ON THE GREEN: PADDLE, SKIM, RUNBIKESWIM

Sep 8, 2016

All ages and skill levels are invited to take it to the river on Saturday, when Paddle the Navesink Day returns to the Red Bank waterfront, above, while Skimbash brings top Skim USA Pro/Am Tour action to Sea Bright. (Photo above by John T. Ward; below by Peter Lindner)

The beach-badge booths are boarded up; the “Bennys Go Home” banners lovingly folded with the care befitting a precious family heirloom. But on the ocean beaches and waterways of the Greater Red Bank Green, it’s still very much Local Summer; a busy interlude of family-friendly festivals, recreational opportunities and other welcome rituals.

The weekend ahead sees the reappearance of three such signifiers of Local Summer living — including the September edition of SkimBash in Sea Bright, and the annual Iron Girl Women’s Triathlon on Sandy Hook.

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September 8, 2016 - 12:00 pm |

SEA BRIGHT: SKIM, SWIM INTO LOCAL SUMMER

Sep 10, 2015

The annual September edition of Skimbash brings top Skim USA Pro/Am Tour action to Sea Bright this Saturday — and the Athleta Iron Girl Triathlon hits the Hook on Sunday — as Local Summer continues apace.

In case you haven’t gotten the memo, it’s Local Summer — the sun is still riding high in the sky and the evenings are still long and languid as you allow them to be; even as the beach-badge booths are shuttered and the “Bennys Go Home” banners are lovingly folded and stored away in vac-seal bags for another season.

Veteran locals can tell you that September on the greater Green is a busy interlude of family-friendly festivals, recreational opportunities and yearly ritual tournaments — and this weekend, two genuine signifiers of Local Summer return to nearby beaches, with the re-appearances of SkimBash in Sea Bright, and the Athleta Iron Girl Women’s Triathlon on Sandy Hook.

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September 10, 2015 - 12:00 pm |

SKIMBOARDERS ENJOY WAVE OF POPULARITY

Jun 29, 2012

Some of the onshore action at SkimBash in Sea Bright last weekend. (Photo by Connor Soltas. Click to enlarge)

By CONNOR SOLTAS

When semi-pro skimboarder Colton Wallace, 19, throws down his board in a headlong sprint, the crowd knows it’s in for something good. Cameras turn and the announcers fall silent. The clapping pauses.

What follows looks a lot like skateboarding: leaping onto the moving board, Wallace spins it below him with a flick of the ankle and lands the trick, still moving in the same direction.

Though Wallace, who traveled from Gulf Shores, Alabama to compete, took first place in his division, he was far from alone in pulling off impressive feats. Despite lackluster wave conditions, “A-plus” talent marked Sea Bright’s SkimBash 2012, announcer Brett Mahon said of the weekend contest.

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June 29, 2012 - 6:39 am |