The heat isn’t on ... yet

Luis Pena

June didn’t look too gloomy on Sunday at Newport beaches, bringing a

modest crowd of folks -- including a prominent surf-crazy politician

-- out to soak in the sunshine on the last day of spring.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, drawing a small crowd at his beach post,

said he plans to take some time off from politics this summer and

focus on fun-filled activities, especially the one he’s most known

for.

“I’m going to do a lot of surfing,” Rohrabacher said.

He’s also taking a weeklong vacation to France, where he’ll have

his triplets christened at the same church he was married in.

Those visiting from the other end of the U.S. weren’t quite buying

this month’s nickname.

“June gloom?” said Walt Dinda, visiting from Altoona, Pa. “This is

beautiful. Back in the eastern part of the state of Pennsylvania,

it’s raining, so this is nice.”

Dinda began his summer one day early, coming to the Newport Pier

the day before a convention he needed to attend in Anaheim.

The temperature was 66 degrees, with small surf and a relatively

light crowd of 28,000 beachgoers, said Lifeguard Capt. Jim Turner. He

said waves should be bigger today for the official start of summer.

“Despite the quiet summer coming in with a whimper, we expect a

busy summer with lots of activity,” Turner said.

One of the indicators of a frenetic season ahead at the beach are

the number of rescues thus far, Turner said. Nine-hundred rescues

have been made, compared with 489 at the same time last year.

Kres Raynaud from Toulouse, France, also began her summer early

with a Newport Beach trip. She’s prepared a busy season, with plans

to sail in the Mediterranean Sea, check out the island of Corsica and

spend a few days in the French Alps.

Breaking college students also found their way to the sand Sunday,

one of whom said she plans to stay far, far away from a classroom.

“Definitely not going to summer school,” said Mary Christensen, a

junior at UC Santa Barbara who plans to combine a healthy dose of

swimming and doing nothing, with a focus on being “perfectly

content.”

Jeryl Vonesh of Costa Mesa has a slew of activities planned for

her family this summer. In two weeks, they’ll to head to Hawaii for

some parasailing, and her surf-loving son will catch some waves. She

also plans to take mini-trips to Catalina Island and San Diego.

Much like her mother, 12-year-old Kaily Vonesh plans to keep busy.

She’s participating in the Newport Beach Junior Guards and will visit

Minnesota to do some jet-skiing and river-rafting at friend Darbi

Howe’s grandparents’ house.

* LUIS PENA is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at [email protected].