The Covid Beach

As summer draws near the east end, the coronavirus pandemic has spurred a need to plan for the regulation of beach crowds while enforcing ongoing social distance measures. Just how to do this realistically is a topic for discussion. One idea revolves around creating a “distance grid” using traffic cones or the like to delineate space that can be occupied by a given amount of related people (as shown above). Other ideas include beach passes in a lottery system, parking by even and odd numbers on license plates, and patrolling by officials to enforce against crowding. With a possible absence of lifeguards, swimming becomes a far riskier activity, therefore will the antique “breeches buoy” system of rope and harness come back into use?

(above) An old East Hampton postcard, and Winslow Homer’s The Life Line, 1884 showing the breeches buoy in action