Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA20421; Sat, 1 Jul 1995 12:28:26 -0700 Return-Path: <luigi@paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU-DeleteThis> Received: from paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU by hplms26.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP ($Revision: 1.36.108.11 $/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1S) id AA244796926; Sat, 1 Jul 1995 12:28:46 -0700 Received: from paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU (localhost.Berkeley.EDU [127.0.0.1]) by paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU (8.6.11/8.6.9) with ESMTP id MAA15541 for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Sat, 1 Jul 1995 12:24:38 -0700 From: Luigi Semenzato <luigi@CS.Berkeley.EDU-DeleteThis> Message-Id: <199507011924.MAA15541@paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: S.J. Mercury News Date: Sat, 01 Jul 1995 12:24:37 -0700
I found this article today, and it's too interesting not to
share it with you all. ---Luigi
>From the San Jose Mercury News, 7/1/1995
SALT PONDS CONVERT TO SAILING SITES
A new breed of winged creatures, windsurfers, will join the list of
visitors to the mineral evaporation ponds in Union City, CA, in
addition to several species of migratory birds. Martin Fisher, a
spokesman for the ailing Pacific Salt Company, has announced that the
salt ponds will open their gates to windsurfers as a measure to
recover some of the company's operating costs. `The ponds have been
profitable until the mid eighties' says Fisher. `But environmental
regulations have progressively made them costlier to maintain, and we
are now below the break-even point. Without the windsurfers, we would
have to return the ponds to the County.'
But the County does not want them. A large number of birds relies on
the ponds for feeding on their migratory route. The increased
salinity of a pond's water supports a dense population of brine shrimp
and other mollusks and insects, on which the birds feast. According
to Larry Falk, a researcher at the University of Santa Clara,
converting the ponds back to marshland would have a serious negative
impact on the bird population. `We are talking about an ecological
disaster of the proportions of Mono Lake' states Falk. `The birds
flew through here long before the settlers came. Thanks to the ponds,
they have been scarcely affected by the loss of habitat. If we take
the ponds away, they will perish by the millions.'
Credit for the idea is to be given to a San Francisco windsurfer,
Jerome LaBlatte. He initially contacted Pacific Salt to obtain
permission to use the ponds as a speed site, in his quest to break the
current sailing speed record. `The ponds are great for speed sailing'
says LaBlatte. `The water is shallow and flat, and the increased
buoyancy allows for a smaller board. I think it's great that Pacific
Salt is doing this. It's good for everybody. Beginners will enjoy
the safety and the shallow water. Experts will enjoy the speed. Even
with production components they will be able to reach 35-40mph on a
good day. I am completely thrilled.'
Pacific Salt will charge a fee for parking, for equipment rental, and
for shower use. `The shower is a necessity, unless it's Halloween and
you plan on looking like a ghost for the rest of the day' says Martin
Fisher.
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