No lines at the beach

Coral Wilson

Kites were flying, bodyboarders were in the water, and kids were

digging in the sand. It was a normal Memorial Day weekend scene at

the beach Sunday afternoon -- except there were a lot fewer people.

Under a cloudy sky, some beachgoers had even pulled jeans and

sweatshirts over their swimsuits.

“Californians are fair-weather people,” Phil Brothers said. “If

they see a cloud out there in the sky, they stay inside.”

Even a storm wouldn’t stop Brothers from enjoying his ocean swim.

At 57-years-old, he said it is a great way to stay in shape.

Lifeguard Capt. Jim Turner estimated a sparse crowd of 18,000 at

the beach Saturday and 28,000 on Sunday, very small for a three-day

weekend. If it had been a hot, sunny day, the number could have

reached 100,000, he said.

In the morning, some watch towers were canceled and lifeguards

were reassigned, Turner said. The weather was cool and comfortable

and the surf was calm, but lifeguards still had to keep a close watch

for inexperienced swimmers and visitors from out of town, he said.

“There is the first experience in the waves and surf for everyone

at some time,” he said. “There are no signs that say ‘Rookie.’”

While there were no major incidents at the beach Sunday, some

lifeguards took preventive action by warning people about the small

rip currents up and down the beaches, he said. Every swimmer needs be

cautious of the rip current, which was the reason for 90% of the

5,000 rescues last year, he said.

“It is a small river of brown, choppy water that flows out to

sea,” Turner said. “People should swim sideways, parallel to the

shore until they get out.”

Even on a normal weekend, lifeguard Nolan Bobroff said, Corona del

Mar State beach is usually packed with lot more people. By noon, he

estimated the crowd was only at about 500. He said he was keeping an

eye on the rocks just off shore because even the gentle waves were

strong enough to push someone into them.

While some local residents were scared off by the clouds, Loy

Irvine said it was so hot where she lives in the high desert near

Victorville and Barstow that she came to the beach with her family to

cool off.

“We knew it would be cloudy,” she said. “We wanted it to be cool.”

The weather was perfect, said Lydia Martinez of San Bernardino

County. She came to enjoy the day at the beach with her family, but

Monday would be spent cleaning up and getting ready to go back to

work, she said.

“It’s relaxing. It keeps the kids busy and it’s just fun,” Valerie

Monplaisir said.

She came to the Newport Pier to escape the heat in Palm Springs,

she said.

Jim Lyons of Fontana said he was enjoying the day off work to

spend time with his son and daughter. But he said he didn’t dare join

them as they played in the water.

“I’m too chicken. It’s too cold,” he said. “When I was their age,

I used to do it.”

Many adults set up tents, put out towels and set up elaborate

picnics in the sand as their children kept busy, unbothered by the

cold water.

“Oh, a big one, yeah!” David Zarate, 10, called out to his friends

from under a rock near the jetty at the Corona del Mar State Beach.

“It’s a big, giant crab. He’s over here. He’s under the tire.”

As Zarate was jumping back and forth on the rocks, a smaller crab

escaped from the inside the boy’s wet, sandy baseball cap. Zarate

looked up to watch it slip out, crawling sideways over the rocks and

back onto the sand.

That’s OK, he said. He was going to let it go anyway.

It was 8-year-old Rosalva Figueroa’s 10th time at the beach. She

built walls of sand with her friends, trapping a puddle of water

which she called a pool. The children would all lay inside of it, she

said, as soon as they were done with construction.

While enjoying her time in the sun and water and the extra day off

from school, she said she had just started learning the

multiplication tables and has serious business to get back to at

home.

“If we don’t go to school, how are we going to learn?” she asked.

* CORAL WILSON is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

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