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RESCUESFrom 1small part due to luck.”Adding to the challenge is the Beach Train, which deposits hundreds of Inland Empire residents ai Lhe pier on weekends. In years past, Beach Trains from Riverside and San Bernardino were more spread out through the summer. This year, they come on both Saturday and Sunday, five weekends in a row.“That has become-a?reakiiBr pact on. the beach,”, MarineSafety Lt. Steve LashbtfQok said. “It’s great that people are coming down and enjoying our beach.”Hundreds of Beach Train riders assemble on the beach immediately south of the pier, creating “triple a normal water crowd,” Lashbrook said, adding: “These people that come on the Beach Train are not real experienced ocean people ”On Beach Train days, lifeguards double-staff two towers south of the pier. “There’s a lot of inexperienced swimmers from outside of San Clemente,” said Kady Skora, who staffs the tower closest to the pier. “A tip that we would give them is wear fins (and) not wear T-shirts in the water.”“The biggest misconception,” Humphreys said, “is that the ocean is safe if the surf is small. That is not necessarily the case. That is why it is important to swim where there is a lifeguard. There can be large drop-offs and rip currents. Once you lose your footing, ir-regardless of the surf size, you’re still going to get pulled out.”At state beaches, Long said this has been a “very busy” summer for rescues, though not a record year. Crowds have swelled, especially at San Onofre State Beach. At Surf Beach, where the gate attendant traditionally has to turn away cars on summer weekends, tum-aways now can occur even on weekdays, or even as late as 7 or 8 in the evening.Trails 1 through 6 at San Onofre Bluffs used to be an outlet when Surf Beach filled. Not anymore. At least six times this summer, the bluffs’ day-visitor parking has filled and gate attendants had to establish a waiting line.“The trails, which used to be an outlet, are crowded at every outlet,” Long said. “There’s still room for the surfer who wants to have their own peak. You just have to walk between the trails. At the trailheads there can be a concentration of 30 to 40 surfers in the water.”
Newspaper Details
San Clemente Sun Post News
San Clemente, California, US
Tue, Jul 29, 2003
Page 2
Full Page
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Mike M.
USA 12 Apr 2022
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