Unanimous California Supreme Court Ruling Limits Manufactured Jurisdiction Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The April 23, 2026 unanimous decision of the California Supreme Court in Shear Development Co., LLC v. California Coastal Commission, which sharply

3,500 Access Points, 4,600 Acres, And Several Decades Of Authority Creep Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The California Coastal Commission’s 50th anniversary in 2026, formally honoured by a January resolution from Senator John Laird and Assemblymem

Income Tax Plus $15 Per Day Is The Definition Of A Regressive User Fee Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SAN ONOFRE, Calif. — The State Parks system’s continued imposition of paid parking fees at popular surf breaks including Trestles, Doheny, and […]

Mean High Tide Line Is Public Per The Coastal Act; Some Owners Have Other Ideas Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. MALIBU, Calif. — The decades-long pattern in which Malibu beachfront property owners have used a variety of tactics to deter, obstruct, […]

Outcomes, Not Regulatory Layers, Are What California’s Failing Beaches Need Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Surfrider Foundation’s annual Beach Report Card, which assigns letter grades to California beaches based on water quality testing, regularly id

$4,000-$8,000 Per Year In Compliance Costs Before A Single Lesson Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s recent enforcement push against unlicensed surf instructors operating informally on California bea

0.001% Of State Emissions, 100% Of The Mavericks Tow-In Safety Stack Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. VENTURA, Calif. — The California Air Resources Board’s continuing aggressive expansion of its regulatory authority over small marine engines, two-stroke watercraft, and now,

Department Of Insurance Did Not Mandate Exclusions; Insurers Added Them Anyway Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat file this dispatch in defence of the surfer’s right to be left alone. OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance’s quiet pressure on private property insurers to deny or limit coverage for surf-related water entry from

The Prior Appropriation Doctrine That Governs California Water Rights Was Not Designed for Ocean Swell Management Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California Water Law and the Ocean: The Prior Appropriation Doctrine’s Coastal Limit CALIFORNIA — California’s water rights system is built around the prior appropriation doctrine — “first in time, fir

When a Governing Body Controls Who Can Compete, Where, and for How Much, It Is Not Serving the Sport Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat The WSL’s Corporate Control of Professional Surfing: A Libertarian Assessment LOS ANGELES — The World Surf League controls the professional surfing ecosystem in ways that would be recognized in any […]

Federal Immunity From Environmental Accountability Has Made Some of California’s Best Surf Zones Toxic Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat What the Military Did to San Diego’s Surf: Federal Environmental Immunity and Its Costs SAN DIEGO — The United States military operates extensive installations along the Southern California coast, and the legacy

The Coastal Environmental Framework That Prevents Some Development Enables Other Development Through Permitting Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California’s Environmental Regulations: Inconsistent Protection for Surf Breaks CALIFORNIA — California’s environmental regulatory framework — the California Environmental Quality Act, the Coastal Act, t

The Unmanned Aircraft That Films Surfers Without Their Knowledge or Consent Is a Property Rights and Privacy Question Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Drones Over Surf Breaks: The Airspace That Nobody Has Ruled CALIFORNIA — Commercial drones, film production drones, real estate photography drones, and recreational drones now routinely fly over Ca

When Government Subsidizes Artificial Waves for the Wealthy While Neglecting Coastal Access, Something Has Gone Wrong Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surf Parks and Public Money: Why Government Should Protect Natural Access, Not Build Artificial Alternatives CALIFORNIA — The proliferation of commercial surf parks — artificial wave pools that cha

The Democratization of Swell Information Has Crowded the Lineup — and It Is a Warning About What Surveillance Does to Commons Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surfline’s Cameras and the Tragedy of the Surveilled Commons MALIBU, CA — The economist Garrett Hardin described the tragedy of the commons: when a shared resource is open […]

The Research on Marine Protected Areas Shows That Defined Exclusive Zones Restore Fish Populations Better Than Open Regulation Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Marine Protected Areas: The Ocean Conservation That Works Through Property Rights Logic CALIFORNIA — Marine Protected Areas — designated ocean zones where fishing, development, and certain

The Homeowner Associations That Control Private Roads to Public Beaches Are Using Trespass Law Against the Coastal Act Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat HOAs and Beach Access: The Private Road That Blocks the Public Ocean CALIFORNIA — California’s Coastal Commission requires public access easements to coastal beaches as a condition of coastal deve

The Regulatory Body That Protects Coastal Access Also Restricts Development in Ways That Are Sometimes Arbitrary Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat The Coastal Commission: Essential Protector and Regulatory Overreach, Simultaneously CALIFORNIA — The California Coastal Commission is one of the most powerful land use regulatory bodies in the United S

The Regressive Infrastructure Tax That Falls Hardest on Working Surfers Who Cannot Afford to Live Near the Breaks They Want to Surf Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California’s Gas Tax and the Surfer Who Cannot Afford to Live Near the Ocean CALIFORNIA — California’s combined state and federal gas tax burden exceeds $1.47 per […]

From Duke Kahanamoku to Kelly Slater’s Late Career, Surf Greatness Has Consistently Rejected Corporate Dependency Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat The Free Surfer’s Economics: Opting Out as a Legitimate Life Strategy CALIFORNIA — The “free surfer” — the competitive surfer who rejects the contest circuit in favor of travel, film projects, and spon

From Localism to Coastal Access Rights, the Culture of Surfing Has Always Been a Rebellion Against Authority Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat The Ocean Cannot Be Owned: Surfing’s Radical Freedom Tradition MALIBU, CA — Long before libertarianism became a political brand, surfers were practicing it. The ocean belongs to no one. The wave breaks [&he

The Corporations That Contaminate Surf Breaks Buy Brand Credibility by Sponsoring the Athletes Who Surf Them Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surf Sponsorship and the Corporate Greenwashing of Coastal Contamination CALIFORNIA — Energy companies and fossil fuel corporations have at various points sponsored professional surf competitions, surf cult

The Property Rights Approach to Ocean Conservation Produces Better Outcomes Than Command-and-Control Regulation Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Free Market Environmentalism and Surf Breaks: The Property Rights Approach CALIFORNIA — Free market environmentalism — the application of property rights frameworks to environmental protection — has prod

The Beach Permit Requirements That Official Surf Schools Navigate Have Produced an Off-Books Economy Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California’s Surf Instruction Permit Regime and the Shadow Economy It Produced CALIFORNIA — Operating a commercial surf school on California’s public beaches requires a business license, a permit from the relevant

The Indigenous Practice That Became a Global Industry Through Colonial Appropriation Has Unresolved Restitution Questions Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surfing’s Colonial History and the Libertarian Case for Recognizing It HAWAII — Surfing was practiced in Hawaii for centuries before European contact, was documented by Captain Cook’s expeditio

The Unwritten Rules That Govern Surf Breaks in the Absence of Formal Property Rights Are Not Simply Aggression Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Surf Localism: The Informal Property Rights System That Government Didn’t Design CALIFORNIA — Surf localism — the practice by which local surfers assert priority in the lineup at their home breaks, [&hell

When the Thing You Love Is Also a Marketing Demographic, Something About the Love Changes Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat The Commodification of Surf Culture: What Happens When the Counterculture Becomes a Market Segment CALIFORNIA — Surf culture has been commercially significant since the early 1960s, when surfboard manufacturers, wetsuit compa

When the Brand That Made Money From the Lifestyle Begins Dictating the Politics of the Life, Something Has Shifted Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Patagonia’s Political Project and the Surfer’s Right to Their Own Politics CALIFORNIA — Patagonia has evolved from a gear company to an explicit political actor, converting its corporate structure to