Mailbag: Paddleout was a successful trip

Sometimes the best trips are the ones we almost don’t go on.

I loved the idea of stand-up paddling along the coast and being a part of the Clean Water Initiative, which works to raise awareness of sewage spills, plastic pollution and urban run-off in the watersheds of South Orange County and San Diego County.

However, with the wheels of summer spinning fast, it wasn’t until two days beforehand that I decided to go, using the latest gear from the Quiksilver Waterman Collection.

About 8:45 a.m. July 20, I began my solo paddle toward the Mexican border. With my mom and dad watching from their deck, and a few of photographers and journalists, I never felt more alive than the moment I began to paddle away off the beach I grew up on.

My journey had begun, and once I turned the corner of reefs and kelp, I let out a little laugh. As I looked south as far as I could see, I thought to myself, “What the heck have I gotten myself into?”

Even though I had never paddled more than four or five miles in a single day, I had a certain calmness over me that day paddling 21 miles for the first time down to San Clemente State Beach. It was the first of several stops while raising money for the development of SickSurf, a new smartphone app and online database that will allow users to report when and where they got sick after being in the water.

Along the way I met up with the team from Below the Surface, a nonprofit that promotes water conservation and improving water quality in rivers and oceans. They are a fantastic group of like-minded individuals who came together for their love of the ocean and distaste for ocean pollution.

All who love the ocean know the feeling of wanting to protect what they love. After all, what good is the beach if we can’t enjoy the ocean?

James Pribram

Laguna Beach

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Your liberal bent

Re. “Republicans keep lying (Mailbag, Aug. 9):

The Daily Pilot is showing its most unpleasant side by publishing the letter from the person on Balboa Island who is just plain vindictive, nasty and stupid.

By doing this, the Pilot has shown that it belongs in the bottom of the trash bag instead of the recycle bin. No wonder I feel able to not open this so-called newspaper when it prints such an ignorant, mean article; it shows no discretion on the editors’ part to try and show a more evenly based, intelligent letter on subject.

I have no desire to want to open this rag. The Pilot is beginning more and more to take after its owner.

Jocelyn Gilbert

Newport-Mesa area

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Healthier fair food

I went to the Orange County Fair and asked a lot of friends if they were going. Nope. Why? Because the food was too big, too fried and too expensive. I also will not be attending again unless the food changes drastically.

Orange County demographics are changing, and we are watching our health much more carefully, especially as we age. I noticed a lot less overweight people at the fair than in past years.

We need to keep up with the times, the schools and make the fair a more healthy place to go. The one food I would have eaten no longer exists — the cream puffs — and many, many of us mourn their loss.

Carolyn L. Carr

Costa Mesa

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Bad headline

Re. “Elderly man injured,” (Aug. 9):

Elderly man: 56 years old? Seriously?

Are you calling him elderly because he was in a wheelchair or what? I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here and assuming that your editor is about 12 years old!

Terri Danks

Newport Beach