THE SURF AND THE SUN

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1014, 2 January 1911, Page 6

THE SURF AND THE SUN

ON OUR BEACHES. . THE CULT OP THE SUNBA.THER. (By "One of Them.") 1 The music of the white-crested breakers thundering on the beaches has been the sweetest of music to many hundreds during the present vacation. Probably never before has tlik surf bather been more in evidence than this season. The pastime is chiefly sought by men, but ladies are gradually joining the ranks, particularly on the more secluded beaches. To the lady surfer, however, half the pleasure of the seaside is denied, the half in. question being the sun-bath. The cares of complexion and other matters not readily appreciated by the male lect put it out of court. Strange, Strange Sunbathors, • Men who frequent the ocean beaches can fairly be divided into three classes. First, the surf bather pure and simple, a person whose passion for the breaking wave is such that he (Tan hardly leave it. Then comes the bather who likes his dips between baths in the sunshine,' and finally there is the. sun-bather, who knows every sand-hollow into which the sun streams hottest, and who, clad in an insignificant amount of attire absorbs the j?ood "solar energy" for hours at a time. He is a curious being this sun-bathei>-frequently he is a good swimmer, but the water has no temptation for him so long as the sun burns brightly. Let tho sun lose its warmth, or let the sky become cloudy, and he will scowl darkly, and wend his way to the water.

On a sunshining day the most popular sun-bathing and surf-bathing spot near the city, Lyall. Bay, discloses a cult of the sun-bather in full force. ■ On the beach front a few figures are to be seen, but the real" ''tannery" is in the sand hollow behind the beach proper. Here evjry little scoop-out carrics its knot of youths and men, intent on just one thing—catching the full glare of the sun. Talk is at a premium in these sacred hollows. The sun-bather is a silent person— his one joy is the sun. He likes companionship, but it must be that of a sun-bather—a man who is' content to wallow in the sun and not talk. lie has numerous eccentricities, has the worBhipper of the sun, but he has not gone to the length in New Zealand that he has in Australia. In this part of the world it is no uncommon thing to see a man annoint himself, with coconut oil, as tho natives of the .South Seas do—the belief being that, the islanders have found the oil to be not only a protection from peeling, but a means of giving colour to the sk|n. Tho craze has gone further in Sydney, however. In addition ,to the oiling, so the story goes, the sun-bathers are given to the practice of affixing little shields over the nose before braving tho sun. .What for ?—Ah, well, that is tho sun bather's business. It is stated, too, .that' to stand between a first-rate sun bather and tho sun is to court an assault on some of tho Sydney beaches. Tho Spice of Danger, Spice is added to' the pleasure of surf bathing by the' attendant danger. There is no really dangerous beach in Wellington, but Lyall Bay at times comes sufficiently near the danger mark to make it eagerly sought. So far' the number of fatalities at the . bay. have been remarkably few, but this is not to say that-it will always bo so. • There are treacherous currents and holes in the bay at times, which try the strongest swimmers, and for this reason the' enthusiastic band of young men who have undertaken the practice of life-saving oil the beach are to bo commended. The Life-saving Club is doing a valuable work .which should; and doubtless will, if tho need should ever arise, receive the hearty support'of e'{ J ery swimmer who frequents the beach. At tho same'time,' even ' though thefe Is 1 a. ? carS"' taker at the bay, in addition to the volunteer Life-saving Club, it is inrmossible to cover the whole length of the teach,- and the City Council might do worse than place a number of light life-lines on posts at' intervals right along tho beach. With such a line in the hands of someone ashore, there would no doubt always be a swimmer handy who could swim out and help a comrade in trouble, but when it is a case, of swimming out without a lino and coming back to the shore with a .half-drowned charge it becomes a, task beyond tho power of tho average swimmer in .the surf. : .

Another suggestion which : is worthy of noting was made after a recent meeting of the Wellington Centre of the New Zealapd Amateur Swimming Association,viz., that an area of, say, 50 yards or more should be enclosed in buoyed ropes (the ropes to form a square or an oblong), to thb sides or end of which a tired swimmer could make if lie got into trouble. • So far this season the caretaker at the b3y has rescued five persons, and other bathers liavo repeatedly given timely aid, but many of the rescues have l>een more , a. matter of good fortune than good management. The surge'of the surf has a strong attraction for many people, and although tho chemist mav be making money out of the sale of oil to the sun bather, his brother the doctor is probably losing fees. • . .