HARRY'S DESTROYED/ SURFLINE.COM

HARRY'S DESTROYED
Once secret Baja big-wave spot demolished by newly constructed jetty
http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/2005_08_10_harrys.cfm

Sempra Energy and Shell Oil destroyed Harry's, an underground big-wave surf spot located in northern Baja California. The two energy companies are constructing a $700 million dollar liquefied natural gas terminal at the Costa Azul site that harbors what was Baja's last big-wave secret spot. Two rock jetties that will eventually protect LNG tankers replaced Harry's. The Mexican government has allowed Sempra-Shell to destroy one of the most pristine and untouched stretches of coastline from Santa Barbara to Ensenada.

The jetty is being is being built despite a campaign to save Harry's carried out by Wildcoast, Save the Waves Coalition and the Surfrider Foundation and 13 lawsuits against the Sempra-Shell filed by local landowners and the part-owners of the nearby Baja Mar Golf Resort.

"For Wildcoast this represents the first wave of an effort on the part of the U.S. and Mexican governments in partnership with their energy company partners to industrialize our coastline", says Serge Dedina, Wildcoast executive director. The Sempra-Shell project, is just one of seven LNG projects are planned by some of the world's largest energy companies including Chevron-Texaco, BHP Billiton, Mitsubishi, for the coast of the Californias.

He adds, "Ironically, the biggest ally in the fight to preserve Harry's was the owner of the Baja Mar Golf Resort, a high-end tourist destination just south of the planned LNG terminal".

Harry's, located about 40 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, was until recently ridden by big wave surfers such as Rusty and Greg Long. Their sessions documented by San Clemente photographer Jason Murray, quickly became the stuff of legend and speculation as to the location of the now destroyed surf spot.

Harry's was a super hollow and thick right point that broke in shallow water and close to shore in an area with lots of rocks. Murray and the Long brothers only revealed the location of Harry's after learning of the efforts of Wildcoast and a coalition of environmental groups attempting to halt the proliferation of LNG plants for the California and Baja California coast.

After being contacted by Murray and the Long brothers about the threat to Harry's, Wildcoast, Surfrider Foundation and the Save Our Waves Coalition quickly mounted a campaign to attempt to preserve the spot, with over 1,500 surfers sending emails opposing the project

"I recently visited the Sempra-Shell construction and sadly watched giant dump trucks filing in the point that makes up Harry's. Accompanying me were two Mexican activists who have been protesting the project over the past year and a Jim Carelton a Wall Street Reporter. My activist friends, Jose Luis Sanchez and Olga Leticia Martinez from Mexico were both in shock as they watched American funded heavy equipment obliterate one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in Baja California. I was just amazed by how fast powerful corporations can obliterate a great wave", explains Serge Dedina.

Dedina later also visited the destruction site with Murray. Both were chased off the site by Sempra-Shell security guards who attempted to stop them from documenting the destruction of the wave.

According too Dedina, "The lesson from losing Harry's is that it takes millions of years to create a surf break but it only takes a few hours for a government agency or private company to destroy one. Surfers need to be warriors in the political arena as well as in the ocean. If not, we might as all take up tennis and golf".