A gentle summer on the sand

Deepa Bharath

Lifeguards had a quieter summer this year, performing 4,306 rescues

compared to 4,516 last year, Newport Beach Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer

said.

This year, summer started off with a bang but ended with a

whimper, he said.

“In the beginning we had some good surf,” he said. “There were a

lot of people in the water till sunset, and we had a pretty good

crowd even during the weekdays.”

The temperatures inland were also high, which drew more crowds

from Riverside County and other parts of Orange County, Bauer said.

More than 7 million people have made it to the beach this year,

most of them in the summer season, he said.

“I think the economy also played a part,” Bauer said. “Coming to

the beach is cheap fun for the whole family.”

About 200 lifeguards staffed the towers during the summer, he

said.

“During the summer, we have close to 70 lifeguards a day,” Bauer

said. “In the off season, we may have only five a day.”

Bauer said the lower number of rescues could also have had to do

the glum weather and frigid water temperatures lately.

“Whenever there’s optimal surf, that’s when there are more people

in the water,” he said. “When we have 4- to 6-feet waves, that’s when

the beaches are crowded.”

The surf “wasn’t very spectacular this year,” said Adam Wright,

forecast manager for Surfline, an online surf forecaster.

“It seemed like we were getting shoulder-high waves and below,” he

said.

Echoing Bauer’s observations, Wright said the water temperatures

sank low in August, after it was nice and warm for the first part of

the summer.

“There was also no tropical activity this summer,” he said. “We

didn’t have a single hurricane. All we got was leftovers.”

Bodysurfers at the Wedge must have been the most disappointed,

Wright said.

“They’re usually looking and hoping for the bigger, punchier

surf,” he said. “So it must have been frustrating for them. But

overall, it was a dull summer compared to last year.”

It was even worse than that, Wedge regulars said.

“After 30 years of riding, there we have experienced the worst,

smallest summer,” said Kevin “Mel” Thoman, one of the founders of the

Wedge Preservation Society. “We’re all pretty disappointed.”

But a bad summer won’t stop them from returning.

“The bodysurfers of the Wedge will continue to pound the Wedge and

get pounded as it pounds,” he said.

What was a disappointment for surfers was just the way the

lifeguards liked it. There wasn’t a single fatality this year, Bauer

said.

There was one near-fatality over the Labor Day weekend, when

Newport Beach paramedic Brian Slater when injured while bodysurfing.

Slater was rescued and is now recovering and undergoing

rehabilitation at St. Jude’s Hospital in Fullerton.

This summer, the lifeguards performed 538 medical aids and handled

6,984 first aids, he said.

“It’s usually what we hope for,” Bauer said. “A safe summer.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].