Beach Crowds Light Despite Timely Appearance of Sun

Despite early-morning clouds and drizzle, beachgoers were treated for the most part to a day of sunshine and good surf on the first day of the Memorial Day weekend.

But predictions for the rest of the extended holiday weekend are that cloudiness will persist, giving way to showers tonight and Monday morning.

At Doheney State Beach on Saturday, lifeguard supervisor Dan Lineback called the crowd of about 2,000 “fairly light,” but he anticipated an increase through Monday if the waves stayed the same and the weather didn’t deteriorate.

“We’re getting some good surf, about two to three feet,” Lineback said.

But Jennifer Khalifa, 4, of Venice didn’t need waves--or even water--to have fun. When her uncle took a break from surfing at Doheney, Jennifer took advantage of his good nature and requisitioned his board to practice some basic land techniques--like standing.

After figuring out that this was much easier to accomplish if the fin was pointed up, Jennifer entertained her family with some sure-footed moves.

Low Turnout

Lifeguards estimated the crowd at Huntington Beach, where the temperature remained a cool 64 degrees, at about 25,000. Seal Beach lifeguards, however, were surprised by a relatively low turnout, despite temperatures in the low- to mid-70s.

Seal Beach, which was closed for three days beginning May 13 when an offshore oil pipeline ruptured, was closed again for a few hours Friday when more oil was found in the water, lifeguard Mark Lees said.

Lifeguards at both beaches were staffed at about half the summer level. They reported few problems.

At Doheney near Dana Point, all 125 campsites at the state park were booked, mostly by campers who made reservations eight weeks ago.

Camper Claudine Ramsey, 42, of Placentia said Doheney State Beach is the most popular of all state beaches.

“We had to rent it for the whole week just to be assured of having a space for the weekend,” Ramsey said.

Lifeguards anticipated few problems from alcohol, which is banned from most beaches but not state parks.

Strong Rip Current

“We let the rangers deal with that,” Dave Raht, 23, said. “We do a lot of enforcement, like keeping people out of the lagoon.”

To the south, at San Clemente Beach, the crowd was clustered mostly along the pier. But despite the low turnout on the sands, lifeguards were kept busy by a strong rip current.

“We had a pretty busy morning,” supervisor John McMains said. “There was a big southwest swell, about three to five feet, and rip currents up and down the beach.”

McMains predicted that the surf would hold through the weekend, and he expected the crowd to increase by Monday.

Southbound traffic on the San Diego Freeway was especially heavy throughout the day, said California Highway Patrol dispatcher Janelle Clemen.

“This was typical for the Memorial Day weekend,” she said. “The southbound San Diego Freeway was heavily congested all the way to the Crown Valley exit. It was stop-and-go most of the time. It resembled a big parking lot.”