City Ordinance?

A city of Savannah ordinance states that skateboarding in prohibited areas will result in a $60 dollar fine, which is really $121 once all fees are added. However, section 7-1133 of the Savannah city code does not explain what constitutes a prohibited area­–a situation that is pitting the Savannah Metropolitan Police Department against skateboarders in the area. Skaters are required to follow the for pedestrians if on streets or sidewalks, but those areas do not stem to fall under the category of “prohibited area.”

Third year Savannah College of Art and Design photography major Alex Bushnell from Tahoma Park, MD, has long-boarded around Savannah since first coming to SCAD three years ago. One night, while riding his board around town he was told, “get off,” by a SCMPD officer.

“It’s pretty simple. I was told to get off my board, so I did,” he said.

According to Bushnell, skaters all get crammed into a genre of punk drug users (especially in the eyes of cops). Bushnell said he believes skating isn’t harmful, but rather a healthy activity.

“If Savannah had a public skate park that’s in decent shape you wouldn’t have such a spiteful attitude from skaters toward people telling them not to skateboard,” he said. “Anything that involves all of your senses and causes you to think while being outdoors is healthy and helping this place.”

SCAD film and television major Aaron Lynton is a skater with more involvement with the skateboarding scene in Savannah. Lynton has a little more to say about the cops’ apparent confusion over the city ordinance. He laughs for a moment before talking about the wild things he’s heard cops say to him while skateboarding in Savannah.

“I bet most of them are lying though,” he said. “I’ve had cops throw me in the back of their car and search my car. In their eyes, I skated, so I’m obviously a punk. This other time, a few friends and I were skating then two different cop cars ambushed us from separate directions. They rolled up without their lights on, put us in cuffs and told us we were going to jail. A Savannah cop once even asked me where I was hiding the spray paint, because he figures I skate, so I must do that too. It’s like they just want to get you into trouble.”

True, skateboarding in prohibited areas isn’t allowed. It will result in $121 worth of fines, should you get caught. However, there is clearly some confusion over what constitutes a “prohibited area.” It does not stand to reason that SCMPD officers can accuse skaters of violating the ordinance when they are legally skating on the street. Skaters do need to follow traffic laws acknowledge that they are subjected to the same rules as pedestrians, while riding their skateboards. Realize though, that the ordinance does not give cops the right to bully you off your board.

Tybee Lifeguards

We were blessed with shoulder high waves on Tybee Island a few months ago during a summer storm. You can't really hope for more than that out here without it getting as mushy as a washing machine, so us surfers were all pretty stoked when it went up to 4 foot.

Like any other swell, the first day was great and had a low number of surfers around in the water since there wasn't enough time for the word to spread yet. But then everyone heard by the second day so the water was packed that Sunday, even though the conditions were rough with rain, thunder and lightning.

After 2 hours of fun but crowded surf in the rain, we could see the lifeguards fan out along the beach and begin an evacuation. From the water, we all heard high-pitched whistles blaring behind us on the shore. At first it just looked like they were clearing out the remaining people still occupying the beach. After a moment though, the whistling kept going and consistently getting louder. We all figured–the few of us who stayed in the water even after noticing lightning–that since we have surfed in worse conditions, the lifeguards couldn't be blowing their obnoxious whistles at us.

Wrong!

Once the last eight of us sat on our boards ignoring their whistles while insisting: "I'll just catch one more good ride into shore, then call it a day," the chain of lifeguards started to come out after us into the water.

5 of us were fortunate enough to make it back into shore before confronted by the approaching lifeguards. My friend Ethan–whom I ran into out in the water–and I, both pretended we couldn't hear the pissed off lifeguard approaching only a few feet behind us who was orally abusing his whistle, while insisting we get out of the water. Finally, the wave we were waiting for came and the two of us paddled into it then rode off in opposite directions on either side of the lifeguard who had finally reached us. I made it back to shore having to cut my ride short in order to split the chain of lifeguards. Eventually the cops came, and the last 3 surfers to get out of the water were put in cuffs.

Each of them were told that they were going to jail for disorderly conduct for disobeying the lifeguards. The lifeguards, police, arrested surfers, and dudes to drunk to leave the beach all congregated under the pier.

Upon reaching the car I realized my boy, Grinch, was nowhere to be seen. As I approached the pier through the squalls of rain overhead, I caught eyes with Grinch as I stepped under the cover from the pier. He flashed his handcuffs from behind his back as soon as he caught eyes with me.

After the cops had everybody convinced the 3 detained were going into a cell, they let the arrested go with tickets instead. It was a relief to say the least.

As Grinch and I walked out through the rain we heard a cop ask another officer: "So, we got the three we needed?"

At least they met quota, right?

Ever want to design and build your own skateboard?

Here is how you can construct your own deck affordably:

Supplies
• 2/4 or 3/4 piece of wood
• Saw (electric or hand saw)
• Sandpaper (a sander if possible)
• Power drill
• 8 bolts and 8 nuts
• Screwdriver
• Pliers
• Any pair of roller skates
• Grip tape

Warning: Some of the necessary tools can be considered dangerous if not used with caution.

Board Design
1. Sketch your desired shape onto the wood.
Note: You can choose a number of different shapes, see examples on page 2, or design your own.
2. Use saw to cut out your sketched shape from wood.
3. Take sandpaper or sander to smooth all edges around cut out.

Wheels and Trucks
1. Remove trucks from roller skate with a screwdriver.
Note: The wheels will remain attached to the trucks.
2. Align trucks in an appropriate location on the bottom of your board.
Note: Remember to keep them balanced and centered.
3. Mark the holes locations for screw holes with a pencil.
4. Use drill to install eight holes.
5. Place trucks back on the board.
6. Secure trucks with your 8 bolts and 8 nuts using screwdriver and pliers.
Note: If you aren’t comfortable because they are too loose or tight adjust with the same tools.
7. Apply grip tape on the top of your new board.
Note: To customize your deck, create your own design with grip tape.
8. Now go skate with your homemade skateboard.
Note: With another piece of wood you can make another board for a friend with the trucks from the extra roller skate.

Here is an example of what it can look like.