Get in the water, help the water

Alex Coolman

Victor Villasenor was paddling in the waters off 15th Street on a recent morning, showing off the moves he plans to use in the sixth annual

Surfrider Foundation Clean Ocean Paddle, which takes place today.

The 17-year-old Costa Mesa resident was paddling a 19-foot-long banana

yellow surf ski, a vehicle that looked like a cross between a kayak and a

top fuel dragster.

“Anything faster than this,” he noted, “would be the Olympic class.”

Most of the paddling action to be had in today’s event, however, will

be of a more modest speed, said event coordinator Geoff McAdams.

The paddle, which runs from Balboa Pier to Newport Pier and back

again, is not intended primarily as a speed contest but as a fun excuse

to get in the water and raise a little money.

“It’s a really kickback race,” McAdams said. “People turn around when

they get tired.”

The event is a fund-raiser for the Surfrider Foundation and will

benefit the group’s programs that bring water-testing lessons to several

local schools, including Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools,

McAdams said.

A second race for kayakers will run around Lido Isle.

Jim Smiley, owner of Paddle Power, a kayak shop on the Balboa

Peninsula, has been coaching Villasenor in his efforts to become a

paddling speed demon. He said the young man has clocked some impressive

laps around the island.

“He’s doing laps in the 20 [minute range],” Smiley said. “He can start

the race at nine and be at work by 10.”

There will also be a beach cleanup on the peninsula between the piers,

McAdams noted.

Entry donation for the paddle is $25. Participants should meet at

Balboa Pier or -- for the Lido Isle race -- at 15th Street, on the bay

side of the peninsula, at 8 a.m. Races start at 9 a.m.

FYI

For more information about the Surfrider Foundation’s Clean Ocean

Paddle, call (949) 378-3021.