Surfrider’s Save Our Coast Campaign Aims to Protect California Coast

Frank Chenault is a professional surfer out of Big Sur, CA. As a lifelong surfer, Frank Chenault supports the efforts of the Surfrider Foundation, which is currently fighting to protect California’s beaches.

Surfrider’s Save Our Coast campaign aims to help protect the more-than 1,000 miles of California’s coastline. Legally protected by the Coastal Act, decisions regarding California’s coasts are decided on by California’s Coastal Commissioners. Surfrider fears these 12 commissioners do not have the public’s best interest at heart, claiming they allow special interests precedence over the act designed to protect California’s coastline.

In collaboration with Wildcoast and Environmental California, the Surfrider Foundation has launched ActCoastal, the California Coast Accountability Project. Hoping to remedy their fears of corruption on the California Coastal Commission, ActCoastal aims to increase accountability and transparency within the commission. More about Surfrider’s efforts to protect California’s coastline and information on how to stay up-to-date on the topic is available online at actcoastal.org.

Surfrider Foundation Seeks to End Sand Mining near Monterey, CA

A resident of Big Sur, CA, Frank Chenault operates Chenault Enterprises. An avid surfer, Frank Chenault started in the sport as a teen near Big Sur and Carmel, and maintains membership in the Surfrider Foundation.

Dedicated to protecting the oceans and beaches, the Surfrider Foundation includes a staff of nearly 50. Since beginning its work, it has counted more than 350 victories in coastal preservation, clean water programs, and ocean cleanup endeavors.

As of April 2016, the Surfrider Foundation was working on 28 separate campaigns, among them the efforts of its Monterey, California, chapter to halt development of a CEMEX sand mining plant in the town of Marina. According to the organization, CEMEX mines approximately 200,000 cubic yards of sand per year from the beach. Sand is a vital resource for the coasts, and CEMEX’s operations are believed to cause beach erosion in Monterey Bay.

Surfrider hosted a film screening for “Sand Wars” as well as a panel discussion on the impact of sand mining. It also is circulating a petition to give to the California Coastal Commission, asking it to take appropriate action against CEMEX.

The Dimensions and Layout of a Tennis Court

Frank Chenault of Big Sur, CA, is the owner and acquisition director at Chenault Enterprises. Also a professional surfer, he enjoys the natural beauty of the Big Sur region and other California coastal areas. In addition, Frank Chenault plays basketball and tennis.

For those who are learning to play tennis or who have started watching it on TV, familiarity with the court layout is important. Tennis courts are rectangular, measuring 78 feet in length and 27 feet in width. The middle of the court is bisected by a net, evenly dividing the space into two identical sides. The sideline boundaries for singles run parallel to the doubles alley, which allows for 4.5 additional feet on either side of the court. Players who hit a ball into the net or wide of the sideline boundaries lose the point, though a ball that catches any piece of the sideline is considered in play.

The boundary line farthest from the net is known as the baseline, at the center of which is a small center mark, also known as a service mark. Players standing to the right of this mark when facing the net are standing on the deuce side of the court, while players to the left are in the ad court. The same deuce and ad terminology is used for the service boxes, two large squares against the net. Points begin with players serving from behind the baseline and to the right of the service mark into their opponent's deuce court, followed by a service into the ad service box, and so on until the end of the game.

The remaining court, situated between the baseline and service box, is generally referred to as “no man’s land.” Most individuals try to avoid making shots from this area of the court. Virtually all styles of play in tennis involve rallying from behind the baseline or attacking the net.