Posted by Riverslug on August 09, 2006 at 20:50:17:
Hi all,
I just returned from Vancouver BC and spent some time over the weekend at Wreck Beach. No, I did not take pictures :( (I did not want my camera busted or thrown in the sand and I do want to continue coming here in the future.)
I make this annual pilgrimmage in part to take stock of the current state of nude recreation in North America. Actually, Wreck is more like a european beach and tends to reflect French and european attitudes more than American ones. At any rate, it was a fun weekend....
The Wreck beach crowd has changed in subtle ways since I started going 12 years ago, but the youth party theme remains pretty much intact. "Officially", the crowd size has increased in the past few years. By that I mean that official estimates of a peak Sat or Sun crowd are now 6000 when they used to be 4000. I think this is exaggerated though and is a number used to counter the anti-Wreck prudes that want to shut the beach down. I don't know the exact figure, but crowds are no bigger than they were in the past, and are likely somewhat (but not too much) smaller. During my stay there, I heard many different languages spoken, and it is clear that Asians and Europeans are well represented.
Two years ago, I felt that gawkers and clothed beach goers were beginning to destroy this beach, but I am happy to report that the trend has improved. This may be due in part to some aggressive and creative efforts taken by the beach caretakers. For example, there now is a questionaire that often gets handed out to groups of clothed males. This questionaire asks about ones attitudes towards nudity in public, and is an attempt to get gawkers to reexamine their habits. This may or may not be accompanied by verbal harrassment :)
As for the regular users, Wreck continues to attract a young, energentic crowd. The trend towards toplessness among young women as opposed to full nudity continues. But there also seems to be a growing acceptance of toplessness among women that you might ordinarily expect to remain clothed.
In otherwords, women seem to be conforming more and more to a topless "middle ground", not wanting to appear either prudish or too open to gawkers. There is still plenty of full nudity of course - just not as much as in past years.
At Wreck, there is always something interesting going on. Busts for alchohol and drugs are routine. Drunken rants and arguments are not uncommon. On Saturday, the hovercraft made a rescue late in the day when a women became overcome with heat exhaustion. On Sunday, it was time for the bare buns fun run. This event was hosted by Watermelon, a local celeb and commediene with her own website (http://www.melongirl.com). Check out her photo gallery. Watermelon was also dishing out - you guessed it - free watermelon to all participants, as well as posing with each winner for photos. This woman is amazing, and seems to get younger every year.
Otherwise, there is so much that seems uniquely Wreck: The rising afternoon tide that has everyone scrambling for precious beach space. The relaxed and friendly women (bring an umbrella, create some shade, and a women might saunter over and park her bod in it to get out of the sun. This happened to me on Saturday!). The nude venders that cruise the beach offering everything from ice to jewelry to pizza. The drum circle that usually gets at least some folks dancing. And that intoxicating, inescapable odor - that mixture of sand, sea, burning driftwood and marijuana......
Oh well, enough reminiscing. Sorry that I don't have a gallery to submit, but Wreck is kind of sacred and in any case, is best experienced in person. Until next year -
cheers,
Riverslug