Another swell day

Alex Coolman

The Wedge on an ordinary day may look like any other beach. But when

it gets big, its true nature becomes apparent: the place is a Coliseum.

Thick, anxious crowds lined the sand Tuesday morning to watch a big

southerly swell roll in at the notorious bodysurfing break. More than 100

people shifted from foot to foot, waiting for sets to arrive, and in some

cases, trying to work up the nerve to venture into the water.

It was the second straight day of powerful waves in Newport Beach,

with swells cresting comfortably in the 10-foot range along most

south-facing beaches.

Rescues Tuesday were even more frequent than they had been Monday.

After a relatively quiet morning, lifeguards were forced to hustle all

afternoon.

“We’re expecting to have carried out 400 rescues by evening,” said Lt.

Brent Jacobsen, a lifeguard with the Newport Beach Fire and Marine

Department.

On Monday, lifeguards reported one spinal injury and a broken leg.

Four beachgoers on Sunday were sent to the hospital with possible spinal

injuries after they were slammed onto the ocean floor by the huge

breakers.

In addition to hazardous conditions, the waves also generated a great

deal of white foam. Beaches around 14th Street were slathered in the

stuff, as if the froth from some giant bathtub had been emptied into the

Pacific.

The foam, though somewhat disconcerting, was not the product of sewage

troubles, said Monica Mazur, a spokesperson for the Orange County Health

Care Agency.

“It’s a combination of the big surf and the red tides,” which are

caused by plankton blooms, she said. “There’s a lot of plant material out

there [in the ocean], and when it smashes up against the sand and rocks,

it foams up.

“Plus we’ve had very high and very low tides, and if there’s any

particulate matter in the sand, it tends to pick it up.”

At The Wedge, the concern for most beachgoers was not water quality,

but wave size.

Dave Arnold, 19, of Orange, said he had been thrashed by a few 17-foot

cleanup sets while bodyboarding in the surf. He was not fazed by the

experience, however.

“I kind of tweaked my neck, but that’s all part of the fun,” he noted.

Standing with their unused boards on the sand, Newport Beach residents

Joseph Russell and Charles Aguilar, both 12, said they were experiencing

somewhat more anxiety about the conditions.

“I just came here to watch,” Russell explained, and then turned

slightly pale as the biggest set of the morning stormed in like a

gladiator.

“Oh god,” he said. “Look at that!”