clas·si·fied (klăs'ə-fīd') - when the surf is inundated by hordes of "surf lesson" Noobs

After surfing a very busy couple of days on the Oregon coast, I came up with the above "new school definition" of the impact of all the surf schools on the lineup. At my last trip to Short Sands, on a Tuesday, there was more than 100 cars in the lot, and hundreds out enjoying some pretty good surf. The majority were on either softtop beginner boards, or rentals, especially wetsuits with S or M written in sharpie on the front and back. I also caught this story: Surfers cruise into Guinness World Record, which is the ultimate expression of what we used to call B.Y.O.C., or Bring Your Own Crowd, a much frowned upon practice of showing up at a little-known or local break with 10 or 15 of your 'best friends', and taking over the place. It's not all bad to help out folks learning, though. Here's a classic shot of a friend's daughter, on her 'first ever' wave at Short Sands. Sharing the stoke is what the surfing life is all about, to me.