Obstacles, swim away

Tom Jones has dragged himself out of poverty and neglect, been a champion prizefighter and run across the country at the rate of a marathon a day. After all that and more, it’s hard to imagine that the Huntington Beach man’s fazed by anything. But none of those feats involved sharks.

Jones is training to do yet another unprecedented feat: traversing the entire California coast under his own power on a 14-foot paddleboard starting in late August, passing Santa Cruz in the height of shark season. The goal? Raising as much awareness and money as he can to tackle the overflow of plastic junk he sees strewn across the world’s oceans.

According to Jones’ website, there is enough plastic in the oceans to cover two-thirds of California. In a few decades, there is expected to be enough to wrap the world’s landmasses.

“I’m putting my life out there,” Jones said. “I see all the debris floating around. It’s a matter of, ‘Do I want to sit here in a trash pile or go do what I really love?’ ”

The California Paddle 2007 already has some big-name sponsors like Patagonia, but is looking for more. He also has surfing pioneers like Laird Hamilton and Mickey Munoz to train with and follow him on the voyage. Members of the public will have a chance to paddle along with Jones for a while and raise their own pledges.

Asked whether this was the biggest challenge he’d taken up, he said yes, absolutely.

“Yes, by far and away,” he said. “I’m no fool. I’m scared to death. I’m not stupid. I just threw myself into the ocean in Northern California for the third time ever.”

But to help fight pollution, an issue he says is beyond politics, Jones said it was worth it.

“My vision for this event is like George [H.W.] Bush and [President] Clinton standing on the beach, saying ‘This tidal wave is bigger than both of us,’ ” he said.

Jones likes to talk himself up, just like in the motivational speaking events he puts on for crowds of thousands. But it’s his chosen calling, after all — generating as much publicity as possible to raise awareness and cash for at-risk youth and the environment. He lived in a foster home for such youth in his teen years, and has ever since been fighting his way out of poverty in the kickboxing ring.

“At the end of the day, there’s no guarantee of success,” he said. “How would you like to be in a job where you’re only as good as your last campaign?”

When a long trip on a paddleboard usually lasts 20 or 30 miles, it’s hard even to imagine what Jones will go through, said lifeguard and photojournalist Michael Perralta, who will lead Jones’ support team up north.

Each patch of the coast will be its own set of challenges, and the waters near Oregon have almost nothing in common with those down near the Mexico border, he added.

“It’ll be an odyssey, basically,” Peralta said. “I can’t even put it in perspective. It’s not like you’re biking down the coast or running down it. You’re actually following the environ- mental topography of it all.”

One of the biggest hazards of the whole trip is an area north of Santa Cruz called the “Red Triangle,” where great white sharks breed and feed on elephant seals and sea lions.

Going up to practice hasn’t always eased Jones’ nerves. Talking to experts has taught him that “all the old wives’ tales are basically bologna:” You can’t dissuade a shark by whacking it in the nose, and the human voice doesn’t drive off elephant seals.

Not that it changes anything for Jones. Disaster may be something he’s working hard to prevent, but he won’t dwell on it.

“I have to be confident to do the things I do,” he said. “I’m not going to invite that. I’m not going to think about it. I’m too busy freaking making it.”

For more information, visit www.californiapaddle.com. The voyage starts Aug. 4.