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===== Caspersian Beach =====
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Nudists cause a stir at Caspersen Beach Naturists seek a designated area at 
Caspersen Beach; others want a police crackdown

By Kim Hackett

Published: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, 
November 8, 2010 at 11:04 p.m.

SARASOTA COUNTY - While her family casts for grouper off the Venice Fishing 
Pier, Elsa Dempsey enjoys quiet, solitary walks on Caspersen Beach, a two-mile 
stretch of jutting rocks and natural coastline that she says has gotten a bit 
too natural. Related Links:

"I see this guy standing in the water facing me and he's completely nude," said 
Dempsey, who said the encounter a few weeks ago first rattled, then angered her. 
"I was so surprised by his boldness."

The beach is advertised on a "thongboard" for people who like to wear thongs and 
g-strings to the beach and on the Internet as a place to go for nude swimming. 
It has also recently become the subject of several complaints -- and responses -
- on the Herald-Tribune's editorial pages.

While nudity and sexual encounters have occurred for years near Caspersen, 
public outcry periodically reaches a crescendo, triggering a law enforcement 
crackdown. But the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and Venice police cannot 
even agree on who is supposed to be monitoring the beach.

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Wendy Rose says the agency has an agreement with 
Venice to monitor the area, while the Venice police refer calls to the Sheriff's 
Office.

Dempsey has decided to take matters into her own hands. She created a flyer that 
she hands to people she encounters in the buff, telling them nudity is not 
allowed on the beach. She wants police to enforce the rules and arrest people if 
necessary.

But for the Suncoast Naturists, a group of 80 local people who meet for nude 
social gatherings, the best way to combat nudity on the beach is to sanction it. 
The naturists say Dade County's creation of a nude section of Haulover Beach is 
a good model for Sarasota County to follow.

"We need some official designation so there is some order and decorum," said 
Ron, a 67-year-old Venice resident, who did not want to give his last name 
because his wife is ill and he fears neighbors would harass the couple. "We 
could have a successful orderly spot for people who enjoy nude sunbathing."

Dempsey said that, besides handing out her flyer, she urges friends to take 
regular walks at Caspersen "to take back the beach."

"Inadvertently we're handing this gorgeous space" to nudists by avoiding the 
area, she added.

On Saturday morning, 10 naturists clutching black trash bags met in the 
Caspersen south parking lot, bundled in jackets and sweaters to combat the wind 
and temperatures in the 40s. Volunteers came from as far as St. Petersburg to 
help with a beach clean-up, something they do every three months as part of the 
Naturist Society's sponsorship of Caspersen Beach.

"All we do here is clean up the beach," said Ron. "We do nothing on a formal 
basis here because it is not a nude beach. We are careful to follow the law; if 
not, we damage our movement."

Wearing wire-rimmed glasses, a red baseball cap and a blue sweatshirt from a 
nudist resort in California, Ron looked more like a hiking group guide than the 
local leader of a group that has pitch-in dinners and swim parties in the nude.

"It has nothing to do with sex," Ron said. "We are easygoing, peace-loving 
people."

The Suncoast Naturists approached the County Commission several years ago about 
having a portion of Caspersen beach designated "clothing optional" but did not 
get anywhere. They also tried to form a resort in Arcadia, but public outcry 
there shot those plans down.

By taking care of the beach, Ron said, the group hopes to build goodwill and get 
the commission to reconsider.

He said a clothing-optional section of remote beach here would attract visitors 
and generate local restaurant and hotel business.

Florida has several clothing-optional beaches, including some on private 
property, but only one nude beach has received government approval: Miami's 
Haulover Beach. Roughly 800 yards of the 1.3-mile long beach allows nudity. 
Views are buffered from the rest of the beach and it includes a separate paid 
parking lot which generates revenue to maintain the area.

At Venice's nearby dog beach, on a day so cold that only the Labradors were in 
the water, visitors did not think a designated nude beach would fly.

"It's not good for the area," said Vic Moore, a Venice resident who was at the 
dog beach with his wife and St. Bernard puppy.

"We'll have problems," said Alice Moore, his wife. "Even a mile down is not far 
enough."

Dempsey rejects the idea too.

"This is a place for families and we should be able to walk down there" with children "and not have to see this," she said.

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