerous then things will sort themselves out naturally. They also need to chill with all the crap they do. I go to 2nd block and they suck out there.

Posted by ColdBeer on July 12, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There isn't any real surfing in this area anyway...

Posted by JimbeauxIsland on July 12, 2008 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

ColdBeer I agree 100% with you. The only time I have seen any waves is when a storm is brewing out there.

Posted by willx45x on July 12, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What we need is more cops focusing on real criminals and fewer cops focusing on harassing citizens. Right now, we have the opposite dynamic. There is a reason why no one respects law-enforcement and it is primarily the fault of law-enforcement. Let's face it - it's not like the best and brightest turn out to be cops. It's usually the marginal tools who see an opportunity for a little power and a fat $35k/year paycheck.

LMAO!

Posted by ysillyme on July 12, 2008 at 11:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

along with the condos came an influx of more rules, parking meters at beach accesses, overzealous thug like police, and FILTHY beaches. Spend some of that fine money on cleaning the beaches and better LEO's who can communicate.

Posted by FiscalConservative on July 12, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey will you should check out the article that the Houston Chronicle posted the other day. They had cops not the chiefs and other high ranks but patrol cops making well into $100k and almost to $200k and most was from their working insane overtime. Some overtime pay was in the $90's and the cop brought home around $140k. I wonder if stuff like that is happening here.

Posted by withrockb on July 12, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)

WoW, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned how much it would cost tax payers if these individuals were seriously hurt for surfing by the pier. I'm sure the cost of a cop or two issuing citations or locking up a couple of disorderly surfers surly outweighs the cost of EMS, emergency crews, police, and police investigation units. Now, the comment of not many individuals being bight or educated as police officers is underhanded. Do me a favor an educate yourself about the majority of police officers. The days of old when most officers were just high school educated are over. Look at CPD most their officers have 4yr degrees. People wonder why cops get pissed or take it out on people, well do yourself a favor and take a look at yourself. If the comments some of you make on here reflect how you act and respond to a LEO then no wonder you get arrested or receive tickets.

Posted by Thomas1776 on July 12, 2008 at 11:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

ACLU vs. Town of Folly Beach, SC.

I can see it happening as all surfers band together and head down to the new Charleston ACLU office.

What is Folly Beach doing with the surfboards is takes? Giving them to McKevlins surf shop for re-sale?

Yeah, this would make for an interesting case in federal court.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thomas, We've banded together for causes in the past. Surfers stood against the development of Morris Island, and we had help from the Sierra Club and the Civil War Re-enactor groups. You should check out the Charleston Surfrider chapter.

Posted by The_Mouth_of_the_South on July 12, 2008 at 12:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Keeping surfers and swimmers away from the piers is common sense law at work. The bait that these fishermen use has to have the effect of attracting sharks and other dangerous creatures as well as the fish they are trying to catch.
The whiners who cry like a baby about their right to surf in the waters near the piers would be crying for a different reason when a shark takes off their leg or arm or worse!
;-)
Maybe that's not a bad thing. Anybody who is stupid enough to swim or surf where shark bait is being introduced into the water deserves whatever they get!!!

Posted by CedarPosts on July 12, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)

200 Feet is kinda over kill.....

I grew up surfing the OBX in all kinds of weather, what I did back then scares the dirt out of me today. No rules ever, cops would come over the dunes, whenever a hurricane was off shore and the waves were better than head high.

They would put up signs that said the beach was closed, but we surfed anyway.

The only harassment we ever received was where the area was under a hurricane watch and they would make us sign a "next of kin notification" which asked for parents name, address and phone number. Then they'd take our photo with a Polaroid Camera..... kinda sobering even at 18, though bulletproof it still made me thing, iff only for about 30 seconds.

They were cops back then just doing a job, they never complained or had an attitude so neither did we.

Posted by izzydone on July 12, 2008 at 1:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

From a fisherman's point of view. Surfing only form sunrise -10am., won't work. I'm out there @ 6am. I pay a fee to park and fish the waters around the pier. It is called a fishing pier, not a surfing pier. I shouldn't have to watch surfers running into my lines. That is the only watching we do of surfers, jet skis, windsurfers. Exception: tourists just walking and taking pictures. The have the 200' rule for a reason. We can cast that far, some can cast farther. There is a lot of bait in the water. We catch on average a dozen sharks any given day. But, we don't shark fish from the pier. Most surfers, jet skis, windsurfers adhere to the 200'. Just the ones trying to impress some teeny-bopper wearing azzfloss create the problem.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

izzydone, What do you do with the sharks?

Posted by izzydone on July 12, 2008 at 2:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

iceman1978, throw them back. Pier rules states, no sharking fishing. Any shark under 3' can be brought up onto the pier and released. Any shark over 3'cannot be brought up, Line must be cut as soon as the shark is identified. We let the tourists take pics of them when we can.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

izzydone, That's good. I could never eat shark. It's not just my belief that if you eat shark then they will eventually eat you, it's that if we didn't have sharks then the fish would multiply so rapidly that the oceans would lose plankton which absorb CO2.

Salmon is good. I also like shrimp, oysters and lobster.

Posted by izzydone on July 12, 2008 at 2:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

iceman1978, I catch and release all that I catch, except baitfish. DNR has too many rules to keep up with.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Izzydone, Someday I hope that my father and I can head down to the Bahamas and go fishing again.

Posted by yeahright on July 12, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

There were severe thunderstorms when the 19 yr old was arrested...no one fishing, no one swimming, nothing better to do for a Folly cop than harrass this kid.

As for those claiming there's no surf at Folly, I just got out of the water. It's head high and glassy, same as yesterday.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 3:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yeahright, Were you out this morning?

Posted by yeahright on July 12, 2008 at 3:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

All day. Nice ground swell. Hopefully it'll stick around one more day.

Posted by iceman1978 on July 12, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yeahright, I hope so. I got a couple of hours of surf this morning and then had to go to work. Tomorrow should be nice since the storm isn't moving that fast. If it can hang around for a couple of days longer we should have great surf tomorrow.

Posted by orpheus on July 12, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

worst thing that ever happened to folly was to rebuild the pier. remember the dancing bear and being able to stoll the beach and walk up to a couple of bars and have a chilly dog and a beer? Last time i was on folly it was a bunch of snotty people screwing things up. too bad folly chose to whore itself out for the tourist dollar. it will never be the same.

Posted by iamwaybetterthanyou on July 12, 2008 at 7:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

hippies...

I hear the break is "totally awesome" on IOP near 31st ave.

Posted by KidYendor on July 13, 2008 at 12:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Going fishing at the pier and throwing the good legal fish you catch back in instead of taking them home for freezing is like going to the movies to take a nap.

Posted by berthelot on July 13, 2008 at 12:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The pier creates a good break when the swell is right and surfers will continue to ride that better break when it is breaking.

There very well may be certain spots where the fish are always biting that people just don't want you to fish. I guarantee that no matter what laws you put into place when the fish are biting there and nowhere else people will risk the minor violation and go fishing.

Posted by ColdBeer on July 13, 2008 at 12:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Agreed KidYendor.

Posted by 8theistic on July 13, 2008 at 4:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Folly cops are f.a.gg. ots! When I grow up I want to be a folly copy because everyone hates me alreay!

Posted by tommy on July 15, 2008 at 11:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here is a simple solution to the problem for all involved including the police...

Start allowing Shark fishing from the pier. Allow people to chum the water. Allow Surfing. The problem will correct itself within a few weeks after the sharks deal with the surfers. No police intervention or wasted tax dollars will be necessary.

Posted by gyrospaz on July 16, 2008 at 4:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Lock them all up! its about time.

Anyone can surf the pier anytime they want before 10am and after 6pm but once the lifeguards are on duty surfers will get kicked out of the water. (Folly "lifeguards" can't help you if you get a stingray or jellyfish issue -they are just for show).

I know alot of people who are stoked to have all the attention seeking kooks removed from the pier, for the most part these "greedy beginners" need to be at the washout trying to scope girls that are 20 years younger then them and realize that a swimm spot behind the most crowded hotel in folly is not the best place to go shooting boards when you wipe out.

It sucks to go relax in the water and have 50 idiots piling up near you doing "the bounce" trying to milk a 1 foot wave they are all trying for that couldn't hold em' up. I love watching people on boards smaller then them trying to ride 8 inch waves into a crowd of 100 people. Get a new hobby.

Silly fisherman talking smack too - If I ever get "hooked" there will be more then chum being thrown over the side of the pier.

Dont get me wrong this is a cool surf town , now hurry and get your McKevlins shirts kooks.

Posted by yeahright on July 17, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Gyrospaz: Surfing is never allowed within 200 ft of the pier. Looks like your name fits.

Posted by gyrospaz on July 21, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yeahright - your a kook, go back to ohio and jaywalk.