Sea Festival Rides Wave of Enthusiasm Despite Surf

Under a cloud-dappled sky and warm summer sun, San Clemente on Friday opened its three-day Ocean Festival, which the city calls “The Greatest Show on Surf.”

Hundreds gathered on the beach near the San Clemente pier to watch a professional-amateur surfing contest that launched the festival.

“This is something we only see on TV back in Nebraska,” said awed spectator Matt Shonsey, 40, of Grand Island, Neb., who stood on the sand near where judges carefully watched surfers performing on the nearby ocean waters.

The surfers, dressed in neon-bright trunks and wet suits, put on a crowd-pleasing show, despite the handicap of a small, gentle surf.

“The waves are pretty small, but with good shape--definitely contestable,” said surfer Andy Fomenko, 24, of San Clemente.

Waves Will Do

“Definitely contestable,” in surf talk, means that the one-to three-foot waves Friday morning had enough shape and power to allow the surfers to put on a contest.

Spectators standing on the pier or sitting on the beach found that the surfers put on a show far exceeding the size of the waves. And surfers said they had to work extra hard to make the light surf translate into crowd-pleasing water tricks. One contestant, Dino Andino, 20, of San Clemente, bulled and bounced his surfboard over and around the waves, much like a hot rodder zig-zagging through freeway traffic.

“I think I’m making it OK (in the competition),” said Andino, as he completed a heat and walked back to shore. “I really like this Ocean Festival. I’ve lived here in San Clemente all my life, and it just seems to get to get better and better as the years go by.

“San Clemente’s a beautiful place. Something like this Ocean Festival just adds to it.”

On the pier, one of the spectators was Dwight Morouse, 45, a self-employed artist who lives in San Clemente.

Morouse pointed to the ocean waters below, where four surfers hugged their boards in the water, waiting for waves to build up.

“The one over there with the blond hair, that’s my kid,” Morouse said, pointing to 15-year-old Jed Morouse, a slight, wiry surfer.

“Jed’s been surfing since he was 9 years old. . . . He does pretty well out there with those older guys he’s competing against,” the proud father said. “I really like surfing for these young people because I think it keeps them active and out of trouble they might otherwise get into.”

Nearby, a girl also watched the surfers from the pier. “I just think it’s very interesting,” said Karie Chamberlain, 13, of Arcadia. “We’re here on a new ministry retreat, and it’s nice to get to see this. I think it must be fun to be a surfer. It’s something where you let your feelings go, and you’re very happy. Your emotions are high.”

At the far end of San Clemente’s distinctive wooden pier, Ocean Festival spectators got an unscheduled show: a group of junior lifeguard candidates who were being taught how to make safe jumps into the ocean from the pier.

The young lifeguards tossed their rescue boards off the pier and into the ocean. One by one, they jumped into the chilly waters. All except one.

Jeannette Oftedahl, 13, climbed over the rail, but stopped short. As the wind tossed her long hair, the girl looked down fearfully to the roiling waters below her. Her junior lifeguard classmates bobbed in the ocean near the pier, waiting for her to join them. They all had completed their jump, and they yelled and teased their classmate.

“Jump, jump, jump, Jeannette!” yelled the other junior lifeguard candidates from the water below. Finally, she took a long breath, let go of the rail, and pushed herself off. She landed in a clean, feet-first immersion, and she came up to the surface amid applause from her classmates and people on the pier. “Yea, Jeannette!” her classmates cried, and she blushed triumphantly.

Back onshore, surfer Fomenko, while waiting for his heat, explained why San Clemente has so many surfers.

“It’s one of the few things to do around here,” he said. “Skateboarding is illegal in most of the areas, and you get run down by cars if you try bicycling. But you can always surf, and a lot of us do.

“Some grow up and make a living at it, just like I’m doing--I’m on the pro circuit. I turned pro when I was 21. I work for a clothing company . . . and I do promotions and surf for them, plus I have three other sponsors.”

The Ocean Festival continues today with events including competition between Orange County lifeguards and their counterparts from San Diego County, beginning at 10 a.m.

On Sunday, the all-day events range from a 10-kilometer beach run at 7:30 a.m. to a public tasting-and-voting-on-clam-chowder competition at noon. All events are being held in the vicinity of the San Clemente pier.

Next Sunday, San Clemente is sponsoring another civic celebration, the Summer Fiesta, featuring the Fiesta 5000, a five-kilometer run through downtown San Clemente and a street fair with games, booths, music and dancing.