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Entertainer Wavy Gravy and Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg like Red Rock Beach, Marin Superior Court Commissioner Roy Chernus favors Bass Lake, and Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey says he's been naked at Red Rock, Bolinas, Hagmier Pond, and Mount Vision Pond.

"I've probably hit every nude beach in Marin," says Kinsey, who's described his visits as "exhilarating and normal."  "My last dip was at Bass Lake last fall.  It has beautiful, fresh water and the swimming environment is wonderful.  I look forward to the next opportunity."

But on their next trips to the nude section of beautiful Muir Beach, visitors may notice something new: a warning sign's being erected by the county this summer to urge users to be "respectful" of each other and to notify authorities if there's trouble.

The sign is the result of a compromise worked out by nudists, law enforcers, county officials, and local home owners, some of whom wanted nudity stopped.  Under the agreement, cops are making a few more visits than before.  But through July 1, 2010, only four complaints about nudity and one citation for improper sexual conduct have occurred since January 1, 2009, and none since August 13, 2009, according to marin county sheriff's office crime analyst Susan Medina.  "We keep responding to complaints, but I can't recall any recent citations," says Lt. Cheryl Fisher, commander of the Marin Sheriff's Department's west Marin station.  Fisher says the subjects are usually suited up by the time deputies arrive.  "A deputy showed up on a very hot Sunday," says regular visitor Michael Velkoff, of Scotts Valley.  "As soon as he left, everybody was naked again."

"Of course, guys in spiked penis rings not parading themselves around also have helped," says Supervisor Kinsey, who, for now, has spiked his previous threat to fight back by starting an effort to make Muir and other beaches clothing-optional under a 1975 law giving Marin County the power to exempt areas from its anti-nudity provisions.  "Sometimes the best thing we can do in government is to stay out of the way."

Home owners remain wary.  One, who wants to remain anonymous, tells the Guardian:  "We are optimistic" about being able to "coexist" with the naturists, "but we also remain very clear about what is legal and what will and won't be tolerated."  And a former advocate of the ban told me that instead of not going to Muir Beach "a person wanting to use the beach nude might do it in a manner that doesn't draw a lot of attention."

As if the Marin mash-up wasn't enough, nervous naturists also got ready to do battle with state authorities, whom, they feared, would eventually ban nudity at Devil's Slide, in San Mateo County, and Bonny Doon Beach, near Santa Cruz, both of which are state beaches.

The jitters came in the wake of an October 2009 California high court ruling allowing a crackdown on nude sunbathing on state beaches, even in areas traditionally used for such activity.  "All it takes now is an individual ranger with the desire to issue a citation," warns R. Allen Baylis, a Huntington Beach-based attorney representing the Naturist Action Committee, the USA's biggest nudist lobbying group.  "It could have a chilling effect (on nudity) on any state beach."

"Our thin line of security has been overturned," says Rich Pasco, head of the Bay Area Naturists, based in San Jose.  "So let's hope that in today's economy, the thin level of state park staff has better things to do with their time than dealing with naturists."

At press time, the NAC, along with BAN and 14 other nudist groups, were preparing, for the first time, to officially petition California to "designate clothing-optional areas" on one or more state beaches.  Other efforts have, says Baylis, been "less formal."

"Do they really expect us to pack up and leave?" asks Baylis.  "We're going to fight back.  This is our freedom they're messing with!"

What's the good news? Just like at Muir Beach, it doesn't look like naturists have anything to worry about for now in Northern California.  "In the short term, things at Bonny Doon are destined to continue the way they are," says Kirk Lingenfelter, sector superintendent for Bonny Doon. He wants a better trail, stairs, and parking, but says the cash-starved state doesn't have a budget to make even a preliminary plan or increase ranger visits.  He said his staff have not issued any citations or warnings at the nude cove, which he calls one of the spots that "really give you the feeling of rugged, untouched majesty.  It's a very important feeling.  Going to places like Bonny Doon helps you get recharged."

And Devil's Slide's top cop, who wants to remain anonymous, told us:  "Rangers aren't going to be pursuing enforcement against nudity, per se.  Nothing's changed."  Rangers will continue responding to complaints, he explained, but it usually means they arrive too late to do anything about them because cell phones don't work on the beach.  "We hear about it after the fact," says another Devil's Slide enforcer, Supervising State Park Ranger Michael Grant.

Want to contribute to the glad tidings?  There's still time for plenty of fun in the sun. You can donate yyour body to the record books, at least temporarily, by showing up at the Sequoians Clothes Free Club in Castro Valley July 10, when its annual attempt at setting a world skinny-dipping record, with 138 other nude locations, will be held.  And if you've ever been dying to do a little light cleaning in the nude (no window washing needed), here's your chance: your butt can be bare if you stop by Bonny Doon September 18 to help fans pick up cigarette butts and other litter on the beach.

Speaking of good things, would you like to help improve our report? Please send brainstorms, your new beach "finds," improved directions (especially road milepost numbers), and trip reports to garhan@aol.com or by snail mail to Gary Hanauer, c/o San Francisco Guardian, 135 Mississippi St., San Francisco CA 94107. Please include your phone number so we can verify that you're not just another mirage in the nude beach sand.

About the ratings: We give an A to spots that are large or well-established and where the crowd is mostly nude (not including watches, waterproof cameras, and ugly old men who feel compelled to wear banana hammocks); B to places where less than half the visitors are nude; C to small or emerging nude areas (but not your backyard, even if your neighbors are joining in); and D to areas we suggest you lock yourself in handcuffs to avoid.

Banner photo: Cort, Makay, Jan, and Shayne frolic on North Baker Beach. Photo by Spencer Hansen