Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Boat stranded at Strands Point

30 ft. Bayliner sits on Strands Point
after crash landing on Sunday evening
Photo by David McErlean
If you have been down to Strands Point in Dana Point in the last two day you are probably asking why there is a 30 foot boat sitting on the beach.

On Sunday, May 29, just before sunset, a 30 foot Bayliner, with four people on board, beached themselves on Strands Point after having engine trouble. While coming ashore one of the people on board fell overboard.

The surf conditions were hazardous with high surf advisories up and down the coast. With a strong current pushing south, the people were swept into an area known as Killer Dana. Killer Dana is a rocky point with underwater caves that are dangerous even in the calmest of conditions.

Boat on Strands Point with a cooler full of Beer
Photo by David McErlean

Reported by Erika I. Ritchie in the Orange County Register, "Lifeguards from U.S. Ocean Safety [Now OC Lifeguards] and Laguna Beach located Mark Benet, a 46 year old from Orange, at a rock outcropping adjacent to the beach, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Greg Mckeown said.

An OCFA helicopter lowered a firefighter on a cable who was able to pull the man into a rescue basket. The basket was pulled up to OCFA paramedics in the helicopter where he was treated. He was flown to the Laguna Beach hospital."
Click here for full story

View from above Strands Point with boat
sitting on the beach
Photo by David McErlean
The boat now sits on Strands Point waiting to be taken away. After several attempts by Vessel Assist, the 30 foot Bayliner is still in the same place. Vessel Assist attempted to tow the boat back out to sea and back to the harbor to get it off the beach. Vessel Assist will be attempting to pull the boat off the beach again the night of Wednesday, June 1.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Making your own Marine Ecosphere

Ikelite Underwater Video Housing
I ordered a used Ikelite Underwater Housing for a video camera but it doesn't fit any of my cameras. Instead of reselling it or throwing it away, I decided to make something out of it. The underwater video housing is now becoming an ecosphere; a self contained miniature world.

Things you need to make an Ecosphere
A jar
Sand or gravel
Water, ocean salt and dechlorinater
A small ocean live rock
Supplies for Ecosphere
Coral or other marine plant
1 peppermint or red-tail shrimp
5 small marine hermit crabs
2 turbo snails
20 to 100 plankton cells
1 to 4 sea shells


Step One: Get a jar that will seal closed, like a canning or peanut butter jar. You should choose something unique to yourself but make sure it's transparent so sunlight can pass through it. I am using my underwater housing.
Live rocks inside Ecosphere


Step Two: Wash out your jar with warm water. Don't use soap because it will kill the society growing in your world. Use a towel and dry off the jar.


Step Three: Collect sand from either the playground, or buy it. Don't take sand from the beach because it's illegal. Wash off the sand with hot water and drain the water out and let it dry. Be careful not to lose sand while draining it. Put the sand in your jar so there is about an inch across the "ocean floor." 


Step Four: Add ocean water. You make the water by mixing dechlorinated water & ocean salt. Don't use table salt because it is too poisonous for your little world. Best is to use real ocean water if it is available. Fill the jar, leaving about 2 inches of air at the top. Before moving on to the next step test the pH levels of the water. The animals will die without the right pH level. 


Step Five: Then add a small live sea rock which should have both phyto & zooplankton. Now add plants. You can either buy coral or grow algae for your plants. 


Step Six: Now add small sea shells. This will stabilize the pH levels and stimulate the ocean floor. It can take a couple of days before the water is ready for step seven.


Step Seven: Now the fun part; adding the animals. Add a peppermint shrimp, five small marine hermit crabs, two turbo snails and 20 to 100 plankton cells.


Step Eight: Now with the members of your new society in place, seal the jar and never open it again. Put it by a window to get light and watch your world evolve over time. 

Friday, May 27, 2011

Matuli Workout: Exercises for Two Girls

Need a workout? Here are some exercises with the Matuli Girls of last summer.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

OC Lifeguards making $200k

L.A. County Lifeguard
Photo by David McErlean
Want to make over six figures a year hanging out at the beach? Some Southern California Lifeguards have found a way to do just that.

More than half of Newport Beach full-time lifeguards earn more than $100 thousands and retire with 90 percent of their salary after 30 years of service. Newport Beach lifeguards aren't the only ones bringing in the big bucks.

The Orange County Register reports that Los Angels County and other Orange County cities have similar pay scales for their lifeguards.

"In 2009, at least 55 L.A. County lifeguards earned more than $100,000 in pay, excluding benefits, according to the state Controller's Office web-bases database on public employee pay. Twenty-eight "Ocean Lifeguard Specialists" were paid more than $100,000 in wages alone, as were 25 lifeguard captains. A lifeguard chief was paid $195,035 - again, not counting benefits," reported Brian Calle with the OC Register.

The lifeguard salaries and pensions are to big for some counties to pay out. To beat down the long term cost of beach safety, Orange County has outsourced lifeguards to patrol their beaches. The private lifeguard company US Ocean Safety is a private lifeguard department for hire.
Lifeguard responds on beach goers caught in rip current
Photo by David McErlean

"The county of Orange hires a private company to provide lifeguards at its beaches, including larger locations, such as Salt Creek Beach, Aliso Beach and Capistrano Beach, and smaller beaches, like Table Rock in Laguna Beach. At the very least, outsourcing gets taxpayers off the hook for lifeguard pensions, which even Newport Beach City Manager David Kiff called "unsustainable," Calle reported.
Click to read full story

These high salaries might seem like gross over payment for lifeguards, but think about what lifeguards do. Beach crowds are getting bigger every year with the ratio of ocean people going down. This means that lifeguards have to save more people from drowning every year.

In summer 2010, Lifeguards across the United States watched over 308 million beach goers. Of those they rescued 56 thousand of them. They also talked to 5.5 million people before they got into a situation that needed rescue, according to United States Lifesaving Association Stat Book.

To add to their duty, lifeguards made over 4 thousand boat rescues involving over 10 thousand people, made 325 thousand medical aids, 1 million law enforcement actions and found 12 thousand missing kids.

California Lifeguard rescues girl out of rip current
Photo by David McErlean
Lifeguards helped a total of 8,372,170 people in summer of 2010. With over 8 million people saved, only 25 people died in guarded waters throughout the United States.

So ask yourself, are those 8 million lives worth the extra money?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Welcome GoPro as a new sponsor

Thank you GoPro for being the newest sponsor to Lifeguard 4 Life by Team Matuli. We are really excited to have GoPro as a team sponsor.


GoPro Hero Surfing from David McErlean on Vimeo.

GoPro is the maker of The Hero video camera. The Hero is the "world's best selling wearable video camera for sports." (GoPro.com)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Sand Replenishment

San Clemente Marine Safety with sea wall exposed. The
sand reached the top railing when Marine Safety was built
Photo by David McErlean
San Clemente beaches are going to see new life in the coming season. A plan to bring new sand to the beach has been approved after presenting the Army Corps of Engineers with a 10 year sand study.

Reported by Fred Swegles of The Orange County Register, "Under that plan, the Army Corps would replenish a stretch of San Clemente beach between Linda Lane Beach and a restroom south of T-Street beach with 251,000 cubic yards of San Clemente-compatible beach sand dredged from a site off Oceanside and shipped up the coast by barge. Each import would produce a 50-foot-wide carpet of new sand, adding 2 to 3 feet to the height of the beach. As that sand is depleted, it would be replaced with the next import."
Click here to read full story.

San Clemente with the sand on north
side of pier almost gone.
Photo by David McErlean
San Clemente beaches have slowly been eroding away over the years. The city has tried to replenish the sand before using river sand. The sand was washed away after winter storms, leaving mounds of rocks that were hidden beneath the sand. Now the beach is covered in the unnatural cobblestones and still diminishing. Just recently the beach has lost so much sand that City Lifeguards have been forced to change lifeguard operations on the north side of the pier. The beach has lost so much sand that it can no longer support multiple lifeguard towers or lifeguard jeeps.

If you are worried that this replenishment program will have the same result as last time, don't. There are a few differences in this sand program. Number one is where the sand is coming from. Before the sand was dredged from a river bottoom so it didn't have the time to be broken up by the surf on its way down the coast like our natural sand. The new sand is being brought from Oceanside. The sand has been in the ocean and had time to be broken up so there shouldn't be any surprises under it in the shape of boulders. The second is the amount of sand. The sand from the last replenishment moved down the coast and was gone after a few years. The sand from this program will do the same, but instead of hoping for it to naturally return there will be another shipment on the way to rebuild the beach. 
Sea Wall at Marine Safety full exposed.
Photo by David McErlean

With the replenishment of new sand, the beach will hopefully be back to what it used to be like. There is always a chance that the project might fail, but what choice do we have. The beach is San Clemente's livelihood and it has to be protected. 

Sunday, May 22, 2011

California State Park Closure for 2012

Closed lifeguard tower at California State Beach
Photo by David McErlean

If you are looking at touring California next year, you might want to start that trip earlier than planned.
California State Parks announced Friday that 70 of it's 278 parks are planned to be closed after the 2011 summer season. The park closure is a result of budget cuts proposed for the next year. Closing the parks would help reduce the state budget by $11 million this year and $22 million the next year. The budget cuts were passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in March.
“We regret closing any park,” said Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks, “but with the proposed budget reductions over the next two years, we can no longer afford to operate all parks within the system.” 
“These cuts are unfortunate, but the state’s current budget crisis demands that tough decisions be made,” said Resources Secretary John Laird. “Hopefully, Republicans in the legislature will agree to allow California voters to decide whether we extend currently existing taxes or make deeper cuts to our parks.” 
The State Parks had three main goals when forming the method to close down the parks. The goals are to protest the most significant natural and cultural resources, maintain access to the parks for the public for as long as possible and to protest the closed parks, making sure that they are still attractive and usable in the future.  
Here is the complete list of all 70 parks that will close after the summer.

Anderson Marsh SHP 
Annadel SP 
Antelope Valley Indian Museum 
Austin Creek SRA 
Bale Grist Mill SHP 
Benbow Lake SRA 
Benicia Capitol SHP 
Benicia SRA 
Bidwell Mansion SHP 
Bothe-Napa Valley SP 
Brannan Island SRA 
California Mining & Mineral Museum 
Candlestick Point SRA 
Castle Crags SP 
Castle Rock SP 
China Camp SP 
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA 
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP 
Fort Humboldt SHP 
Fort Tejon SHP 
Garrapata SP 
George J. Hatfield SRA 
Governor's Mansion SHP 
Gray Whale Cove SB 
Greenwood SB 
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP 
Hendy Woods SP 
Henry W. Coe SP 
Jack London SHP 
Jug Handle SNR 
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP 
Limekiln SP 
Los Encinos SHP 
Malakoff Diggins SHP 
Manchester SP 
McConnell SRA 
McGrath SB 
Mono Lake Tufa SNR 
Morro Strand SB 
Moss Landing SB 
Olompali SHP 
Palomar Mountain SP 
Petaluma Adobe SHP 
Picacho SRA 
Pio Pico SHP 
Plumas-Eureka SP 
Point Cabrillo Light Station 
Portola Redwoods SP 
Providence Mountains SRA 
Railtown 1897 SHP 
Russian Gulch SP 
Saddleback Butte SP 
Salton Sea SRA 
Samuel P. Taylor SP 
San Pasqual Battlefield SHP 
Santa Cruz Mission SHP 
Santa Susana Pass SHP 
Shasta SHP 
South Yuba River SP 
Standish-Hickey SRA 
Sugarloaf Ridge SP 
Tomales Bay SP 
Tule Elk SNR 
Turlock Lake SRA 
Twin Lakes SB 
Weaverville Joss House SHP 
Westport-Union Landing SB 
William B. Ide Adobe SHP 
Woodson Bridge SRA 
Zmudowski SB 

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Missing Sailor off Camp Pendleton

Surfer at San Clemente Pier Thursday morning
Photo by David McErlean
At 5:30 Thursday evening, two Navy Sailors from Camp Pendleton were caught in a rip current while swimming near the Del Mar Boat Basin in Southern California. One of the swimmers made it to shore but  the other was sucked out to sea by the strong current.

The sailor that reached the shore quickly ran to call for help.

At 8 p.m. that night, a coast guard cutter and  helicopter crew was launched to start a search and rescue effort. After three hours of searching in the dark, the operation was postponed until first light Friday morning but as a recovery mission. The recovery team of lifeguards, police, coast guard and military search crews are searching from Encinitas to San Onofre for the missing sailor, covering from the shore to two miles out. The search was suspended at 7 p.m. Friday without finding the missing Sailor.

Search area for missing sailor
Graphic by David McErlean
NBC News reports "The missing sailor's name is not being released until his family can be notified, but he is described as corpsman from Kentucky stationed at Camp Pendleton. [Marine Capt. Roger] Hollenbeck also said the missing man was a marathon runner.

"I know this sailor as an incredible athlete," he said, "So, for him to not be able to come out of the water would mean that the current was incredibly swift.""
Click here for full story

Thursday was the arrival of the first big south swell of the summer. With four to six foot surf coming in, it was not a day for anyone to be surfing who is not extremely confident in the water.

Southern California Lifeguards routinely rescue Marines and Navy Sailors from the water. It doesn't matter how good of an athlete you are. If you don't know how to swim out of a rip current, you are going to drown. Michael Phelps himself couldn't out swim a rip current.

To help prevent accidents like this in the future, the Military should think about a beach safety course. If the base is near the ocean, soldiers are going to the beach. With most of them never seeing the ocean before, it is important that they learn about it and all of its dangers.

Anyone with information that could help searchers is asked to call the Coast Guard at (619) 278-7031. The surfer was reportedly wearing a white swimsuit.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Matuli Girl(s) of the Summer (2010)



Matuli Girl(s) of the Summer winners for 2010. Matuli Girls of the Summer are voted on by our readers. The winner is then given a full day photo shoot and Matuli clothing. The 2011 Matuli Girl(s) of the Summer Contest starts June 1st.

Name: Brooke
Age: 18
Home Town: Phoenix
Brooke spends her winters dancing in Phoenix and her summers tanning on the beach and surfing. She has been dancing since the age of three and says that she won't quit until she is laying in her grave. Brooke was a finalist for the Phoenix Suns Dancers in 2010. When Brooke grows up she wants to pursue a career in modeling.




Name: Katelyn
Age: 18
Home Town: Phoenix 
Katelyn has been dancing from the time she could walk. She enjoys shopping, reading and laying on the beach. She also enjoys showing off her creative side with her new hobby of painting. When Katelyn grows up she wants to be the next big CEO of her own business.

Click here to Apply for Matuli Girl of Summer 2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Neighborhood Beach Watch

Logo Courtesy of the City of San Clemente

The City of San Clemente is starting Neighborhood Beach Watch, a free training program that teaches the public what to do if they see someone in distress at the beach. The first meeting is at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, May 18 in the San Clemente Community Center. 
The program is the idea of Bill Humphreys, Chief of San Clemente Marine Safety as a way to teach the public how to report people in distress and help them before they drown.
According to the United States Lifesaving Association, the chance that a person will drown at the beach with lifeguards on duty is 1 in 18 million. What about when lifeguards aren't on duty?  
Graphic by Wordle.net
Lifeguards recommend to always swim near an open lifeguard tower but realize that it's not always possible. Even when it is possible, people still swim in areas that are difficult to see and respond to. Last year 102 people died from drowning while swimming in unguarded waters. Some of these people drowned while trying to rescue others, only adding to the problem.
The Neighborhood Beach Watch program will focus on what the public can do to help people that are in trouble like giving them a floatation device;  surf board, body board or a life ring from the pier. It will also teach people how to approach a victim in the water if they insist on rescuing the person.
The USLA does not fully support the program because they don't want to encourage the general public to try to rescue victims on there own, Humphreys said. 
"I don't support people attempting rescues on their own either, but if they are going to do it I want them to know how to do it safely," Humphreys said. 
David McErlean, a San Clemente Lifeguard, rescues
a body boarder next to the pier while off duty.
Photo by Joe Matulis
The number one thing the public can do is call for help. Even if you do perform a rescue on your own, make sure that help is on the way first. Not even lifeguards go on rescues without calling for backup. 

This is the first Neighborhood Beach Watch Program in the United States. To track the progress of the program, there will be a website that people can report what rescues they have done or other beach activities they have reported. 

Monday, May 16, 2011

Beach Living

Looking for a place to live this summer? Trying to live your summers on the beach isn't always easy. Here are the different ways that Team Matuli has tested throughout the years.

Camping on the beach, living out of your car is the cheapest way to spend the summer. There are a few different camp grounds to choose from, most of them State Parks. Although this can be cheap, it can be risky. Campgrounds can fill up fast leaving you with no where to go.

Couch surfing is a fun way to travel, but it's difficult to stay in one place for very long. If you become good enough friends with your couch's owner, you might be able to work something out for summer. 

Living on a sail boat can be an adventure. Whenever you want a change of scenery just pull anchor and raise the sails. Boats are tight places though and they don't get any roomier as time goes on while living in the harbor

Then there is the classic Matuli way. Cram as many friends as possible into a one bedroom vacation rental near the beach. Vacation rentals are usually furnished. This will save you a trip to the local flea market for a mattress infested with bed bugs to sleep on. The down side is that they are expensive. By sharing the room with multiple friends you can spend less money on rent and more money on having fun. The crowded living arrangements will also motivate your team to get out and sieze the day. 

Friday, May 13, 2011

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Matuli History Part 1

Matuli started out as a plural nickname for the twin Matulis brothers. During high school the Matuli worked, as lifeguards, at a small lake in Midland, Michigan. After watching A Day in the Life of a California Surf Lifeguard, the brothers knew where they wanted to work. After calling every west coast lifeguard department they could find, it was apparent that the Matuli would need to learn more about waves and currents if they were going to have any chance of making the cut in lifeguard tryouts. At this point, the Matuli did not know how they were going to gain vital surf experience. 
A few weeks later, at a beach at the lake, they got their answer. During a run swim run workout at Lake Michigan, the brothers found waves. With the excitement of seeing real life waves on the lake, the Matuli thought the the same thing, “We can surf these waves." The only step left was for the twins to make their first surfboard.
After several sessions of battling Lake Michigan, the brothers decided they were ready to prove themselves in California. Flying to San Diego with nothing more than a tent, backpack, pair of swim fins, and just enough money to get by, the bothers started their training to become ocean lifeguards. It would turn out to be a summer that changed their lives forever.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Matuli Presents: How to Surf Michigan

What is a Matuli?

Photo by Joe Matulis




Ma•tu•lī
proper noun
(Plural form of Matulis)








Matulis
Last name origin & meaning:
Lithuanian: patronymic from the personal name Matula, a Lithuanian form of Matthaeus

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Matuli Wave Storm Episode 5, Wave Riding

Meet Team Matuli



Joe Matulis
Photographer/ Media Editor
Joe has spent the last eight summers lifeguarding in Southern California. Right now he is into surfing, making his own surfboards and filming with his super 8 movie camera. As the innovator of the team, Joe is the lead member on Matuli Media projects. 




Dave McErlean
Photographer/ Media Editor 
Dave has been lifeguarding in Southern California for  six summers and a member of Team Matuli for the last three of them. He likes to surf, dive and film with his underwater camera. Trained in multimedia and photography, Dave is one of the head photographers and editors on Team Matuli and is head of media publication. 


Thomas Dollar
Lead Artist
Starting out as a lifeguard in 2006, Thomas soon evolved into a capable young artist. After a successful art session in 2009 at the Matuli studio, Thomas was brought on as Lead Artist. He is credited with bringing Matuli into the next stage of its existence with his innovative designs. Thomas has brought a great amount of  creativity to Team Matuli. 




Allan Bayer
Business Manager
Allan moved to San Clemente in the summer of 2005 to start lifeguarding. He earned a degree in accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara in June of 2010. Since then, he has been in charge of the business end to the Matuli Team.






José Matulí
Team Goldfish
Found by Team Matuli in 2009, José takes refuge in a José Cuervo bottle at Matuli Headquarters. He likes surfing with the team and swimming in the ocean, as long as the lid to his bottle is tightly shut. Starting as just a mascot, José has grown into a source of inspiration for the team. He is most famous for his modeling work back in the 2009, that led the team to the "José" shirt design. 

Monday, May 2, 2011

Welcome Summer 2011

Lifeguard watching the water
Photo by David McErlean
This is the story about the day to day life of two people that are working through the summer in Southern California as ocean lifeguards.

We will take you with us throughout the summer, from finding a place to live in a vacation destination where the rents are sky high to working the day to day.

We are both ocean lifeguards and photographers in San Clemente. Lifeguarding is a way to fund our film projects throughout the year.

Lifeguard PWC responding to rescue
Photo by Joe Matulis
As leaders of Matuli Media, we specialize in underwater photography and film. At Matuli, our primary focuses is documentary work, with multiple side projects running at all times. We have several projects ready to start production at the beginning of summer, along with our daily life video blog.

We are very excited for summer 2011 and I hope this blog is not only entertaining but also useful. Check in for daily update for beach reports and other Matuli news.