County Recurrent: February 2013

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Abalone Cove, by OL Tom Kiesewetter

Abalone Cove (1)

Summer in February ? Here's the proof, just in from Veteran LACo Recurrent, Tom Kiesewetter, from Southern Section.

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From: Thomas Kiesewetter
Subject: Pictures from Abalone Cove, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

Hello Will:

You have some great photos on your blog and I thought you might be interested in some from the south end of the department. These were taken at Abalone Cove yesterday February 24, 2013. Hard to believe it’s winter!

From the deck of the tower; (1) looking south at 1100 hrs (above): and below, (2) looking north at 1100 hrs, (3) Baywatch Cabrillo on the mooring in the cove, (4) going off-shift at 1800 hrs.

Abalone Cove (2)

Abalone Cove (3)

Abalone Cove (4)

By 1500 hrs, the cove was filled with “tide-poolers” enjoying the marine life at the minus tide.

I wish I had more trivia to deliver about Abalone Cove but the last time I worked there, Dan Cromp was the permanent!

I did learn something at Abalone Cove last Sunday. If you ever have a chance to work Abalone Cove you might want to know something about Ed Butts. Every other patron that comes by wants to know, “where is Ed” or, “how come Ed isn’t working today”.   Rest assured you’ll have a good source of information close at hand. If you look around the tower, you’ll probably see John Burich sunning or swimming and ready to fill all your information gaps.

Keep up the great photos on the blog, the images of the Northern and Central Sections bring back many fond memories!

Tom

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(All photos by & Copyright Tom Kiesewetter 2013. Used here with permission.)

*** Thanks Tom!   We really appreciate you contributing to the blog. We know that our readership
really enjoy reading about and seeing photos of our beaches.

Editor's note: Tom's rookie year was 1972 and he took both the LA City and LA County swims along with his Valley State pals, Phil Topar and Ralph Lee! He retired from the Long Beach Fire Department in December of 2009 as a Battalion Chief with 30 years of service.

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Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER: County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD.

*** PLEASE forward to other Recurrents, past and present, so that we can add them to our mailing list. ***

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

"Lifeguarding In Ecuador", by Bruce Moncrief


Photo courtesy of Dave Hitchcock and Bruce Moncrief. Photo by & Copyright John Macdonald.

LACo Recurrent, Bruce Moncrief, just returned from Ecuador where he spent several weeks volunteering his services as a beach lifeguard and training some locals to do the same.

Image source: www.ecuadorbeachfrontproperty.com

Well, here let him tell it:

"Just got back from 5 weeks in Ecuador. Surfing and training lifeguards in Bahia de Caraquez and San Clemente which is just South of Bahia. This blogger, Dave Hitchcock,

http://figuringitoutinecuador.wordpress.com/

(editor's note: do check out this linked blog post above as Dave writes about Bruce's adventures and guarding in Ecuador.)

let me stay at his house 25 yards from the lifeguard tower. 1.8 miles of beach. Huge crowds, four lifeguards including me. I trained five more at this beach in about 4 hours including CPR. I can't tell you how proud I was of them. We had some good luck with the swell size and tide times. Everyone went home at the end of each day. Four days of Carnival makes the 6 man volleyball tournament in Manhattan Beach look like a well behaved 4 year old's birthday party. Could use some help next year.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Moncrief

In the photo above, that's Antonio who works at San Clemente. He's the only recurrent. 3 kilometers of beach one lifeguard. I gave him a pair of binoculars last year. He had seen them but never used a pair. You can imagine how he liked them. And, yes that's me next to him at the end of the day.

Below, the crew after work..."

Photo by and courtesy of Bruce Moncrief

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("Lifeguarding In Ecuador", by Bruce Moncrief. Photos courtesy of Bruce and as otherwise attributed. Story and photos used here with permission.)

*** Thanks Bruce! Well done! Too bad about those sunsets from the deck of the tower, though...
:-)

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Head's up to our Recurrent Readership: Time to step up and tell us some stories to share with our readership, e.g., rescues, lifeguard adventures, etc. If you enjoy our articles and have not yet contributed, please consider doing so. Your colleagues will appreciate it. After all, if we don't amuse each other, who is going to do it?!...

Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER: County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD.

*** PLEASE forward to other Recurrents, past and present, so that we can add them to our mailing list. ***

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Talk about 'burnout', by Kip Jerger

"burnout-1" by kip jerger.

"burnout-2" by kip jerger

"burnout-3" by kip jerger

LACo Veteran Recurrent and Ramblin' Surf-Karma Roaster, Kip Jerger, dishes on the recent swell favoring Southern Section surf breaks this past week and related topics, including "Kips Umbrella", the latter of which is discussed here for the very first time in print, er, online!

Per Kip:

Feb. 11, 2013: "The waves were going off at burnout by Hollywood Riviera tower TCO." Incidentally, the Hollywood Riviera tower right next to "Burnout" is where a great beach club my parents went to burnt down. Hence the name.

Feb. 11, 2013 at 9:28 pm:

"I surfed burnout at 8:00 am and it was 10-12 faces plus, spitting barrels. World class waves. Lifeguard Paul Hugoboom, making un-make-able tube rides, the Meistrell's were out, Tracy and Randy. Both ripping. Big wave surfer from Lunada Bay and incredible shaper, Angelo Ferrara, and his two kids, age 8 and girl 16, charging very challenging waves. Permanent Cliff Kuhn was seen ripping at 7:00 before his shift at El Segundo at 9:00. Both Paul and Cliff are what I would call our best watermen because of their incredible surfing for so many years. This is a good reason to still have surfing as a workout.

Captain Roger Murray said I should go surfing and then start work thereafter at Hollywopd Riviera tower at Torrance at 10:00. I was so stoked yet pretty beat up. It took me 5 times to get out because the waves were so big and my thick 7' 8" Kimo Green from Hawaii is a Tick board Brada! Hard to duck dive. I'm also getting older. So I have to work out a lot harder to surf at the level I do for an old dude.

Billy Robinson once said, "Never trust a lifeguard that does not surf." If you break that down what he is really saying is that you have to love being at the beach and have a free willingness to go into the water, whether that be with a spunge, surfboard, SUP, kayak, surf ski, or simply, swim or body surf. It's all under the same umbrella (x-ref: "Kip's Umbrella").

Help keep a cohesive work atmosphere going. Silently join me and a few others that are so teased by good surf, that it hurts.

When I was 17, I used to warn my girl friends not to get between me and my surf board. I had this love affair with the ocean when I was 5 years old, and Dick Orr was the lifeguard who took me out on my first Pete Peterson, cookie box paddle board at Venice beach before the pier was there in 1958, when I was 6. Now to be 60 on March 2nd.

All in all, this no surfing on duty has really made all of us surfers surf more... off duty, of course. Someday this rule will change, because having a cohesive atmosphere is the best thing one can have at work. Surfers that are lifeguards are at their best after surfing.

If you really love the Ocean like I do, you know that you will get wet anyway.

I do not represent or speak for the lifeguards in anyway or use this information for any gain from such said before organizations.

I speak from and for a spiritual reason only. If you choose to uplift my spirit, your understanding would be greatly appreciated.

Surfers For Life

One mans comment

Live Aloha !

Thank you for listening.

Stay Wet My Friend !

Kip

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And, last but not least:

"Small tube riding and big wave riding at Outside corner Uluwatu in May and September. From beginners, families and Pros to intermediate surfers. We have all cost levels and luxuries. Or you can go cheap in Bali. I can direct you at no charge. Lifeguard Discount Always."

"Kip at Uluwatu". Photo courtesy of Kip Jerger.

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(All Photos by and/or courtesy of Kip Jerger. Used here with permission.)

*** Thanks Kip! We really appreciate you sharing your aloha spirit, photos and commentary with your lifeguard colleagues.

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Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

"2nd St. Hermosa", Feb. 15, 2013. Photo by Kip Jerger.

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER: County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD.

*** PLEASE forward to other Recurrents, past and present, so that we can add them to our mailing list. ***

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day !...

to all of our Lifesavers!.....

10-4, carry on...

(All photos copyright & by will maguire 2012. all rights reserved.)

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Wed., Feb. 13th: Name That Tower?

Another tower, another quiz!

Can you name the tower in the photo below?

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"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Name That Tower !

In yet another scintillating blog post, we pose a question of vital importance to our recurrent lifeguard staff, namely:

Who can tell us which lifeguard tower this is in the photo below and the section?

Thursday, February 7, 2013

"Who The Heck Am I?!..."

With the blessing of Cal Porter, we've been tasked with the challenge and opportunity to feature one of our legendary lifeguards in a blog post along the lines of Cal's "Who Am I?" series. So here goes...

"Who The Heck Am I?!"...

Legend has it that this (now retired) LACo Recurrent (and later Permanent) ruled the Ocean Lifeguard Ironman competitions in the mid '60's. It was either Ron Crawford or Dick Douglas that told me that one time but I forget which of them said it.

In any case, this young stud LACo beach lifeguard lived with Bruce (Kris) Kjeldsen and Larry Loganbill in 1966 in Sunset Beach, during his last year at Long Beach State.

Zuma HQ, circa 1960's, per Cal Porter. This is a print from a painting by Vi Allen.
Bob Burnside owns the original painting. This print is courtesy of our mystery lifeguard.

About the wild west summers of the 1960's at Zuma, we heard from veteran LACo Recurrent (Ret.), Jim Graham, who reminisced as follows about the 1962 LACo Rookie Swim: "I finished 4th in the County exam behind Cappy Sheeley, ___________ (our featured mystery lifeguard) and Ron Crawford and just in front of Dick Douglas, Larry Loganbill and Doyle. Good crew and most all of us went to work at Zuma and joined up with the likes of Bob Burnside, Howard Lee, Bob Hughes, Tom Landis, Garr Steiner, Kemp Aaberg, Sheridan Byerly, etc. (We won the Taplin that year and a few intercrews before I moved down to the South Bay after the '66 season to finish out my 25 year career). Great times, great friends, great adventures and great memories."

Well, you all know now we aren't talking about Graham or Loganbill, so we might as well quote Larry too. Here are several remarks by Larry Loganbill discussing the difference between the 1962 rookie swim and the recent 2012 rookie swim test in terms of spectators, other related topics and which also include reference to our mystery lifeguard:

"Not one parent, relative or friend standing on the beach at the 1962 rookie swim... Roy Saari (future world record holder) watched some of the races on the last Sunday of training and competition because he was going to be taking the test the next year.   Gary Crum at 15 years old swam some of the events preparing for when he turned 18.

Of course, in those days training started immediately after you dried off from the qualifying swim. Cappy Sheeley from Punahou was No. 1... ______________ (our mystery guard) was No. 2. Cappy says (our mystery guard) should have won the swim but Cappy kept stopping him to ask him where the buoy at the breakwater was located. I don't remember any other (future) permanents out of that rookie school except for (our mystery guard).   Three guys from rookie school totally disappeared off the radar screen... didn't take a schedule and were never heard from again. Most everyone of our 20-man rookie school was sent to Zuma... I think I was the only illegal UNDERAGE LACo pool lifeguard who took the beach test... don't tell anyone.   Starting pay in 1962:   $2.89 per hour."

We have also been informed that this mystery lifeguard attended El Segundo High School where he excelled at both swimming and water polo. In swimming, our mystery lifeguard was a great butterflyer and 400 IM and distance freestyler.
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That's it. That's all the clues you'all are going to get! And Loganbill and the rest of the Rookie Class of 1962 are NOT eligible for this contest because of their "insider knowledge".

And while we have a great photo of this mystery lifeguard from "back in the day"... we are keeping it to ourselves for the time being because otherwise it would give the identity of our mystery lifeguard away.

("Who The Heck Am I?!...", Copyright Will Maguire 2013. All Rights Reserved.)

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Until next time.....

"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER: County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD.

*** PLEASE forward to other Recurrents, past and present, so that we can add them to our mailing list. ***

*****   *****   *****   *****   *****

Name That Tower !...

Needless to say, we could use some new stories to tell... but in the meantime, who can tell us which lifeguard tower this is in the photo below and the section?