A welcome guest

Deirdre Newman

Remember when you were a little kid and tried to hold your breath

for as long as you could?

That skill came in very handy at the Wedge on Wednesday as 10-to

15-foot waves pounded the shoreline, courtesy of Hurricane Hernan,

now roiling off the Baja California coast.

While the massive waves drew a large crowd of spectators and a

small band of bodysurfers, many who braved the swell from the south

said it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

“It’s nice and soft,” said Ken Radabaugh, 52, known as “Smoker.”

“It just looks scary. There’s a lot of water....You need to hold your

breath.”

The surf gathered steam overnight and by mid-afternoon Wednesday,

the mackers were rolling in one after another, like a “freight train”

in surfer lingo, said Nima Namdar, 24.

“This is the best [surf] I’ve seen in a few years,” said Namdar,

part of a regular group of bodysurfers called the Wedge Crew. “It

reminds me of the 1987 September swells.”

While attendance at area beaches has dropped with the start of

school, a sizable crowd gathered on the beach near the Wedge on

Wednesday, oohing and aahing at the scope of the waves and cheering

when someone flew through the air as they caught one.

“It’s crazy,” said Mark Riley, a Cypress resident who took a break

from work to check out the surf. “I’ve never seen any [waves] this

big and I’ve lived here my whole life.”

At Newport Point, the huge waves provided some challenging

bodyboarding conditions.

“It’s tough to get out there, but once you’re out, it’s pretty

peaceful,” said J.J. Johnston, 19.

While the surf’s bark was bigger than its bite according to the

locals, there were still some who needed help.

Radabaugh said one of the Wedge bodysurfers had to be dragged out

of the surf because of exhaustion.

Lifeguards completed about 40 rescues -- an unusually high number

when school is in session, said Lt. John Blauer of the Newport Beach

Fire and Marine Department. There were no serious injuries, though,

Blauer said.

Blauer stressed the importance of using extreme caution with such

explosive surf.

“The conditions are extremely dangerous and swimming by

inexperienced swimmers can be extremely hazardous,” Blauer said.

“[Surfers] should check with lifeguards and plan on being around

those towers.”

The large waves should continue through tomorrow, Blauer said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.