The place to be

Christine Carrillo

While sunbathers tan on the beach, swimmers play in the water,

bicyclists maneuver through congested parking lots and bike paths and

fishermen and women on the pier wait patiently for a tug or two, Newport

Beach transforms the Memorial Weekend into a summer kickoff.

Some beach-goers took a short trip to the water from Newport Beach

while many traveled from Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

While some seek to ride the waves and others try to avoid them, they

all traveled to the beach to have fun.

“We have to go seek places to ride,” said Kolleen Armstrong of Yucca

Valley, who grew up in Orange County and was bike-riding with her family.

“This is a great day to do it.”

On a Sunday that started out gloomy, many agreed that by the afternoon

the beach was the place to be.

“It’s a three-day getaway,” said Debbie Jones of Orange. “So we can

come here and relax since we know we don’t have to go back to work [until

Tuesday].”

According to Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer nearly 80,000 people held the

same mentality.

“They are all here because they enjoy the same thing,” he said. “They

enjoy the beach.”

Bauer, who has participated in water activities since he can remember,

can relate to the people that travel to the beach on the holiday weekend,

and while he hopes they enjoy themselves he also hopes they enjoy

themselves safely.

“We’ve had a full gamut of rescues from 4-year-olds that go out

further than their toes can touch, to the elderly and even the tough guys

. . . marines and professional boxers,” Bauer said.

After a moderate 14 rescues on Saturday, lifeguard staffing has

increased in preparation for the holiday beach-goer rush.

“I like it because it’s usually more active and more things are

happening,” Bauer said. “It’s always nice to protect people so they can

have a nice holiday weekend.”

The holiday weekend brings in more out-of-towners who generally stay

in the beach areas nearest the parking lots, according to Bauer. As a

result, more rescue and lifeguard activity occurs within those areas

because people are unfamiliar with the beach.

“We encourage people to swim near an open lifeguard,” Bauer said. “We

encourage beach-goers to ask about the flag system.”

The green flag represents light conditions, the yellow flag represents

moderate conditions and the red flag represents hazardous conditions, but

Bauer stresses that beach-goers should remain cautious at all times.

“In general people are not aware of the power of a rip current,” Bauer

said. “They need to not panic, swim parallel to the beach until they’re

out of the rip current, swim into the blue water and then toward the

shore.”

While the person caught in a rip current may be a strong swimmer,

strength has nothing to do with getting loose. In that case it’s what you

know.

With Newport Beach staffed and ready for the summer crowds, and the

Memorial Day beach-goers coming out in droves, it appears that summer

days are here again regardless of the actual seasonal change.

“The second you come to the beach you can relax and everything else

goes away,” said Candice Kotenmayer of Orange.