A Great Day At The Wedge!

A PERFECT WAY TO RELAX
I don't know about you, but my sweet and very patient wife and I really enjoy our proximity to the ocean, especially on days like Sunday.  We took some time out from our normal weekend chores and drove down to The Wedge to see what was happening.

BIG ENOUGH.... AND BUILDING
The waves were not as large as promised, but they were plenty big and were supposed to grow in size and frequency as the evening wore on.  Here's what we saw this afternoon as we braved the traffic and headed for the tip of the Balboa Peninsula...

Heading for the peninsula on the Balboa Island Ferry

Brave souls on the jetty

Waiting

 Dropping In

Lifeguards On Duty

 Picking Up Strays

Plenty of Arial Oversight

And the rides...

And more rides...

All in all, I'd say most of those young men had a pretty good day, wouldn't you?

Gnarly, Dude! Historic Waves At The Wedge!

IN ALL IT'S GLORY!
Hurricane Marie is doing a number on Southern California beaches.  It's all over the news, so I jumped in my little automobile and drove to the overlook of Corona del Mar beach to look across the jetty at The Wedge to see what I could see.  I knew I couldn't get to the actual sand because the Newport Beach Police Department issued a warning to stay the heck away because of traffic and lack of parking... I can believe it!

REAL NEWS COVERAGE

Take a look at some of these shots I took across the way!  Also, read Emily Foxhall's piece in the Daily Pilot, HERE, and view the Daily Pilot photo gallery, HERE.  Lots of news coverage - helicopters PLUS the Coast Guard chopper patrolling, too.  Enjoy.

There was a guy on the beach using a drone to video the action in the waves!  Just happened to catch it in this shot.

Watching Waves and Daily Pilot Raves

Recapping some events that occurred before my sweet wife and I took off for a much-needed relaxing weekend away...

THURSDAY WEDGE RECON
Thursday we grabbed a couple sandwiches and scooted down to The Wedge to see if the promised big waves had materialized. A couple hundred souls stood around the base of the jetty, hoping for some bone-busting boomers, but none of the really big ones had yet occurred. The surf was mild - sets of 4-6 feet - and the high tide at noon brought the water up over the berm, much to the surprise of some photographers.

GILE ON THE JOB
Channel 2 and 9 reporter Michele Gile, shown here intereviewing a Newport Beach Lifeguard Captain, was on hand to get some early comments for their 2 p.m. newscast.

SAD NEWS LATER
We found out later that one unfortunate 50 year-old body surfer from Lawndale lost his life as the unpredictable waves smashed him against the rocks. His story was all over the Los Angeles television news ever since.

MEET THE EDITORS
That evening we attended the "meet, greet and eat" event sponsored by the Daily Pilot. Executive Editor Brady Rhoades and outgoing City Editor Paul Anderson were on hand to answer questions fired at them by a couple dozen loyal readers. You can read Rhoades' blog about the event HERE and Anderson's HERE.

GOOD FOLKS, GOOD FOOD
This was a terrific event, with serious questions posed to the editors. The Egans and Gluecks, local activists and occasional Daily Pilot contributors, were among those enjoying the terrific food served up by the good folks at The Newport Rib Company.

ROB DICKSON JUGGLING EVENTS
Frequent writer and participant on the Daily Pilot blog, Rob Dickson, showed up with his fiance and managed to get in a couple comments before departing early for a prior commitment.

FOLEY FIELDS FACEBOOK QUESTIONS
Ubiquitous Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley made the event, too, and fielded questions from her Facebook Friends and relayed them to Rhoades and Anderson. I'm convinced that Foley is actually triplets, and that she actually can be in three places at once!

GOOD EVENT - WE NEED MORE OF THEM
In my opinion, this event was a rousing success. For me it was bittersweet, though. I finally got the chance to meet Paul Anderson face-to-face at a time when he's about to depart for his new job as Bureau Chief for City News Service's Orange County bureau in Santa Ana. I hope Rhoades finds a way to perpetuate this series, to help him and his editorial staff stay in touch with the community.