Despite poor summer weather conditions, construction of the reef remains set for completion by late October. The first stage of the work is well underway, with 16 of the geotextile bags being filled over five days.

Those of you who have followed the development of the reef from the very beginning will know it’s been a long journey, spanning almost a decade!

Here’s the story so far…

This morning at approximately 9.30am, the first section of the surf reef was laid on Boscombe seabed. Journalists and film crews recorded this landmark moment as the webbing base and geo-bags slowly rolled off a barge and entered the water.

The first reef section was transported on a barge from Poole to the sea-based construction site at Boscombe.

The eastern-end of the reef was attached to 5-tonne anchors on the seabed by a team of expert divers. The barge was then slowly winched along the reef site, allowing the section to gradually unfold and peel off into the water. Winches then pulled down the reef onto the seabed and secured it in place.

The reef is now ready for filling. Each of the 16 bags on reef section 1 will be filled one at a time. This takes between 1-4 hours each, depending on the size. Once this has been completed, section 2 (already built on-land) will then be deployed and filled and so on, until the fifth section is deployed and filled.

Courtesy of www.thesurfreef.co.uk

A fantastic new book came in post today, courtesy of Pavilion Books, an imprint of Anova Books Group Ltd.

‘Extreme Surf’ by Benjamin Marcus illustrates the lengths that some people will go for the ultimate surfing experience. Beginning with a history of the sport’s evolution, the book takes us to the most remote, most popular, and most dangerous surfing spots. From the longest, fastest, coldest and warmest waves to the deadliest waters, the book is packed with jaw-dropping images and engaging text.

Here is an extract taken from the book entitled ‘Messing with Mother Nature’, featuring Bournemouth’s upcoming artificial surf reef. Extract reproduced with permission.

Artificial reefs are dependent on swell. They can’t create magic with no materials, so you have to wonder about the wisdom of putting an artificial reef halfway up the English channel.

In December of 2007, England’s Marine and Fisheries Agency granted a special environmental license to Bournemouth Council to begin construction of an artificial reef between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers. Bournemouth is on the south coast of England, about halfway between Land’s End and Dover. The limited swell window in the middle of the English Channel is even less for Bournemouth, which is tucked away within Poole Bay and the Isle of Wight.

Stuart Matthews has been surfing England his whole life, and he says there is more surf in that area than the location would suggest: “Bournemouth reef does get swell and just 25 miles away to the west, a reef break at Kimmeridge Bay is one of the best waves in the UK - when it breaks.”

Recreational studies of the area have tallied anywhere from 77 to 100 surfable days in the Bournemouth/Boscombe area, and the local hopes are that the reef will make sense of what ocean energy is available in the area and turn the area into a year-round surf spot.

The reef was designed by Dr. Kerry Black of ASR marine systems who predicts the wave will produce a righthander that rates a 5 on a scale of 10 - with Pipeline an 8-9 on that scale. Like Narrowneck Reef (in Australia) the reef will be made of 30 metre-long geotextile bags filled with sand. The bags will be laid 225 metres out to sea, to the east of Bournemouth Pier, creating a reef the size of a football pitch - which can be as big as 90 metres by 120 metres.

However if a vibrant new surfing community can help Bournemouth shrug off its reputation as the retirement capital of England, then the cost of construction will have been a small price to pay.

This great new book is out in October. To order, go to www.amazon.co.uk.