San Clemente Sand Replenishment Program

Here are a few videos of what the San Clemente Sand Replenishment program could look like with the dredged sand being pumped onto our beaches.

San Clemente Dory Boat Destroyed

San Clemente Lifeguard dory boat found destroyed
in the surf early Tuesday morning.

The morning of Tuesday, June 14 should of started off with a morning workout for the lifeguards of San Clemente Marine Safety in their competition dory boat. Instead it started with hauling the boat out of the water piece by piece.

The dory boat has been a part of San Clemente for 30 years. It has brought the San Clemente Lifeguard Competition team to victory multiple times in the annual Ocean Festival and the Great Catalina Dory Race.

The team was just about to start the new race season when it was cut short by beach vandals.

Sometime during the night, someone pushed the boat from the lifeguard parking lot into the water. The waves and the high tide tore the fiberglass boat into pieces. Lifeguards arrived to find the pieces washed up on the shore.

Reported by Fred Swegles with the Orange County Register "It would cost thousands of dollars to have a new boat built, lifeguards said. A used one might be considerably cheaper. "It might not be the fastest boat out there, but at least it's a boat," lifeguard Ryan Buckley said."
Click here for full story and Slideshow

Lifeguards are now working towards finding a new boat before the race season starts. Every bit of support is appreciated and anyone that knows anything about the vandals that pushed the lifeguard boat into the water is encouraged to call San Clemente Marine Safety at (949) 361-8219

Lifeguard Drowns in South Africa

In Durban South Africa a lifeguard drowned at Margate Beach on Saturday morning, the National Sea Rescue Institute said.

Shelly Beach station commander Mark Harlen said that the 20 year old lifeguard was reported missing at 10:20. members of the NSRI, police and lifeguard from the area actively searched the area for the missing lifeguard.

The man's body was later spotted by a police helicopter and recovered from the surf by the NSRI's rescue boat.

There is an open investigation by police on the death of the lifeguard but no foul play is suspected, said Harlen.

(Update) Boat Stranded at Strands Point

Boat on Stands Point after May 29 Accident
Photo by David McErlean

On the evening of Sunday, May 29, a boat with four people on board was moving to close to shore when it was over taken by waves and brought into Strands Point in Dana Point, leaving the boat stranded on the beach and one man dead.

An OC Lifeguard responded from Salt Creek Beach, the adjacent beach to the north, after seeing the boat come ashore. Because of the high tide and storm conditions, the lifeguard had to respond from Pacific Coast Highway through a beach access road inside a newly developed private community. Three more lifeguard unites responded to the scene after hearing the radio call of the first responder, Jason Young, a spokesman for OC Lifeguards said.

A man and two woman exited the boat without harm but one man, Mark Benet, 46, was missing. A man suspected to be Benet was seen in the water behind the boat by witnesses overlooking the scene but it is not known whether he jumped or fell out of the boat as it came ashore, Young said.

The first responding lifeguard from OC Lifeguards entered the water to search for Benet but returned to shore after receiving injuries from the strong surf pushing him into the rock cliffs. The injuries were minor and treated after the search was completed.

The weather conditions were hazardous with gal force winds reaching 30 knots and consistent surf of three to five feet. The stormy conditions brought waves every three to five seconds and a strong current that pushed south into the cliffs of Killer Dana.

OC Lifeguards continued the search with the help of Orange County Fire, Laguna Beach Lifeguards and State Lifeguards. It was decided that searching from a high advantage point on shore was more effective than in the water because of the dangerous water conditions so lifeguards were called out of the water until the man was located. Coast Guard was there on stand by but were not used in the search, Young said.

An hour into the search Benet was found floating off Killer Dana by a rescue team formed by two Laguna Beach Lifeguards and three OC Lifeguards. The victim was pulled into a cave on shore by the lifeguards where he was then hoisted into an Orange County Fire helicopter and air lifted to the hospital.

Benet was pronounced dead at 8:23 p.m. on Sunday, May 29 at Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach.

The boat was on Stands Beach for two days until Vessel Assist was able to remove it off the beach Wednesday, June 1. The 30 foot Bayliner was towed to Dana Point Harbor for further investigation of the accident.

First Responders Watch Man Drown

In Alameda, California, a man who was apparently suicidal drowned while police and firefighters watched close by. The man walked into a bay until he was in neck-deep water and began to tread water. He eventually tired to the point that he could no longer stay above water and drowned.

Firefighters were not allowed to enter the water to help the man for a few reasons.

CNN reports "Two things prevented authorities from taking action, said Alameda Interim Fire Chief Michael D'Orazi said. First, because it was a crime scene, the police department was in charge.
'They felt that going into the water initially might not be the best idea because they were unsure if this individual was armed, the stability of the individual,' D'Orazi said.
Also, 'there was a policy in place that pretty much precluded out people from entering the water.'"
Click Here to read full story

Lifeguards deal with suicidal people often. People jump in front of trains, off piers, drink themselves to death or just walk into the water and hold themselves under water. Lifeguards are not to risk their own life while attempting to rescue a suicidal victim from train tracks, but we are trained in how to stay far enough away from a victim that we are not in danger. With a floatation device like a lifeguard buoy, lifeguards are able to stay above water while fighting to get the unwilling victim to shore.

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.

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?

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. 

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 

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.

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.