Just in from Bill Asturias in Guatemala, Ret. Lt. LACo and Santa Monica City Lifeguard (Copyright 2008 Bill Asturias. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission).
(Photo of Bill Asturias, looking studley, on the deck of, where else, SMS T-26, in his rip stop nylon red LACo lifeguard trunks, circa '75 -'77. Photo courtesy of Bill Asturias. Used here with permission).
"It Was A Cold January Day In 1977", by Bill Asturias:
It was a cold January day in 1977, I was working T26 S.M.S. the winter surf was huge, consistant 8 to 10' with bigger sets of more than 12'... the waves were breaking well beyond the ruins of the old P.O.P. pier, many surfers were trying to paddle out but only a handful were able to make it and as soon as they thought they were beyond the break zone a larger set would push them right back to shore.
I was looking at a group of three surfers that decided to climb the jetty South of T-27 and jump off it's end to try and go out, they had been timing the sets and felt that the right time had come as all three of them jumped in and began paddling out, no sooner had the third surfer jumped in when I noticed a huge train of waves on the horizon approaching rapidly, the first wave broke right in front of the three surfers blowing them off of their boards, two of the surfers managed to climb back on and rode the huge white water from the second wave to shore, the third surfer had lost his board and was getting pummeled by the waves.
I picked up the phone and requested assistance code 3, my call was answered by John Thomas, I sprinted towards T 27 and hit the water I could barely see the head of the surfer as another set of waves was approaching, the only way I was able to locate him was when the swell would pick him up, I managed to reach him and barely avoided the break by pulling him out to sea, I kept looking for the Call Car or at least to hear the siren as I kept swimming out to try and avoid the drop zone with my victim, when I looked up and saw this huge wall of water, no way I was going to be able to make it by dragging my exhausted surfer, the wave picked us up and as I looked at my victim I managed to look towards the beach and the last I remember was seeing the asphalt compost shingles on the top of the roof of T-26 before going over the falls with my victim. Next thing I remember were my knees hitting the bottom close to shore, my victim was standing up in knee deep water but would not let go of the rescue can.
That huge wave had picked us up and and after kicking our asses deposited us right on shore, I looked up and managed to see John Thomas sprinting from the parking lot to assist me and I wondered where the call car was, it turned out that the call car was handling another call and John had jumped in his own car and driven from Santa Monica headquarters running numerous red traffic lights in the process, now that's what I call back up !!!
Postscript: Asked if he remembered this day's excitement, John Thomas replied to Bill Asturias, as follows:
"I RECALL THAT DAY AT 26, FRANTICALLY SPEEDING DOWN THE STREET, RUNNING ALL THE STOP SIGNS TO GET TO THE RIP YOU WERE IN WITH THAT SURFER. MY ONLY REGRET WAS I DIDN'T GET THERE FASTER TO KEEP YOU FROM GETTING WORKED BY THE SHOREPOUND. THAT SURFER WAS VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU AS I RECALL. YOU MUST HAVE TAKEN A DOZEN WAVES IN THE DROP ZONE GETTING THAT KID IN. YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD GONE FIVE ROUNDS WITH MIKE TYSON, BUT YOU WERE STILL WALKING TALL. THOSE WERE GREAT DAYS, IN SPITE OF ALL THE SHIT WE HAD TO PUT UP WITH, BECAUSE WE HAD EACH OTHER. NEVER WILL FORGET ALL THE GOOD TIMES WE SHARED. HOPE TO SEE YOU ONE OF THESE DAYS IF YOU GET UP TO LOS USTADIOS UNIDOS, MY FRIEND." John Thomas, Sept. 22, 2008.
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County Recurrent extends its THANKS to both Bill and John for their recounting of this harrowing big surf rescue ! Wow ! And JT, the backup effort in your circa '67 vw van with the wheels falling off and the peeling paint and the long since broken shock absorbers, not to mention the sand and bed bugs in the back.... well, the effort was stupendous ! One can only imagine the screams from the back of the van of ghosts of conquests past as you put the pedal to the metal and raced down Ocean Ave. past Pico, Bay St., Bicknell, Hollister and Ocean Park Blvd., squealing tires of little tread on the corners..... priceless !
(note: turns out I was not off by much on the vintage of JT's personal back up vehicle as he clarified this morning, ".... THE SLED WAS A 73' VW CAMPER VAN WITH VERY BAD BRAKES......I LAID ON THE HORN AND THE GAS...PEDAL TO THE METAL.....BY THE TIME I MADE PICO, I WAS DOING ABOUT 60.....I WAS IN A FRENZY TO GET TO BILLY, AS THE VIEW FROM THE HQ WINDOW THRU THE 10 POWER BUSHNELLS WAS PRETTY GRIM. BILLY WAS GETTING WORKED PRETTY BAD IN SOME HUGE SURF AND GETTING SWEPT TOWARD THE 27 ROCKS..... THAT WAS A MEMORABLE DAY....LIKE SO MANY OTHERS. NEVER WILL FORGET IT."
"County Recurrent" is desperate for more of these stories to share with its readership, and that means "YOU" the readership. Break out the No.02 pencils. Or better yet, sit down at the keyboard and type. Even Greg Jackson has promised to do so..... so the pressure is on !
County Recurrent out, 10-7, until next time.
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