Here comes the sun

Alicia Robinson

NEWPORT BEACH --

As much of the East Coast froze, locals set out to the beach for a

normal day of surfing despite a relatively chilly day while tourists

soaked in much-welcome rays on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Skies were sunny, but a breeze in the afternoon made for cooler

temperatures, at around 59 degrees, Lifeguard Capt. Jim Turner said.

The wind may have deterred some people from visiting the beach, a

typical holiday destination, but the parking lot by the Newport Pier

was still relatively full, despite some Sunday night rain.

A handful of the faithful were fishing off the pier, and Robert

Barth and his grandson Matthew Litwak, both of Pomona, were among

them.

“Any time you can get a line in the water is a better day than

anything else,” Barth said.

After trying their luck earlier in the day to no avail, the two

took a break for lunch and then came back for another go-round.

“It’s fun but it takes a lot of patience,” Litwak said.

Among the scattering of people enjoying the weather on the beach

nearby was Barbara Schiavone, who was vacationing here from New

Jersey. She and two friends, Sandy Reich and her daughter Susie

Nealon, were soaking up the rays.

“We just decided [to come] because the sun was out,” she said.

“We’re sun worshipers.”

Reich recently moved to Irvine from New York to be near her other

daughter and a new grandchild. The three women said they’ve been

hitting all the beaches in the area, including Laguna Beach,

Manhattan Beach and Dana Point. None of them miss the bitter cold

that has gripped the East Coast in recent weeks.

“It’s horrible,” Schiavone said. “I just got off the phone with my

sister -- they had a snow/sleet-type storm there.”

Phil Schroeder, an attorney who lives on the Lido peninsula,

stopped at the beach to eat his lunch and check out the waves.

“I usually surf on the weekends out here,” he said.

A long board surfer for about eight years, Schroeder said it was

probably too windy for him to do any surfing Monday.

He missed Monday’s best surfing conditions. Turner said the

morning was great for surfing, with some waves as high as 5 feet.

Typically the waves in the area are 2 to 3 feet, he said.

“That’s what really drew the crowds,” he said. “It’s just gotten a

little cool here this afternoon with the breeze blowing.”

Lifeguard officer Jon Mitchell could personally attest to the surf

conditions, as he was in the water surfing at 9:30 a.m., he said.

A crowd of several hundred surfers and onlookers were at the beach

by the pier earlier in the day, he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.